The
discard tells the story
Terence
Reese (
MY
BOLS bridge tip is this:
Study
the early discards
and consider this point:
from what holding would the
defender
most readily have made those
discards?
For
example, a defender who holds A532 or K532 will discard from that suit more
readily than if he had held Q532 or J532.
That will give you a clue in situations of this kind:
1 |
dummy |
|
West | East | |
Declarer |
||
2) | dummy | |
ª
|
||
West | ||
ª A63 | ª Q 9 4 | |
declarer | ||
ª K 10 7 |
This
is a side suit in a trump contract and declarer
needs to establish one fast trick. In (1) East
has made two early discards. Conclusion: he
is more likely to hold Axxx than Qxxx. In (2) West
makes an early discard. Conclusion: he is more likely to have discarded
from Axx than from Qxx.
dummy |
||
ª
A8 |
||
West | East | |
ª
J94 |
ª K7532 | |
Declarer |
||
ª Q106 | ||
dummy | ||
ª
K108 |
||
West |
|
|
ª A532 | ª J76 |
|
declarer | ||
ª
Q 9 4 |
In
(3) East makes two early discards. When you play the ace and eight he
follows with the five and seven. Play him for Kxxxx rather than Jxxxx. In (4)
West discards twice. He is more likely to have come down to Ax than to Jx; but
if a low card to the king is headed by the ace, be inclined to play East for AJx.
Such
inferences are especially strong when dummy
has what may seem to a defender to be an establishable suit, as here:
South
Dealer |
ª |
10 5 2 |
|||
|
Love
All |
© |
K
J 6 3 |
|
|
|
|
¨ |
A
7 3 |
|
|
|
|
§ |
8
6 4 |
|
|
|
|
|
N |
|
|
ª |
|
|
|
ª |
|
ª |
9
3 |
ª | J 7 | ||
© |
Q
10 8 |
|
W
E |
© |
A
9 5 2 |
¨ |
10
9 5 4 |
|
|
¨ |
J
8 6 |
§ |
K
J 7 3 |
|
|
§ |
A
10 9 5 |
|
|
|
S |
|
|
|
|
ª |
A
K Q 8 6 4 |
|
|
|
|
© |
7
4 |
|
|
|
|
¨ |
K
Q 2 |
|
|
|
|
§ |
Q
2 |
|
|
W |
N |
E |
S |
|
|
|
1♠ |
Pass |
1NT |
Pass |
3♠ |
Pass |
4♠ |
All |
Pass |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
West
leads the three of clubs and South ruffs the third round. There is something to
be said for leading a heart at once, putting
West under some pressure if he holds the ace, but instead the declarer
plays four rounds of trumps, discarding a diamond from dummy. (It is good play
to keep the heart holding intact.) West throws a club and a diamond, East a club
and a heart.
After cashing three diamonds South leads a heart and West plays the eight. South should finesse the jack. Why? Because of East's heart discard. With A9xx East, expecting the contract to depend on the heart guess, would not think it necessary to keep all four. But with Q9xx he would not let go a heart, in case declarer held Ax.