Remember, You Don't Hafta Ruff
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A 2 |
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A 7 6 |
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K 8 5 |
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A K 10 8 2 |
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Q J 7 5 |
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K 9 8 6 4 3 |
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K Q 3 2 |
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9 |
7 6 4 | |
J 9 2 |
6 5 | |
Q J 9 |
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| 10 |
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J 10 8 5 4 |
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A Q 10 3 |
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7 4 3 |
Opening lead was the queen of spades, taken by the ace, and this declarer proceeded to shoot himself in the foot: he cashed his ace of hearts, spurning a possible double finesse for the K and Q. Well, it wiped out any chance for an overtrick (a lot more heart declarers pulled in 11 tricks than 10), but he still should have made his contract, losing 2 hearts and a club. An early force, however, seems to have unhinged him.
At trick three (and not knowing of the 4-1 split), declarer continued hearts, taken by West with the queen. Now came a spade force with the second round of the suit. Declarer ruffed and had the same number of trump as West, needing to knock out West's last honor so as to capture the last trump spot card. Of course, a heart lead, backed up with some good spot cards (with the 9 falling), knocked out the K, alrighty, but another spade lead cut declarer to one fewer trump than West held, and declarer lost control. West was indeed going to get three of his four trump, while his partner took a club.
Declarer actually had two ways of making his contract after that incautious cashing of the heart ace. One would have been to discard a club on that second round of spades. He's always got a club loser (well, barring great luck), and this would allow him to handle a third spade lead in dummy. Nor would it pay West to take dummy's last trump off the table and then force, for then the hand would be over. Declarer could merely run all the rest of the tricks, save one club loser.
And the second way? Well, one declarer came close (after cashing the A of hearts, then low to his J and West's Q, ruffing the spade return). This is what he did: He ran four diamonds and then tried to cash two clubs. But West sluffed a club on the fourth round of diamonds and the second club wouldn't fly. West ruffed, cashed his king of trump, and there was still a club loser to go. If only declarer had cashed his two clubs first and then his four diamonds, he would have had his adversary. The hand would have looked like this, just before cashing the last diamond:
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7 |
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10 8 2 |
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7 5 |
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9 6 4 |
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K 3 |
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------ |
------ | |
------ |
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Q |
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| ------ |
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10 8 |
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10 |
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7 |
(At this point, declarer has lost only one trick, to the Q of hearts, and by my hypothesis, not actual play, declarer had accepted the second round spade force, cashed two clubs and was now about to lead his last diamnd.) It wouldn't pay West to ruff that fourth round. Ruff low and he's overruffed, meaning the defense is held to two hearts and a club. Ruff high and declarer sluffs off. Now he's back in the catbird seat with one more trump than West again and the means to pick up West's last trump. Another spade force would be a fleabite. Declarer ruffs and draws West's last trump.
Well, suppose West sluffs off on that fourth diamond. That's the 10th trick, now (by my hypothesis). Declarer merely leads a club, which he was always going to lose. If West ruffs, he merely ruffs his partner's natural club trick, and the hand is over. So he sluffs a spade, East winning. And now with two tricks left, declarer has the spots to pick up one of the two remaining tricks.
Could West have done better wiping off dummy's two trump (when declarer leads to his J of hearts, taken by the Q)? No, because declarer started with one more trump than West and can absorb one force when all other winners are developed.
This isn't exactly a "pure" play on forcing, obviously. Declarer would have done better to come to a top diamond at trick two and start a double hook in hearts. And not doing that, he has a couple of strategies to inhibit a ruff in the long hand (by ducking the second spade lead), or to take the bite out of the one force effected, by the line just descibed. I'll try to find a pure play. Nevertheless, some declarers didn't find a means of counteracting a second force when West got in with the second top trump, and the forcing game was an effective defense for that pair.