First, Second Or Third Trick?

By Phillip Alder

Some deals escape notice because the cards lay in such a way that the declarers stood no chance. Geoffrey Foster-Taylor, a friend from England, sent me an e-mail suggesting that on this deal the declarer on the vugraph had erred. See what you think.

Board 2. Dealer North. E/W Vul.
	♠ K Q 9 8 ♥ 10 5 2 ♦ A 6 2 ♣ 10 9 4
	♠ A 7 5 ♥ A 9 6 ♦ Q 3 ♣ A Q 8 5 2

By one uncontested route or another, South ends up in 3NT. (The deal has been rotated for convenience.)

West leads the king of hearts. What is your basic plan? For once, it is no good peeking at the full deal because that will tell you that your contract is no-play. But what is the best line? This was the layout:

Board 2. Dealer North. E/W Vul.
	♠ K Q 9 8 ♥ 10 5 2 ♦ A 6 2 ♣ 10 9 4
♠ J 4 2 ♥ K Q J 8 4 ♦ 9 8 7 ♣ K 6		♠ 10 6 3 ♥ 7 3 ♦ K J 10 5 4 ♣ J 7 3
	♠ A 7 5 ♥ A 9 6 ♦ Q 3 ♣ A Q 8 5 2

Most declarers ducked until the third round of hearts, went into the dummy and either ran the ten of clubs or played low to the queen. (One cannot help thinking that winning the second heart is better because East might have king-doubleton of clubs, when one can do an avoidance play - but read on.) The only pair to go plus were P.O. Sundelin (North) and Johan Sylvan. They open 14-16 notrumps, and Sundelin understandably did not try for game.

If the hearts are 4-3, you just need to avoid two club losers. But if hearts are 5-2, you must establish the clubs without letting West win a trick. There seem to be two possibilities.

If you duck the first two tricks and West has no semblance of an entry, he might shift to a diamond. Given the relatively weak dummy, I think that that is unlikely.

If you can score four club tricks without letting West in, you ought to win the second heart trick. If you duck twice and East has king-doubleton of clubs, it might occur to him to discard that king at trick three, giving West an entry with his jack-third. So, take the second heart, lead a spade to the dummy, and call for a low club, putting in the queen if East plays low. Assuming that wins, return to dummy with another spade and ask for a club. If East plays low or the jack, win with the ace and continue with a third round. (If East started with king-jack-fourth of clubs, you are still all right if you can guess who holds the king of diamonds.) But if East plays the king of clubs, duck from hand.

Who played like this? The records do not say what Jens Auken (Denmark Seniors) or Alfredo Versace (Italy Bermuda Bowl) did. But three players followed the recommended line given above: Michelle Brunner (England Venice Cup), Jill Levin (U.S.A.1 Venice Cup) and Guillermo Mooney (Argentina Bermuda Bowl).