Defence: opposing a trumps plan

Contract : 5
Lead : King of Clubs

			Q 10 3
			4
			K Q 10 3
			10 8 5 3 2
	A J 8 6 2	N W E S			K 9 5 4
	A 9 7 2				K J 6 5
	-				8 6 4
	K Q J 6				9 7
			7
			Q 10 8 3
			A J 9 7 5 2
			A 4

The bidding:

Let Your pupils bid to the bitter end and … intervene before they play the cards, to check that the bidding went like this:

-	East deals and passes; West opens and counts 25 DH points in his side; so he declares a contract of 4.
-	North takes his partner's little paper, discovers the fit in Diamonds (10 cards) and manages to count 25 DH points in his side. So he hopes to make 9 tricks, i.e. two less than the contract of 5. Being not vulnerable, the sacrifice at 5 should cost him 300 points, an excellent operation against an opponent's game call, which is worth 620. So North must make his partner play 5.
-	West can still bid: with only 27 DH points he can hardly hope to make 5; he doubles.

Make them lead the King of Clubs and let them play: the result will vary from 1 to 3 down. Don't insist too much on the way of playing "best", bur underline nonetheless that the interest of South is to make the maximum trumping-ins on Hearts in dummy, and that he must "open" the trumping as soon as possible, whereas the interest of the defence is to prevent him, which should cause East to play Trumps as quickly and as often as possible (advice 23.12).

Count the points "lost" by North-South and get them to rapidly play the contract of 4" by East; he should win easily, whatever the lead (advice 23.13).

Then ask your pupils whether the bidding would have been the same with the vulnerabilities reversed; get them to check that, then, the score would have been unfavourable for a sacrifice bid …