On many hands, while we contemplate on the various subtle declarer play techniques, we sometimes miss the simple, elementary text-book play that can cost us the contract if we play in a hurry with our eyes not focused on the basics. Let us take up today's simple illustration of 3NT contract with the following North-South hands. The opening lead was QH, ducked once, with the KH taken. How do you propose to make 9 tricks?

Well, let us count our top tricks first: 2 clubs, at most 2 diamonds, 2 hearts and 2 spades making a tally of 8 tricks. From where do we conjure up the 9th trick? Do we go for the club split or the more obvious spade break of 3-2, giving us the third spade trick. But what if spades break 4-1, and how do we cope up with that?

Well, in the actual play when the hand was played in the Venice Cup, declarer missed the elementary text-book play when at trick 3 she thought it safe to win the diamond trick in hand first before tackling spades. It was a fatal error. The timing of the play collapsed when east took the KD and cleared the hearts, declarer discarding a club from dummy. The spade play now looked doubly difficult, for west could well be holding a spade honour doubleton. In any case, even then the declarer should have given the margin of maximising her chances for the 10S by playing the spade honour first from dummy. Instead she cashed the KS and found herself at the end of the rope when west discarded. Now her fate was sealed.

Did you see the elementary text book play missed at the table? For west east hands were as under: The play should have been simple and sweet. Declarer needs 3 tricks in spades and the only way in case spades split 4-1 would be to place east with 4 rather than west, (which would give no chance to the declarer in case west held 4 to the QJ). But assuming the standard safety play, west should first cash the spade ace and then lead a spade intending to play 10S in case east played low. As the cards were, there was no need for it for east held both spade honours and was bound to give declarer the third spade she so desperately wanted for the contract of 3NT to make.

There is the other side of the picture here which is interesting. In the closed room, as you could visualise, with a 4-4 spade fit, the bidding went: 4S was an ice cold contract, provided north was declarer to avoid the top club ruff. But even with south as declarer, it was not certain that west would lead a club, instead of his partner's suit bid.

As was the case in the closed room, west preferred to attack with her partner's suit. The problem here was the same - here the safety play in spades was even more pronounced and necessary. But here too, south blundered. Winning in dummy with DA, south cashed the 2 top spade honours, especially because east encouraged a deceptive even split for south to believe by pitching 9S on the second round. South erred in not taking the safety play of 10S. After playing 3 rounds of hearts, ruffing in dummy, when she played AC, east ruffed and played her trump and diamond winners to down the contract of 4 spade. The scores neutralised in both rooms at 1 down with both declarers missing the winning line on the 2 makeable contracts of 3NT and 4S both of which could be made by the elementary text book safety play.

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North     South

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A753      K1042

K6          A73

A53         QJ2

AK32        965

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The Bidding:

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West     North     East      South

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-         1C        2D      Double

P         3D         P         3NT

All pass

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Copyright Business Recorder, 2010