Page 17 - ABF Newsletter April 2025

She tried the }10, ducked, of course, to keep her in dummy. She only held one trump in hand, so couldn’t afford to trump a club to hand, leaving her having to lead hearts from dummy – for one off, when I could ruff.
A simple unblock of the }10 would have allowed her to draw trumps, making her contract.
Declarer thought she played this next hand well, but she had a far safer line available:
WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH 1{ pass pass 1NT 12-14 pass 3NT
all pass
]J765 ]984 [7653 [A42 } Q 10 2 }A94 {52 {KJ87
] A Q 10 [ K 10 9 8 }873
{ A 10 9
Sitting East, I knew that partner held very little, so it was time to find a passive defence, by leading the ]9. Declarer won with the queen, then led a heart to the [Q – ducked, followed by the [J – won with the ace. There was little need to ‘attack’ and help de- clarer, so a spade continuation seemed appropriate, given communications were getting a little messy. Declarer won with her king, then led a small club to the {10, winning. The top two hearts were cashed, declarer throwing diamonds.
Given that I had not opened 1NT, I didn’t have a bal- anced 15 HCP. However, it was evident that I did have a balanced hand, so this means it’s time to count East’s HCP. So far, I am marked with the [A and {KJ, and I must have the }A. Declarer led a diamond to her jack, and I won the ace, however, if I’d held the }AQ, she was down. Better is to cash the {A, and exit to my two club winners. Now I’m on lead with the }Ax and have to lead a diamond around to her }KJ.
Keep that counting happening!
Three hands later we had this auction:
West holds:
] Q 8 7 2 [ J 6 5 } A Q 10 { 10 7 6
What should you lead? A trump. Partner has opened, so your side has the majority of points. So the oppo- nents do not have the HCP for game, meaning they are relying on shape. This means you should lead a trump to stop the ruffs. Simple stuff really.
Do you ever use Lightner doubles – which are lead-directing doubles? Sitting East on the follow- ing deal, this was the scariest one I’ve made in a long time, but I just had to deflect partner from leading any other suit:
]J2 [KQ93 }AK95 { J 10 8
]K109
[J74 [652 }Q432 } 10 7 {Q93 {AK762
WEST NORTH 1] dbl
EAST SOUTH 1{ pass 2] 3[
all pass
North’s 2{ bid was either natural with clubs, or any balanced hand with a game force and 2+ clubs.
Sitting East, my double asked for partner to lead dummy’s first-bid suit, i.e. clubs. I fully expected to defend 3NT redoubled, but, after some time, I de- cided that my desire to guide partner with her lead over-rode any misgivings about the potential of converting -600 to -1000 (or more, with overtricks).
How good did I feel when partner led the {3!
I won the {K, led a club to partner’s queen, and we cashed the first five tricks. Declarer tried the spade finesse for down two, +500, and I literally wanted to throw my fists in the air! Of course, they could have run (4] does make).
At the other table, without the double, West led the }2, and declarer had little option but to run it to her jack. She could now finesse the }9 for four diamond tricks. Then she tested hearts, planning to try the spade finesse if hearts didn’t break 3-3 (or jack dou- bleton). So, my concern was vindicated; partner did need guidance about the suit to lead.
Page: 17
]K32 [QJ }KJ65 {Q643
]863
pass 4[
Australian Bridge Federation Ltd. Newsletter: April 2025
]AQ754 [ A 10 8 }J86 {54
WEST NORTH EAST
pass 2{ * pass pass 3NT dbl
SOUTH 1] 2NT
all pass