Try this deceptive play at May’s Longmont tourney

By Jared Johnson

Among this column’s holiday gift bridge book suggestions late last year were several books on deceptive plays and false cards. There are countless examples and opportunities. Here is just one.

Suppose in a side suit in a trump contract, you have four to the jack-10 in dummy and a singleton king in hand. If you want to maximize your chance of scoring the singleton king (getting right-hand opponent to duck if he holds the ace), you don’t want to lead small from dummy.

Rather, lead the jack, to convince right-hand opponent that you are trying to guess the suit missing the ace and queen and holding something like king-doubleton in hand. If he holds the ace, but not the queen, he may duck.

Also, such a play should be made as early in the play of the hand as possible, before the opponents have the opportunity to signal or get an idea from the auction plus the play to a certain point of who holds what. Opponents are less likely to duck aces when they know it is the setting trick.

On the other hand, you might still want to draw trumps first, because if you try this play even before drawing trumps, it might arouse suspicions that you’re trying to stampede someone into a mistake (you are).

On the combination provided, it still depends on the whole hand. If you know you probably have to sneak that king by, then you play as described above.

However, if you lead the jack and right-hand opponent flies with the ace (or if left-hand opponent had the ace all along), you have lost your king and jack on the same trick. If you lead small and lose to the ace, you might be able to take a ruffing finesse against the queen on the next round of the suit, and even if that loses, you would finally have a pitch available on the 10 if it would still be helpful by that point.

Suit combinations are in the abstract. The whole hand is the context.

One would hope there is no truth to the rumor that a player who just didn’t get the concept of false cards tried this play with four to the jack-10 in his hand and singleton king in the dummy.

Maybe you will have the opportunity to try this play at the bridge tournament May 2-4 at the Boulder County Fairgrounds in Longmont.

May 2 has the Bracketed Knockouts at 9:30 a.m. 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. with single-session Stratified Open Pairs and Stratified 299’er Pairs same times.

On May 3, double-session Stratified Open Pairs will be played at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. with single-sessions accommodated and singlesession Stratified 299’er Pairs same times.

It all rolls to a close on May 4 with double-session Stratiflighted Swiss Teams at 9:30 a.m. and “to be announced.”

This is the last Colorado tournament before the RockyMountain Regional in Denver at the end of May.

More Bridge Lessons: The double has been described as the most versatile bid in bridge and Curt Soloff of the Castle Rock Bridge Club has a four-week class on the topic starting April 28, 10:30 a.m. to 12 noon.

The location is the Lowell Ranch Agriculture Barn at 2330 South Interstate 25, approximately 2 1/2 miles south of the Plum Creek Parkway on the East Frontage Road to Interstate 25. Contact Georgiana Butler, president of the Castle Rock Bridge Club at 303810-8504 for further information and registration.

The classes will cover regular takeout doubles (“bid something, partner”), penalty doubles (“they can’t make it”), negative doubles (kind of like a takeout double when partner opens and an opponent overcalls), support doubles (“I’ve got three trumps”), balancing (reopening) doubles and responsive doubles