Saturday, August 19, 2006 8:45 PM

Counting Tricks

PITBULLS:

Every Bridge player is taught , at an early stage, to count their tricks as declarer. This count leads to a plan of attack for the declarer and guides their line of play. What is not so obvious is that this counting tricks is imperative on defense also. The basic skills of applying hand patterns & counting HCP’s are for the ultimate goal of counting declarers tricks. Here is a couple of hands that show this skill in action.

BJ Trelford held ♠AQ109 ♥8xxx ♦xxxx ♣x and the opponents had a laborious auction after a spade opening bid to get to 3NT. BJ decided and rightly so , that a bad opening lead would give them their contract so he doubled for a spade lead. The board came down with

♠Kxxxx ♥Kx ♦AKQx ♣Qx

more than they announced on the bidding ( naturally ). I led my doubleton spade and BJ allowed declarer to win her doubleton jack . Declarer immediately returned a spade won by BJ’s spade spot. BJ returned a heart and it went jack from declarer and Queen from me won by the King on the board. Declarer leads a diamond to her jack and a club to the queen which wins. Declarer now leads a heart and finesses the heart 10 which I win . I return a diamond which declarer wins on the board & leads a spade which BJ wins declarer discarding a club and I discard a heart. Now what ? BJ simply counts tricks. Declarer has 1 spade , 2 hearts , 4 diamonds and 1 club. Declarer can not hold the club ace for two reasons. I would have taken my club king or she would have 9 top tricks from the start. BJ just cashes his spade and returns the diamond for the dummy lock. Declarer can not get to her heart Ace nor finesses the heart spot to make the contract if BJ returns a heart after I discarded one. Note without the double , I would have led my 4^th best club which would have resulted in –630 . Good thing BJ has seen my leads before.

Another hand from the same night which involves counting declarers tricks in NT. I held ♠Axxxxx ♥10x ♦AJ98x ♣void and they open a strong NT vul vrs vul. I overcall 2♠ which in our system shows spades & a minor. They double for penalties and for some strange reason the 1NT opener pulls to 2NT and they carry on to 3NT. I infer that BJ must hold 2♠’s minimum or else he would have attempted to find my minor. I lead my 5^th best spade and the board hits with

♠Qxx ♥AQxx ♦xx ♣987x

BJ holds ♠Jx ♥Jxxx ♦10x ♣AQxxx and inserts the spade jack won my declarers King. BJ & I play Smith echos so it is imperative to notice partners card when declarer leads their first suit. Declarer lead a heart and your partner plays the 10 to show a Smith echo saying that he likes his own spade lead. Declarer leads a club and inserts the 10 which wins as I discard a diamond. Declarer leads another heart to the queen which partner completes the echo saying he likes spades. Declarer leads a club so you bounce with the ace and partner discards another diamond. Counting tricks time & HCP’s time. There were only 8 HCP’s on the board so this is a ridiculous game. If partner had any tenace position in diamonds he would be discarding spades because he is marked with HCP’s in diamonds. Declarer has shown up with the spade King , heart King and KJ of clubs which is 10 HCP’s. Giving declarer the KQJ of diamonds is not unreasonable. Partner with his diamond discards is virtually guaranteed to hold the diamond Ace for his entry to the spades. Counting tricks even if you give declarer a 2^nd spade trick and another entry to the dummy declarer can only come to 8 tricks , 3 hearts , 2 spades , 3 clubs . When partner gets in with the diamond Ace , there are more than enough tricks to set the contract.

Partners discards gives you clues on how to defend. In the first hand partner desperately discards a heart saying dummy lock time so please do not come back a heart. In the 2^nd hand the Smith echo and the diamond discards is screaming for a spade back . Even if you had another master plan , it is best to return the suit partner wants to avoid any accidents.