Giving Up Losers to Get a Count by Louis Watson

The deal which follows illustrates getting a count at the very end of a hand. The declarer has to give up his losers before he can reach any conclusion as to his proper play.

Dealer South E/O Vul

	A 10 4  7 6 3  K 10 5  A Q 10 4
	K 8 3  A 8 4  A 8 6 3  K 7 5

The Auction:

West	North	East	South
—	—	—	1
Pass	2	Pass	2NT
Pass	3NT	End

Lead: Q

West’s opening lead is the Queen of hearts. The bidding having gone uncontested, the declarer has no information from his opponents’ bid.

Obviously he must hold off in hearts, since the Ace is his only stopper. He can surely count 2 spades tricks, 1 heart, 2 diamonds and 3 clubs. The needed trick can be found in two ways. The fourth club in the dummy may be st up if the suit breaks 3/3 or if the Jack falls, and there is also a possibility of establishing a los diamond trick.

East won the lead with K and in trick 2 leads 9, declarer hold up again, and West plays 10 and leads with 6, East discards 2 and declarer wins with A.

Now South leads 3, West play low, dummy play 10 and East wins with the J. Declarer is now making an attempt to establish the thirteenth diamond, as the club play can be made at any time.

In trick 5 East leads Q declarer and dummy play low letting East win this trick is a brilliant stroke by South. Although he has two spade stoppers, he lets East’s Queen ride through in order to get as much data as he can on the rest of the adverse cards.

In trick 6 East leads 7 and dummy wins with the A. Dummy plays K and another diamond to the A, West discards 5.

In trick 9 South plays K and West discards J. The count of the hands is now complete, West was dealt 2 spades, 5 hearts, 2 diamonds and 4 clubs; and East had 5 spades, 2 hearts, 4 diamonds and 2 clubs.

Since West has four clubs, South knows that he can make his contract whether West has the J or not.

Declarer plays first to see whether the J is one of East’s two clubs. Since it has not dropped he can now finesse against it in West’s hand, for he still has A-10 in dummy.

Observe how simple the count was on his hand. Yet it would have been impossible without giving u`that spade trick on the first round of the suit.

The complete deal:

	A 10 4  7 6 3  K 10 5  A Q 10 4
6 5  Q J 10 5 2  4 2  J 9 6 3		Q J 9 7 2  K 9  Q J 9 7  8 2
	K 8 3  A 8 4  A 8 6 3  K 7 5

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