ENTRY MANAGEMENT [PART 3]
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A contract is decided more often than you would believe… at trick one! Rather than letting yourself be seduced by a well-oiled automatism that might cause your defeat later on, systematically take the time to make a plan. For the sake of entry management, a certain strategy may be needed right from the very first card.
| W | N | E | S |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2NT | |||
| Pass | 3NT |
Lead: ♠5 (fourth best).
With the King certainly located in the West hand, playing one of dummy’s honors seems natural to make sure you will win the first two rounds of the suit. Now, analyze the continuation. Your only hope for nine tricks lies in setting up the Club suit. Lacking an entry to get back to dummy, forget about the finesse, and play the Ace followed by the 4 in order to be certain to establish the suit. But then you still have to get back to dummy to cash your winners! You have only one Spade honor left in dummy and it is no longer an entry. When West gets in with the Club King, he will carefully avoid playing another Spade away from his King and patiently wait for East to play through your hand. The mission of the defense is even simpler if East is the one to hold the Club King as he can easily play another Spade. Avoid any overconfidence and win the lead with the Ace, carefully conserving dummy’s two honors to ensure a later entry.
IN THE SAME SPIRIT, THE FOLLOWING SITUATIONS CALL FOR SOME THOUGHT RIGHT FROM THE START…
| W | N | E | S |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1♥ | Pass | 1NT |
Lead: ♠4 (fourth best).
Playing a small Spade from dummy ensures that sooner or later you will win a second trick in addition to the Ace, regardless of the card played by East. But the lack of entries to your hand must divert you from this trap. As soon as the King of Clubs is held up on the first round of the suit, a side-suit entry becomes necessary to be able to cash your high Club tricks. It is thus imperative to keep the Ace of Spades for this crucial moment. Your only chance is to hope that West holds the King of Spades and to call for the Queen from dummy.
| W | N | E | S |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1♥ | Dble | ||
| Pass | 2♦ | Pass | 2NT |
| Pass | 3NT |
Lead: ♥7.
Be careful, East will do everything he can to prevent you from reaching dummy with a Heart.
If you play the 9 or the 2, East will cover as cheaply as possible, keeping his Ace so that he can prevent you from crossing to dummy with the Queen of Hearts. Giving up the King of Clubs by playing the suit from your hand would be your death sentence, since East would then be able to set up the fifth trick for the defense while you are still one trick short. Call for the Queen of Hearts at trick one. East must cover and you then throw an honor under his Ace, let’s say the King! If East returns a Heart, the 9 becomes an entry; if he switches to a Diamond, play a Club towards the Queen and use the other Club honors to play twice towards the King-Queen of Spades.
