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Check out tomorrow's daily bulletin at the Bermuda Bowl. Read "The Expert Play". I've been meaning to write up this card combination for a while, but Chip Martel scooped me!
When you play a 4-4 (or 5-3) trump fit missing the AJT, how do you play the trumps? Everyone knows you lead through the doubleton ace. That's easy. If you don't know where the ace is? Lead through the doubleton. If you don't know where the doubleton is? Lead through the ace. If you have no idea what's going on? Hmm?
Everyone thinks this is easy. You guess a direction, lead up to an honor, then duck on the way back, hoping you caught a doubleton ace. Fair enough. But you can do better. Note that both declarers in the Bermuda Bowl led from dummy. Katz unblocked the jack (a play I've made many times, with the same result, but Chip wasn't around to document it), The Expert Play. Also note that the US declarer continued a small trump out of hand, according to plan. If the hand were a touch different it would have been safe to go to dummy and lead the second trump from dummy. It doesn't give up any technical chance, and it tempts the Master Trump holder to fly from ATx in second seat. That's another reason it's important to make the Ralph Katz Memorial Unblock.
I've run this gambit several times (Grant Baze held his jack and his partner hopped with the ace) but the most frustrating was in the finals of a bracket II ko. In 2S my opp ducked the second trump with ATx without batting an eyelash. I went +110. I asked why she hadn't hopped and she just stared at me, vacantly. We tied the match and lost the playoff.
Recap:
1) Nice play, Ralph. You belong in the Bermuda Bowl. Check to see if I'm available for 2009.
2) I don't know how often the master trump syndrome pays off, especially in the Bermuda Bowl, but if you have the entries take a swing at it.
3) A not especially related play, but one that's even more fun, comes up in situations like this:
When declarer cashes the ace, drop your queen. If they finesse against your putative jack, you "winkle" a trick for your partner. Make sure to unblock, now and then, when the suit lies:
Only do this against good players, though, or it might cost you. It's worth a laugh and, if you're lucky, declarer will turn a really peculiar shade of red.
When you play a 4-4 (or 5-3) trump fit missing the AJT, how do you play the trumps? Everyone knows you lead through the doubleton ace. That's easy. If you don't know where the ace is? Lead through the doubleton. If you don't know where the doubleton is? Lead through the ace. If you have no idea what's going on? Hmm?
Everyone thinks this is easy. You guess a direction, lead up to an honor, then duck on the way back, hoping you caught a doubleton ace. Fair enough. But you can do better. Note that both declarers in the Bermuda Bowl led from dummy. Katz unblocked the jack (a play I've made many times, with the same result, but Chip wasn't around to document it), The Expert Play. Also note that the US declarer continued a small trump out of hand, according to plan. If the hand were a touch different it would have been safe to go to dummy and lead the second trump from dummy. It doesn't give up any technical chance, and it tempts the Master Trump holder to fly from ATx in second seat. That's another reason it's important to make the Ralph Katz Memorial Unblock.
I've run this gambit several times (Grant Baze held his jack and his partner hopped with the ace) but the most frustrating was in the finals of a bracket II ko. In 2S my opp ducked the second trump with ATx without batting an eyelash. I went +110. I asked why she hadn't hopped and she just stared at me, vacantly. We tied the match and lost the playoff.
Recap:
1) Nice play, Ralph. You belong in the Bermuda Bowl. Check to see if I'm available for 2009.
2) I don't know how often the master trump syndrome pays off, especially in the Bermuda Bowl, but if you have the entries take a swing at it.
3) A not especially related play, but one that's even more fun, comes up in situations like this:
| Jx | ||
| KTxx | A9xxx | |
| Qx |
When declarer cashes the ace, drop your queen. If they finesse against your putative jack, you "winkle" a trick for your partner. Make sure to unblock, now and then, when the suit lies:
| x | ||
| KTxx | A9xxx | |
| QJx |
Only do this against good players, though, or it might cost you. It's worth a laugh and, if you're lucky, declarer will turn a really peculiar shade of red.
