As dummy play is the most exciting aspect of Bridge, which attracts kibitzers from the Bridge playing arenas, it is imperative that serious consideration he given to how we can tackle problems in dummy play as it is the most important testing ground to measure a Bridge player's capability. In our illustration for today, let as put you in the south seat to test your dummy play.
North south are in 3NT after north open 1C on the hand given below, south responds 1H, which north raises to 3H. But south looking to his weak suit prefers 3NT. The following NS hands are given as under:
The opening leads from west is the JS to the Q from dummy, taken by east with the KS, which naturally you duck looking a bit perturbed, for the opponents have struck a devastating opening blow on your weakest suit making you wonder whether 4H was a much better contract then 3NT. But now that you are in it up to your neck, you might as well stand upto the challenge posed. And fight back with your backs to the wall. Remember this is a team event and the likely contract in the other room would perhaps be 4H which looking at the dummy would have been easier to manage even if the Hearts turn out to the 4-1. But here you are in 3NT with a combined point tally of 30 HCPs and it would be a shame if you fail to make 3NT.
Getting on with the play, east after winning the KS, returns the 2S to his partner's 9S who continue with the 10S forcing you to discard a club from dummy with east playing the 6S.This time you take the AS and immediately finesse the 10H, which holds successfully. But to add to your woes, east discards a club when you next cash the KH. Well well, if hearts are 4-1, your decision to play 3NT was not that bad after all. But as declarer in the south seat, what next?
Despite your high count of 30 IMPs in the 2 hands, the contract looks by no means secure. As you survey the dummy, you can see 3 hearts tricks, 1 spade trick, three diamond tricks and one club trick for a tally of 8. You need to find the elusive 9th trick for your contract of 3NT. Failure to do so would cost a 10 IMP loss if the contract 4H or 3NT is made in the other room. Making 3NT against a makeable 4H contract would only yield a 1 IMP loss, which should be your target. So it is either losing 1IMP or 10 IMP.
The dummy insight clearly ponits out that if at all the 9th trick is to come, it can only be possible from the club suit. Many hasty declarers would rush headlong for the club finesse as the only chance. But if you think hard, you may not agree banking on the club finesse as the only chance.
First of all let us try to recapulate the possible distribution of the opponents' hands from their opening lead and subsequent discards. Takeing positive inferences from the opposing tactics helps declare are in his judgment for the best dummy play of the hand. Here taking the spade suit on the whole, you must have known by now that it is east who holds the 4th outstanding spade (remember he returned the 2S after taking KS on the 1st trick). Form east's first discard of the club what inference do you take? Yes, that east must be having at least 4 clubs to be able to afford wasting a club looking to the threatening club suit in dummy. Now you have the complete reconstruction of east's hand to be a 4-1-4-4 hand as he is known to have the singleton heart. Now do you see the ray of light for finding the 9thtrick? Certainly not from the club finesse, which is likely to fail on the odds. But a throw-in play is on the cards now with east tangled on a throw-in with the spades. But for that you need first to eliminate his exit cards. Hence it is imperative for the contract that you cash the AH to force east to discard either his outstanding spade or a club or diamond. Say if east discards a second club,then you can afford even the losing club finesse, hoping to make a 2nd club trick. In case east discards a diamond (most likely), you cash 3 rounds of diamonds before throwing him in with the spade, to play into your club tenace, for east held:
As expected the contract in the other room was 4H and after the spade lead, south discarded dummy's spade loser on the diamonds, took the losing club finesse, ruffed the spade return, cashed a top heart and the AC, then ruffed a club in hand for west to over ruff who returned his 3rd spade, ruffed in dummy. With a 4th club ruffed in hand for west to overruff again, leaving west with no other card left but to return either a trump or a diamond either of which yielded the 10th trick for the declarer. By the way, did you lose 1 or 10 IMPs?
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North South
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Q 5 A 7 4 3 J 10 9 4 2 K 8 6 2
A K 10 3 J 7 5 2 A 9 5 4
Q 10 A K J A 4 2 8 5 4 2
A Q 7 6 2 8 3 J 7 K 5 9 4
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