vg|IITB Declarer play hands, Week 3,P,1,4,,0,,0|
rs|3NN=,,6SE=,,3NS=,,4SW=,,|
pn|,,,,,,,|
mp|,,,,,,,|
pw|,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,|pg||

qx|o1|st||md|3S32HAQJDT432C5432,SJT84H8765D987C98,SA7H432DKQJCAKQJT,SKQ965HKT9DA65C76|nt||sv|n|mb|3N|mb|p|mb|p|mb|p|nt|N is declarer
Your goal is: Win 9 tricks in NT contract. |pg||
pc|S6|nt|E leads @S6. N, the declarer, can count 7 top tricks: 1@S, 1@H and 5@C and needs 2 more for his contract. |pg||
nt|Declarer can develop 2 more tricks a) in the @H suit by finessing for K or b) in diamonds by knocking out @DA. Which is the better plan?|pg||
nt|Since the @H finesse is only a 50% chance, while the @D tricks are guaranteed, let's see what happens when you play on @Ds.|pg||
pc|S2|pc|ST|pc|SA|pg||
pc|DK|pc|DA|pc|D2|pc|D7|nt|E wins the DA...|pg||
pc|S5|pc|S3|pc|SJ|pc|S7|nt|...and EW proceed to run 4 more @S tricks, for a total of 5 tricks to the defense!|pg||
pc|S4|pc|H2|pc|S9|pc|D3|pg||
pc|SK|pc|D4|pc|S8|pc|H3|pg||
pc|SQ|pc|DT|pc|H5|pc|DQ|nt|Result: 3NT -1|pg||
nt|Since this plan doesn't work for sure, let's put the other plan in motion!|pg||
sk||up|24|
pc|S6|pc|S2|pc|ST|pc|SA|nt|This time, we win the @SA at Trick 1 and start @Hs by finessing against E|pg||
pc|H2|pc|H9|pc|HJ|pc|H5|nt|When we lead a low @H to the J, it holds, confirming that E has @HK|pg||
pc|C2|pc|C9|pc|CT|pc|C7|nt|We cross back to hand with a @C and repeat the @H finesse.|pg||
pc|H3|pc|HT|pc|HQ|pc|H6|nt|When that passes off succesfully, we are home and dry!|pg||
pc|C3|pc|C8|pc|CJ|pc|C6|nt|Now all we have to do is cash our remaining winners|pg||
pc|H4|pc|HK|pc|HA|pc|H7|nt|We score 5@Cs, 3@Hs and 1@S for 9 tricks without ever conceding the lead to the defense|pg||
pc|C4|pc|D7|pc|CQ|pc|D5|pg||
pc|CA|pc|D6|pc|C5|pc|D8|pg||
pc|CK|pc|S6|pc|D2|pc|S9|pg||nt|Even though the @H finesse was only a 50% chance, it was the better plan because playing on @D would have led to certain defeat|
pg||
sk||up|36|
pf|y|nt|You can now click on the cards you want to play for all 4 players.|pg||
qx|c1|pg||

qx|o2|st||md|4S43HKQJTDQJT9C543,S2H76543DK5432CQ2,SQ765H98D876C9876,SAKJT98HA2DACAKJT|nt||sv|n|mb|-|mb|-|nt|E is declarer
Your goal is: Win 12 tricks with spades as trumps.|pg||mb|6S|mb|p|mb|p|mb|p|mb|-|mb|-|pg||
pc|HK|nt|S leads @HK. E, the declarer, can count 2 losers: 1@H and 1@S. She needs to get rid of one loser to make her contract. |pg||
at|Declarer can get rid of 1 loser by discarding the @H2 on the @DK. |pg||
nt|With only one little @S in the dummy, declarer cannot finesse for @SQ more than once and has a definite loser in @S if the spades split 4-2 or worse or if @SQ is over @SA.|pg||
nt|Declarer wins the first trick with @HA|pc|H3|pc|H9|pc|HA|pg||
