#1 Neither Vulnerable
South West North East
2NT Pass 3♣ Pass
3♠ Pass 4♠ AP
North
♠ K 10 6 5
♥ 9 8
♦ 4 3 2
♣ K J 5 4
West East
♠ ♠
♥ J ♥
♦ ♦
♣ ♣
South (Declarer)
♠ A J 4 3 2
♥ A Q
♦ K 7 6
♣ A Q 9
West leads the ♥J. What is South’s plan?
This is an “exception to the rule” hand.
Generally, when holding nine or more cards in a suit missing the queen, declarer cashes the AK and waits for the queen to fall. In this example, South is looking at a vulnerable diamond holding ~ If East (dangerous hand) gets in with the ♠Q and leads a diamond through South’s ♦K76, South is down 1. To avoid this scenario, South forgoes the 8 ever, 9 never guideline and takes a finesse ♠Q to West is “safe” because West cannot lead a diamond through South’s ♦K76. Once trump are pulled, Declarer ends up losing one spade and two diamonds (one diamond goes on the long club in dummy) and makes the contract.
Occasionally, taking a look at the entire hand will lead you to an exception to the general guideline we saw here.
North (Dummy)
♠ K 10 6 5
♥ 9 8
♦ 4 3 2
♣ K J 5 4
West East
♠ 7 ♠ Q 9 8
♥ J 10 7 3 ♥ K 6 5 4 2
♦ A 9 8 5 ♦ Q J 10
♣ 10 6 3 2 ♣ 8 7
South (Declarer)
♠ A J 4 3 2
♥ A Q
♦ K 7 6
♣ A Q 9
Let me hear your comments!
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