Driving The Getaway Car

PARENTAL ADVISORY: This post is a bit more difficult than usual, but trust me it's worth it. We build upon an earlier post where a defender unblocked an honor to create a "get out of jail free" card. That's a hint, in case you want to refresh your memory...

South Deals N-S Vul	♠ A Q 10 5 ♥ A K ♦ Q J 10 5 4 ♣ A 10
♠ J 8 7 ♥ J 10 9 ♦ 2 ♣ J 8 6 4 3 2	N W E S

West	North	East	South
			2 ♦
Pass	2 N1	Pass	3 ♦2
Pass	4 N3	Pass	5 ♥4
Pass	6 ♦	All pass

asks for outside feature no outside A or K key-card Blackwood two keycards, no Q

Matchpoints. You are West and lead the ♥ J. Declarer plays the ace and partner follows low.

At trick two, declarer leads the ♣ A from dummy and partner plays the ♣ K (!) Declarer follows low. Your play?

Let's stop and look things over for a moment. Where is the ♠ K?
Declarer denied any outside A or K, so partner must have the ♠ K.

Is it possible that partner's ♣ K is a singleton?
Yes, possibly. But if so, then declarer has four clubs to the queen and only three cards in hearts and spades. In that case, declarer is making seven. Nothing you can do about that.

Could partner have the ♣ KQ doubleton?
Possibly, but that's bad news too. Declarer should play out the hearts and trumps first, and then you can only watch in horror while partner gets endplayed in clubs. She will have to give declarer a ruff-and-sluff in hearts, or lead into dummy's spade suit. Nothing you can do about that.

Could partner have the ♣ Kx doubleton, trying to avoid an endplay and hoping you have the ♣ Q?
Possibly. Nice try, partner, but alas you don't have the ♣ Q. Nothing you can do about that.

Could partner have ♣ KQx, trying to create an escape card with her small club?
ANSWER: Bingo!! There is something you can do about that. Play the ♣ 8, encouraging, to let partner know you have the ♣ J just in case partner has king-queen-small. If partner started with ♣ KQx, she won't know whether to play the ♣ Q next -- getting endplayed, but at least holding declarer to six -- or duck the second club hoping that you have the ♣ J and can lead spades through dummy for down one.

Partner might have started with the singleton or doubleton ♣ K. If so, your play here doesn't matter. But if partner is trying to get out of jail with a small club from ♣ KQx, you need to tell her that you will show up with the getaway car -- the ♣ J!

THE PRINCIPLE: When partner makes a play that seems unusual, think through the possible reasons for that play. There might be something that she needs to know about your hand.

	♠ A Q 10 5 ♥ A K ♦ Q J 10 5 4 ♣ A 10
♠ J 8 7 ♥ J 10 9 ♦ 2 ♣ J 8 6 4 3 2	N W E S	♠ K 9 6 2 ♥ Q 8 5 4 3 ♦ 6 ♣ K Q 5
	♠ 4 3 ♥ 7 6 2 ♦ A K 9 8 7 3 ♣ 9 7

At rubber bridge or IMP scoring, East should always duck the second round of clubs; if West doesn't have the ♣ J, the 6 ♦ contract cannot be defeated. But at matchpoints East has a more difficult choice, whether to try to defeat the contract or just prevent an overtrick. West's signal in clubs -- encouraging or discouraging with respect to the ♣ J -- will make East's decision much easier.

BONUS MINUTE: I think this hand is a great example of why bridge is such a fascinating game. Declarer sees that a potential endplay offers the best chance for success, at worst falling back on the spade finesse. East anticipates declarer's likely line of play, and plans to escape the trap. West recognizes what her partner is doing, and collaborates to ensure declarer's demise. How cool is that?!

-- Ray

Better Bridge in 5 Minutes. Guaranteed! (or the next one is free)