As declarer, your objectives are clear, and you can see all your resources. On defense, neither picture is so clear; you often have to speculate. Whichever side you sit on, it's better to think early than to wait ‘til later, then wish you had. Matchpoints; both vulnerable; East deals:
This hand appeared in an ACBL Bulletin over 20 years ago, in an article by a good (but not great) player chronicling a recent tournament. This was the write-up of the hand: "Obviously this ambitious contract should have been set, but then there wouldn't have been a story. We were playing against an experienced pair. North won the opening heart lead with the King and shifted to a club, taken with the Ace. After winning the ª A-K-Q, Bill (the declarer) led the ©J and went into a long huddle. I knew his problem - he had failed to unblock the ©J at trick one and now couldn't finesse for the 10."Finally in desperation he called for the ©A and nearly fell off his chair when north obligingly played the 10, which gave Bill a chance to sluff two diamond losers. Still not Out of the woods, Bill gave up a diamond and trumped the diamond return in his hand and led a club. South could have put him to the test, but rose with the King."I look back at this article and see four people who didn't stop soon enough to think. (1) South - Why did he lead a heart originally? With the heart bid on his left, and his own five small, he surely wasn't establishing any tricks for his side that they weren't getting anyway. On the other hand, if declarer's tricks were there in the heart suit, how could he (South) afford to sacrifice the tempo of the opening lead in trying to establish something for his side? (2) East - No, he didn't fail to unblock the ©J. There's such a thing as thinking too much, which sometimes results in creating a problem where none exists. Why take an unnecessary (and losing) finesse for the © 10? Instead, just win the §A (as he did), cash the ©J (which is what he did forget), and draw the third round of trumps with the ªJ in the dummy, finishing in the right hand to take his discards on the ©AQ.(3) North - This defender, alter his partner's passive opening lead, had the last clear chance to save the day, but like his partner, he failed to stop and think what his objectives should be. Upon winning the ©K, why the club switch? His side couldn't possibly win 2 club tricks; if South had the §AK he would surely have led that in preference to a low heart from nothing. One the other hand, if South had one club trick to win, there was no rush; there weren't enough heart discards for it to vanish. Diamond tricks, however, could quickly vanish if not taken.So each participant failed to think ahead. Each defender failed to contemplate what his
objectives ought to be before leading. Declarer failed to formulate an overall plan before
playing. But what was West's failure? She didn't overbid, and she was merely the dummy.
Well, since she was the author of the article, I'd say she failed to think it thorough
carefully when she wrote it. |
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