«The Defense» Part I

Teams, All Vulnerable

West	North	East	South
			1
Pass	1	Pass	1NT
Pass	3NT	Pass	Pass
Pass

Contract: 3NT

Lead: 6

West lead the 6, East payed the J and South won the first trick with his Q. South continued playing the A and K, played diamond to dummy’s A and continued with the J.

West won the 5th trick with the Q.

From this moment: What would be your plan of defense to defeat the contract?.

Solution:

«There is a basic principle for the defense to use as a guide through the darkness. This principle is the eternal questions: How I can defeat this contract? and What cards can my partner have to help me defeat this contract?.

This should be your goal no matter that sometimes the defense plan chosen finish delivering an overtrick. This should not bother us in the least except it is a doubled contract. «

In reality West left his hand playing the K and another club, the defense made 5 club tricks and one heart, two down.

¿How did West reasoned to play the defense that way?

Easy: South at the time had shown: A y Q y A y K, these honors add for 13 points, on the other hand the 1 opening bid promised a 4+ cards suit, with what West could do the following count of winning tricks for the declarer: two tricks in spades, three heart tricks and four diamonds.

Considering all this, to play a spade and wait to win later with the K was an ilusion. Moreover South could hardly have the A, he woul have opened 1NT (15 to 17 hp).

  Also if South has the A his contract s more than assured so nothing is lost with this move.

«The inferences drawn from the bidding are more essential for the defense than for declarer since the former does not have the advantage of seeing all the resources of his own side.»

The four hands were:

K 10 7 6 4 Q 9 2 6 4 3 K 5

J 2 7 6 5 3 8 2 A Q 10 3 2

A Q 9 A K J 10 9 7 9 8 6 4