| SHADOWFAX SCHEDULE |
Shadowfax will be open Tues, Wed, and Fri during Thanksgiving week
Our Regular Schedule:
Tues 9:30 lesson, 10 a.m. 0-999 game
... immediately followed by a postgame discussion
of hands played that morning ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣
Wed & Fri 10 a.m. Open games (BYO lunch!)
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| ... and other upcoming Special Events |
Nov 22-24 - 0-750/NLM Rainbow Weekend in Harrisburg (Camp Hill, PA)
- Silver (Fri), Red/Gold (Sat&Sun) MPs!
Dec 3,4&6 - Shadowfax Club Championships week! - extra black MPs!
Dec 27-27 - 0-750/NLM Sectional in Harrisburg (Camp Hill, PA) - Silver MPs!
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| TUESDAY LESSON (11/26/24) - Second hand low, ... pt.2 |
Show Detail |
Last week's lesson was about the "Second hand low" rule. This week, we played a hand that demonstrates why this rule is helpful in many situations.
After a 1S-2S-4S auction, West leads the DQ (top of a sequence). Declarer wins this with the DK and leads a low Heart. What does West do?
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| Show Answer |
That was a trick question! It's too late! The first thing East & West SHOULD have done was ... stop and think BEFORE playing out trick one!
When Dummy is faced on the table, the MAKE A PLAN stage begins, for both sides - the Declarer AND the Defenders.
As defenders, West and East should be asking themselves questions such as: "What did the auction tell me/us about the suit distribution (shape of the hands)?", "How many HCPs do I think Partner/Declarer hold?", "Where might we get tricks?", "What might my partner have that we need to take tricks in those suits?", and "What can I/we do to get our tricks in each suit?" In this particular hand, looking at Dummy's Heart holding and her own, West should ask herself is "Who has the HQ?"
West should anticipate that Declarer is likely to lead a Heart towards Dummy. West should be prepared to play low if & when Declarer does so - and to do so smoothly and in tempo. This will leave Declarer to guess whether to play the HJ or HK. Any hesitation by West will give Declarer a strong reason to suspect West has the HA and know to take the HK. If West hops up with the HA, the HK is promoted on which Declarer will later be able to discard his Diamond loser.
If Declarer has led low away from the HQx, West will eventually capture the HQ with the retained HA on another round of Hearts (there are no winners in Dummy on which Declarer will be able to discard a Heart loser). And if Declarer has a singleton Heart (as here), the Defenders will get the Diamond trick INSTEAD OF the HA, so playing low loses nothing, while giving Declarer a chance to guess wrong (attempting to drive out the HA with the HJ) and give East the HQ. |
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