Although you probably won't know most of your opponents, sometimes you
come up against a player whose habits are known to you. Take a
look.
Scoring: Matchpoints (Pairs)
Hand #19
Dlr
E
Vul
None
J962
AJ85
QJ2
A5
1084
6
9843
QJ1074
K3
Q10973
K107
K86
AQ75
K42
A65
932
West
North
East
South
Pass
1
Pass
1
Pass
1
Pass
4
Pass
Pass
Pass
BIDDING: North-South had
a routine auction to the spade game.
PLAY: Sitting South I
recognized West as a player who loves to lead singletons so when the
six of hearts hit the table, I kept this in mind. I played the
eight from dummy and won the king in my hand. I had one loser in
each minor so I had to avoid losing two in the majors. The
first problem was the trump suit. I led a low club to dummy's ace
followed by a low spade. I was pleased when my queen won the
trick. Next I led a low club from hand won by East with the
eight. After some thought, he played the king of clubs and
I
ruffed in dummy. Still thinking about heart shortness on my left
(therefore possible length in spades) ,
I led the nine of spades from dummy and was rewarded with the king from
East. The contract was now safe so I turned my attention to a
possible overtrick. I could take a heart finesse but I still felt
West was short in that suit. Even though it was against the odds,
I decided instead to attempt to end-play East. After drawing the
last trump, I led the queen of diamonds from dummy. East covered
with the king and I won the ace. Next I played a diamond to the
jack and a third one to East's ten. Left with nothing but hearts,
East resigned. This end position was easy to see so East should
have unblocked the diamond ten under the jack.
Note that East can give his partner a heart ruff but it's usually wrong
when you expect to win the trick yourself. Also, if West had
false carded by playing the eight of spades on the first round of
trumps, I may have been tempted to play him for 104 doubleton and lead
the jack of spades on the second round.
