May 2008 - A Defense Problem
On May 2 I had the pleasure of playing with Cynthia Colin in the regional open pairs in Smithtown, NY. The following defensive situation occurred. What would you play at trick two? What is your plan? Take your time thinking about it, as this situation is the entire problem for this month.
| West North East South | Dummy | Nobody Vulnerable |
| Pass 1ª Pass 1NT | ª K Q J 10 9 2 | |
| Pass 3ª Pass 3NT | © A 7 4 | |
| all pass | ¨ A 8 | |
| West(Jeff) | § K 5 | East (Cynthia) |
| ª | ª 6 5 | |
| © | ©J 10 8 6 3 | |
| ¨ | ¨ K 6 | |
| § 3 | Declarer | § A J 6 4 |
| ª | ||
| Opening Lead: §3 | © | |
| Trick 1: §3 - §K - §A - §7 | ¨ | |
| Trick 2: ? | § |
A good first step is always to estimate how strong partner is. Since declarer probably has between 8-10 high card points for the bidding, partner probably has 5-7 high card points.
Then it is good to consider what type of suit partner is leading from. You don't see the §2, so partner might not have a great attitude about the club suit, but it still is a suit that partner selected. Partner probably has 4 or 5 spades, 0 to 3 hearts, and would likely have at least 7 cards in the minor suits. Therefore partner presumably has at least 4 clubs. Partner probably began with either the §Q 10 x x (x), §Q 9 x x (x), or §10 8 x x.
With that being the club situation, it doesn't make sense not to play a club at trick two. So what club should you play? The standard procedure is to play the §4 - your original 4th best club. That lets partner know the club count. Is that the best club for you to play?
The answer depends upon what you want to accomplish on defense. If the defense cashes 4 club tricks, or if it establishes the club suit, what do you want it to do next? Wouldn't you want partner to win the last club trick and shift to diamonds?
If you play the standard §4 at trick 2, and partner wins the club, returns a club to your jack, and you lead your last club to partner - how will partner know to shift to diamonds? Is there some other sequence of club plays that would make your intentions clear to partner?
You can start by cashing your §J - that will insure that partner has to win the last club trick. Cashing the §J will temporarily make partner think you began with only 3 clubs, but since your remaining clubs will be the smallest clubs (partner would play the §2 under your jack if he has it), partner will know that all his clubs are high and will proceed to cash those tricks.
Then on the third and fourth clubs you can give a clear suit-preference signal to partner. Here playing the §4 before the §6 would be a clear suit-preference signal for diamonds.
Partner will see that you did not make the standard play in the club suit, and the inference that partner can assume is that you wanted him to win the last club trick for the defense, and the reason for that is that you would like a diamond play from partner. That is a great signal to give to partner. This is the entire hand:
| West North East South | Dummy | Nobody Vulnerable |
| Pass 1ª Pass 1NT | ª K Q J 10 9 2 | |
| Pass 3ª Pass 3NT | © A 7 4 | |
| all pass | ¨ A 8 | |
| West (Jeff) | § K 5 | East (Cynthia) |
| ª A 8 4 3 | ª 6 5 | |
| © 9 5 | ©J 10 8 6 3 | |
| ¨ 7 5 4 | ¨ K 6 | |
| § Q 8 3 2 | Declarer | § A J 6 4 |
| ª 7 | ||
| Opening Lead: §3 | © K Q 2 | |
| Trick 1: §3 - §K - §A - §7 | ¨ Q J 10 9 3 2 | |
| Trick 2: ?? | § 10 9 7 |
At the table Cynthia made the standard play of the §4 which I won, and I played a club to her jack, and then won the 4th club trick. Then I did guess to lead a diamond, so we did beat the hand two tricks. I sure would have felt better about leading a diamond if she played as I suggested.
Anyway, this hand and others did lead us to victory - first overall in the open pairs. Thanks and congratulations to Cynthia.