What’s Your Play? 1-11

#11 Both Vulnerable
South  West  North   East
1♠            2♥       3♥        Pass
4♠           AP                  
 
                                                North
                                                ♠ A 8 5 2
                                                ♥ Q 10 4
                                                ♦ 10 9 8 6
                                                ♣ A 2
                        West                                      
            Opening lead: ♥A
 East plays the ♥J, ♥7 on the ♥AK.
West leads a third round of hearts
And East trumps with ♠9.
Your play?
                                                                                                           
                                                South you
                                                ♠ K Q 6 4 3
                                                ♥ 6 3
                                                ♦ A 7
                                                ♣ K Q 4 3
 
As South, do not overtrump the ♠9 with the ♠K or ♠Q. When in this situation (overtrumping with an honor, look to see if you have another loser in your hand. If so, it is safer to discard your inevitable (diamond) loser – loser on loser. If East has trumped with the singleton ♠9, and you overtrump, then you will wind up losing a trump trick to Wests ♠ J107, a trick you do not have to lose.
Rule: When faced with overtrumping a spot card with an honor card that may weaken your trump holding, discard a sure loser on loser instead.
 
Visit Webinars.PlayBetterBridge.com for free webinar videos called Play These Hands with Me.  World Champion and Master Teacher Donna Compton walks you through her thought process of analyzing the dummy and determining the issue of the hand. She will then talk about how she makes the decision as to which technique to apply. The combination of being a world-class player, along with the ability to share her thoughts with all levels of players makes these webinar videos unique. Married to a multi-time Barry Crane Top 500 Champion and captaining the World’s Top Bridge Team gives Donna access to state-of-the-art bidding, play and defensive agreements.  Join Donna today and take your game to the next level!

Leave a Reply