Hand XIX
Underplay, and playing to the score.
The Play
Remark (Trick 3).—Y is justified in playing a forward game. He has four trumps (see pp. 122, 123), ace of the opponent’s suit, and a fine heart suit: and his partner has declared strength in diamonds by choosing that suit for his original lead.
Remark (Trick 6).—Y is justified in playing a false card here, notwithstanding General Principle 12 (p. 108). The heart is a forced lead, and the card led (the ten) is obviously A’s best. Y’s scheme is to take another round of trumps, and then to underplay in hearts (see p. 101); so he puts on the ace to deceive B as to the position of the king.
Tricks 9 to 13.—Z leads the king of clubs, to which Y discards the two of diamonds. Z then leads the knave of hearts, on which Y puts the king; the queen falls (see the hands below); Y brings in the hearts; and
YZ win five by cards.
The Hands
(Y’s hand is given above.)
| A’s Hand. | B’s Hand. | Z’s Hand. | |||
| Ace, Kg, 5 | ♠ | 9, 8, 6 | ♠ | Qn, 4, 2 | ♠ |
| 10, 2 | ♥ | Qn, 7, 4 | ♥ | Knv, 9, 3 | ♥ |
| Knv, 8, 7, 6, 5 | ♣ | 10, 9, 2 | ♣ | Kg, Qn, 4 | ♣ |
| Ace, 8, 6 | ♦ | 10, 9, 7, 3 | ♦ | Qn, Knv, 5, 4 | ♦ |
A and B both play the hand badly. At Trick 6, A, in the face of an adverse trump lead and the command of his suit (clubs) against him, should lead the ace of diamonds to make the third trick and save the game. At Trick 8, B should put on his queen of hearts. He is fairly taken in by Y’s dark play at Trick 6; but he ought not to have allowed himself to be so. He should have argued that Y, who has been playing a very strong game, would not be likely to put on ace second hand merely for the purpose of getting the lead or of making sure of a trick. Further, if A’s lead was a forced one, from weakness (hearts being the only suit in which B can be strong), Z is sure to finesse if he has king, knave, or even king, nine. So B’s best chance of making the queen is to put it on (see p. 102).