DEFENSIVE PROBLEM #19
Rubber bridge
East dealer
Both sides vulnerable
| NORTH (dummy) ♠ A Q 10 8 4 ♥ Q 9 8 7 ♦ K ♣ A K 9 |
||
| EAST (you) ♠ J 9 7 3 2 ♥ 6 5 4 2 ♦ 7 ♣ Q J 10 |
| SOUTH | WEST | NORTH | EAST |
|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | — | Pass |
| 1 ♥ | 5 ♦ | 6 ♥ | Pass |
| Pass | Pass |
West leads the diamond ace: king, seven, three. West continues with the diamond queen; dummy ruffs with the heart queen.
Plan your defense.
Solution
| NORTH ♠ A Q 10 8 4 ♥ Q 9 8 7 ♦ K ♣ A K 9 |
||
| WEST ♠ 5 ♥ — ♦ A Q 10 9 8 6 5 4 2 ♣ 8 4 3 |
EAST ♠ J 9 7 3 2 ♥ 6 5 4 2 ♦ 7 ♣ Q J 10 | |
| SOUTH ♠ K 6 ♥ A K J 10 3 ♦ J 3 ♣ 7 6 5 2 |
A WAITING GAME. With the advantage of discarding after the dummy, East should not throw a spade or a club until dummy does. A premature black-suit discard gives declarer a twelfth trick. The correct defense is to underruff at trick two and hope for a black-suit trick later. (This hope depends on West's guarding the third round of clubs, as in the diagram.)
(Based on a deal and analysis from the 1964 National Intercollegiate Bridge Tournament by William S. Root and Lawrence Rosler.)
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