nt|And then plays the @DA...|pc|DA|pc|D9|pc|D2|pc|D6|pg||
at| and then gets into the dummy through @CQ by playing the @CT. It is important to cash @DA before crossing to dummy so that @DK can be cashed when in the dummy.|pc|CT|pc|C3|pc|CQ|pc|C6|pg||
nt|Declarer plays the @DK from dummy and discards the loser @H2.|pc|DK|pc|D7|pc|H2|pc|DT|pg||
nt|Now declarer has to draw trumps before cashing the other winners in hand. She plays @S2 to @SA |pc|S2|pc|S5|pc|SA|pc|S3|pg||
nt|Back in hand, E now cashes @SK ...|pc|SK|pc|S4|pc|H4|pc|S6|pg||
at| and loses @SJ to @SQ |pc|SJ|pc|HT|pc|H5|pc|SQ|pg||
nt|Now, no matter which suit N plays, E wins the rest of the tricks making the contract with only winners in hand!|pg||
pc|D8|pc|S8|pc|DJ|pc|D3|pg||
pc|S8|pc|HJ|pc|H6|pc|S7|pg||
pc|CA|pc|C4|pc|C2|pc|C7|pg||
pc|CK|pc|C5|pc|D4|pc|C8|pg||
pc|CJ|pc|HQ|pc|H7|pc|H8|pg||
pc|ST|pc|DQ|pc|D5|pc|C9|pg||
sk||up|52|
pf|y|nt|You can now click on the cards you want to play for all 4 players.|pg||
qx|c2|pg||

qx|o3|st||md|1SA93HQT72DQ76CAK3,SQT842H853DJ8CQT4,S75HKJ6DAK54C8762,SKJ6HA94DT932CJ95|nt||sv|e|mb|-|mb|-|mb|-|nt|S is declarer
Your goal is: Win 9 tricks in NT contract|pg||mb|3N|mb|p|mb|p|mb|p|mb|-|pg||
pc|S4|nt|W leads @S4. S, the declarer, can count 6 top tricks: 1@S, 3@D and 2@C. He needs to develop 3 more tricks to make the contract. Which suit should S play on? |pg||
nt|The @S and @C suits are poor choices. There is no hope for extra tricks in @S. Declarer might make an extra trick in @C or @D if the @C or @D splits 3-3, because the last @C or @D standing becomes a winner.|pg||
nt| The best suit to develop 3 extra tricks is the @H suit, because only the @HA is missing. |pg||
nt|Now, how should declarer play?|pg||at| Suppose he wins the first trick with @SA ...|pg||pc|S5|pc|SK|pc|SA|pg||
at| and then plays the @H2 to @HK and draws out the @HA ...|pc|H2|pc|H3|pc|HK|pc|HA|pg||
at| E will win the @HA, and then EW proceed to cash their 4 @S tricks.|pc|SJ|pc|S3|pc|S8|pc|S7|pg||
pc|S6|pc|S9|pc|SQ|pc|D4|pg||
pc|ST|pc|C2|pc|H4|pc|D6|pg||
nt|NS will have made a total of 5 tricks: 1@H and 4@S, to set the contract 1 down!|pc|S2|pc|C6|pc|H9|pc|C3|pg||
sk||up|23|
nt|Normally, the opening lead against a NT contract is from a long suit.|pg||
at| Since W led @S4, it is very likely that he has length in @S. |pg||
nt|If @S are split 4-4, opponents will only make 3 @S tricks in addition to the 1 @H trick. |pg||
at|However, if the @S are split 5-3, the opps can run 4 @S tricks plus the @HA to defeat the contract (as we just saw). |pg||
nt|How can declarer prevent this?|pg||
at| S must hold off from winning with the @SA twice and take the third trick, to cut the communication between E and W.|pg||
