Practice your Bridge Endplay Technique
How is your technique for eliminations/endplays at trump suit contracts?
The morning club matchpoint duplicate game of January 4 gave declarers two opportunities to practice good technique. That proper technique on neither board, if properly defended, actually should produce an extra trick is disappointing, but the techniques exercised by declarers are, nonetheless, instructional.
Board 17 was declared by fellow blogger Robin Hillyard of Carlisle, MA.
Robin (East) won the ♥9 lead to the 4, 3, and jack. Robin cashed the ♠A at Trick 2, getting the good news that spades were splitting. Recognizing that endplays work better when declarer and dummy hands are mirrored, Robin went about equalizing the club length between dummy and his hand. The next several plays:
- Cash ♥A
- Cash ♥K, pitching a club (the key play)
- Ruff a heart, thus eliminating the heart suit
The position now is:
Robin led a club from dummy in the shown position.
If South wins, South can play a diamond through dummy and declarer will be held to ten tricks, losing not only a trump and a club, but also a diamond. Fortunately for declarer, at the table North (not a member of my partnership!) rose with the ♣A. And had no answer: he could cash the high trump but then was faced with losing options of offering a ruff sluff by leading a heart or club (in which case Robin would discard his third diamond from hand while ruffing in dummy) or leading a diamond into dummy’s tenace. Making eleven tricks.
Board 15 was declared by me.
South led a spade to North’s ace and North returned a spade to my (East’s) king.
I drew the opponents’ trumps with the AK. I began the elimination of the pointed suits:
- ♦A
- ♦K
- ♦ ruff in hand
- ♠ ruff in dummy
- ♣A (the key play)
- ♦ ruff in hand
The position now is:
I led a club toward dummy’s queen. The hoped-for position is that dummy’s ♣Q loses to a doubleton ♣K of North. Unfortunately for me, but not unexpected, South held the ♣K, and even Aunt Matilda and Uncle Hortense can make eleven tricks, losing only the ♠A and the ♣K.
You might have noticed that both Robin and I sat East. Did we have a chance, then, to replicate each other’s technique?
No, we did not. My pair did not play Board 17, and, while Robin declared Board 15, he heard a different auction and received a different lead.
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Hi Jeff,
Thanks for writing these up 🙂
Actually, on seeing the layout for board 17 (I never did find out who had the last spade because I claimed as soon as North took his ace of clubs), the hand is cold for 5 (on proper technique) as long as South isn’t on lead initially or, if he is as was the case for me, as long as he doesn’t lead a diamond.
Even if he wins the club trick for his side (North doesn’t rise ace) then I would still make it by letting the first diamond come round to my ace and then putting North in with the last spade.
Sorry not to have noticed that before.
Phasmid,
Of course! I feel silly for not having noticed, too. Thanks for the correction.
Sort of a lucky layout, in that South did not have the extra spade to give him two later entries (a club and and a trump) with which to lead diamonds, even if he missed (as who would not?) leading a diamond on opening lead.