Card Combination 9.30.24

[@David.M.]

Excellent lesson. Our local bridge teacher reminds us that taking one extra trick can average 25% more on your score. This was a great example and the squeeze was a bonus! Cheers

[@thebridgeteachers]

So true! At match points, those overtricks can be gold.

[@clasesdelucrecia1616]

hi Samantha. Thanks for your video. Excellent explanation!!

[@thebridgeteachers]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching.

[@craneman6971]

Great lesson

[@thebridgeteachers]

Thank you for watching!

[@ciprianteasca7823]

Indeed, excellent. A bit of brainstorming: what if the diamonds are in the "bad" position, four (!) cards with the Jack in Est? Playing the diamonds "straight" wouldn't work. Therefore, after playing the Ace, we GIVE them a trick, by playng the 9 and letting it go to Est. Hence, we secure a fourth diamond (which was the objective). Of course, to be on the safe side, we take only the THIRD spade with our Ace, so that Est cannot return...a spade after having won the diamond. Makes sense?🤔

[@thebridgeteachers]

You suggest an interesting line of play! I love how you are thinking it through. You are correct, since the auction strongly suggests that west has six spades and east only three, if we duck two rounds of spades that gives us the ability to lose to east. This might be useful not only in diamonds, but also in hearts (if they are 4-1 with east having the four, and in clubs (if we want to take the finesse). I would definitely test the heart suit and see if they are 3-3 before giving east a diamond as even if the diamonds aren't behaving, the hearts might be. If we can take five heart tricks, we can take the rest of the tricks after ducking. Of course, if east has length in both red suits then that increases the likelihood that the club finesse is working. Lots of if/thens for the plan on this hand. Great discussion. Thank you.

[@ciprianteasca7823]

@@thebridgeteachers Many thanks! Very grateful!

[@chrishasney2468]

@@thebridgeteachers And how many advanced beginner students would you have left after going through all of that? These folks need to remember who is the target for the lesson before recommending that you get into the weeds of more advanced thinking. In many cases the students, though enthusiastic if not driven off, may still be trying to grasp the whole concept of trick taking and the need for transportation between declarer and dummy.

[@thebridgeteachers]

Chris, thank you for stopping by! I share your love for the game and desire for students to have an encouraging and supportive experience. Part of learning is being exposed to new ways of thinking. Working through the logic of card combinations helps students learn concepts like thinking about the distribution of a suit, counting the suit, and visualizing where missing cards might be. Even if a student isn’t ready to start mastering some of these techniques, being exposed to them and walked through step by step can help build the foundation they need to start thinking in these new ways.

[@thebridgeteachers]

@@ciprianteasca7823 You're welcome!

[@williamthurl2607]

Misplayed. You should have led the 9 to the King on the second round of the Diamond suit to avoid blocking the suit. Then you can return to hand with CK and overtake D7 with the 8 to bring in the suit more easily. Bidding and making 6D should be trivial on this hand.

[@williamthurl2607]

3NT is cowardly. If you trust partner you just bid 6D when partner bids 3D.