Declarer play has a fascination of its own. When it succeeds in reaching its goal, it gives immense satisfaction, but when it fails, the disappointment is equally large. This can turn agonizing if one has blundered in the play and gone down in an ice cold contract. But if it succeeds on account of the opponents misplay or lack of vision in finding the right defence, the sense of success glows.
There have been spectacular plays and some ingeniously baffling defences that we have witnessed in bridge but these come on some rare hands. But most of the time, hands come with a little or no problem and we tend to forget them when they are over. But even in these hands when a play differs from the ordinary sequence, it leaves a memory behind to savour and admire.
Today's illustration is one such hand that was played by a European bridge star long time back in the 1936, European Championship. The contract was 4H and in duplication at other tables none succeeded in making it except the Austrian expert Schneider who received a top club lead of the KC on the following deal:
As south, how would you go about making 4H on the above lead? Let us analyse the possible loser and weigh our chances for the above contract to succeed. On the face of it, the hand poses no problem if there is no trump loser and the JH falls either single, doubleton or tripleton. But if not, we have a serious problem with one club loser on the lead and 2 sure spade losers.
Of course if the diamonds behave evenly and the declarer manages to discard one of his loser on the fourth diamond, the contract can succeed. But there is a lack of entry problem baffling the declarer. After playing the KH, how does he get back to hand to dispose off his black loser on the run of diamonds hoping for an even break.
For the trumps need to be tackled for 3 rounds first and there is no way declarer can do that. Of course the only logical recourse was to hope for a club ruff in hand to reach it. And the only hope of successfully doing that before the opponents realise their potential winners was to duck the first club and hope and defence errs.
When Schnieder ducked the first trick, west put on his thinking cap and afraid to open the spade suit himself decided to fall back on the safe switch of the trump to the king in dummy. Winning the K in dummy, Schnieder now realise that the trumps were not going to break evenly. So he changed his plan reading the opponents distribution perfectly. With confidence he played back the first spade and the spotlight was now on east. Winning it with KS.
When east returned a club, Schnieder on winning the club ace, played the second spade to east's ace. The crucial point of defence had been reached. As a defender in east's chair, what would you have returned and why? Yes a diamond would have prematurely taken away declarer's entry and would ultimately severe him from the dummy. In actual play, east played the third round of clubs, which Schnieder ruffed. Cashing one more round of trumps, he now played a diamond to create this end position.
When Schnieder ruffed a spade and led a diamond to dummy, the stage was set for the trump coup de grace at the winning spade play from dummy. It was Kaput for east. What could be done? Ruffing would give declarer the rest, while discarding would not change the scenario with the lead remaining in dummy.
Either way east was a dead duck on his own account for declarer needed 3 entries, one to ruff a club to shorten his trump for the trumps coup, one to ruff a spade and the third to execute the winning spade and he bid only 2. East provided him with the third at the right time for if declarer had taken the club ruff earlier, the 4th club from defender would have extracted one of declarer's trumps prematurely, before the spades could establish. Brilliantly played by the Lone Ranger Schnieder.
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North West East South
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J9754 Q32 AK10 86
K 83 J542 AQ10976
AKQ6 10743 J8 952
A62 KQ94 8753 K10
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North West East South
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J97 Q 10 -
- - J5 Q109
AK 1074 J 95
- 9 8
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