Queering your Contract Quickly
|
 A 7 |
|
 K J 5 |
|
 A 6 5 |
|  A Q 6 4 3 |
| Q 10 6 |
|
K J 9 5 |
| A 10 2 |
|
3 |
|
| 4 3 |
| Q J 10 9 7 2 |
| K J 10 7 5 | |
9 8 |
|
8 4 3 2 |
|
|
Q 9 8 7 6 4 |
|
|
K 8 |
| Contract: 4 hearts |
|
2 |
| Opening lead: J of clubs |
I just came from a hand, q.v. where a declarer managed in the first three leads to queer his chances for a grand slam. Here it was only a game bid, and declarer didn't do it all by himself, but did give an alert defender the opportunity to queer the contract by trick three. Opening lead was taken with the ace -- you don't take an A Q finesse with a singleton, do you? -- and declarer now laid down the J of hearts, and when that held, continued the suit. West hopped on that by taking round two with the ace, and continuing the suit, and now declarer has no way of making the hand.
Well, lemme see. First the club hook should not be dismissed out of hand. You're going for 10 winners, not an absence of club losers, which achievement doesn't mean much if you wind up with four losers elsewhere. There are two factors to consider when you see that club opening lead through the A Q and you've got a singleton. One is that you'll get full value of the A of clubs whether the club hook works or not, and the second is that even on a losing finesse, you're not dead yet. If you count out from the closed hand, you would need to take care of four spades. You can't ruff both the 3rd and 4th round of spades. To ruff spades, you have to lose one and the defense will be able to effect two heart leads. Further, even if they don't, two spade ruffs would mean spending a heart honor, and the defense would get a second heart winner on West's holding. So you'll get full value of that ace of clubs. One spade goes on the ace of clubs whether the finesse holds or not. So the club hook is not an absurdity by any means, notwithstanding the singleton.
Secondly, even declining to take that finesse, declarer could still have made his contract, losing not one spade, a heart and a club, (on a hypothetical losing finesse), but two spades and a heart. But he must have at it and establish that spade ruff -- quickly. At trick two, he should cash the ace of spades, then lose a spade. The worst the defense can do is to take two quick trump leads. But declarer could afford to ruff a spade with a high honor (should West choose that defense) and draw the last trump with the Q. As the cards lie, declarer could actually have made an overtrick on the club hook:
The ace of spades takes care of the first round, one spade is lost, and subsequently, one spade goes on the A of clubs (if the finesse is taken) and one is ruffed. Instead, declarer who had all dummy's trump wiped out, lost a heart and three spades, substantially. (Actually, the third spade lost was on the Q of clubs lead, declarer sluffing a spade. But that alone should have been instructive, for you can't make a winner out of the Q of clubs after declining the finesse, but could have earlier taking the finesse.)