Page 155 - Learn Bridge Ver2_Neat

Hand 4
Í J 8 7
You should be thinking about having Ì A 6 3
Ë Q 6 2
spades as trumps so keep C. A. L. M.
Ê Q J 10 5
(There are 9 top tricks in notrump Í A K Q 6 4 Í 10 3 2
and it is not wrong if you chose the Ì 7 4 Ì Q J 8 5
notrump game). Ë A K 5 Ë 7 4
Ê 9 7 3 Ê A K 6 2
Í 9 5
Counting top tricks by power: 3 spades, 2
10 Ì K 10 9 2
diamonds and 2 clubs. 16 10 Ë J 10 9 8 5
Adding tricks from other sources: You 4 Ê 8 4
probably have 2 tricks by length in
spades. If we ruff a diamond in the short hand that will be trick 10.
Loser check. 1 diamond, 1 club and 2 hearts.
Manage. Announce "game in spades", win the probable ÊQ lead, play
ËA, ËK and ruff one in the short hand. Now draw trumps. 10 tricks.

Notice that ruffing in the short hand gets us an extra trick. Ruffing
in the long hand guards our gates.

Hand 5

This hand looks to be played in
Í A 6 3 2
hearts so keep C. A. L. M. Ì A K 10 2
Counting top tricks by power: 1 spade, 4 Ë 5
hearts, 2 diamonds and a club. 8 in all. Ê A 9 8 5
Í K 10 7 Í Q J 8 5
Adding tricks from other sources: The
Ì 7 5 4 Ì 8 6
powerful thing about 4-4 trump fits is
Ë Q 8 4 3 Ë J 10 7 2
that we can make either hand the "long Ê Q 10 6 Ê K J 3
hand". If we can trump things however, Í 9 4
we have already counted 4 trumps in one 15 Ì Q J 9 3
7 8 Ë A K 9 6
hand so we must ruff twice in the other.
10 Ê 7 4 2
Loser check. We have 2 clubs and a
spade but, if we draw trumps there is nowhere for the 4th spade in the
North hand to go, so it becomes a loser.
Manage. Duck the first spade and win a spade. Ruff a spade with the Ì9

141