{"id":2608,"date":"2011-06-28T09:44:10","date_gmt":"2011-06-28T17:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/?p=2608"},"modified":"2013-01-08T20:32:15","modified_gmt":"2013-01-09T04:32:15","slug":"polling-you-69-bridge-defense-day-5-more-leads-against-notrump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/?p=2608","title":{"rendered":"Polling You #69, Bridge Defense Day 5, More Leads Against Notrump"},"content":{"rendered":"

Again we focus on the opening lead when opponents wind up in a Notrump contract. \u00a0However, this time the opponents may be playing in a lofty slam contract.\u00a0 In this case, we may need to re-access our lead options. \u00a0\u00a0Yes, against a 3 Notrump contract, leading an honor from our three card sequence and broken sequences often works wonders.\u00a0 Yet as we shall see against a Notrump slam contract, in some instances your mileage may vary.\u00a0\u00a0 Also, while aggressive leads may work well against slam in a suit contract, such is usually not the case leading against a Notrump slam.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Click here to view Part 1 of the video commentary<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Free Membership: Click here to view Part 2, hand #1 of our video commentary<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Premium\/ULTRA – Click here to view Part 3a, hands 5-7\u00a0of our video commentary<\/a><\/h3>\n

Premium\/ULTRA – Click here to view Part 3b, hands\u00a08-10 of our video commentary<\/a><\/h3>\n

Of course, as always aspiring Bridge players are still required to think.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Insightful Bridge players look far beyond looking at ones 13 cards.\u00a0 Listening to the bidding is critical.\u00a0 Be an inquisitive Bridge player, asking yourself questions like:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. What were the opponents\u2019 bids?\u00a0 <\/strong><\/li>\n
  2. How high did they go and what are their estimated combined points?\u00a0 <\/strong><\/li>\n
  3. What do you know about their hand shape? <\/strong><\/li>\n
  4. How many points does that leave for your partner?<\/strong><\/li>\n
  5. Did your partner bid? (or perhaps pass an opportunity to double opponents\u2019 artificial bid)<\/strong><\/li>\n
  6. Did the opponents auction proceed smoothly or did they hesitate, make inadvertent gestures and the like (players must never deliberately signal their partner), make inaudible noises and the like?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    On our first three hands, the opponents play in 3 Notrump; the defender\u2019s hands will be similar yet opening leads and third hand play will vary.\u00a0 From there we boost the stakes with opponents in 4 Notrump, then three hands lead against 6 Notrump.\u00a0\u00a0 The last three hands we will add some more variables, mixing it up with the kind of hands you may see at the table.\u00a0 For instance, we shall witness why leading from a fine 4 four card suit like AQxx can hurt (as opposed to a 5 card suit of AQxxx). \u00a0Okay enough talk, it\u2019s time to step up, sit down, shuffle-deal-play\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    Polling You 69, Hand 1<\/h3>\n
    <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
    Board 3<\/em><\/strong>
    \nSouth Deals
    \nE-W Vul<\/td>\n    		\u2660 J 8 3
    \n\u2665<\/span> A K 2
    \n\u2666<\/span> Q 8 3 2
    \n\u2663 9 8 7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    \u2660 K 9 7 6 2
    \n\u2665<\/span> 7 6
    \n\u2666<\/span> 7 6
    \n\u2663 A 5 4 3<\/td>\n    		\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
    N<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    W<\/span><\/td>\n<\/td>\nE<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    S<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n\u2660 Q 10
    \n\u2665<\/span> J 10 9 8
    \n\u2666<\/span> 10 9 4
    \n\u2663 Q J 10 2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    <\/td>\n\u2660 A 5 4
    \n\u2665<\/span> Q 5 4 3
    \n\u2666<\/span> A K J 5
    \n\u2663 K 6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n\n\n
    West<\/em><\/td>\nNorth<\/em><\/td>\nEast<\/em><\/td>\nSouth<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    <\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n1 N<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Pass<\/td>\n2 N<\/td>\nPass<\/td>\n3 N<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    All pass<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
    Trick<\/em><\/td>\nWest<\/em><\/td>\nNorth<\/em><\/td>\nEast<\/em><\/td>\nSouth<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    1. W<\/td>\n\u2660 6<\/td>\n\u2660 3<\/td>\n\u2660 10<\/span><\/td>\n\u2660 4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    2. E<\/td>\n\u2660 2<\/td>\n\u2660 8<\/td>\n\u2660 Q<\/td>\n\u2660 A<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    3. S<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 6<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 2<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 4<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> A<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    4. S<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 7<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 3<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 9<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> K<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    5. S<\/td>\n\u2663 3<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 8<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 10<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> J<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    6. S<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 6<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> Q<\/span><\/td>\n\u2663 2<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    7. N<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 7<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> A<\/span><\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 8<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    8. N<\/td>\n\u2663 4<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> K<\/span><\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 9<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    9. N<\/td>\n\u2663 A<\/span><\/td>\n\u2663 9<\/td>\n\u2663 10<\/td>\n\u2663 K<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

