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%Creator: BridgeComposer Version 5.102
%Created: Wed Sep 27 16:27:19 2023 +0100
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%PageFooter:0,0 "Essex Boot Camp"
%PageFooter:0,1 "%n"
%PageFooter:0,2 "Set 2"
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[Event "Deceptive Declarer Plays"]
[Site ""]
[Date ""]
{                                                               }
[Board "1"]
[West ""]
[North ""]
[East ""]
[South ""]
[Dealer "N"]
[Vulnerable "None"]
[Deal "N:A75.AJ8.J532.QJ3 JT9.KQT93.76.842 64.765.AQT98.AKT KQ832.42.K4.9765"]
{                                                                              
      }
[Scoring ""]
[Declarer ""]
[Contract ""]
[Result ""]
{East leads \HKing.

Step 1: The only number that we, North, have in our head is 9.

Step 2: We have 6 <i>top</i> tricks (1 Spade, 1 Heart, 1 Diamond, and 3 in
Clubs).

Step 3: Our extra three tricks will come from the Diamond suit, once we have
knocked out the King of Diamonds..              \n
   \n
Step 4: Not only can the defenders take enough tricks in the Heart suit to
defeat us, but they could also attack the Spade suit, which is looking very
vulnerable

Step 5: There are no communication issues.

<b>Observations</b>:

If the  Heart suit divides 5-2 it is essential that we duck the opening trick,
as we will be finessing the Diamond suit into the 'Danger Hand'. This play of
ducking with AJx is known as the 'Bath Coup'. Once we duck the opening lead,
East cannot continue the Heart suit profitably. \n
The problem with this idea is that East will probably now attack our Spade
suit, which is not well protected.

Is there anything that we can do, to persuade East to help us out?

<b>Conclusion:</b>

Look what happens when North plays the Jack of Hearts at trick 1.

Will East be fooled into thinking that North must be holding the Ace, Jack
doubleton in the Heart suit?

If they are, then surely they will continue with another Heart?

If East continues with another Heart, then we are now home and dry, because we
will now be taking the Diamond finesse into the 'Safe' hand.



}
[BCFlags "ff"]
[DoubleDummyTricks "86797866974764647646"]
[OptimumScore "NS 120"]
[ParContract "NS 2N="]
[Auction "N"]
1NT Pass 3NT AP
[OptimumResultTable "Declarer;Denomination\2R;Result\1R"]
N NT 8
N  S 6
N  H 7
N  D 9
N  C 7
S NT 8
S  S 6
S  H 6
S  D 9
S  C 7
E NT 4
E  S 7
E  H 6
E  D 4
E  C 6
W NT 4
W  S 7
W  H 6
W  D 4
W  C 6

[Event "Think Outside The Box"]
[Site ""]
[Date ""]
[Board "2"]
[West ""]
[North ""]
[East ""]
[South ""]
[Dealer "E"]
[Vulnerable "NS"]
[Deal "E:AK9.A6.T985.AQT7 J84.QJT98.7.K854 75.5432.AKQ42.63 QT632.K7.J63.J92"]
[Scoring ""]
[Declarer ""]
[Contract ""]
[Result ""]
{South leads \HQueen.

Step 1: The only number that we, East, have in our head is 9.

Step 2: We have 9 <i>top</i> tricks (2 Spades, 1 Heart, 5 Diamonds and 1 in
Clubs).

Step 3: We have 9 top tricks, what is the problem?              \n
   \n
Step 4: We have 9 top tricks, so we are not expecting to lose the lead?

Step 5: Assuming Diamonds are not 2-2, how do we cash our 5 Diamond tricks?\n
                  \n
<b>Observations</b>:

If Diamonds are 2-2, there is no problem, seeing that having cashed the Ace and
King of Diamonds, we can cross to our 10 of Diamonds and we can play back our 9
of Diamonds to dummy's Queen.

What happens if the Diamonds are 3-1? 

We could duck a Diamond to North, which is the 'Safe Hand' and take a Club
finesse for our 9th trick?

But is there a 100% way of making this contract?

<b>Conclusion</b>:

We duck the first round of Hearts and we are forced to take take the second
round.

At least now, we know that South has no more than 4 Heart tricks in total.

We test the Diamonds by playing the Ace and King and we find the inevitable bad
news that Diamonds are 3-1.

Now the 'Master Plan'. We play dummy's Heart (This is now the 3rd round of
Hearts), and we <i>discard</i> one of our Diamonds.

The defence can only take a total of 4 tricks in Hearts, so when we get the
lead back, we play a Diamond to the Queen and cash our 9 tricks.
}
[BCFlags "1f"]
[DoubleDummyTricks "4642346423969b8968b8"]
[OptimumScore "EW 400"]
[ParContract "EW 3N=; EW 5D="]
[Auction "E"]
1NT Pass 2C Pass
2D Pass 3NT AP
[OptimumResultTable "Declarer;Denomination\2R;Result\2R"]
N NT  4
N  S  6
N  H  4
N  D  2
N  C  3
S NT  4
S  S  6
S  H  4
S  D  2
S  C  3
E NT  9
E  S  6
E  H  9
E  D 11
E  C  8
W NT  9
W  S  6
W  H  8
W  D 11
W  C  8

[Event "Hold Up Play With KQxx"]
[Site ""]
[Date ""]
[Board "3"]
[West ""]
[North ""]
[East ""]
[South ""]
[Dealer "S"]
[Vulnerable "EW"]
[Deal "S:JT943.J53.T98.K8 K75.AQ6.KQ43.QT3 Q6.972.AJ752.762 A82.KT84.6.AJ954"]
[Scoring ""]
[Declarer ""]
[Contract ""]
[Result ""]
{North leads \D5.

Step 1: The only number that we, West, have in our head is 9.

Step 2: We have 6 <i>top</i> tricks (2 Spades, 3 Hearts and 1 in Diamonds after
the lead).

Step 3: Our extra three tricks will come from the Club suit, by knocking out
the defender's King\n
            of Clubs; this will establish 4 extra Club tricks.             \n
   \n
Step 4: Once our Diamond stopper has been knocked out, the defenders could cash
four\n
            Diamond tricks plus the King of Clubs and defeat our contract.

Step 5: There are no communication issues.

<b>Observations</b>:

We are going to have to lose the lead.

We must make sure that when we lose the lead, we must maximise the chance that
a defender's established suit cannot be reached by the player who has won the
trick.

<b>Conclusion</b>:

We must treat our KQ holding in Diamonds as if it was an Ace.

We must use the 'Rule of 7'.

We have 4+1=5 Diamonds; We take the 5 away from 7, which leaves us with an
answer of 2.

We must duck<i> two</i> times.

We wait until the third round of Diamonds before playing one of our top
Diamonds,

Playing one of our top Diamonds prematurely will result in failure of our
contract. }
[BCFlags "1f"]
[DoubleDummyTricks "252622526298b7b98b7b"]
[OptimumScore "EW 650"]
[ParContract "EW 4H+1"]
[Auction "S"]
Pass 1NT Pass 2C
Pass 2D Pass 3NT
AP
[OptimumResultTable "Declarer;Denomination\2R;Result\2R"]
N NT  2
N  S  5
N  H  2
N  D  6
N  C  2
S NT  2
S  S  5
S  H  2
S  D  6
S  C  2
E NT  9
E  S  8
E  H 11
E  D  7
E  C 11
W NT  9
W  S  8
W  H 11
W  D  7
W  C 11

[Event "Generating Entries"]
[Site ""]
[Date ""]
[Board "4"]
[West ""]
[North ""]
[East ""]
[South ""]
[Dealer "W"]
[Vulnerable "All"]
[Deal "W:AJT.AK42.KQ94.98 K9832.865.AT85.2 Q76.93.62.AQJT76 54.QJT7.J73.K543"]
[Scoring ""]
[Declarer ""]
[Contract ""]
[Result ""]
{North leads \S3.

Step 1: The only number that we, West, have in our head is 9.

Step 2: We have 5 <i>top</i> tricks (2 Hearts, 1 Club and 2 in Spades after the
lead).

Step 3: It appears that our only hope of those 4 extra tricks is dummy's Club
suit.              \n
   \n
Step 4: There is no imminent danger that the defenders can take their desired 5
tricks. 

