Bridge is a game of communication and flexibility. There is so much to think ahead of your moves like in Chess. Those who combine all their chances in the right priority order are the ones who finish way ahead in the race.
True, not every chance taken succeeds all the time. But it is the best probability percentage of success that should be your guiding light in close encounters where good judgement and visualisation is needed to handle the problem at hand. The good and better player weighs all his options in the right order and makes his final decision based on some logic and reasoning in the context of the game.
When everything clicks in play leaving nothing to chance and the sequence of play is in the only possible order guaranteeing success with almost 100% certainty, the play is earned expert play because there is always a difference in how an expert approaches the problem at hand, which makes him stand apart from the average run of the mill player whose vision is limited and therefore, his judgement more prone to error.
Today's problem in declarer play is really quite simple and strength forward containing nothing so cumbersome or a tangled web to clear. Yet it is in these elementary situations that players in haste make tiny slips that finally assume monumental proportions to sink their otherwise cold contract. It is, therefore, emphasised that in bridge it is the planning on the first trick or two, which is the key ingredient to success. Let us, therefore place you in the south seat and pose you the problem in the hand given as under:-
The bidding has gone
West leads a trump and as you count your winners and losers you consider yourself very lucky to receive the blessing of a favourable lead. For with a heart opening lead from west, taken by east, at the second heart, the return of spade through your AQ could spelled doom if west is in possession of the king of spades, which could be your setting trick in this ambitious contract of 5D bid.
So with a favourable trump lead how do you manage the contract and avoid the spade setting trick? Looking at the problem, it becomes abundantly clear that your only hope lies in establishing your clubs so that you are able to discard your spade loser that appears in all probability to be most unfavourably placed for you. So plan your play. After winning the first trump opening lead in hand. What should be your next move at trick 2? Remember both opponents have followed to the opening trump lead but there is a still a vital trump out there lurking to threaten you in case you make a slip. Do you kill it before tackling your clubs or do you risk the club play?
The key factor in the solution to the problem really lies in its timing. If in haste you extract the opponents only trump before you make your move in clubs, how would your reach the established club for spade discard. Let us analyse the play if the trumps are knocked out first. You then cash your AK of clubs and ruff the third club. But if clubs don't break 3-3, you need to get back to hand for the 4th club ruff which well leave the dummy with the following cards.
True your 5 of clubs is good but for that you need an entry in dummy. If you enter with the last diamond you may discard your spade loser on 5C but then are stuck up with 3 heart losers - otherwise the only chance lies in the spade Q finesse which is not working either.
So do you see the sagacity and vision of how an expert views the problem and keeps his timing right. The expert at trick 2 and 3 cashes his AK of clubs, ruffs the third club next enters with the second trump in hand to ruff the 4th club and still has 2 trumps in hand to win his winning club and be able to ruff the third heart to restrict the heart losers to 2 with a well executed play of the hand all because he was flexible all the way.
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North South
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83 AQ 83
94 1086 94
AQJ10 K65432 QD
AK582 86 5
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North East South West
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1C IH 2D 2H
3D P 5D ALL PASS
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