Draw Trumps with Purpose: Avoid Autopilot

Another example of a recent hand where asking yourself Can I draw trumps now? gives the winning line.

Playing in 4 ♠ , you get a club lead. What is the approximate plan? Assume trumps break 3-2.

This is a hand where there are probably multiple ways to make the contract, but watching a world class declarer it went like this - Win it, and look to setting up your long suit. Its true dummy is weak and often your strategy will be to go after ruffs immediately, but remember you also need to use your entries productively, so playing a diamond to the King seems very productive. You play a diamond to the King which holds, and another diamond. Back comes a club, which you win, pitching a heart. Now, Can you just draw trumps? You should take the time to see that you can, using simple trick count. 

Count tricks - 4 trumps in hand, 2 ruffs in dummy. 1 heart (ace), 2 diamonds (the King and the diamond you can set up), 2 clubs. That totals 11 tricks, but of course the opponents will ruff one, reducing it to 10. 

So the plan goes, cash two top trumps (dummy has two trumps left). Now ruff a club (dummy will have 1 trump left), then ruff a diamond, which fully sets up the diamond suit. Now ruff a club (reducing dummy to no more trumps), and cash one of the hard earned diamonds you have set up. The opponents will ruff this diamond with their master trump, but that is 10 tricks.

hint. Some people find it hard to count trumps tricks on hands like this. After you draw two rounds and both follow, there is one outstanding trump. You basically make 4 trumps in hand, and 2 ruffs in dummy, for a total of 6 tricks. That outstanding trump will reduce that winner count, or alternatively the opponents will ruff one of your other tricks, removing one of your winners somewhere. So you can see it as 3 tricks in hand (instead of 4), and 2 in dummy. There are more articles on counting trump tricks in the declarer play tab if this is something you want to improve on. 

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