Step 5: As long as North has Kx or Kxx of Clubs, we can get to our Club suit,
without any \n
           problems, but if South holds the King of Clubs, will our Club suit
be stranded in \n
           dummy?

<b>Observations</b>:

If only we could 'Generate' an entry into dummy, then we do not mind if South
holds the King of Clubs, because once we have knocked out South's King of Clubs
that extra entry would give us access to all of our established Clubs.  

<b>Conclusion</b>:

Before we consider playing to the first trick, we much resolve all of our
issues that our <i>five</i> steps have raised.

North's 3 of Spades lead appears to be an attacking lead, so surely they must
hold the King?

How about winning the first trick with the Ace of Spades, setting the Clubs up
and we still have the Queen of Spades as an entry for our established Clubs?

}
[BCFlags "1f"]
[DoubleDummyTricks "4565345653877698877a"]
[OptimumScore "EW 130"]
[ParContract "W 1C+3"]
[Auction "W"]
1NT Pass 3NT AP
[OptimumResultTable "Declarer;Denomination\2R;Result\2R"]
N NT  4
N  S  5
N  H  6
N  D  5
N  C  3
S NT  4
S  S  5
S  H  6
S  D  5
S  C  3
E NT  8
E  S  7
E  H  7
E  D  6
E  C  9
W NT  8
W  S  8
W  H  7
W  D  7
W  C 10

[Event "Play High From Dummy to Block Defence"]
[Site ""]
[Date ""]
[Board "5"]
[West ""]
[North ""]
[East ""]
[South ""]
[Dealer "N"]
[Vulnerable "NS"]
[Deal "N:QT4.KQ432.AK2.KJ AJ987.AJ9.T98.72 K53.7.QJ63.QT986 62.T865.754.A543"]
[Scoring ""]
[Declarer ""]
[Contract ""]
[Result ""]
{West leads \S6.

Step 1: The only number that we, South, have in our head is 9.

Step 2: We have 5 <i>top</i> tricks (4 Diamonds, and 1 in Spades after the
lead).

Step 3: Our extra four tricks will come from the Club suit, once we have
knocked the Ace of \n
            Clubs out.              \n
   \n
Step 4: We are very aware that East has probably 5 Spades, so we are under
pressure. 

Step 5: There are no communication issues.

<b>Observations</b>:

At first glance, after West leads what appears to be their doubleton, this
appears to be a case of West being the 'Danger Hand' and as long as West does
not get back on lead, we should be alright.

So all we have to do is 'Pray' that West does not get on lead?

Or is there some other strategy involved here? \n
 \n
<b>Conclusion</b>:

Look at the effect of us playing the Queen of Spades from dummy at trick 1.

East can win the trick with their Ace of Spades, but they cannot successfully
continue the Spade suit.

In our own time, we can knock out the Ace of Clubs, knowing that our King of
Spades will prevent the defenders taking enough defensive tricks.}
[BCFlags "1f"]
[DoubleDummyTricks "977a9967994553345533"]
[OptimumScore "NS 600"]
[ParContract "NS 3N="]
[Auction "N"]
1H 1S 1NT Pass
3NT AP
[OptimumResultTable "Declarer;Denomination\2R;Result\2R"]
N NT  9
N  S  7
N  H  7
N  D 10
N  C  9
S NT  9
S  S  6
S  H  7
S  D  9
S  C  9
E NT  4
E  S  5
E  H  5
E  D  3
E  C  3
W NT  4
W  S  5
W  H  5
W  D  3
W  C  3

[Event "Danger Hand"]
[Site ""]
[Date ""]
[Board "6"]
[West ""]
[North ""]
[East ""]
[South ""]
[Dealer "E"]
[Vulnerable "EW"]
[Deal "E:AJ3.QJ9.AQT9.K52 T82.A8753.K.J764 KQ6.T64.J863.A83 9754.K2.7542.QT9"]
[Scoring ""]
[Declarer ""]
[Contract ""]
[Result ""]
{South leads \H5.

Step 1: The only number that we, East, have in our head is 9.

Step 2: We have 6 <i>top</i> tricks (3 Spades, 1 Diamond, and 2 Clubs).

Step 3: Seeing that North won the opening lead with their King of Hearts and
returned the 2 of\n
           Hearts to South's Ace, we now have an extra Heart trick, but we are
still 2 tricks short\n
           of our target of 9 tricks.  \n
           Those extra two tricks will have to come from the Diamond suit.     
            \n
   \n
Step 4: We can identify the South hand as the 'Danger Hand' as they have enough
established\n
            Hearts to defeat our contract. If South also has the King of
Diamonds we will not make\n
            our contract, unless...?  \n
 \n
Step 5: There are no communication issues.

<b>Observations</b>: We must do all we can to prevent South from gaining the
lead.

<b>Conclusion</b>:

I know it is a bit of a 'Long Shot', but why shouldn't South be holding the
Singleton King of Diamonds?

It cannot cost to lay down our Ace of Diamonds, attempting to drop South's
Singleton King.

If it turns out that North held the King of Diamonds all this time, then we are
still alright as North does not have a Heart left to play to their partner,
meanwhile we have now established 2 extra Diamond tricks and we have made our
contract.

By refusing the Diamond finesse and laying down our Ace of Diamonds, this
increases our chances of making our game contract by at least 5%. (Every bit
counts).

}
[BCFlags "1f"]
[DoubleDummyTricks "34535345359979899798"]
[OptimumScore "EW 600"]
[ParContract "EW 3N="]
[Auction "E"]
1NT Pass 3NT AP
[OptimumResultTable "Declarer;Denomination\2R;Result\1R"]
N NT 3
N  S 4
N  H 5
N  D 3
N  C 5
S NT 3
S  S 4
S  H 5
S  D 3
S  C 5
E NT 9
E  S 9
E  H 7
E  D 9
E  C 8
W NT 9
W  S 9
W  H 7
W  D 9
W  C 8

[Event "Deceptive Declarer Plays"]
[Site ""]
[Date ""]
[Board "7"]
[West ""]
[North ""]
[East ""]
[South ""]
[Dealer "S"]
[Vulnerable "All"]
[Deal "S:J94.AT42.52.7543 AQ3.Q85.AQ73.JT8 KT862.KJ73.K4.96 75.96.JT986.AKQ2"]
[Scoring ""]
[Declarer ""]
[Contract ""]
[Result ""]
{North leads \S6.

Step 1: The only number that we, West, have in our head is 9.

Step 2: We have 7 <i>top</i> tricks (1 Diamond, 4 Clubs and 2 in Spades after
the lead).

Step 3: Our extra three tricks will come from the Diamond suit.              \n
   \n
Step 4: The opening lead of the 6 of Spades has done us no harm, however, we
can see that\n
            we are 'Wide Open' in the Heart suit. 

<b>Observations</b>:

Once we have knocked out the King of Diamonds, we have an easy 9+ tricks,
providing that the defenders do not switch to Hearts, when they are in with the
King of Diamonds.

We are planning to take the Diamond finesse by running dummy's Jack of
Diamonds, because if South is holding the King of Diamonds, we have nothing to
worry about.

Assuming that our Diamond finesse is going to lose to North's King, is there
anything that we can do to convince North not to switch to a Heart?\n
 \n
<b>Conclusion</b>:

We have to try and imagine this hand through the eyes of the defender, North.\n
If declarer wins South's Jack of Spades with their Queen and they then cross
over to dummy and run the Jack of Diamonds, what will North be thinking when
their King wins this trick?\n
Like all good defenders, they should be counting declarer's tricks. The fact
that South could only play the Jack of Spades at trick 1, means that declarer
must be holding the Ace and Queen of Spades, plus 4 Diamond tricks and 3 Club
tricks. Declarer has made enough tricks from those three suits to make their
contract. When a defender recognises this, '<i>Their Only Hope</i>', is to
switch to a Heart and hope that their partner is holding the Ace of Hearts. 

