The Public Responds:
There was a light turnout of panelists for this week's cases.
Presumably our usual group of distinguished judges was on vacation. Or maybe
Case 1 was simply too hard for most. It turned out to be more difficult
than we imagined, even with all 52 cards face up. Only one judge scored a
bull's-eye. Let's hear first from our two near-misses.
Dustin:
This is a somewhat complicated deal and it illustrates quite nicely a
'tempo' war between North and East. North should want to lead clubs at
every opportunity in order to gain spade length control, while East wants to
push Spades before his own spade suit is weakened and his entries are
knocked out.
East-West did indeed have the set, but only due to poor defense.
I believe the critical trick in order for East-West to gain a set was on
Trick 5 -- West should not have cashed another heart. Granted, West doesn't
have anything particularly great to lead (like a spade), but why waste his
only other entry card? Save that puppy! Now is the time to lead a diamond.
After winning the  J, East correctly ran two rounds of spades. Now, if
West had correctly preserved his heart entry, East can put him on lead in
hearts.
West must place the 10 in South's hand and lead the Q, hoping for
the drop. As we can see, this brings in the entire suit for East and thus
North will be forced to use his last spade in order to prevent a diamond run
by East.
Now, all of the above should have never been possible for East-West. The
very fact that East led spades with his 5-bid marks him with a strong spade
suit. Since North has a decent spade suit himself, he should be eager to
lead clubs in order to weaken East's spade control. North should have been
leading clubs at every opportunity -- particularly at Trick 4. If East
refuses to trump, North-South must continue clubs until he finally does so.
This would give North complete control of the spade suit.
Close, but no cigar. Dustin misses one small detail, and this
oversight allows the opponents to wriggle off the hook, though just barely.
Our second panelist plays on the same theme and finds an improvement to
West's play, but
also misses the same fine point. Brandon gives a rather complete
round-by-round description of events, but we'll skip to the point where the
action really begins.
Brandon:
The first thing I notice is East has a rather strong 5-5. The key will
be to pull trump and run the diamonds. The crucial play was round 6.
Round 5) Given West’s short spade suit and long
hearts he took a risk bidding 2. I can see
cashing the  A now, lest it get trumped
later. Notice East
played the Jack, he’s out of hearts. Don’t lead them
again because you will force East to cut which he
doesn’t want.
Round 6) E/W has won a trick in the club cut, and is so
far denying N/S their club Ace and Queen. There is a
lot riding on not letting them score their clubs.
Maybe E/W can set the opponents if East has long and
high diamonds. If not, they are still in decent shape
to avoid a set, having made three tricks so far.
When going for the set you have to take risks,
especially finesses. Normally with Qxx West
would hold onto the Queen and hope to win a trick on the
third round of diamonds. But now is the time to be
aggressive.
*************
CRUCIAL PLAY
*************
LEAD the diamond QUEEN!
If North covers with the King, the
Ace takes it, and promotes other diamonds. The problem with leading a low
diamond is even if Pard wins with the J he won't be able to win North’s King.
He needs another diamond lead from West but has no more entries into West’s
hand.
As an alternative, on Round 5 West could have led a
low diamond which East would win, then East could play
a heart which west would win. Then West could play
the Queen, and then finally another diamond. I think
this is riskier than the above play I listed above.
The rest of the play is anticlimactic. Without the
K East loses a diamond trick.
Had West played the Q N/S would have been set.
Yes, the lead of the Q is the correct approach, a play that
can hardly lose. But it is still not enough. Without one more key play,
East/West can still escape.
So what was missed? Take a second look at West's diamonds. They are the
Q95. If North covers the Q with his K, the Ace wins, of course.
Two rounds of spades are played and East cashes the J, catching the
10. Unless West is wide awake he will follow to this trick with the 5
and now the suit is blocked! West's 9 is boss and he will win the third
round of the suit. The lead is in the wrong hand! On the next club or heart
play from West, East must use his last spade, leaving the field wide open
for North/South. Let's see how to handle this problem.
Purple Cow:
E/W could indeed have set this hand, but it requires some minor card reading
on West's part.
The important thing to note is South's 1-bid. At Trick 2, it is clear that
this is based on the  A. North would not lead a low club to Trick 2
from AK, therefore South must have the A,
and I'll always assume South has nothing else of interest.
