A good bridge player must be able to keep track of the cards that have
been played. This information can be used to construct the
opponents' hands. Here is an example from a recent team game.
SCORING: IMPs
Hand #31
Dlr
E
Vul
N-S
K3
104
10976
AK976
872
9863
3
J8532
A10965
J75
AK82
5
QJ4
AKQ2
QJ54
Q10
West
North
East
South
1
1NT
Pass
3NT
All
Pass
BIDDING: I was in the South chair and although it was a terrible
17 hcp, I overcalled 1NT and my partner had an easy raise to game.
PLAY: West led the deuce of spades and I could count only eight
tricks. It was clear East held the spade ace along with the
diamond AK for her opening bid. It was also clear that East would
be able to establish her spade suit before I could knock out the two
diamond honors. That left the club suit as my best source for an
extra trick. I did not want East to duck the spade lead so I
played the king. East won the ace and returned the suit. I
then played the queen of clubs followed by one to dummy's ace as East
discarded a low heart. Reconstructing the hands, since East would
not have discarded a heart from a four card suit, it appeared that East
held five spades, one club, and probably three hearts. That meant
that West might hold a singleton diamond. I cashed the other club
honor and led a low diamond won by East. After she returned a third
spade, I played the top
hearts and watched East show out on the third one. I now had a
complete COUNT of their hands: West started with 3-4-1-5 distribution
so I led the fourth heart. West had to win and could only cash
the club jack before leading his last club to dummy's nine. That
was nine tricks: two spades, three hearts, and four clubs.
Note the contract could be defeated if East ducked the first two spade
leads to keep communication with her partner.
