Practice Hand 2: Timing and Entries Under Pressure
Browse topics:
These hands are very "difficult" in the sense that most people will get them wrong. The correct approach is fairly simple to learn. These particular hands are very illustrative of the main themes. Don't be discouraged if you get them all wrong, the ideas will stick with you.
The hands are examples of taking care of entries and using them productively. To get the most out of them, try make a good attempt before looking at the solutions.
1. This hand came up at an Australian National, playing in 4♠ , Lead is the ♥ Q
2. playing in 4♠, lead is the ♠3
3. Playing in 4♥, lead is the ♣K
Solutions
1. playing in 4♠ , Lead is the ♥ Q
The solution is elegant but simple, and fits in with these two principles
a) setting up side suits as a priority
b) using entries productively (article to come on this).
Win the opening lead with the Ace, play Ace of clubs and ruff a club, then return to dummy with the Ace of trumps. Now you just play club winners, leaving two trumps for the defenders to ruff whenever they like. You will only lose two trumps and a diamond. Dummy, which looked packed with entries, actually didn't have many at all. This line works because when the opponents ruff a club, dummy still has two trumps, while the opponents only have 1. That impressive dummy might have made declarer forget how entries ALWAYS need to be well managed.
It should be noted that any other sequence is less safe. For example, cashing the Ace of trumps before ruffing a club, removes an entry from dummy and now relies on 2-2 spade break. Or, playing two top clubs to hastily pitch a heart is also unsafe, as now when you ruff the third club it may get over ruffed by a singleton trump.
While this is a fairly simple hand to execute, almost everyone will get it wrong. However, normal principles of entry management and SUSS should guide a player to the correct sequence.
2. playing in 4♠, lead is the ♠3
Win the trump lead and play a heart immediately (set up side suits as a number 1 priority). Don't get distracted by the idea of pitching a losing club on the diamond. Dummy's diamond is a crucial entry. Entries are the key factor and limitation in a hand, don't waste them without careful thought (use entries productively). Opponents win the heart and play another trump, win it in dummy and ruff a heart, return to dummy with another trump and ruff another heart. Take stock here, 3 trumps have been played and 3 hearts. The position is now
Now you can return to dummy with the diamond, and play another heart, just conceding the trick (fully set up the suit). Now dummy has a club loser, but otherwise is good. It should be noted that you had JUST enough entries to do all that.
3. Playing in 4♥, lead is the ♣K
A good start to the hand is to think like this "outside of trumps I have 1 spade trick, 1 diamond trick and 1 club trick. Now, IF trumps break 2-2 I could just draw trumps, and make 5 trumps in my hand, and have 2 ruffs in dummy, thats 7 tricks in trumps, and a total of 10 tricks." Thats a good start.
The problem is if trumps don't break, you will need an extra trick. Lets quickly check our losers if trumps don't break. 1 trump, 1 spade, 1 diamond. We need one extra winner though if they don't break, so either we need the ♦A to be on side, or we need to set up spades. A very sensible line of play is to win trick 1, and duck a spade, getting ready to set up spades. Or if you like, you can cash one top trump in your hand before doing so (Keep dummy's top trump, you need it as an entry, setting up suits consumes a lot of entries). At trick three when the opponents got the lead, they played diamonds (knocking out the diamond entry).
Small side note - when you duck a spade you take a small risk of there being a singleton, but its worth it (in fact being "scared" of a singleton is a bit of an illusion, because they will generally be ruffing with a natural trump trick).
Trumps broke 3-1 and the Ace of diamonds was offside, and spades broke 4-2! Yet the expert declarer made it by setting up a spade, making in total 2 spade tricks (the long setup spade was the second trick), 4 trumps in hand, 2 ruffs in dummy, 1 diamond, 1 club, total of 10 tricks.
It would be a good idea for the reader to go over this hand. It should be seen and felt that after winning the diamond return at trick 3, and cashing two top trumps. Declarer must get started on spades immediately. Ruffing a club before getting started on spades would be a big mistake, those club ruffs are important entries to dummy!
Where to next
Build the habit with guided practice
Reading helps, but trainer reps are what make bidding decisions automatic under pressure. Use the trainer to train your mind and lock this theme in.
Sign up first, then choose your subscription plan. Includes a 7-day free trial.