Sunday, May 10, 2015

a little white lie

Playing matchpoints, nobody vulnerable, you are the dealer.

 K Q J 10 x x    --    K Q 10 x x    Q x

S (you)
West
North
East
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
All pass

West leads the 7. Take a moment now to look at dummy and plan your play.

North
 9 8 x
 x x
 A 9 8 x x x 
 x x


South (you)
 K Q J 10 x x
 --
 K Q 10 x x 
 Q x

West leads the 7, you play low from dummy, East plays the J to your K.

You lead a small spade to West’s A. She switches to the A – East follows with J (!) – and then leads… Oh, stop, wait a minute. What did you play to the A?

ANSWER:  I hope you played the Q smoothly, in tempo without hesitation.

THE PRINCIPLE:  When you are declarer, be alert for opportunities to sow doubt and confusion in the defenders’ minds. Your Q is worthless – it will never take a trick – so why not play it as if it were a singleton? Maybe the defense will switch to hearts instead of continuing a second club, and you’ll ruff and take the rest of the tricks. Maybe West won’t be fooled; nothing ventured, nothing gained. Expert defenders are less likely to be fooled, but you'll at least gain some respect from them as a crafty opponent.

Just like bluffing at the poker table, playing a falsecard at the bridge table demands a straight face and your normal routine tempo. If you spend any extra time thinking about whether to play the Q, the defenders will surely recognize your attempted deceit. 



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