This post talks about counting losers in a trump contract. If you want some practice on doing that please read this post first:
Counting Losers
The reason why we count losers in a trump contract is to figure out whether or not we will make the contract! If we have 4 losers but are in a 4♠ contract we have one too many losers. We have to figure out how to avoid losing one of those losers.
There are several simple ways to get rid of losers. This post talks about throwing some of our losers away on winners.
Contract:4♥ Opening lead:3♦
Dummy:
♠QJT3
♥Q942
♦AKT8
♣8
Declarer:
♠K52
♥AKJ5
♦QJ952
♣4
First let's count losers. Normally one counts the losers in the hand with the longest trump. That would be either hand since they both have four trump. When this happens I take the hand that has the longest suit outside the trump suit. In this case I will count the losers in Declarer's hand since Declarer has that nice ♦ suit.
How many losers does Declarer have in each of the suits?
There are TWO losers in Declarer's hand. Declarer should have no problem making this contract.
How will Declarer do this?
Since I was Declarer I won the ♦ lead. This ♦ lead looked suspiciously like a singleton so I took out all the Opponents trump. (They split 3-2 by the way. One Opponent had three of them and the other Opponent had two.) Then I played a ♠ to knock out the Opponents A♠. I even remember to play HIGH card from the SHORT SIDE. This set up all my ♠ tricks. When the Opponents were in they also won their A♣ but that was fine. I still make an OVERTRICK in my contract! So I was VERY happy....
UNTIL I looked at my score. My Partner and I got 0% for this result!
How can bidding a game and making an overtrick be so bad?!
Well I checked the results and EVERYONE else took 12 tricks.
Hmmmmm. How do you suppose everyone took 12 tricks? Think about that and I will let you know in the next post.
Monday, February 27, 2017
Saturday, February 25, 2017
Throw Losers on Winners
This post talks about counting losers in a trump contract. If you want some practice on doing that please read this post first:
Counting Losers The reason why we count losers in a trump contract is to figure out whether or not we will make the contract! If we have 4 losers but are in a 4♠ contract we have one too many losers. We have to figure out how to avoid losing one of those losers.
There are several simple ways to get rid of losers. This post talks about throwing some of our losers away on winners.
Contract:4♠ Opening lead:K♥ Dummy: ♠KJ73 ♥862 ♦KQJ8 ♣Q2 Declarer: ♠AQ942 ♥A75 ♦A74 ♣97 First let's count losers. Normally one counts the losers in the hand with the longest trump. That would be Declarer's hand.
How many losers does Declarer have in each of the suits?
There are FOUR losers in Declarer's hand. The problem is that Declarer is only allowed to lose THREE tricks since the contract is 4♠. How will Declarer make this contract? They somehow have to get rid of ONE of their losers. How will Declarer do this? An easy way to get rid of losers in one hand is to throw them away on winners from the other hand. If you check out that ♦ suit you can see that there are four ♦ in Dummy but only three ♦ in Declarer's hand. PLUS the ♦ are all winners. So when Declarer is playing the ♦ from Dummy and runs out of ♦ to play in their hand they are allowed to play another suit. This is where Declarer can throw away one of their losers. So Declarer should start with the A♦ from their hand (high card from the short side) and then a low ♦ towards the K♦ in Dummy. Then Declarer can play the Q♦ from Dummy and their LAST ♦ from their hand. Declarer can now play the J♦ from Dummy and (since that will win the trick) throw away a losing card from their hand. Doesn't really matter what loser they throw away -- either a ♥ loser or a ♣ loser will do. But Declarer should now make their contract. Can they do this right away? Should they win the K♥ with their A♥ and then play the ♦? No! Declarer has not yet taken out the Opponents trump! The Opponents will be able to trump ♦ before Declarer gets rid of their loser! Declarer needs to take out the Opponents trump first! So the steps in order are: Step 1: Win the Opponents K♥ with the A♥ Step 2: Take out ALL the Opponents trump. Even if one of them holds ALL FOUR TRUMP. (They sometimes do!) Step 3: Play the ♦ suit HIGH CARD from the SHORT SIDE ending in Dummy Step 4: Throw away a loser from their hand Step 5: Rejoice in a contract well played
Counting Losers The reason why we count losers in a trump contract is to figure out whether or not we will make the contract! If we have 4 losers but are in a 4♠ contract we have one too many losers. We have to figure out how to avoid losing one of those losers.
