#3 East West Vulnerable
North East South West
1♦ 1♥ 1NT Pass
3NT AP
North (Dummy)
♠ 8 2
♥ 5 4
♦ A K J 10 6 3
♣ A K 10
West East
♠ ♠ A 7 3
♥ 8 ♥ A Q J 10 7
♦ ♦ 8 7 5 2
♣ ♣ 8
South (Declarer)
♠
♥
♦
♣
West leads the ♥8. What’s East’s plan?
This is a “counting declarer’s tricks” hand.
West leads the ♥8. Let’s analyze West’s lead for a moment. If West held three hearts, a lower spot card would have been led unless the suit has been bid and raised. Therefore, the ♥8 appears to be top of a doubleton. These means that South holds the ♥K.
East must stop and count declarer’s tricks) at trick 1. Knowing that South has the ♥K, East can count six diamonds, two clubs and one heart – 9 fast tricks! When a defender knows that declarer has enough tricks in three suits to make the contract, the defender must switch to the fourth suit
East must win the ♥A at trick 1 and switch to the ♠3 at trick 2! The low spot card in a second suit tells partner to continue leading the fourth suit.
Take a look at the entire hand:
North (Dummy)
♠ 8 2
♥ 5 4
♦ A K J 10 6 3
♣ A K 10
West East
♠ K Q 9 6 ♠ A 7 3
♥ 8 6 ♥ A Q J 10 7
♦ 9 ♦ 8 7 5 2
♣ 9 7 6 5 4 2 ♣ 8
South (Declarer)
♠ J 10 5 4
♥ K 9 3 2
♦ Q 4
♣ Q J 3
Let me hear your comments!
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