LEARNING CENTER

. If you play trump, they will win and cash the setting spade trick. Playing diamonds to get rid of the spade requires 3-3 diamonds. Better is to cash your KQ and then play a low diamond (don't play the A) to dummy. Throw a spade on the A and then start trumps. If hearts are worse than 5-3, it's just not your day.

. You have to lose two club tricks. You can't afford to also lose three spade tricks. If clubs are 3-3 (not with the odds), you can set up dummy's long club for a spade discard. Much better is to trump a spade loser in dummy. Concede a spade at trick two, win any return and concede another spade. Eventually ruff your third spade in dummy. Don't draw even one round of trumps before starting spades.

. Setting up the hearts does no good (you have nothing useful to discard on the third heart). There is nothing to trump in dummy and no entry issue. So, start trump. You have to hope for two pieces of good fortune:
1) That when the opponents win the A, they don't find a club switch.
2) That diamonds are 3-3--so you can discard a club on dummy's long diamond.

. I hope nobody voted for a diamond! You have two main chances:
A) Trumps are 2-2. After drawing trump, you play 4 clubs and throw a diamond from dummy, then trump a diamond in dummy.
B) Spades are 4-3. You set up dummy's fifth spade for a diamond discard.

If you put all your hopes in plan A, and find trumps 3-1, it will be too late to revert back to plan B.

Best is to play the A at trick two and ruff a spade high. Cross in hearts and ruff another spade high. If all goes well, you will cross again and set up dummy's long spade (having another trump to get back to dummy).

. This was actually an easy one. Did you look for something fancy? If you give up a heart, you are down (the opponents win and get a diamond ruff--the lead was a singleton). This was the simplest kind of deal you will ever see. I call it a "draw trumps and claim" deal. Just do it!

. Be very careful before touching trump when you need to ruff things in both hands. Here, your best bet is to ruff three or four rounds of spades in dummy. If you draw one round of trump first, you won't make it if spades are 5-2. If you draw two rounds of trump, you'll never make it.

. If you continue with a heart, you are at the mercy of the opponents. You need to set up the spades first while you still have a trump in dummy to protect against a club continuation. If you play a third round of trumps, and West has the A, he will win it and draw your last trump and the run clubs. If East has the A, he will simply play another club and you can ruff, but now if West ever ruffs, he can play more clubs to defeat you.

The full deal:

	KQJ105  764  K62  75
A4  J1098  74  QJ1084		987  3  J1095  AK932
	632  AKQ52  AQ83  6