East made the proper play of trumping and starting the spade attack. When
West gained the lead at Trick 4, now was his time to shine. Alas he
flickered. He knew Pard wanted a spade return, but he couldn't find one to
lead. He stalled for one round by leading the 2nd heart, which did not cost
his side. Which brings us to the critical trick, Trick 6.
Now for the card reading, since South is marked with the A and nothing
else, the best play for the 2nd overtrick (for the set) is to trap North's
K. West doesn't know whether North's
diamonds are Axx or Kxx, but
if they're Axx, there's really naught to be done, and I'd be out barbequing
instead of responding =). One of the keys to aggressive play is to imagine
a suitable favorable distribution, and play for that possibility, i.e., trap
North's possible K.
Lead through strength. Lead the Q.
Several things could happen from here, but at this point, nothing N/S do
can prevent a set. East will either win the A if North covers, or duck
if he does not. At any rate, North's K cannot escape, and the diamond
attack ends with East on lead, free to play two more rounds of spades,
limiting N/S to only three tricks, a club, and two spades.
If North does cover the Q, West will later have to unblock the 9,
but I've gone on far enough about the setting line of play.
How droll. The key play, the unblock of the 9, is barely
mentioned by this panelist, reminiscent of a Henny Youngman throwaway line.
But there it is. To set, West must drop the 9 on the second round
of the suit. After the unblock, East will win the third round of
diamonds, not West. Now East continues diamonds and North can use his last
trump, but it is not enough. East takes the rest.
We also asked if North/South had any resources of their own.
Dustin already pointed out the club continuation at Trick 4, and this
play is echoed by the others.
Brandon:
Round 4) North knows South has the A and
nothing else. Why lead hearts? To cut the third
round? East is trying to pull trumps, he bid 5, odds
are he has long spades. Don’t waste yours. Make him
waste his spades. Lead another club; let East use up
another spade.
Purple Cow:
N/S were not completely without resources. North could have
prevented the set, and protected their bid earlier.
At Trick 4, North should have used the forcing defense and led a 3rd club,
forcing East to trump again. East can no longer carry out his spade-pulling
plan. If he tries, North will be left with the last outstanding spade, and
their side recovers their lost club trick to make their bid in comfort.
Yes, the forcing game is North/South's salvation.
And North also had the option of holding up the Ace of spades. When East
later tries to draw trump, North takes his  A
and exits with a heart or club, again playing for the force. Either method
saves the N/S bid.
It is time to reach our verdict. West, the defendant, let the set get
away from him. But so did two of our panelists, even aided by open cards.
"Not guilty!" is our decision. Everyone has to learn these Spades tricks.
Now let's move on to our second case.
Exhibit #12b. Strategy
The Play:
1. East leads A: 4, 10, 2. East wins.
2. East leads A: J, Q, 2. East wins.
3. East leads Q: K, A, 2. West wins.
4. West leads K: 3, 8, 8. South wins.
5. South leads A: 4, 2, 7. South wins.
6. South leads 10: J, K, 3. North wins.
7. North leads Q: 10, 6, 5. North wins.
8. North leads K: 10, 7, 8. North wins.
9. North leads 9: 8, 5, 9. East wins.
10. West leads 4: J, 3, 9. North wins.
11-13. North wins the last three with the QJ
and 6.
East/West went set on this 11-total deal, but we are not asking how they
could have done better. This is a test of your ability to read the players.
Three of these players are experienced intermediate players, and the other
is a newbie who learned to play Spades two days ago. Can you identify the players?
(There is no unique answer. There are several possibilities.)
Submit your e-mail comments to:
You Be the Judge
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| Score |
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N/S: 0
E/W: 0
Dlr: East |
KQ2
J2
QJ32
K962 |
J954
A764
K109
Q8 |
![[ ]](table.gif) |
73
Q1083
A8765
A10 |
|
|
A1086
K95
4
J7543
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South West North East
3
3
3
2
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The Public Responds:
Our final case does not accuse anyone of wrongdoing. It is merely a
test of a skill that every good Spader must have, the ability to read the
other players. Our panelists were given the clue that three of the above
players were experienced intermediate players, and they were asked to pick
out the beginner.
