There is nothing more fulfilling than to play safe at Bridge. But this ability lies with only those who can comprehend the end result very early in the play. For this comprehension, declarer needs to have the vision and the expertise to work out as to where lies the safety of the contract.
Many a time we miss that opportunity, which comes our way. Too late we realise that the moment is lost and then nothing can be done about it. Declarer play has a fascination of its own and a level that is determined by the player's ability to skilfully handle the contract at hand. How many times do we see the same hand played so differently by many players depending on their level of play. The winner is the one who takes into cognisance the odds stacked against him and tries to find the best way in overcoming them.
Today's illustration is one such example of an expert declarer play that would reflect the level and caliber of play vis-à-vis the safety of the contract.
Of course we realise that in every contract, declarer tries at best to be safe as far as possible. But then the safety play is not too clearly visible all the time and at times, either haste or lack of proper reasoning and logic applied make a declarer waver in his play and choose a line that can lead to failure if the cards don't turn up our way favourably. Safety play is, therefore, emphasised time and again as a top priority if and when possible to execute.
Let us now take up our illustration for today and see how north and south manage their contract of 4S based on the following bidding:
The bidding has gone as under:
The opening lead is the 5 of hearts with north as declarer. Put yourself in the north seat and see if you can match the declarer play made in the actual deal by England expert David Price in a European Championship. This is a hand where many can go wrong and end up on the losing side not even realising when the tide struck.
One look at the dummy, and you as declarer can see that your contract is not all secure with the possibility of 2 losers in hearts, one in diamond and of course the ace of trumps. Here the crux of the problem is presented immediately with the diabolical heart lead putting you under presume as to whether to go up with the ace of hearts, or the queen of hearts or even a low one depending on how you place the heart distribution of the opponents.
The issue that needs to be resolved first is to interpret the opening lead 5H. If it is from a normal 3 card lead there is no problem for then all one can lose is 2 hearts and the trump ace. But what about the diamond loser? Yes if the tempo in hearts is lost, the diamond switch before the ace of spades is knocked out can well defeat the contract. Therefore, the hearts tempo needs to be gained immediately. Of course if you take the precautionary ace of hearts for fear of 5H being a singleton, you are bound to lose 2 hearts in any case plus the diamond loser and the trump ace. So you have no choice but to take the heart finesse. Well done. It works. You play a trump to east's ace and back comes the KH.
What do you do now and why? Do you hit the AH or duck. It is here that the high class Bridge player puts on his thinking cap and works out the winning strategy, which is to duck the heart king. Yes - can you spot why? Because if the hearts are 4-1 safety play commands to protect your ace of hearts from a ruff, otherwise west would ruff, shift to a diamond and you would be defeated. Now if east continues hearts your ace is ruffed out no doubt but you can now establish hearts by a high ruff for a diamond loser discard on your good hearts.
West had led from KJXX. It was not easy to duck KH but then in Bridge remember safety first!
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North South
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J10875 KQ96
109742 AQ3
97 A5
5 A1086
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W N E S
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P P 1D X
2D 2S P 3D
P 3H P 4S
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