Look what happens when declarer wins the first trick with a very deceptive Ace
of Spades.\n
North will come to only one conclusion, which is that their partner's Jack of
Spades has forced out declarer's Ace of Spades and therefore South must be
holding the Queen of Spades, so quite understandingly, North will continue with
a low Spade to their partner's 'Known' Queen of Spades, so the magnificent
deceptive play is for declarer to win the opening lead with their Ace of
Spades, fooling North into thinking that their partner must be holding the
Queen of Spades. 
}
[BCFlags "1f"]
[DoubleDummyTricks "58844588446459775599"]
[OptimumScore "EW 110"]
[ParContract "W 3C=; EW 3D="]
[Auction "S"]
Pass 1NT Pass 3NT
AP
[OptimumResultTable "Declarer;Denomination\2R;Result\1R"]
N NT 5
N  S 8
N  H 8
N  D 4
N  C 4
S NT 5
S  S 8
S  H 8
S  D 4
S  C 4
E NT 6
E  S 4
E  H 5
E  D 9
E  C 7
W NT 7
W  S 5
W  H 5
W  D 9
W  C 9

[Event "Generating Entries"]
[Site ""]
[Date ""]
[Board "8"]
[West ""]
[North ""]
[East ""]
[South ""]
[Dealer "W"]
[Vulnerable "None"]
[Deal "W:QJT9.QT95.32.KJ9 543.7.AKT954.A43 87.K864.J876.T76 AK62.AJ32.Q.Q852"]
[Scoring ""]
[Declarer ""]
[Contract ""]
[Result ""]
{West leads \SQueen.

Step 1: The only number that we, South, have in our head is 9.

Step 2: We have 7 <i>top</i> tricks (2 Spades, 1 Heart, 3 Diamonds and 1 Club).
\n
             \n
Step 3: Our best option for those extra two tricks will come from the Diamond
suit.              \n
   \n
Step 4: There is no imminent danger that the defenders can take their desired 5
tricks. 

Step 5: Our source of tricks from dummy's Diamond suit is looking good,
however, there is\n
            only one entry into dummy and that is the Ace of Clubs.    

<b>Observations</b>:

One option is to play the Queen of Diamonds at trick 2, go over to the Ace of
Clubs and run the Diamonds, hoping that the Diamonds break 3-3 or hope that,
when the Diamonds break 4-2, the Jack of Diamonds is a doubleton.

We do not want to get 'Bogged Down' with a 'Maths Lesson', but I can tell you
that the Diamond suit will split 3-3 just 36% of the time and the Jack of
Diamonds will be a doubleton 16% of the time, so we have a 52% chance with that
line.

But maybe there is a better line?\n
  \n
<b>Conclusion</b>:

How about increasing our chances of being to run our Diamond tricks, albeit
potentially sacrificing one of our Diamond tricks?

What happens if, at trick 2, we play our Queen of Diamonds, overtaking with our
King of Diamonds.

We now play the Ace and 10 of Diamonds, knocking out the Jack, whilst we still
have the Ace of Clubs to get to our established Diamonds.

We are now making our contract whenever Diamonds are 3-3 or <i>any</i> 4-2
Diamond break.

This elevates our chances of success to 84%.}
[BCFlags "1f"]
[DoubleDummyTricks "7a6aa9a7aa4263342633"]
[OptimumScore "NS 420"]
[ParContract "NS 4S="]
[Auction "W"]
Pass 1D Pass 1H
Pass 2D Pass 3NT
AP
[OptimumResultTable "Declarer;Denomination\2R;Result\2R"]
N NT  7
N  S 10
N  H  6
N  D 10
N  C 10
S NT  9
S  S 10
S  H  7
S  D 10
S  C 10
E NT  4
E  S  2
E  H  6
E  D  3
E  C  3
W NT  4
W  S  2
W  H  6
W  D  3
W  C  3

[Event "Playing Suit Combinations"]
[Site ""]
[Date ""]
[Board "9"]
[West ""]
[North ""]
[East ""]
[South ""]
[Dealer "N"]
[Vulnerable "EW"]
[Deal "N:AJT.A9.AK42.KQ92 9876.J842.875.76 KQ4.KT753.63.AJ5 532.Q6.QJT9.T843"]
[Scoring ""]
[Declarer ""]
[Contract ""]
[Result ""]
{East leads \S9.

Step 1: The only number that we, North, have in our head is 12.

Step 2: We have 11 <i>top</i> tricks (3 Spades, 2 Hearts, 2 Diamonds and 4 in
Clubs).

Step 3: There is only one suit that we can hope to get our extra 1 trick from
and that is the\n
            Heart suit.              \n
   \n
Step 4: There is no imminent danger that the defenders can take their desired 2
tricks. 

Step 5: There are no communication issues.

<b>Observations</b>:

We must generate an extra Heart trick, without losing 2 Heart tricks.

If Hearts break 3-3, we are 'Home and Dry'.

If Hearts break 4-2 are we always doomed?

Are there any 4-2 Heart holdings that will enable us to make an extra Heart
trick, without losing 2 Heart tricks?

<b>Conclusion</b>:

The only 4-2 Heart break which we can benefit from is when West holds a
doubleton honour.

To take advantage of this situation, we must lead a low heart towards the 9. 

When the 9 of Heart loses, we lay down the Ace of Hearts and hope that West's
honour drops, promoting our 10 of Hearts.

If West does not hold a doubleton honour, then all we can hope for is a 3-3
Heart break.

This play is also successful if West holds say, QJxx of Hearts.}
[BCFlags "1f"]
[DoubleDummyTricks "cccbdcccbd1112011120"]
[OptimumScore "NS 1440"]
[ParContract "NS 7C="]
[Auction "N"]
2NT Pass 3C Pass
3NT Pass 6NT AP
[OptimumResultTable "Declarer;Denomination\2R;Result\2R"]
N NT 12
N  S 12
N  H 12
N  D 11
N  C 13
S NT 12
S  S 12
S  H 12
S  D 11
S  C 13
E NT  1
E  S  1
E  H  1
E  D  2
E  C  0
W NT  1
W  S  1
W  H  1
W  D  2
W  C  0

[Event "The Avoidance Play"]
[Site ""]
[Date ""]
[Board "10"]
[West ""]
[North ""]
[East ""]
[South ""]
[Dealer "E"]
[Vulnerable "All"]
[Deal "E:76.AT9.AK632.KQ7 T92.KQJ73.JT8.T6 AK84.654.954.A85 QJ53.82.Q7.J9432"]
[Scoring ""]
[Declarer ""]
[Contract ""]
[Result ""]
{South leads \HKing.

Step 1: The only number that we, East, have in our head is 9.

Step 2: We have 8 <i>top</i> tricks (2 Spades, 1 Heart, 2 Diamonds and 3 in
Clubs).

Step 3: We only require 1 more trick and that must come from the Diamond suit. 
       \n
   \n
Step 4: The problem that we have is that in order to establish our extra
Diamond trick, we\n
            must lose a Diamond trick.

Step 5: There are no communication issues.

<b>Observations:</b>

The first thing that we must do is apply the 'Rule of 7'.

Declarer Hearts + Dummy Hearts = 6.

7 Minus 6 = 1; We must hold up for <i>one</i> round of Hearts.

North peters in Hearts, which confirms our worst fear and that is that the
Heart suit divides 5-2

We must keep South off lead.

<b>Conclusion</b>:

We enter dummy with a Spade and lead a low Diamond towards our Ace, King of
Diamonds, when North plays their 7 of Diamonds, we win it with our Ace of
Diamonds.

We now cross back to dummy to our Ace of Clubs and repeat the process of
leading towards our King of Diamonds.

This time North plays the Queen of Diamonds and we play low.

We have successfully prevented South getting back on lead.}
[BCFlags "1f"]
[DoubleDummyTricks "3453434534a98a9a98a9"]
[OptimumScore "EW 630"]
[ParContract "EW 3N+1"]
[Auction "E"]
1NT Pass 3NT AP
[OptimumResultTable "Declarer;Denomination\2R;Result\2R"]
N NT  3
N  S  4
N  H  5
N  D  3
N  C  4
S NT  3
S  S  4
S  H  5
S  D  3
S  C  4
E NT 10
E  S  9
E  H  8
E  D 10
E  C  9
W NT 10
W  S  9
W  H  8
W  D 10
W  C  9

[Event "Communication Problems"]
[Site ""]
[Date ""]
[Board "11"]
[West ""]
[North ""]
[East ""]
[South ""]
[Dealer "S"]
[Vulnerable "None"]
[Deal "S:K4.KQ53.AKJ.QJ73 987.764.8432.542 A32.JT2.Q765.T86 QJT65.A98.T9.AK9"]
[Scoring ""]
[Declarer ""]
[Contract ""]
[Result ""]
{West leads \S9.

