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Trump Promotion
Sometimes the defense does not have a natural trump trick but can generate one by a trump promotion or an upper-cut ... the examples will explain everything!
Related Play Problems Play Problem 29
Related Extracts from Past Wednesday Games
Who makes what? The only E-W game is 4♥ (making 10 tricks). 5♦ doubled is down two tricks, and a fine sacrifice. The interesting contract is 4♠ doubled which might look as if it escapes for down only one. But, no, look what happens. If E-W play Ace from Ace-King, then East leads the ♥K, then the ♥A, signifying a doubleton. East will shift to Clubs, Declarer ruffing the second round, but now, if Declarer tries to reach Dummy with a Diamond in order to take the trump finesse, West will get in and lead a third round of Hearts. To East’s surprise, his puny-looking Spade Six is sufficient to promote a trump trick for West! Down two.
2♠ will surely make 8 tricks at all tables. However, there is one surprising line of defense that sets 2♠. Do you see it? North leads a Heart to South’s King and Declarer’s Ace. A Spade is led to Dummy’s Queen and South’s King. A Heart continuation is won by Declarer’s Queen The ♠J is taken by North’s Ace A Heart is cashed Club to South’s Ace Now the 13th Heart is led, promoting a trump trick for North’s Eight! Nice defense!
Playing in Spades, it is possible that careless defense will let Declarer make 10 tricks. Spot the mistake in this defense: Heart lead won by Dummy’s Ace Diamond to the Nine and North’s King Heart ruff by Declarer Diamond won by North’s Ace Diamond lead, ruffed by Dummy’s Ten and overruffed. OK, you’ve seen enough by now. South was wrong to overruff. That holds the defense to just one trump trick … if South declines to overruff then the defense will come to two trumps in the fullness of time.
Against 3♦ (no doubt doubled) East leads the K♠, and when Dummy goes down North will be a happy camper. But not for long! North’s apparently certain 7 tricks will be a good save against the enemy game, but it doesn’t turn out that way: K♠ opening lead Spade continuation to West’s Ace Club to East’s Ace Another Spade is cashed Club to West’s King Club ruffed low by Declarer Diamond to Dummy’s Ace Heart is lost to West The defense has already got 6 tricks in, and the 7th materializes through a trump promotion when West leads a Club. That is down three for -500, more than the E-W game. True, E-W can actually make 6♣ (and even 6♠) but those are not good contracts and unlikely to be bid.
In 5♥ good defense gets South for 800, as in: Diamond ruffed by East A♠ is cashed Spade ruff (East figures that West would bid 5♠ with Kx support) A♣ is cashed Diamond ruff Now another Spade promotes West’s K♥. We would guess that -800 won’t be such a bad board for N-S. Surely some E-W pairs will be doubled in 4♠ and 5♠, resulting in a smattering of -990 and -850 scores.
East’s 2♠ is non-forcing, of course, if he had some values he would be doubling 1NT. Leading against 2♠, the most attractive lead by the South hand would appear to be a Diamond, as there is a good chance of getting a ruff (increased by the strong Spade holding). Bingo! The defense gets its ruff and ends up scoring two Diamonds and three trumps. 8 tricks for Declarer.
Suppose that South, being without the benefit of Hand Records, chooses to lead the ♣J. Can the defense still come to 5 tricks? Declarer wins the ♣A, pitching a Diamond, and leads a low Spade from the board. North can hop up with the Ace, cash ♦AK, and lead a third Diamond, giving South a trump promotion and their 5 tricks. That may not be obvious to North, but no matter, in that case South wins the ♠K, shifts to Diamonds, and the defense get their trump promotion that way.
On the actual deal, North turns out to have a super-max with 3 Spades, and yet 4♠ is still not a good contract. Deep Finesse tells us that 10 tricks are possible, but the obvious lines of play all seem to fail. Here is a somewhat bizarre line which succeeds: Heart to Declarer’s Ace ♦K (really!) losing to East’s Ace Club shift to the Queen, King Ace Cash ♥K, pitching a Club Diamond leading, ducking in Dummy (really!), losing to West’s Queen Heart (or Club) ruff Run the ♠9 around (really!) to East’s Ace Those strange plays in Diamonds and the trump suit were necessary to (a) bring in the Diamonds, and (b) avoid a trump promotion. Better to play this one in 2♠, don’t you think? Nine tricks with normal play.
In the auction above West is happy to balance with a Double, which East will probably pass, and South will be delighted with this turn of events. However, good defense beats 3♦ a trick: Spade lead, ducked Spade to the Ace Spade ruff Finesse of the Diamond Seven (nicely done!) ♦Q loses to the King Thanks to Declarer’s inspired guess in the trump suit (well, maybe not that inspired considering the bidding) accurate defense is required. East should realize that a trump promotion is the defense best hope, so the play continues: Club to Dummy’s Ace Declarer exits a Heart to East’s Queen Club to Dummy’s King Now a Heart is played and West must alertly hop up with the King and give Partner a trump promotion by leading a Club. Down one!