at|By playing this way, declarer is hoping to exhaust E of her @S so that she won't have one to play back to her partner whose @S winners will be stranded. |pg||
pc|S5|pc|SK|pc|S3|pg||
pc|SJ|pc|S9|pc|S2|pc|S7|pg||
pc|S6|pc|SA|pc|S8|pc|D4|pg||
nt| When E does gain the lead after winning with @HA, |pc|H2|pc|H3|pc|HK|pc|HA|pg||
at|she will not be able to provide a @S lead to W to cash their remaining @S tricks.|pg||
at| This ducking play by S is called hold-up play.|pg||
nt|Now, no matter what card E plays, NS will win 8 of the remaining 9 tricks: 3@H, 3@D and 2@C to make the contract. Bravo!|
pc|D2|pc|D6|pc|D8|pc|DK|pg||
pc|DA|pc|D3|pc|D7|pc|DJ|pg||
pc|HJ|pc|H4|pc|H7|pc|H5|pg||
pc|H6|pc|H9|pc|HT|pc|H8|pg||
pc|HQ|pc|ST|pc|C2|pc|D9|pg||
pc|CA|pc|C4|pc|C6|pc|C5|pg||
pc|CK|pc|CT|pc|C7|pc|C9|pg||
pc|DQ|pc|SQ|pc|D5|pc|DT|pg||
pc|C3|pc|CQ|pc|C8|pc|CJ|pg||
sk||up|52|
pf|y|nt|You can now click on the cards you want to play for all 4 players.|pg||
qx|c3|pg||

qx|o4|st||md|2S6HQT854DJ82CKQ53,SAKT72HA63DT3CAT4,SJ94HKJ97DKQ64CJ8,SQ853H2DA975C9762|nt||sv|b|nt|W is declarer
Your goal is: Win 10 tricks in @S contract|pg||mb|4S|mb|p|mb|p|mb|p|pg||
pc|DK|nt|N leads @DK. W, the declarer, can count 6 losers: 2@H, 1@D and 2@C, and 1@S if @S split 4-0 and @SJ is over @SA. |pg||
nt|He can get rid of two heart losers by ruffing hearts on the table. |pg||
at|So he must postpone drawing trumps until he has ruffed his 2 @H losers in dummy.|pg||
at| If he draws trumps, he will have to play 3 rounds of @S, after which dummy will have only 1 trump left to deal with 2 @H losers.|pg||
nt|Declarer wins the first trick in the dummy.|pc|DA|pc|D2|pc|D3|pg||
nt|W then proceeds to take his @H ruffs.|pc|H2|pc|H5|pc|HA|pc|H7|pg||
nt|After winning the first @H trick in hand with @HA, he ruffs @H3 in the dummy|pc|H3|pc|H9|pc|S3|pc|H4|pg||
at| and comes back to hand with @CA, |pc|C2|pc|C3|pc|CA|pc|C8|pg||
at| and proceeds to ruff the last @H in the dummy.|pc|H6|pc|HJ|pc|S5|pc|H8|pg||nt|The declarer has so far won 1@D, 1@C, and 3@H tricks for a total of 5 tricks.|pg||
nt|He then cashes his @SQ|pc|SQ|pc|S6|pc|S2|pc|S4|pg||
at| and sighs with relief to know that @S didn't break 4-0.|pg||
nt|Declarer then plays the @S8 to @SA and cashes the remaining 4 @S tricks|pc|S8|pc|C5|pc|SA|pc|S9|pg||
nt|@SJ falls under @SK|pc|SK|pc|SJ|pc|D5|pc|D8|pg||
pc|ST|pc|D4|pc|C6|pc|HT|pg||
pc|S7|pc|D6|pc|D7|pc|CQ|pg||
nt|Declarer has now a total of 10 tricks: 5@S, 3@H, 1@D, and 1@C, and has made his contract! He concedes the last 3 tricks to NS.|pc|C4|pc|CJ|pc|C9|pc|CK|pg||
pc|DJ|pc|DT|pc|DQ|pc|D9|pg||
pc|HK|pc|C7|pc|HQ|pc|CT|pg||
sk||up|52|
pf|y|nt|You can now click on the cards you want to play for all 4 players.|pg||
qx|c4|pg||