Step 1: The only number that we, South, have in our head is 9.

Step 2: We have 6 <i>top</i> tricks (2 Spades and 4 in Diamonds).

Step 3: All we have to do is knock out the Ace of Hearts, which will generate
our extra 3 tricks.              \n
   \n
Step 4: There is no imminent danger that the defenders can take their desired 5
tricks. 

Step 5: Houston......."We have a Problem".

<b>Observations</b>:

Against good defenders, who will only take their Ace of Hearts on the third
round, it can be a 'Nightmare' trying to untangle our 9 tricks, which are there
for the taking.

The problem is that we require an entry to our 4th Diamond in dummy, but we
also require an entry to our 4th Heart in declarer's hand.

What we need to realise is that to be able to cash our Queen of Diamonds, we
must first unblock the Ace, King and Jack of Diamonds in declarer's hand.

Once we have done that, the only entry back to declarer's hand will be the King
of Spades to be able to get to our last Heart, so we need to preserve our King
of Spades. 

<b>Conclusion</b>:

Win the opening lead immediately in dummy with the Ace of Spades.

We now unblock the Diamonds, by playing off the Ace, King and Jack of Diamonds.

We now play to the 10 of Hearts and assuming that wins, it is now time to cash
our Queen of Diamonds.

We now continue playing Hearts.

We still have declarer's King of Spades as an entry to our 4th Heart.




}
[BCFlags "1f"]
[DoubleDummyTricks "97a9a97a9a4633346333"]
[OptimumScore "NS 420"]
[ParContract "NS 4H="]
[Auction "S"]
1H Pass 2H 2S
3NT AP
[OptimumResultTable "Declarer;Denomination\2R;Result\2R"]
N NT  9
N  S  7
N  H 10
N  D  9
N  C 10
S NT  9
S  S  7
S  H 10
S  D  9
S  C 10
E NT  4
E  S  6
E  H  3
E  D  3
E  C  3
W NT  4
W  S  6
W  H  3
W  D  3
W  C  3

[Event "Generating Entries"]
[Site ""]
[Date ""]
[Board "12"]
[West ""]
[North ""]
[East ""]
[South ""]
[Dealer "W"]
[Vulnerable "NS"]
[Deal "W:QJT9.A765.T75.82 AK54.2.KQ94.AK43 632.K983.J8.QJT9 87.QJT4.A632.765"]
[Scoring ""]
[Declarer ""]
[Contract ""]
[Result ""]
{East leads \CQueen.

Step 1: The only number that we, North, have in our head is 9.

Step 2: We have 7 <i>top</i> tricks (2 Spades, 3 Diamonds and 2 in Clubs). \n
             \n
Step 3: If the Diamond suit breaks 3-2 (68% Chance), we will have an extra
Diamond trick, \n
            which brings us up to 8 tricks.

            Our 9th trick will be established in the Heart suit, once we have
knocked out the Ace\n
            and King of Hearts.       \n
   \n
Step 4: There is no imminent danger that the defenders are threatening to take
their desired 5\n
            tricks and we should not duck the opening lead as we have 7 cards
in Clubs between\n
            declarer and dummy.

Step 5: Our strategy derived from Step 3 involves getting to dummy on
<i>two</i> occasions. The first\n
            occasion is to get to dummy to knock out the defender's second
Heart and the second\n
            occasion is so that we can get to our winning Heart, which is our
9th trick.       

<b>Observations</b>:

We require two entries to dummy.

The Diamond suit is the only suit that can give us our two entries to dummy.\n
  \n
<b>Conclusion</b>:

We must play the Diamond suit with great care to generate a second Diamond
entry.

We play the King and Queen of Diamonds, followed by the nine of Diamonds to the
Ace.

We can now 'Coolly' play North's 4 of Diamonds to South's 6 of Diamonds.


}
[BCFlags "1f"]
[DoubleDummyTricks "988aa988aa4452344523"]
[OptimumScore "NS 600"]
[ParContract "NS 3N="]
[Auction "W"]
Pass 1D Pass 1H
Pass 2NT Pass 3NT
AP
[OptimumResultTable "Declarer;Denomination\2R;Result\2R"]
N NT  9
N  S  8
N  H  8
N  D 10
N  C 10
S NT  9
S  S  8
S  H  8
S  D 10
S  C 10
E NT  4
E  S  4
E  H  5
E  D  2
E  C  3
W NT  4
W  S  4
W  H  5
W  D  2
W  C  3

[Event "Murphy's Law (Safety Play)"]
[Site ""]
[Date ""]
[Board "13"]
[West ""]
[North ""]
[East ""]
[South ""]
[Dealer "N"]
[Vulnerable "All"]
[Deal "N:J62.9874.Q9763.3 AK3.AQ5.JT2.AK64 8754.632..QJT952 QT9.KJT.AK854.87"]
[Scoring ""]
[Declarer ""]
[Contract ""]
[Result ""]
{South leads \CQueen.

Step 1: The only number that we, East, have in our head is 12.

Step 2: We have 10 <i>top</i> tricks (3 Spades, 3 Hearts, 2 Diamonds and 2 in
Clubs).

Step 3: There is only one suit that we can hope to get our extra 2 tricks from
and that is the\n
            Diamond suit.\n
            All we need to do is knock out the Queen of Diamonds and claim our
contract?              \n
   \n
Step 4: There is no imminent danger that the defenders can take their desired 2
tricks. 

Step 5: There are no communication issues.

<b>Observations</b>:

This looks too good to be true?

All we have to do is knock out the Queen of Diamonds and claim our 4 Diamond
tricks?

When we find ourselves saying the phrase, "This looks so easy", that is when we
must stop and think what can go wrong.

On this hand, if Diamonds are 4-1, then nothing can go wrong.

So, we assume Diamonds are 5-0.

If South has the 5 Diamonds, then we are alright, as we can finesse for the 9
of Diamonds at some stage, by playing a Diamond towards the 8.

That just leaves one holding left to consider and that is when North is holding
5 Diamonds.

This is the worse holding that we could encounter, so we assume that North has
5 Diamonds to the Queen.

We have to work out how to play the Diamonds, when North has 5 of them.

<b>Conclusion</b>:

We play a small Diamond towards East's Jack twice.}
[BCFlags "1f"]
[DoubleDummyTricks "1321412214cabc9caac9"]
[OptimumScore "EW 1440"]
[ParContract "EW 6N="]
[Auction "N"]
Pass 2NT Pass 6NT
AP
[OptimumResultTable "Declarer;Denomination\2R;Result\2R"]
N NT  1
N  S  3
N  H  2
N  D  1
N  C  4
S NT  1
S  S  2
S  H  2
S  D  1
S  C  4
E NT 12
E  S 10
E  H 11
E  D 12
E  C  9
W NT 12
W  S 10
W  H 10
W  D 12
W  C  9

[Event "Danger Hand"]
[Site ""]
[Date ""]
[Board "14"]
[West ""]
[North ""]
[East ""]
[South ""]
[Dealer "E"]
[Vulnerable "None"]
[Deal "E:T8.Q976.T973.K96 KJ5.AT.QJ62.QT85 AQ9764.542.84.32 32.KJ83.AK5.AJ74"]
[Scoring ""]
[Declarer ""]
[Contract ""]
[Result ""]
{West leads \S7.

Step 1: The only number that we, South, have in our head is 9.

Step 2: We have 8 <i>top</i> tricks (2 Hearts, 4 Diamonds, 1 Club and 1 in
Spades after the lead).

Step 3: Our extra one trick could come from a Club finesse or a Heart finesse
that could be \n
            taken in either direction.              \n
   \n
Step 4: Having won the first trick with our Jack of Spades, West is holding
enough Spades to\n
           defeat our contract.\n
 \n
Step 5: There are no communication issues.

