Finding the singleton queen.
Bridge Column for September 24, 2004, Harvey Bernstein
Special To The Plain Dealer
Both sides vulnerable.  South deals.
                              North
                              S: K Q 9 2        
                              H: K 9 6 2     
                              D: K 7 4       
                              C: Q 2 
            West                             East
            S: 10 7 5                        S: 8 4 3   
            H: 10 8 7 3                      H: Q          
            D: 10 9                          D: A Q J 8 5         
            C: J 8 6 3                       C: 10 9 7 4    
                              South                         
                              S: A J 6     
                              H: A J 5 4    
                              D: 6 3 2     
                              C: A K 5     
          The Bidding:  
                  South    West    North    East                  
                   1NT     Pass     2C      Pass
                   2H      Pass     4H      Pass
                   Pass    Pass
     East made a very normal lead of the ten of diamonds and the
defenders took the first three tricks.  East exits with the ten
of clubs which declarer wins with North's queen.  
     The only potential problem to scoring up this game is the
lie of the trump suit.  Cover the East-West cards and look at
your heart holding.  How would you go about playing these cards?
     One of the common lessons tells us to cash the king of
hearts and then, if both defenders follow low, to finesse the
jack.  This guards against a singleton queen in either hand, but
more specifically, in the West hand.
     Before taking this approach, you should follow that line of
play as if it would work - that is, if West were to actually hold
the singleton queen.  In that case, you must realize that East
would hold the 10-8-7-3 and you would be "out spotted".  Your A-
J-5-4 would not hold up after the play of the king and you would
have to lose a subsequent trick in that suit.
     On the other hand, if East holds the singleton queen, the
North holding of K-9-6-2 will be enough to cover the West cards
and pick up the suit.  For this reason, you must lead a low heart
from dummy intending to pass the jack on the first round if East
plays low.  As it turns out, East plays the queen and you are
able to pick up the trump suit and claim ten tricks.
     When evaluating the way to play a particular suit, don't
forget to consider the spot cards and to determine where the
danger may lie before committing yourself to a line of play.
 
     Congratulations to the following local players who have
achieved new levels of success in the quest for master points.
     Patrick Spooner of Brunswick and Jack Knudson of Solon have
accumulated 2,500 master points and are gold life masters.
     Marilyn Braun of Mason (formerly of Cleveland), Joseph
Radvansky of Marblehead, Clare Kromer of Lyndhurst, and Joseph
Harbert and Julia Allen of Willoughby have passed the 1,000
master point level and are silver life masters.
     Irene Nicodemus of Tallmadge, Lynn Nosse of Grafton, Victor
Vertes of Cleveland, Betty Hitchcock of Mentor, and Ronna
Rosenthal of Chagrin Falls have passed the 500 master point level
and are bronze life masters.
     Betty Hollister of Gates Mills, Peter Miller of Shaker
Heights, Donald and Katy Moyer of Silver Lake, Jack and Dale
Durbin of Stow, Tamra Gould and Lille Mortensen of Beachwood have
satisfied all of the requirements and are now life masters.
______________________________________________________
Bernstein is a free-lance writer in Solon.