One of the most important aspects of declarer play is using the bidding
to place the opponents' cards. Here is a hand where the auction
told declarer everything he needed to know.
Scoring: Matchpoints (Pairs)
Hand #2
Dlr
E
Vul
E/W
5
AQJ7
AQ92
KQ103
J1083
1082
8743
94
AKQ9764
K543
K
5
2
96
J1065
AJ8762
West
North
East
South
1
Pass
Pass
DBL
3
4
Pass
5
End
BIDDING: East, known to
be a bold bidder, applied a lot of pressure by jumping in spades,
but N/S were able to get to game. West had a fit with his
partner's spades but the
vulnerability kept him quiet.
PLAY: West won the first
trick with the jack of spades and switched to a trump.
Declarer drew a second round of trumps and reflected on the
auction. It seemed almost certain that East held both red kings
so it was highly unlikely either finesse would succeed. Instead,
he decided to
play East for a singleton or doubleton king of diamonds.
Accordingly, he led the diamond jack (tempting West to cover in the
unlikely event he held the king) and then played the ace after West
followed low. East's
king came toppling down and declarer made his contract losing only a
spade and a heart. If the
diamond king had not dropped, declarer would continue with a second
round. If East held the doubleton king of diamonds, he would be
forced to lead a heart into dummy or concede a sluff/ruff.
However, if East had
started with three diamonds, he could win the second round and exit
with a diamond. Poor declarer then would have find a singleton
king of hearts in
the East hand or find it in the West hand.
This is a good example of keeping a finesse as the last resort, not the
first option.
