Monday, May 9, 2011

Jennbridge: A Defensive Lapse

I have played several hands recently where it has been possible to make good use of the opponents' possession of the outstanding high trump.  Here's an example from STAC week. I held the South cards and declared 4D. (Hands rotated for convenience.)


May 3, 2011 Spring STAC 

Board 16
North Deals
None Vul
♠ 9 5 3
A K Q J
K J 10 7 2
♣ 2
♠ Q J 7 6
8 5 2
9
♣ K Q 8 6 4
N
WE
S
♠ A 2
10 7 4
A 4
♣ A J 10 9 5 3
♠ K 10 8 4
9 6 3
Q 8 6 5 3
♣ 7
4 by South

RHO opened the bidding and the opponents bid clubs until we bought the contract at 4D.  A club was led and East then played the ace of spades followed by another spade.  Clearly I have to lose the ace of diamonds, and probably another spade, but look what happened in the play.

After winning the spade king, I went to the board with a heart and led a diamond off the board.  East ducked!  (Don't ask me why I played it this way--sometimes it pays to make odd moves.) 

Now look at East's predicament--she has endplayed herself.  I run the hearts, and, when she declines to ruff in, I simply throw her in with a diamond. She has to return a club and give me a ruff/sluff, allowing me to ruff in my hand and pitch my losing spade from the board.

Plus 130 was a good score with these cards.  Stay alert--a defensive lapse can be costly.

See you at the table!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Had the trump suit been differently situated, your RHO's endplaying himself would be more understandable. A friend of mine once sent me a hand with a similar position -- that is, one where a defender ducked from Ax of trumps and was later endplayed with the A -- but in that hand, the trump king was not disclosed in dummy and thus to the defender, declarer might have been on a AQ guess, making the duck the potentially winning play.

A good technique to keep in one's declarer tool box.