<b>Observations</b>:

We are left with just K x in Spades in the South hand.

This is a very vulnerable holding.

However, it is only a vulnerable holding if East obtains the lead.

We therefore call East the 'Danger Hand'.

If East obtains the lead, we are 'Doomed', however, if West obtains the lead we
are 'Safe'.

Our strategy is therefore to establish our extra trick by losing to West, which
we have           designated the 'Safe' hand.

<b>Conclusion</b>:

Having won the opening lead with our Jack of Spades, we cross to dummy with a
Diamond and lead a low Heart towards our ten of Hearts.

We do not mind if this loses as the lead is now with West, the 'Safe' hand.

Our Jack of Hearts has now been established for our 9th trick.

}
[BCFlags "1f"]
[DoubleDummyTricks "8699a979aa3643336433"]
[OptimumScore "NS 400"]
[ParContract "S 3N="]
[Auction "E"]
Pass 1NT Pass 2C
Pass 2D Pass 3NT
AP
[OptimumResultTable "Declarer;Denomination\2R;Result\2R"]
N NT  8
N  S  6
N  H  9
N  D  9
N  C 10
S NT  9
S  S  7
S  H  9
S  D 10
S  C 10
E NT  3
E  S  6
E  H  4
E  D  3
E  C  3
W NT  3
W  S  6
W  H  4
W  D  3
W  C  3

[Event "The Block Defence"]
[Site ""]
[Date ""]
[Board "15"]
[West ""]
[North ""]
[East ""]
[South ""]
[Dealer "S"]
[Vulnerable "NS"]
[Deal "S:AQ9.J2.T973.AQ65 64.A8.KJ862.J943 K83.KQ63.A5.K872 JT752.T9754.Q4.T"]
[Scoring ""]
[Declarer ""]
[Contract ""]
[Result ""]
{West leads \D6.

Step 1: The only number that we, South, have in our head is 9.

Step 2: We have 7 <i>top</i> tricks (3 Spades, 1 Diamond and 3 in Clubs).

Step 3: We only require 2 more tricks and that must come from the Heart suit,
when we knock\n
            out the Ace of Hearts.         \n
   \n
Step 4: The problem that we have is that the defenders could quite easily
establish 4 Diamond\n
            tricks plus the Ace of Hearts.

Step 5: There are no communication issues.

<b>Observations</b>:

If the defender's Diamonds are breaking 4-3, we are not worried as the
defenders can only take 3 Diamond tricks along with their Ace of Hearts.

It is when the defender's Diamonds break 5-2, that we could potentially be
looking at 4 Diamond losers plus the Ace of Hearts.

However, when the defender's Diamonds are 5-2, East will most certainly be
holding 'Honour Doubleton' in the Diamond suit?

According to the 'Rule of 7', seeing that we have 6 Diamonds between the
declarer hand and the dummy hand, we should be ducking once, however, with
dummy holding the Ace doubleton in the Diamond suit and declarer is holding
109xx, we must 'Overrule' the 'Rule of 7'.

<b>Conclusion</b>:

At trick 1, we must rise with the Ace of Diamonds from dummy. 

East will now be holding a singleton honour in Diamonds and the Diamond suit of
the defence has now been blocked, which means that, the defence will not be
able to untangle their 4 Diamond tricks.




}
[BCFlags "1f"]
[DoubleDummyTricks "a898aa898a3545335453"]
[OptimumScore "NS 630"]
[ParContract "NS 3N+1"]
[Auction "S"]
1NT Pass 2C Pass
2D Pass 3NT AP
[OptimumResultTable "Declarer;Denomination\2R;Result\2R"]
N NT 10
N  S  8
N  H  9
N  D  8
N  C 10
S NT 10
S  S  8
S  H  9
S  D  8
S  C 10
E NT  3
E  S  5
E  H  4
E  D  5
E  C  3
W NT  3
W  S  5
W  H  4
W  D  5
W  C  3

[Event "Suit Combinations + Danger Hand"]
[Site ""]
[Date ""]
[Board "16"]
[West ""]
[North ""]
[East ""]
[South ""]
[Dealer "W"]
[Vulnerable "EW"]
[Deal "W:KJ94.KQ.KQT9.J53 8763.JT987.764.7 AT5.A64.AJ.AQ962 Q2.532.8532.KT84"]
[Scoring ""]
[Declarer ""]
[Contract ""]
[Result ""]
{North leads \HJack.

Step 1: The only number that we, West, have in our head is 12.

Step 2: We have 10 <i>top</i> tricks (2 Spades, 3 Hearts, 4 Diamonds and 1 in
Clubs).

Step 3: The Club suit is our best prospect to establish an extra 2 tricks.\n
                  \n
Step 4: There is no imminent danger that the defenders can take their desired 2
tricks. 

Step 5: There are no communication issues.

<b>Observations</b>:

We focus on the fact that we only require 4 Club tricks and we can afford to
lose one.\n
If Clubs are 3-2, there are no issues, so we must assume that Clubs are going
to be 4-1.\n
One obvious thing that we must first do is cash the Ace of Clubs.\n
 \n
<b>Conclusion</b>:

Having cashed the Ace of Clubs, we play a low Club towards our Jack of Clubs.
If South shows out, we can next play a Club to the 9 and we wrap up 4 Club
tricks.

If South is the one with the 4 Clubs, they cannot play their King of Clubs on
'Thin Air', as this will give us our 4 Club tricks, so they must play low and
our Jack of Clubs wins. 

We have now made 2 Club tricks, so we now have 11 top tricks and we can still
afford to lose 1.

We now just require one more trick.

We now switch our attention to the Spade suit, by playing a Spade to dummy's
Ace and running the 10 of Spades, taking a finesse into the 'Safe Hand'.

Even if our Spade finesse loses, North cannot play back a Club.

Meanwhile we have set up our 12th trick via the Jack of Spades.}
[BCFlags "1f"]
[DoubleDummyTricks "1121111211ccbccccbcc"]
[OptimumScore "EW 1440"]
[ParContract "EW 6N="]
[Auction "W"]
1NT Pass 6NT AP
[OptimumResultTable "Declarer;Denomination\2R;Result\2R"]
N NT  1
N  S  1
N  H  2
N  D  1
N  C  1
S NT  1
S  S  1
S  H  2
S  D  1
S  C  1
E NT 12
E  S 12
E  H 11
E  D 12
E  C 12
W NT 12
W  S 12
W  H 11
W  D 12
W  C 12

[Event "Finessing"]
[Site ""]
[Date ""]
[Board "17"]
[West ""]
[North ""]
[East ""]
[South ""]
[Dealer "N"]
[Vulnerable "None"]
[Deal "N:K93.AJT5.A32.AK8 J8.43.J9764.QT73 A764.Q92.Q5.6542 QT52.K876.KT8.J9"]
[Scoring ""]
[Declarer ""]
[Contract ""]
[Result ""]
{East leads \D6.

Our initial analysis tells us that we must play the Queen of Diamonds from
dummy, hoping that East has underled their King of Diamonds at trick 1, but
unfortunately, West's King wins the trick and a Diamond is continued.

We can now action our 5 Step analysis.

Step 1: The only number that we, North, have in our head is 9.

Step 2: We have 6 <i>top</i> tricks (2 Spades, 1 Heart, 1 Diamond and 2 in
Clubs).

Step 3: There is only one suit that we can hope to get our extra 3 tricks from
and that is the \n
            Heart suit.              \n
   \n
Step 4: Our Diamond suit is wide open, so we must make our extra 3 Heart tricks
immediately \n
            and without losing the lead.

Step 5: We have a problem in that we have only one entry via dummy's Ace of
Spades.

            We need to be very careful on how we go about playing the Heart
suit.

<b>Observations</b>:

We are required to make 4 Heart tricks.

Once we play a Spade to dummy's Ace, this will be the last time that we will be
able to enter dummy.

<b>Conclusion</b>:

Play a Spade to dummy's Ace.

The 'Master Play' is to now lead the 9 of Hearts.

