Novice Declarer Problem of the Month
January, 2000
MPs
Dealer: North
Vulnerable: Both
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NORTH  Q 3 2 6 4 A Q T 9 8 K Q 9 |
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SOUTH 7 5 A K J T 3 2 K J 7 3 2 |
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| AUCTION | |||
| NORTH | EAST | SOUTH | WEST |
| 1 |
Pass | 1 |
Pass |
| 1N | Pass | 4 |
Pass |
| Pass | Pass |
West leads the J, which you duck, East playing the eight; he continues with the
T, again ducked, East playing the six. Next, West cashes the
A and continues with a second club, East following with the ten and five. You have lost three tricks and
must pick up the trump suit to make your game.
Plan the play.
Solution
When playing an 8-card fit (missing only the queen) for no losers, unless something in the bidding or play indicates otherwise, it is correct to take the
finesse. You may have heard the old adage "eight ever, nine never"; in other words, with an 8-card fit take the finesse, with a 9-card fit, play the ace
and king in an effort to drop the doubleton queen. In the absense of any additional information, this is a sound theory. The real question here is
whether or not the ace or king should be cashed prior to taking the finesse, catering to the stiff queen on the left. The answer is no. In the hand
given, you should take the heart finesse immediately, return to the board by overtaking the J with
the Q (or the king with the ace), then repeat the finesse. Based on East's high-low in clubs, do
not try to return to the board with a club...it may be ruffed! This caters to Qxxx on your right.
Simply put, there are five trumps outstanding, and if West has a singleton, only one time in five will it be the queen. Notice that if you cash the
A first, then take the finesse, you will have no more trumps in dummy for a second finesse--now
you must surrender a trump trick to East when he started with four to the queen.
Notice the difference in playing this suit combination (AKJTxx opposite xx), and AKJTxx opposite xxx. In the latter case, it is reasonable to cash a high
honor first, because you still have TWO trumps left for finessing (this assumes sufficient entries are available).
The full deal:
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EAST |
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SOUTH |
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