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In this contract, take the first trick with ace by east, make believe to south that nord has the queen, and this craftiness bring home the contract.
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sometimes the bridge is craftiness From a nonno K hand
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Posted 2019-November-15, 14:16
My respect to the declarer who finds the very nice falsecard, one that should give most defenders a real problem, and one they will often fail at.
An interesting feature of the gambit is if the diamond finesse wins, so North has the king? Then you have conceded a trick you would have won otherwise, compressing 11 tricks into 10 tricks. So winning the ace could be a top or bottom play at matchpoints. It seems even more clear at IMPs.
If the diamond finesse loses to the king in South though, now South might believe that North has the queen due to the falsecard. So you may well get that trick back, if South has the diamond honor, as then they might continue spades. Hoping to set the contract, South will play a low spade to the presumed queen in North, and you get that trick back.
But what if the defenders are using a signaling agreement like reverse Smith on defense? The idea is that at trick 2, when declarer leads a side suit, North will play a low card if they like the opening spade lead, and a high card if they don't. So declarer wins trick 1 with the spade ace. Then play a heart to the king. North follows suit with the heart 10, clearly a HIGH heart.
South should be watching what card North plays. If North actually has the spade queen, then a low heart would suggest exactly that. If North lacks the spade honor though, then they will deny possession of something useful in spades, playing a low heart. The hand is now pretty easy for South to work out.
Assume a 15-17 point 1NT for East. The play in hearts marks East with the heart ace. The play in diamonds marks East with the diamond ace. You have seen the spade ace already. So that is 12 points for East. The fact that North has exposed the false card in spades puts the queen in the East hand, so now 14. East cannot have the club ace too, since that pushes the count for East too high. As well, the very fact that Declarer chose to false card in spades tells a wary South that East has something to fear. It must be clubs.
Make it easy for partner. Just cash the spade king, then the club king, and low to the club jack in North. The defense takes a spade, a diamond, and 5 clubs on defense. That is, IF the NS partnership is on the ball. Many are not.
One of the things I love about bridge is the interplay between an intelligent, thinking declarer and equally cagey defenders. Who will win the battle?
An interesting feature of the gambit is if the diamond finesse wins, so North has the king? Then you have conceded a trick you would have won otherwise, compressing 11 tricks into 10 tricks. So winning the ace could be a top or bottom play at matchpoints. It seems even more clear at IMPs.
If the diamond finesse loses to the king in South though, now South might believe that North has the queen due to the falsecard. So you may well get that trick back, if South has the diamond honor, as then they might continue spades. Hoping to set the contract, South will play a low spade to the presumed queen in North, and you get that trick back.
But what if the defenders are using a signaling agreement like reverse Smith on defense? The idea is that at trick 2, when declarer leads a side suit, North will play a low card if they like the opening spade lead, and a high card if they don't. So declarer wins trick 1 with the spade ace. Then play a heart to the king. North follows suit with the heart 10, clearly a HIGH heart.
South should be watching what card North plays. If North actually has the spade queen, then a low heart would suggest exactly that. If North lacks the spade honor though, then they will deny possession of something useful in spades, playing a low heart. The hand is now pretty easy for South to work out.
Assume a 15-17 point 1NT for East. The play in hearts marks East with the heart ace. The play in diamonds marks East with the diamond ace. You have seen the spade ace already. So that is 12 points for East. The fact that North has exposed the false card in spades puts the queen in the East hand, so now 14. East cannot have the club ace too, since that pushes the count for East too high. As well, the very fact that Declarer chose to false card in spades tells a wary South that East has something to fear. It must be clubs.
Make it easy for partner. Just cash the spade king, then the club king, and low to the club jack in North. The defense takes a spade, a diamond, and 5 clubs on defense. That is, IF the NS partnership is on the ball. Many are not.
One of the things I love about bridge is the interplay between an intelligent, thinking declarer and equally cagey defenders. Who will win the battle?
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