South
is expected to hold an excellent suit for
his vulnerable three-bid. Even if North
passes 3
in tempo it is against the odds that East
will have both the distribution and the high
cards to reopen the bidding and perhaps
incur a penalty. South expects to take six
or seven tricks on his own, most of them in
his suit. With three sure tricks and a
couple of "accompanying" jacks, game in
spades may be laydown or it may have a fair
play. The bottom line is that North ought to
bid it.
West leads the
J
against 4
and South wins the ace. Nine tricks are easy
and a tenth might come from the club suit.
Can you foresee any difficulties against
normal breaks?
Both sides vulnerable South deals
West |
North |
East |
South |
|
|
|
3 |
Pass |
4 |
End |
|
Opening Lead:
J
If trumps are three-three and clubs three-two,
nothing bad can happen. The normal break in
trumps, however, is four-two. If you ruff a
diamond to play on trumps, you may run out
of trumps before you have a chance to
develop a long club. West will win the
A
and play a third diamond for you to ruff.
When you draw three more rounds of spades,
you will have only one left. Now, you will
need to play clubs for only one loser (distinctly
against the odds) because you can afford to
lose the lead only once more.
It is considerably better play to start clubs at trick two, before ruffing
yourself to hand to drive out the trump ace.
Play ace and another club. As long as clubs
are three-two you will have time to develop
a long trick in the suit. Lose the second
round of clubs, accept the diamond force,
knock out the
A,
take a further tap, draw trumps, concede a
club. You still have a trump and when you
ruff with it, you will cash that club you
worked so hard to establish.
The principle of establishing the side suit first has many applications.
On this deal it might be a slight stretch to
think in terms of developing a long trick in
clubs, but in truth, it's a classic
illustration of the concept.