3♦ is not a success, unless the defense errs grievously. East will lead the K♥, and should shift smartly to a low trump, ducked by West. Why the duck? West cannot be sure that Declarer does not have the A♣, it would be most unfortunate if Declarer won the second round of trumps and claimed 11 minor suit winners, pitching major suit losers on the run of the Clubs. So, Declarer wins the first Diamond and knocks out the A♣, but the defense is in control, drawing Dummy’s other trump and cashing its remaining three Heart winners. Down two.
It turns out that the 6-1 Club fit plays better, and when West makes the natural enough Spade lead, it even makes. In fact, the only way to beat 3♣ is an upper-cut. Let’s say that West somehow stumbles upon the lead of the A♥, followed by a Heart to East’s hand. Now, East must lead a Diamond, ducked by West. Then, a Club to the King, and the Q♣ to East’s Ace. Next is a Diamond to West’s Ace and a Diamond back … East ruffs with his Ten, hitting Declarer with an upper-cut that establishes West’s Nine. Very nice defense!
Accurate defense beats 3♥ by two tricks: Club opening lead is won by West Diamond to East’s Queen A♦ is cashed Diamond ruff A Club is cashed. Now, on the third round of Clubs, Dummy is forced to ruff, and that promotes the 6th defensive trick when East’s Heart holding wins the third round of trumps. Pretty good defense, we’d expect down one to be a more likely result.
Against 2♥, South leads a Diamond, and with careful defense N-S can beat 2♥ one trick: South leads a Diamond to North’s Ace Three rounds of Spades are cashed A Diamond is won on the board A Heart to Declarer’s King A Club to Dummy’s King North wins her Heart Ace Now North leads another Diamond, promoting South’s J♥ for the setting trick.
On opening lead, East can safely deduce that Dummy will have Diamond shortness, and, that being the case, a trump lead stands out. The Q♠ is played from Dummy, covered by the King and Ace. Now the A♦ and a Diamond ruff and it looks as if Declarer can escape with 7 tricks via 5 Spades in her hand, plus the A♦ and a Diamond ruff. But not so! Declarer has no way to get back to her hand and draw trumps and if the defense times things correctly there will be a trump promotion in the end-game. The defense will wind up scoring two tricks in each side-suit, plus that promoted trump, for a juicy +300 and a well-earned top board. The precise sequence of plays is: Spade to the Queen, King, Ace A♦ and ruff a Diamond Heart to East’s Jack The A♥ is unblocked Q♣ covered by the King and Ace Club to the Jack K♦ and Q♦ are cashed Declarer’s hand has been picked clean of side-suit cards and the defense has arranged to have the lead with West at the crucial Trick Ten. West leads a Heart and Declarer is done for. If she ruffs high then East’s 8♠ is promoted, and if she ruffs low then East can overruff. Nicely done, E-W!
East’s 3♠ had the desired effect of creating complications for N-S. North’s Double simply said “Do something”, and at any other vulnerability South would probably have passed. But, being Red vs White, she went in search of the game, and the partnership ends up in the rather poor contract of 5♣. At first glance it might appear that 5♣ will be a lucky make. The Clubs are breaking, the Diamonds turn out to be worth 4 tricks, and the only losers are the AK♠. Not so fast! After the two Spades are cashed, the defense has a surprising resource. East leads a third round of Spades, allowing West to deliver an upper-cut with the 9♣, thereby promoting a trick for East’s JT3. Nice defense!
On this board N-S let themselves get bounced into 3♠ by the West Weak Two and East’s preemptive bump to 3♥. This turns out to be particularly unfortunate for them as with perfect defense nobody can make more than 7 tricks in anything! North’s Double was fine, and South’s 3♠ was not terrible, but the end-result was down two for N-S when it could be E-W going down two. A triumph for preempting, we would say.
Actually, although Deep Finesse says that both 3♥ and 3♠ can go down two tricks, they are both quite likely to go down just one: - The defense against 3♥ has 5 obvious tricks (3 Spades, a heart and the A♦). Do you see where the 6th comes from? Yes, it requires a trump promotion, but the defense must play with great accuracy to achieve this … North cashes the A♠, K♠, A♦, then a Spade to South’s Queen, setting the scene for the play of the 13th Spade for the trump promotion. This is a very tough defense to find, surely most Declarers will escape with 8 tricks in their Heart contract. - The defense against 3♠ must get a Club ruff if they are to beat the contract by two tricks, and we’d also rate that as unlikely.
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