Playing technique. The lead of a plain suit card from a hand
without any trumps, through a player with only trumps left, thus
forcing a ruff, which
can then be overruffed in the next hand. It achieves the same
effect
as a finesse in the trump suit but without requiring there to be
a
trump to lead. In preparing the play, the hand need to reduce the
number
of trumps to that of the opponent has. Also, entries are critical
in
planning this play.
NORTH  A K  --  --  -- |
||
| WEST -- -- x x -- |
EAST -- 8 6 -- -- |
|
| SOUTH -- J 7 -- -- |
Heart is trump, North leads and plays K, East falls into a position of
trump finesse.
The full deal was:
North dealer
East-West vulnerable
| NORTH A K Q
J Q 9 7 K 10 9
7 3 2 |
||
| WEST 10 9 10 4 K Q 10
6 5 4 3 8 4 |
EAST 8 6 5
4 2 K 8 6
5 J J 6 5 |
|
| SOUTH 7 3 A J 7
3 2 A 9 8
2 A Q |
| SOUTH | WEST | NORTH | EAST |
| -- | -- | 1 |
Pass |
| 1 |
2 |
2 |
Pass |
| 3 |
Pass | 4 |
Pass |
| 6 |
Pass | Pass | Pass |
The lead was the king of diamonds on which East played the jack. South won with the ace and led a heart: 4 - queen - king. To eliminate any diamond ruffs, East returned the 5 of hearts. South played the ace and North followed with the ten. North's diamond bid with so few points suggested considerable length, confirmed by the play in diamonds, which indicated a shortage with East. South therefore took it that trumps were likely to have been 4-2 originally, and that the ten of hearts was a true card from an original doubleton. In that case South had to trap East's hearts with a trump coup.
After ace of clubs, then the queen, overtaking with dummy's king, South ruffed a club to shorten his trumps to the same length as South's.
Then led a spade to dummy and led a top club. If East ruffed, South would overruff, draw the last trump and return to dummy's winners with a spade.
In fact, East discarded a spade, but South simply continued with the
clubs.
After trick 11, East had 8-6 in hearts and South had J-7. With the lead
in
dummy, South was bounded to make the last two tricks.
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Techniques Guide