    South opens 1 Notrump with 17 High Card Points.\u00a0 Despite holding a somewhat shapely 5-4-2-2 hand, West does not have values, vulnerable or not.\u00a0 While North has 10 HCP, with a flat 4-3-3-3 shape and Jack-third, prudent North players should invite bidding 2 Notrump.\u00a0 South easily accepts the 3 Notrump game.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    West leads fourth best Spade 6; leading the 7 does not count as top of an interior sequence (only valid from honors) and might give partner the wrong impression of a \u201ctop of nothing\u201d honorless lead.\u00a0 After the Spade 3 from North, East plays the Spade 10 with South ducking (Rule of 7, holding 6, 7-6= 1 duck).\u00a0 Returning the Spade Queen to South\u2019s Ace, West plays the LOW Spade 2 trying to show East preference for a LOW suit (Clubs).\u00a0 South wins 4 rounds of Diamonds ending in the North hand.\u00a0 Playing the Heart Ace-King West shows out, meaning East has 4 Hearts and a winner.\u00a0 The declarer\u2019s only hope is to finesse East for the Club King.\u00a0 However West wins the Club King and remaining 4 tricks, South down 2.\u00a0\u00a0 In retrospect, while North was wise to show restraint only inviting with 2 Notrump (the Spade Jack-third was indeed worthless), the declarer was a bit unlucky with some wasted Diamond values in a mirrored 4-4 suit along with the failing Club finesse.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Polling You 69, Hand 2<\/h3>\n
    <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
    Board 3<\/em><\/strong>
    \nSouth Deals
    \nE-W Vul<\/td>\n    		\u2660 J 8 3
    \n\u2665<\/span> A K 2
    \n\u2666<\/span> Q 8 3 2
    \n\u2663 9 8 7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    \u2660 K 10 9 7 2
    \n\u2665<\/span> 7 6
    \n\u2666<\/span> 7 6
    \n\u2663 A 5 4 3<\/td>\n    		\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
    N<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    W<\/span><\/td>\n<\/td>\nE<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    S<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n\u2660 Q 6
    \n\u2665<\/span> J 10 9 8
    \n\u2666<\/span> 10 9 4
    \n\u2663 Q J 10 2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    <\/td>\n\u2660 A 5 4
    \n\u2665<\/span> Q 5 4 3
    \n\u2666<\/span> A K J 5
    \n\u2663 K 6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n\n\n
    West<\/em><\/td>\nNorth<\/em><\/td>\nEast<\/em><\/td>\nSouth<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    <\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n1 N<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Pass<\/td>\n2 N<\/td>\nPass<\/td>\n3 N<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    All pass<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
    Trick<\/em><\/td>\nWest<\/em><\/td>\nNorth<\/em><\/td>\nEast<\/em><\/td>\nSouth<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    1. W<\/td>\n\u2660 10<\/td>\n\u2660 J<\/td>\n\u2660 Q<\/span><\/td>\n\u2660 4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    2. E<\/td>\n\u2660 2<\/td>\n\u2660 3<\/td>\n\u2660 6<\/td>\n\u2660 A<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    3. S<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 6<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 2<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 4<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> A<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    4. S<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 7<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 3<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 9<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> K<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    5. S<\/td>\n\u2663 3<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 8<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 10<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> J<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    6. S<\/td>\n\u2663 4<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> Q<\/span><\/td>\n\u2663 2<\/td>\n\u2666<\/span> 5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    7. N<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 6<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> A<\/span><\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 8<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    8. N<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 7<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> K<\/span><\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 9<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    9. N<\/td>\n\u2663 5<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 2<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> 10<\/td>\n\u2665<\/span> Q<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    10. S<\/td>\n\u2660 K<\/span><\/td>\n\u2660 8<\/td>\n\u2663 10<\/td>\n\u2660 5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

    With nearly identical hands round the table South opens 1 Notrump with 17 High Card Points.\u00a0 Despite holding a somewhat shapely 5-4-2-2 hand, West does not have values, vulnerable or not.\u00a0 While North has 10 HCP, with a flat 4-3-3-3 shape and Jack-third, prudent North players should invite bidding 2 Notrump.\u00a0 South easily accepts the 3 Notrump game.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    This time West should lead the Spade 10, top of a broken sequence.\u00a0 After the Jack from dummy, East covers and South again ducks (Rule of 7).\u00a0 South wins the Spade return with West playing low to show suit preference for a Club return should East somehow gain the lead. After 4 Diamond winners, this time West initially pitches 2 Clubs.\u00a0 Now when North plays the Heart Ace-King West can follow both times, leaving South to guess on a Club finesse (50 percent) or 3-3 Heart split (36 percent chance).\u00a0 But actually playing the Hearts here is not entirely going against the odds.\u00a0 Unless West holds Jack-third, if East holds 4 Hearts and the Club Ace, East is endplayed and on trick 13 must play a Club to South\u2019s King.\u00a0 But such is not the case, West winning the Club Ace and the last 3 tricks setting South 1 trick.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    (<\/strong>Free, Premium and ULTRA members – please login to view video of additional hand\/s <\/strong><\/p>\nPlease login or register to view this content.<\/strong> \u00a0<\/strong> Please login or register to view this content.
    \nPlease login or register to view this content.<\/h3>\n

    Happy Bridge Trails and Tales,<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    BridgeHands<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    JavaScript needs to be enabled for polling to work. Online Surveys by Constant Contact. ——- Again we focus on the opening lead when opponents wind up in a Notrump contract. \u00a0However, this time the opponents may be playing in a lofty slam contract.\u00a0 In this case, we may need to re-access our lead options. \u00a0\u00a0Yes, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[39],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2608"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2608"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2608\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2610,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2608\/revisions\/2610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}