CARD COMBINATIONS

AN ESSAY
 

“Card combinations” typically refers to partnership holdings in one particular suit where you are the declarer and of course can see your assets in hand and in the dummy.  The usual challenge is to develop an additional trick beyond the obvious quick tricks.  There must be a zillion card combinations, each with it’s peculiar way to get that extra trick.  I like to ponder these problems from time to time - they are like little puzzles within the larger puzzle of how to make a difficult contract.

There are enough of these combinations to fill a dozen bridge books, and probably have.  In fact I have one, as I accidentally discovered while preparing this Snaps issue.  It is “How to Play Card Combinations” by  Mike Lawrence.

It occurs to me how unreasonable it would be to expect non-professional bridge players to learn or memorize many such combinations.  Besides the best play so often depends on the particular situation at hand.  Consider this deal where you are declarer and need two heart tricks to make your contract. 

 

YOU (South)              DUMMY (North)
H) 4 3 2                      H) A J 9

 

You need two heart tricks.  How are you going to get them?  Of course you are going to finesse something, but what?  Skipping over the technical details, the mathematical odds here favor playing from your hand to the 9, hoping to find West with the K-10 or Q-10.  Remember this the next time you see this combination!

But just a minute.  While thinking about card combinations, I began browsing through Lawrence’s book.  (To be honest, it has been so long since I read it, I don’t remember anything in it!)  Actually I turned to the last deal in the book.  Strangely there was a combination quite similar to the one shown above.  But in the bidding West opened 1NT and North-South ended in a small slam.  South realized from the bidding that East could have at most 2 high-card points, thus West almost surely had both the heart K and Q so the location of the 10 was  immaterial.

I for one am not going to try to remember a book full of card combinations, and I suggest you not feel inadequate if you don’t either.  Take the obvious finesse and most of the time that will be the best course of play.  And rejoice when you play an inferior line and still make your contract - it happens all of the time.
 

CONSTITUTION RECYCLING

 

They are having some difficulty agreeing upon a constitution for Iraq.  Why don’t we just give them ours? It was written by a lot of really smart guys, and it’s worked for over 200 years; besides we’re not using it any more.