Better Bridge in Barry County October 10 2013

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

	North ♠  Q 8 7  ♥  10  ♦  Q 9 7 3   ♣  A Q 8 7 6
West ♠  A 6 5 2 ♥  J 9   ♦  A K J 8 2   ♣  9 3		East ♠  K J 9 4 ♥  K Q 8 6 5 2 ♦  10 6   ♣  J
	South ♠  10 3 ♥  A 7 4 3 ♦  5 4   ♣  K 10 5 4 2

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

West None 10♥

 

North   Pass Pass Pass	East   1♥ 3♠ Pass	South   Pass Pass Pass	West 1♦ 1♠ 4♠

Today’s column continues to look at defensive play during a bridge hand. As a defender, there is a great need to communicate with your partner in all of the ways that the game allows. Today’s hand, taken from a recent duplicate bridge game at a local club, shows the importance of the lead as well as signals, including attitude, count and suit preference. All are important tools and techniques at the disposal of the defensive partnership.

Today’s hand was played seven times in an evening session. Four pairs played in spades bypassing the wonderful heart suit. The North/South team was defending, and the lead from North was the 10♥. An observant South quickly scanned the dummy, and she deduced that the lead was a singleton. Counting the lead, the six hearts on the board, the four in her hand left the West declarer with two hearts. North’s lead was asking for a heart return for a ruff. The question is what suit would North lead back to South to play the same sequence all over again? Is there a way to ask for a certain suit to be returned? You bet there is.

Here is where the suit preference discussion that partners North and South had just before the game began paid off handsomely. With South winning the trick with the A♥, there was a choice of hearts to lead back to the North hand for the ruff. Would it be the 3♥, the 4♥, or the 7♥? The choice was South’s and a definite message would accompany each selected card. According to suit preference protocol, a low card led back suggests that North lead a lower ranking suit, either clubs or diamonds. Because South had the K♣, her intent was to lead a low heart, suggesting to North, that after the ruff, he play a low club to the K♣ in the South hand. In that way, South could continue another heart. Why not a diamond? Listen to the bidding. West had opened with a 1♦ bid at the beginning of the auction, so the lead had to be a club.

North with the A♣ and the Q♣ trusted his partner to have the K♣ and duly led a small club to the waiting K♣ after trumping the lead of the 3♥ from South. South won the third trick with the K♣ as planned and led another heart. In this case, it did not matter which heart as West was also out of hearts by this time. The problem for West is that trumping low will be overtrumped by North for the setting trick. That is what happened in the actual play. West put the 6♠ on the heart return from South, but North overtrumped with the 7♠, setting the contract one trick for a minus fifty points for East/West.

Do you see a way for East/West to prevail on this hand? On the third heart lead when West is out of hearts, she must trump high with the A♠, winning the trick in her hand. Then she must lead a small spade to the J♠ on the board, finessing the Q♠. When the J♠ wins, she plays the K♠ dropping the Q♠ in the North hand. The heart tricks will provide a convenient place to dispose of diamond losers and the remaining club loser. East/West can make the 4♠ contract or can make a 4♥ contract had they bid the heart suit to game.  

The North/South team with defensive tools to lead, to count, and to use suit preference leads provided them with a near top board on this hand. The singleton lead in a trump suit is a very effective lead and creates problems for the declarer immediately. The suit preference signal is an advanced technique that partnerships need to practice and perfect as they defend. As all bridge players know, you are a defender fifty per cent of the time. Take the time to use the techniques that are at your disposal, including informative leads, attitude signals, count signals, and eventually the sophisticated suit preference signals to improve your defensive game. Your game will improve immensely with all of your new defensive skills. Good luck on defense!

 

Gerald Stein

September 30, 2013

Number of words: 940

 

Bridge News: Currently nine students are studying defense techniques in their class in Battle Creek’s Kellogg Community College bridge class. Leads, counting, and signaling are all part of this class. A beginning class for new bridge players or those who wish to review the new Standard American system will begin on Monday, October 28^th. You are invited to enroll at KCC’s Life Long Learning program at 269-965-4134. Need a ride from Hastings? Let them know that.

Bridge News Two: “Learn Bridge in a Day” is a fast way to see if you would like to learn the world’s best card game in a very short intense time. It all starts on Sunday, October 20^th, from 1-6 PM in Kalamazoo at the Kalamazoo Bridge Center. Visit their website: www.kzoobridge.com.