This enables us to take three Heart finesses, if required.}
[BCFlags "1f"]
[DoubleDummyTricks "9ba79aba8a3235332353"]
[OptimumScore "NS 450"]
[ParContract "NS 4S+1"]
[Auction "N"]
1H Pass 1S Pass
2NT Pass 3H Pass
3NT AP
[OptimumResultTable "Declarer;Denomination\2R;Result\2R"]
N NT  9
N  S 11
N  H 10
N  D  7
N  C  9
S NT 10
S  S 11
S  H 10
S  D  8
S  C 10
E NT  3
E  S  2
E  H  3
E  D  5
E  C  3
W NT  3
W  S  2
W  H  3
W  D  5
W  C  3

[Event "Count Our Tricks (Do Not Get Greedy)"]
[Site ""]
[Date ""]
[Board "18"]
[West ""]
[North ""]
[East ""]
[South ""]
[Dealer "E"]
[Vulnerable "NS"]
[Deal "E:QJT.K.654.J98643 A64.QT9.AT982.K5 K952.J87432.K7.T 873.A65.QJ3.AQ72"]
[Scoring ""]
[Declarer ""]
[Contract ""]
[Result ""]
{West leads \H4.

Step 1: The only number that we, South, have in our head is 9.

Step 2: We have 6 <i>top</i> tricks (1 Spade, 1 Heart, 1 Diamond and 3 in
Clubs).

Step 3: We can establish an extra 4 Diamond tricks, even if our Diamond finesse
fails.              \n
   \n
Step 4: The Heart lead has done us no harm, however the Spade suit situation
looks a bit\n
            vulnerable? 

Step 5: There are no communication issues.

<b>Observations</b>:

The Heart lead has effectively given us an extra Heart trick, however our
strategy evaluated in Step 3 does not rely on making any extra Heart tricks. 

We must be alert to the danger of losing the first trick and the defenders
start attacking our  vulnerable Spade suit, before we have had a chance to
establish our extra Diamond tricks.

We must stick to our plan and we must not get distracted.

<b>Conclusion</b>:

We must 'Refuse' this 'Generous' lead and we must rise with the Ace of Hearts
and take a Diamond finesse into the 'Safe Hand'. This is the only winning play.

If we get 'Greedy' and play a low Heart at trick 1, although we now have 2
Heart tricks, East will switch to the Queen of Spades and our contract will
fail, due to our greed.}
[BCFlags "1f"]
[DoubleDummyTricks "976a7976a73573535735"]
[OptimumScore "EW -500"]
[ParContract "EW 4HX-3"]
[Auction "E"]
Pass 1NT Pass 3NT
AP
[OptimumResultTable "Declarer;Denomination\2R;Result\2R"]
N NT  9
N  S  7
N  H  6
N  D 10
N  C  7
S NT  9
S  S  7
S  H  6
S  D 10
S  C  7
E NT  3
E  S  5
E  H  7
E  D  3
E  C  5
W NT  3
W  S  5
W  H  7
W  D  3
W  C  5

[Event "Which Suit to Tackle First?"]
[Site ""]
[Date ""]
[Board "19"]
[West ""]
[North ""]
[East ""]
[South ""]
[Dealer "S"]
[Vulnerable "EW"]
[Deal "S:JT5.QJT9.K843.54 A7.K64.QT62.AQ96 Q9842.853.75.K72 K63.A72.AJ9.JT83"]
[Scoring ""]
[Declarer ""]
[Contract ""]
[Result ""]
{North leads \S4.

Step 1: The only number that we, West, have in our head is 9.

Step 2: We have 6 <i>top</i> tricks (2 Spades, 2 Hearts, 1 Diamond and 1 in
Clubs).

Step 3: We have two potential sources for our extra three tricks; Namely
Diamonds and Clubs.\n
            If the Club finesse is wrong, we are going to need our extra tricks
to come from both\n
            Clubs and Diamonds,               \n
   \n
Step 4: The problem is that there is a danger that to establish our 9 tricks,
we are going to\n
            have to lose the lead twice and North by then, will have their
Spade suit established.

Step 5: There are no communication issues.

<b>Observations</b>:

The key is knowing which Minor suit to tackle first.

Once our Ace and King of Spades have been knocked out, North becomes the
'Danger Hand'. 

We must therefore tackle the Diamond suit second as we know that by playing the
Diamond suit, we can keep the 'Danger Hand,' North off lead.

<b>Conclusion</b>:

We win the opening lead with the Ace of Spades.

We must now play the Club suit, driving out the King of Clubs.

We now subsequently duck the second round of Spades, cutting communications
from North.

We can now take the Diamond finesse knowing that the 'Danger' hand can be kept
off lead.

Note that we should not waste playing a Heart to dummy's Ace to take the Club
finesse as this brings into play the possibility that the defenders will switch
their attention to the Heart suit, which could result in 5 tricks for the
defenders.}
[BCFlags "1f"]
[DoubleDummyTricks "3643236432a79aaa79aa"]
[OptimumScore "EW 630"]
[ParContract "EW 3N+1"]
[Auction "S"]
Pass 1NT Pass 3NT
AP
[OptimumResultTable "Declarer;Denomination\2R;Result\2R"]
N NT  3
N  S  6
N  H  4
N  D  3
N  C  2
S NT  3
S  S  6
S  H  4
S  D  3
S  C  2
E NT 10
E  S  7
E  H  9
E  D 10
E  C 10
W NT 10
W  S  7
W  H  9
W  D 10
W  C 10

[Event "Preserving Entries"]
[Site ""]
[Date ""]
[Board "20"]
[West ""]
[North ""]
[East ""]
[South ""]
[Dealer "W"]
[Vulnerable "All"]
[Deal "W:AQ742.KJT.AK65.Q KJ98.Q8.JT84.543 65.A7.732.KJT982 T3.965432.Q9.A76"]
[Scoring ""]
[Declarer ""]
[Contract ""]
[Result ""]
{South leads \H4.

Step 1: The only number that we, East, have in our head is 9.

Step 2: We have 5 <i>top</i> tricks (1 Spade, 2 Hearts and 2 in Diamonds).\n
 \n
            We could say that with the Heart lead, we have been presented with
a third Heart\n
            trick, however, we would be most unwise to think along those lines.

Step 3: Our extra four tricks will come from the Club suit, once we have
knocked the Ace of \n
            Clubs out.              \n
   \n
Step 4: There is no imminent danger that the defenders can take their desired 5
tricks. 

Step 5: Remember, we do not touch a card from dummy until we have meticulously
analysed\n
            all of our <i>five</i> steps and that includes step 5.

            For once, the first four steps were easily resolved.

            Step 5 is all about evaluating what actions we need to take to
ensure that we can\n
            implement our strategy from Step 3.

            Our strategy is to knock out the Ace of Clubs, so we can cash 5
Club tricks, but we \n
            need an entry to get to our magnificent established Club suit.    

<b>Observations</b>:

At first glance, it appears that the 4 of Hearts lead from South has 'Gifted'
us 3 Heart tricks, however, there are much more important things happening on
this board, namely, our Ace of Hearts has only <i>one</i> role to play in life
and that is to provide an entry to our Club suit <i>after</i> we have knocked
out the defender's Ace of Clubs.\n
 \n
<b>Conclusion</b>:

After the 4 of Hearts lead from South, we must preserve our Ace of Hearts, so
we must play dummy's King of Hearts at trick 1.

We now play the Queen of Clubs, overtaking with our King and continue our Club
suit.

We still have our Ace of Hearts as an entry to our established Clubs. }
[BCFlags "1f"]
[DoubleDummyTricks "2453124531b989bb98ab"]
[OptimumScore "EW 660"]
[ParContract "EW 3N+2"]
[Auction "W"]
1S Pass 1NT Pass
3NT AP
[OptimumResultTable "Declarer;Denomination\2R;Result\2R"]
N NT  2
N  S  4
N  H  5
N  D  3
N  C  1
S NT  2
S  S  4
S  H  5
S  D  3
S  C  1
E NT 11
E  S  9
E  H  8
E  D  9
E  C 11
W NT 11
W  S  9
W  H  8
W  D 10
W  C 11

[Event "Count Our Tricks"]
[Site ""]
[Date ""]
[Board "21"]
[West ""]
[North ""]
[East ""]
[South ""]
[Dealer "N"]
[Vulnerable "NS"]
[Deal "N:A64.AQ.T53.AKQJT QJT98.K764.A2.98 K3.J32.KJ987.654 752.T985.Q64.732"]
[Scoring ""]
[Declarer ""]
[Contract ""]
[Result ""]
{East leads \SQ.