On this case, at least, all of the panelists were in agreement; East was
the one who had just learned the game. There was also some praise for North,
who was felt to be a cut above the other two. Let's hear our judges tell it
themselves:
Purple Cow:
Heh, well, I could make a case for each of them being the newbie, but I'd
only be kidding myself. It's likely East, though South should come under
the microscope a bit as well. West really can't be judged very well, and
North played beautifully.
The evidence:
East: Took two aces early, "OK, I got my 2!" then started ditching bag
cards at every opportunity, never considering pard may need help later, even
when it was painfully clear this was the case.
South: Though he properly covered the Q at Trick 3, he made some
other plays that raise an eyebrow. The handling of the spade suit is
questionable. The spade lead was actually quite beneficial to their side,
but what were the clues? This lead of a spade, especially the Ace, could
have been disastrous. Also, the "unblocking" play in clubs was necessary
for the set, since if South takes the lead after Trick 6, he will be forced
to concede a heart trick to West. Though I'd call this lucky, not
brilliant. South, like East, appears to simply be avoiding bags early.
Luckily the cards fell right for their side.
West: Well, this poor guy got all the business. Watched his K get
trumped away, and knew he was on his own to get it back. Since he never
really had a chance, it's hard to evaluate how skilled he is.
North: Quietly followed low, until it was time to take, oh, 7 of the
last 8. The only gripe I have is the order in which he played the KQ.
It doesn't matter since he laid them down bam-bam (a fine play to help
establish his carefully preserved side winners), but an experienced player
would likely play them the other way simply from reflex. He handled the
remainder of the hand beautifully. Particluarly the way he handled Tricks
1-3. This hand doesn't look like it should take 7 tricks, does it? =)
Verdict: East is a newbie, South isn't as good as he thinks he is, West
needs some Tylenol, North really should find better quality players to
compete with.
We are treated to another complete play-by-play commentary by
Brandon, but here is the meat of his statement:
Brandon:
Summary: I think the beginner is East because he led
the two aces, in the wrong order, missed the sign, and
led the Q instead of the 10.
Round 1) East leads his A. I think it’s
usually a mistake to lead Aces. In addition, with two
weak clubs, he should want to cut a 3rd round of clubs
if possible. The A is likely to result in
the trumps being broken and pulled.
West plays the 10, is that a come on signal, or a
singleton? I’d continue leading diamonds.
Round 2) East leads his other Ace, disregarding Pard's
signal. Again I don’t like leading aces. Now the
Kings are home and it's likely that Pard doesn’t have
both of them.
South and West dump high clubs signaling that they are
using a bag avoidance strategy. Or maybe they have a
doubleton and are using the Hi/Low.
Round 3) East leads his Q, rather than
saving it for a potential 3rd round of hearts. South
correctly covers and loses his K, a count card.
East is not performing a finesse because he doesn’t
know the heart distribution.
East should have led the 10, hopefully getting a
3rd round cut.
That is a second vote for East. Finally, Dustin reaches the
same conclusion as the others, and states his opinions in the strongest
terms yet.
Dustin:
East is clearly the newbie, in my opinion. If he's not, experience hasn't
taught him much. By leading both aces, he not only allows the opponents to
read his hand like a book, but he's just squandered any opportunity of
capturing a king or retaining a vital entry. Then he leads the Queen of
hearts? Clearly, East was only concerned with making his bid (cashing his
winners as soon as possible) and then retiring from play. This is the mark
of a beginner.
The other 3 players are quite visibly weak players -- intermediate at best.
Other than North (who played the hand well), no one was playing
aggressively. They were ditching high cards, leading the ace of spades,
etc. These are all marks of low quality players.
And there you have it. There is no predetermined answer to this one,
so just take your pick. If you believe it is East who is the beginner, you
have plenty of company.
Our guess? We were certain it was North who had just learned how
to play Spades. On the first round of each of the four suits, North threw a
deuce. On 11-bids, experienced players will throw from the middle.
And so we conclude another load of cases for You Be the Judge. We
hope that next week our vacationing panelists will return refreshed and
eager, ready to tackle another set of challenges.
All members of the public are invited to submit their comments
for this week's cases. Go to You Be the Judge.
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