There are several simple ways to get rid of losers. This post talks about throwing some of our losers away on winners.
Contract:4♠ Opening lead:K♥ Dummy: ♠KJ73 ♥862 ♦KQJ8 ♣Q2 Declarer: ♠AQ942 ♥A75 ♦A74 ♣97 First let's count losers. Normally one counts the losers in the hand with the longest trump. That would be Declarer's hand.
How many losers does Declarer have in each of the suits?
There are FOUR losers in Declarer's hand. The problem is that Declarer is only allowed to lose THREE tricks since the contract is 4♠. How will Declarer make this contract? They somehow have to get rid of ONE of their losers. How will Declarer do this? An easy way to get rid of losers in one hand is to throw them away on winners from the other hand. If you check out that ♦ suit you can see that there are four ♦ in Dummy but only three ♦ in Declarer's hand. PLUS the ♦ are all winners. So when Declarer is playing the ♦ from Dummy and runs out of ♦ to play in their hand they are allowed to play another suit. This is where Declarer can throw away one of their losers. So Declarer should start with the A♦ from their hand (high card from the short side) and then a low ♦ towards the K♦ in Dummy. Then Declarer can play the Q♦ from Dummy and their LAST ♦ from their hand. Declarer can now play the J♦ from Dummy and (since that will win the trick) throw away a losing card from their hand. Doesn't really matter what loser they throw away -- either a ♥ loser or a ♣ loser will do. But Declarer should now make their contract. Can they do this right away? Should they win the K♥ with their A♥ and then play the ♦? No! Declarer has not yet taken out the Opponents trump! The Opponents will be able to trump ♦ before Declarer gets rid of their loser! Declarer needs to take out the Opponents trump first! So the steps in order are: Step 1: Win the Opponents K♥ with the A♥ Step 2: Take out ALL the Opponents trump. Even if one of them holds ALL FOUR TRUMP. (They sometimes do!) Step 3: Play the ♦ suit HIGH CARD from the SHORT SIDE ending in Dummy Step 4: Throw away a loser from their hand Step 5: Rejoice in a contract well played
Monday, February 13, 2017
Killer Lead
WARNING! The following post talks about Jacoby Transfers. If you do not know what they are then do NOT bother reading this post.
Here is a hand from a few days ago where I was an Opponent. You are now my Partner who has to make a killing lead against a game contract.
The previous post discussed the bidding. Check out this post first:
Was the Bidding Correct?
So, to get the bidding from your perspective, here's what happened from your point of view.
Your RHO opens the bidding 1NT. ("15 to 17" their Partner announced.) You Pass. Your LHO bid 2♦. ("Transfer" your RHO announces.) Your Partner Passes. 2♥ your RHO bid. You Pass. 2NT bid LHO. Partner Passes. 3♥ RHO bid. You Pass. 4♥ LHO bid. This ended the auction.
Here's a recap:
The last post talked about what was wrong with the bidding. LHO has somehow misbid. You don't know WHAT the misbid was. Maybe they bid 2NT with more points than they should and are now making up for it. Maybe they are now overbidding their hand with the 4♥ bid. You don't know. But you do have to make a lead. What will you lead from this holding?
Your hand:
♠AJ9
♥765
♦Q73
♣K985
Show Answer
| RHO | You! | RHO | Partner |
| 1NT (15-17) | Pass | 2♦ (Transfer) | Pass |
| 2♥ | Pass | 2NT | Pass |
| 3♥ | Pass | 4♥ | Pass |
| Pass | Pass |
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