Step 1: The only number that we, North, have in our head is 9.

Step 2: We have 8 <i>top</i> tricks (2 Spades, 1 Heart and 5 in Clubs).

Step 3: Our one extra trick will come from the Heart suit, by playing the Ace
and Queen of\n
            Hearts, setting up our Jack of Hearts.              \n
   \n
Step 4: There is no imminent danger that the defenders can take their desired 5
tricks. 

Step 5: The only definite way to get to our 9th trick, the Jack of Hearts, is
via dummy's King of\n
            Spades.

<b>Observations</b>:

It may be tempting to play on the Diamond suit to get the one extra trick that
we require, but that would involve some guessing.

Playing on the Heart suit 100% guarantees the one extra trick that we require,
however we must make sure that, having established our 9th trick, the Jack of
Hearts, that we can get to it.

<b>Conclusion</b>:

We must win the first trick in hand with our Ace of Spades, play our Ace and
Queen of Hearts, establishing the Jack of Hearts for our 9th trick, which we
can get to, via dummy's King of Spades. 

Only once we have been through all 5 steps, do we play the 3 of Spades from
dummy.                                                      }
[BCFlags "5f"]
[DoubleDummyTricks "a78bba77ab2652226522"]
[OptimumScore "NS 630"]
[ParContract "NS 3N+1"]
[Auction "N"]
2NT Pass 3NT AP
[OptimumResultTable "Declarer;Denomination\2R;Result\2R"]
N NT 10
N  S  7
N  H  8
N  D 11
N  C 11
S NT 10
S  S  7
S  H  7
S  D 10
S  C 11
E NT  2
E  S  6
E  H  5
E  D  2
E  C  2
W NT  2
W  S  6
W  H  5
W  D  2
W  C  2

[Event "Counting the Hand"]
[Site ""]
[Date ""]
[Board "22"]
[West ""]
[North ""]
[East ""]
[South ""]
[Dealer "E"]
[Vulnerable "EW"]
[Deal "E:KJ3.A98.AT8.KQ65 T9875.76542.63.4 Q42.KQJ.KQJ.AT93 A6.T3.97542.J872"]
[Scoring ""]
[Declarer ""]
[Contract ""]
[Result ""]
{South leads \S10.

Step 1: The only number that we, East, have in our head is 12.

Step 2: We have 9 <i>top</i> tricks (3 Hearts, 3 Diamonds and 3 in Clubs).

Step 3: We can establish an extra 2 Spade tricks, by knocking out the Ace of
Spades.\n
            We can then attempt to make 4 Club tricks.              \n
   \n
Step 4: There is no imminent danger that the defenders can take their desired 2
tricks.

<b>Observations</b>:

Once we have knocked out the Ace of Spades, we just have to make 4 Club tricks.

If Clubs are 3-2 (68% chance), then we can claim.

As per usual, we have to assume that the Clubs will not break 3-2.

Assuming Clubs are 4-1, we are still alright, as long as we know who holds the
singleton Club, because we can take a finesse in Clubs either way.

Whenever we find ourselves having to make a critical decision like this, we
should get into the habit of collecting as much evidence as possible before
deciding what to do.

<b>Conclusion</b>:

Having knocked out the Ace of Spades, all we have to do is play out our 6 red
tricks and our 3 Spade tricks.

We now have all the evidence that is required to make the contract
<i>without</i> guessing who has the singleton Club.

When we play out our Spades and Hearts, North discards on the third round of
both Spades and Hearts. This gives South a 5-5 holding in the Majors.
Meanwhile, South discards on the third round of Diamonds. Therefore South has a
5-5-2-1 distribution with a singleton Club.

We therefore play a Club to the Ace and run the 10 of Clubs, knowing that North
must hold the Jack of Clubs.

}
[BCFlags "1f"]
[DoubleDummyTricks "1333113331caaaccaaac"]
[OptimumScore "EW 1440"]
[ParContract "EW 6N="]
[Auction "E"]
1NT Pass 6NT AP
[OptimumResultTable "Declarer;Denomination\2R;Result\2R"]
N NT  1
N  S  3
N  H  3
N  D  3
N  C  1
S NT  1
S  S  3
S  H  3
S  D  3
S  C  1
E NT 12
E  S 10
E  H 10
E  D 10
E  C 12
W NT 12
W  S 10
W  H 10
W  D 10
W  C 12

[Event "Finessing"]
[Site ""]
[Date ""]
[Board "23"]
[West ""]
[North ""]
[East ""]
[South ""]
[Dealer "S"]
[Vulnerable "All"]
[Deal "S:K74.K8.QT98.J943 6532.AQT4.AK.A85 JT98.9763.J3.QT2 AQ.J52.76542.K76"]
[Scoring ""]
[Declarer ""]
[Contract ""]
[Result ""]
{North leads \SJack.

This is the very rare occasion that we can see straight away that our play at
trick one is going to be the Queen of Spades from dummy. So, we are allowed to
play the Queen of Spades, seeing that depending on whether our Queen wins or
not will affect our 5 Step analysis.

South wins trick one with their King of Spades and continues the Spade suit.\n
We can now do our 5 Step analysis.\n
 \n
Step 1: The only number that we, West, have in our head is 9.

Step 2: We have 6 <i>top</i> tricks (1 Spade, 1 Heart, 2 Diamonds and 2 in
Clubs).

Step 3: There is only one suit that we can hope to get our extra 3 tricks from
and that is the\n
            Heart suit.              \n
   \n
Step 4: Our Spade suit is wide open, but it is not really relevant as we know
that the only way\n
           we are going to make our contract is to make 4 Heart tricks and if
we are to achieve \n
           that, we will not be losing the lead.

Step 5: There are no communication issues.

<b>Observations</b>:

We are required to make 4 Heart tricks and we need South to hold the King of
Hearts.\n
We ask ourselves, what are the Heart holdings that South must have to enable us
to make 4 Heart tricks?

They are Singleton King, Kx or Kxx. If South has four to the King, we will not
succeed.

If South has Kxx of Hearts, there will be no problem and we can lead dummy's
Jack, but supposing the King is doubleton, what will happen when we lead the
Jack? Well, South will simply cover and we will be forced to concede the 4th
round of Hearts to North.

<b>Conclusion</b>:

We must not waste our Jack of Hearts; We must lead the 2 of Hearts and play the
Queen and when that wins, return to dummy via the King of Clubs and this time
lead the 5 of Hearts.

We will make 4 Heart tricks whenever, South has Kx or Kxx of Hearts.



}
[BCFlags "1f"]
[DoubleDummyTricks "343344433499aa899aa8"]
[OptimumScore "EW 620"]
[ParContract "EW 4H="]
[Auction "S"]
Pass 1NT Pass 3NT
AP
[OptimumResultTable "Declarer;Denomination\2R;Result\2R"]
N NT  3
N  S  4
N  H  3
N  D  3
N  C  4
S NT  4
S  S  4
S  H  3
S  D  3
S  C  4
E NT  9
E  S  9
E  H 10
E  D 10
E  C  8
W NT  9
W  S  9
W  H 10
W  D 10
W  C  8

[Event "Which Suit to Tackle First?"]
[Site ""]
[Date ""]
[Board "24"]
[West ""]
[North ""]
[East ""]
[South ""]
[Dealer "W"]
[Vulnerable "None"]
[Deal "W:Q93.9854.876.A32 AT74.KJ3.A2.JT65 K85.QT762.KT95.4 J62.A.QJ43.KQ987"]
[Scoring ""]
[Declarer ""]
[Contract ""]
[Result ""]
{East leads \H6.

Step 1: The only number that we, North, have in our head is 9.

Step 2: We have 4 <i>top</i> tricks (1 Spade, 2 Hearts and 1 in Diamonds).

