Book a Course
View all the latest courses going on at the bridge club and book yours now...
-
Home
-
Andrew
-
Articles
Andrew Robson Articles.
-
About
Read about Andrew Robson
-
Beginner Corner
Andrew offers hints and tips for those new to the game
-
Tips for Intermediates
Andrew's top tip for intermediates and improvers.
-
For the more experienced
A selection of deals for the more experienced
-
Andrew finds the Queen
Andrew receives his OBE at Buckingham Palace from her majesty the Queen
-
Andrew's life in Bridge
Some select deals, which i have played
-
Bridge Quiz
Test your bidding knowledge
-
If you remember_just one_thing
In this series Andrew, features one improtant point per Article. Bit by bit the reader will improve their game.
-
Articles
-
Store
-
BridgeCast
-
Everything A.R.
-
Courses
-
Results
-
All Sessions
-
Map
See how to get to ARBC
-
How To Get Here
View Transportation Information
-
Opening Hours
See Our Opening Hours
- About the Staff
-
Take a look inside
Take a 360 degree tour of the inside of ARBC
-
Where to stay near the club
A list of places to stay near to our club
-
Book a table
Book a table for a duplicate
-
DVDs
Andrew:
Don’t allow the ‘danger hand’ on lead
When one opponent can do damage to your (notrump) contract, but the other opponent cannot, you must focus on losing the lead to the safe hand.
Exercise: Say West is the danger hand. Play the following suits to try to avoid him winning the lead.
| (a) | (b) | (c) |
| North | North | North |
| A J 3 2 | 8 6 3 | K 9 4 2 |
| South | South | South |
| K 10 9 8 | A K J 5 2 | A J 7 5 |
(a) Lead the king and run the ten. If West holds the queen, you have not lost a trick; if East holds the queen, the finesse has lost to the safe hand.
(b) Cash the ace-king to catch a doubleton queen in West’s hand. If both follow low, lead a third round in the hope that East holds the queen.
(c) Cash the ace, then lead low to North’s nine. You only lose a trick to West when he holds Q10x or better.
Click to play this deal
|
South Deals N-S Vul |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| West | North | East | South |
| 1 ♦ | |||
| 1 ♠ | 2 ♣ | Pass | 3 NT |
| Pass | Pass | Pass |
| 3 NT by South |
| Lead: ♠ K |
| Made 3NT |
What happened?
Declarer correctly ducked ♠ K lead, then ♠ Q, and won ♠ A on the third round. This had the desired effect of exhausting East of spades (he knows this from West’s overcall in the suit – promising five cards).
At Trick Four declarer cashed ♦ A but, knowing that the best odds to avoid losing a trick to ♦ Q was a finesse, crossed to ♥ Q and led back to ♦ J. Oops! West won ♦ Q and cashed two more spades. Down one.
What should have happened?
Declarer only needed four diamond tricks so could afford to lose a trick provided it was to East (who, thanks to holding up ♠ A until the third round, held no more spades). So cash ♦ AK at Tricks Four and Five. On the actual hand West’s ♦ Q drops, promoting ♦ J42, and ten tricks are made. If only low diamonds appear under ♦ AK, lead a third round in the hope that East holds ♦ Q.
Tip: Look for ways to prevent the danger hand from winning the lead.
