THE BEST ASSET OF THE DEFENSE
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THE AUCTION IS SOMETIMES THE BEST ASSET OF THE DEFENSE. MAKE THE MOST OF IT!
| W | N | E | S |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1♥ | 3♣(*) | ||
| 4♥ | Dble | Pass | 6♠ |
Your partner leads the 7 of Hearts for the Jack and your King.
South has jumped to 6♠ with a loser in Hearts! To justify his bid, South must be void in Clubs. He cannot have two quick losers. Your mission is to prevent him from entering dummy and capturing your King of trumps. The only way to achieve your goal is to sacrifice your Ace of Hearts without further ado. If you were to make the unfortunate choice of switching to a minor, declarer can get to dummy and successfully finesse in Spades.
| W | N | E | S |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1NT | |||
| Pass | 3NT |
You lead the Spade 10 for dummy’s Queen, which wins the trick (the 4 from East). Declarer plays a Diamond to his Queen and lays the Club 2 on the table.
If declarer had the King of Clubs, he would have played it first. Armed with this information, you can perceive the risk of mechanically playing a small card. South will play the 9. If East wins the trick with the King, declarer can take four Club tricks by repeating the finesse. And if East holds King-third and ducks, South can turn to a red suit to get the required number of tricks. The correct play? Insert the Queen to sterilize the suit.
| W | N | E | S |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1♣ | |||
| Pass | 1♦ | Pass | 2♣ |
| Pass | 2♠ | Pass | 3NT |
Your partner leads the 3 of Hearts, the 4 is called from dummy.
The auction shows that South has a Heart stopper, either the Queen or, more likely, the King. Looking at the dummy and your own hand, it is clear that your partner’s hand is not overflowing with entries. If you go up with the Ace and return the suit, declarer can patiently hold up his King until the third round, thus breaking communication between you and your partner. This is why you must play the Jack. It will be “impossible” for South not to win this with the King, he would risk going down if the Ace of Hearts were in West’s hand while he might have access to thirteen tricks.