Step 3: We have two potential sources for our extra five tricks; Namely we can
establish 4 \n
            more Club tricks and one more Diamond trick. The problem is that
knocking out the\n
            Ace of Clubs will not bring us to our target of 9 tricks, so we are
going to have to tackle\n
            both the Club and Diamond suits to establish our 9 tricks.         
          \n
   \n
Step 4: We must choose very carefully the order that we should be losing our 2
tricks.

Step 5: There are no communication issues.

<b>Observations</b>:

After the Heart lead, West has become the immediate 'Danger Hand'.

We must make sure that we keep the 'Danger Hand' off lead for as long as
possible.

<b>Conclusion</b>:

Having won the opening lead with the Ace of Hearts, we cannot risk playing the
Club suit as there is a danger that the 'Danger Hand' will be on lead
immediately.

We must lead the Queen of Diamonds at trick 2. Although this only establishes
one trick, the key element of the play is that we avoid the 'Danger Hand'
getting on lead. 

When East wins with their King of Diamonds, they cannot successfully attack the
Heart suit, so now, in our own time, we can knock out the Ace of Clubs and
claim our 9 tricks.


}
[BCFlags "1f"]
[DoubleDummyTricks "9968a9968a3474334743"]
[OptimumScore "NS 400"]
[ParContract "NS 3N="]
[Auction "W"]
Pass 1NT Pass 3NT
AP
[OptimumResultTable "Declarer;Denomination\2R;Result\2R"]
N NT  9
N  S  9
N  H  6
N  D  8
N  C 10
S NT  9
S  S  9
S  H  6
S  D  8
S  C 10
E NT  3
E  S  4
E  H  7
E  D  4
E  C  3
W NT  3
W  S  4
W  H  7
W  D  4
W  C  3

[Event "Declarer Selects the Danger Hand"]
[Site ""]
[Date ""]
[Board "25"]
[West ""]
[North ""]
[East ""]
[South ""]
[Dealer "N"]
[Vulnerable "EW"]
[Deal "N:J6432.J9.QJ7.K84 A95.KQ5.A842.Q32 QT7.AT643.965.75 K8.872.KT3.AJT96"]
[Scoring ""]
[Declarer ""]
[Contract ""]
[Result ""]
{South leads \H4.

Step 1: The only number that we, East, have in our head is 9.

Step 2: We have 6 <i>top</i> tricks (2 Spades, 2 Diamonds, 1 Club and 1 in
Hearts after the lead).

Step 3: Our three extra tricks should come from the Club suit.              \n
   \n
Step 4: The problem is that there is every chance that we are going to have to
give up the\n
            lead, with a losing Club finesse, in order to establish those extra
three Club tricks.

Step 5: There are no communication issues.

<b>Observations</b>:

If we are going to lose a Club trick, then we will lose that trick to North.

Therefore the solution is to make South the 'Danger Hand'.

<b>Conclusion</b>:

If we duck the first Heart trick by playing the 5 of Hearts, we have 'Selected'
South to be the 'Danger Hand'.

We certainly do not mind South being the 'Danger Hand' as we can ensure that
South will not get on lead.

Meanwhile, when North wins with their King of Clubs, we now have enough tricks
to make our contract. 


}
[BCFlags "1f"]
[DoubleDummyTricks "46644466449679996799"]
[OptimumScore "EW 600"]
[ParContract "EW 3N="]
[Auction "N"]
Pass 1NT Pass 3NT
AP
[OptimumResultTable "Declarer;Denomination\2R;Result\1R"]
N NT 4
N  S 6
N  H 6
N  D 4
N  C 4
S NT 4
S  S 6
S  H 6
S  D 4
S  C 4
E NT 9
E  S 6
E  H 7
E  D 9
E  C 9
W NT 9
W  S 6
W  H 7
W  D 9
W  C 9

[Event "Hold Up Play"]
[Site ""]
[Date ""]
[Board "26"]
[West ""]
[North ""]
[East ""]
[South ""]
[Dealer "E"]
[Vulnerable "All"]
[Deal "E:T987.43.AQ5.KT87 J43.Q96.J764.A42 AK6.AT8.K93.QJ96 Q52.KJ752.T82.53"]
[Scoring ""]
[Declarer ""]
[Contract ""]
[Result ""]
{North leads \H5.

Step 1: The only number that we, West, have in our head is 9.

Step 2: We have 6 <i>top</i> tricks (2 Spades, 1 Heart and 3 in Diamonds).

Step 3: Our extra three tricks will come from the Club suit, by knocking out
the defender's Ace\n
            of Clubs, this will establish 3 extra Club tricks.             \n
   \n
Step 4: Once our Ace of Hearts has been knocked out, the defenders could cash
four Heart \n
            tricks plus the Ace of Clubs and defeat our contract.

Step 5: There are no communication issues.

<b>Observations</b>:

We are going to have to lose the lead.

We must make sure that when we lose the lead, we must maximise the chance that
a defender's established suit cannot be reached by the player who has won the
trick.

<b>Conclusion</b>:

Using the 'Rule of 7', dummy's Hearts + declarer's Hearts, equates to 2+3=5.

We now subtract our answer of 5 from 7, giving us 2, which means that we must
duck 2 times.

In Hearts there are eight cards missing.

(a) If the Hearts are 4-4, North/South will make only four tricks; 3 Hearts and
the Ace of Clubs.

(b) If the Hearts are 5-3, we must be careful to duck twice. South, holding the
Ace of Clubs, will be unable to give their partner the lead. The hold-up will
thus have exhausted the communications between the two defenders.

If the hand with the 5 card Heart suit, also has the Ace of Clubs, then the
contract is unmakeable.            }
[BCFlags "1f"]
[DoubleDummyTricks "43643436439a78a9a78a"]
[OptimumScore "EW 620"]
[ParContract "EW 4S="]
[Auction "E"]
Pass Pass 1NT Pass
2C Pass 2D Pass
2NT Pass 3NT AP
[OptimumResultTable "Declarer;Denomination\2R;Result\2R"]
N NT  4
N  S  3
N  H  6
N  D  4
N  C  3
S NT  4
S  S  3
S  H  6
S  D  4
S  C  3
E NT  9
E  S 10
E  H  7
E  D  8
E  C 10
W NT  9
W  S 10
W  H  7
W  D  8
W  C 10

[Event "Declarer Selects the Danger Hand"]
[Site ""]
[Date ""]
[Board "27"]
[West ""]
[North ""]
[East ""]
[South ""]
[Dealer "S"]
[Vulnerable "None"]
[Deal "S:KT8.KQ5.T2.AJT85 942.AT643.765.K2 A75.872.AK83.Q93 QJ63.J9.QJ94.764"]
[Scoring ""]
[Declarer ""]
[Contract ""]
[Result ""]
{West leads \H4.

Step 1: The only number that we, South, have in our head is 9.

Step 2: We have 6 <i>top</i> tricks (2 Spades, 2 Diamonds, 1 Club and 1 in
Hearts after the lead).

Step 3: Our extra three tricks should come from the Club suit.              \n
   \n
Step 4: The problem is that there is every chance that we are going to have to
give up the\n
            lead, with a losing Club finesse, in order to establish those extra
three Club tricks.

Step 5: There are no communication issues.

<b>Observations</b>:

If we are going to lose a Club trick, then we will lose that trick to West.

Therefore the solution is to make East the 'Danger Hand'.

<b>Conclusion</b>:

If we win the first Heart trick with the King of Hearts, we have 'Selected'
East to be the 'Danger Hand'.

We certainly do not mind East being the 'Danger Hand' as we can ensure that
East will not get on lead.

Meanwhile, when West wins with their King of Clubs, we now have enough tricks
to make our contract. 

}
[BCFlags "1f"]
[DoubleDummyTricks "98789987894555445554"]
[OptimumScore "NS 400"]
[ParContract "NS 3N="]
[Auction "S"]
1NT Pass 3NT AP
[OptimumResultTable "Declarer;Denomination\2R;Result\1R"]
N NT 9
N  S 8
N  H 7
N  D 8
N  C 9
S NT 9
S  S 8
S  H 7
S  D 8
S  C 9
E NT 4
E  S 5
E  H 5
E  D 5
E  C 4
W NT 4
W  S 5
W  H 5
W  D 5
W  C 4
