♠ A 10 8 6 ♥ 6 4 3 ♦ 9 7 6 2 ♣ 7 3
West | North | YOU | South |
Pass | Pass | 1 ♥ | |
2 ♣ | 2 ♥ | Pass | Pass |
3 ♣ | 3 ♥ | All pass |
North Deals E-W Vul |
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Partner leads the ♦ A. What does your partnership normally lead from ace-king against a suit contract?
ANSWER: Good question! Don't you wish you had discussed that? Back when Eisenhower was President, leading the king from ace-king was considered standard. The ace might be the more common agreement nowadays, but not by a wide margin. Without an agreement, you'll just have to guess for now.
ANSWER: Good question! Don't you wish you had discussed that? Back when Eisenhower was President, leading the king from ace-king was considered standard. The ace might be the more common agreement nowadays, but not by a wide margin. Without an agreement, you'll just have to guess for now.
You play the ♦ 2 hoping that partner gets the message about your terrible
diamond suit. Declarer follows suit with the ♦ 3. Alas, partner continues with
the ♦ K and declarer plays the ♦ Q from her hand.
Partner cashes the ♣ A, you follow suit with the ♣ 7 and declarer plays the ♣ K. Then partner leads the ♠ 9 and declarer plays low from dummy.
What is going on?
ANSWER: Partner is screaming for a diamond ruff, so give it to her. Rise with your ♠ A and give partner the diamond ruff she worked so hard to get. Don't let declarer's ♦ Q talk you out of the winning play.
Partner deliberately set up declarer's diamond suit, ignoring the advice of your
♦ 2 signal. Then she cashed her ♣ A, dropping declarer's king and making
it clear that a club return is wrong. If she wanted to force declarer in clubs,
she could have continued clubs herself. But she eliminated clubs as a choice
for you, and then -- only then -- did partner lead a spade to find you with the
♠ A.
But declarer played the ♦ Q, isn't declarer out of diamonds? There is still one diamond unaccounted for. Look at dummy's ♦ J 10 of diamonds. Dropping the ♦ Q wouldn't cost declarer anything.
THE PRINCIPLE: The opponents are out to get you. Partner is the one on your side. Trust your partner.
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BONUS MINUTE: Which diamond did you play on the second trick, to partner's king? I hope you played the ♦ 9 as a suit-preference signal for spades. Partner knows you didn't have a doubleton diamond, since you didn't play high-low to her ace and king. Partner knows you don't have the queen, because you discouraged diamonds on the first trick. Partner knows you have a choice of which diamond to play at trick two. You aren't interested in a club ruff, because declarer will be ruffing behind you; partner certainly has at least six clubs for her bidding. So play a high diamond to suggest interest in the higher-ranking suit, spades.
-- Ray
Better Bridge in 5 Minutes. Guaranteed! (or the next one is free)