A Misguided Signal
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|  J 8 5 |
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 K Q 5 |
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 K J |
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 J 8 5 4 2 |
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| Q 9 6 4 |
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K 7 |
| J 7 6 |
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10 9 3 2 |
| Q 9 8 7 |
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5 3 2 |
| 10 5 |
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K Q 9 6 |
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A 10 3 2 |
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A 8 4 |
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A 10 6 5 |
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A 7 |
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The reference to a misguided signal in Example Four reminded me of this one. I had played the hand in three no with no spectacular play. Opening lead was a low spade, the king drawing my ace. I took the diamond hook to the jack, which held, cashed the king, then led a low club and ducked to West. I led the club in part because if you're going to give your opponents any trouble discarding, you've got to lose a few tricks, and partly to blow a little smoke and let them think it's the suit I want to develop, when it's the suit I'd least like to see them attack.
West won with the 10 and now led a heart. I won in the closed hand and led a spade to my jack for I had a spade coming and now had 2 spades, 3 diamonds, 3 hearts and a club. With that trick in the bag, I cashed the rest of my winners: two hearts, the ace of clubs, ace of diamonds in case the queen would fall, and then the 10 of diamonds to West, who now cashed her queen of spades allowing me to win a 10th trick with my 10.
But when I looked at the rundown in OKbridge, I saw that one worthy had picked up eleven tricks on the hand. Eleven? How'd he do that, I wondered. And when I looked at the hand, I saw how: That declarer went after spades right back after taking the king, low to dummy, finessing the 8, and now the jack to knock out the queen. On that round of spades, East signalled his good holding in clubs with his 9!
Well, now. West dutifully led the suit, starting with her 10, covered by the jack, queen, which was taken by the ace. And do you see what has happened in the club suit? The defense started out with 4 of the top 6 cards, and now on a single round of the suit, plus the signal, there's only one of those cards left, and they didn't win that round! Further, declarer can now establish the club suit in dummy for four winners by knocking out the king!
Well, I guess you don't need to be told much more. Three spades, three hearts, four clubs and two diamonds comes to 12! Of course, there won't be twelve winners, since he's had to lose a spade to establish the third spade and a club to establish that suit, but it's eleven winners without even chancing the diamond hook! (However, declarer did chance a spade finesse.)
When you have four cards and the opposition has five (or six), that's not less reason to hang onto your four-card holding. That's perhaps all the more reason, since declarer has more tricks to run if you allow him the run of that suit. And that's why that declarer made a rare eleven tricks on the hand.
As for the signal: what if West doesn't get the message to lead a club? There are a couple of answers to that. First of all, by the time you get done telling your partner of powerful holding in clubs which you'd like him to lead, you no longer have a poweful holding and shouldn't want him to lead a club. It costs you a trick as you can see. Secondly, when you're looking at 9 cards in the suit and might suppose declarer has two and you have no outside entries, you couldn't run the suit if you did establish it. Who's going to lead it to you? And thirdly, declarer has to work out his own destiny and I'll tell you what would have happened if your partner never learned of your powerful clubs until the end of the hand: declarer would have picked up 3 spades, 3 diamonds, 3 hearts and a club like the rest of us.
Guard those 4-card holdings like a watchdog and except in urgent cases, let declarer worry about how he's going to get his winners.