IMPROVE YOUR PLAY

With Larry Matheny

We all know how important it is to give the hand sufficient thought before playing to trick one. However, we often make the mistake of following declarer’s tempo later in the hand. This hand demonstrates how necessary it is to stop and think when a red flag appears.

Scoring: Matchpoints (Pairs)

#13-10
Dlr	N
Vul	N/S

	863
	Q72
	876
	AQ63

	A97
	J10864
	1093
	108

	42
	3
	QJ52
	J97542

	KQJ105
	AK95
	AK4
	K

West	North	East	South
-	Pass	Pass	2
Pass	2	Pass	2
Pass	3	Pass	4NT
Pass	5	Pass	6
Pass	Pass	Pass

Bidding: North’s 2 response showed values but no strong suit. South’s 4NT bid was Roman Key Card and North showed one keycard (4 aces + spade king).

Play: West led the jack of hearts won by declarer with the ace. At trick two, declarer continued with the queen of spades and West followed with the seven without giving the problem enough thought. West won the next round of spades but it was too late to defeat the contract. West should have stopped to consider the hand. It was clear South must have most if not all of the missing honors to justify the strong opening bid. So, why the queen of spades and not the king? Since declarer had checked on keycards, it was clear declarer held the king of spades. After analyzing all of this data, West might have concluded that the only way to defeat was if East could ruff a heart. So, he should win the first spade and continue hearts for down one.

While this may not seem difficult, the act of following low to the spade queen without giving the hand sufficient thought is a mistake made far too often.

Copyright ©2013 Larry Matheny