Delicate decision
When it comes to making a tricky decision either in the bidding or the play of the cards, a good player must always try to get an idea of how the deal is handled by the majority of the players at the other tables
When you take a decision that sets you apart from the field, two cases are possible:
- The facts prove you right: your decision will pay off and you’ll get a score close to the top because there are only few who will make the same choice as you.
- You don’t reach your goal: your isolation will then cost you dearly and your score will be close to the bottom.
If you choose caution and knowingly make the same decision as the field, you know that you don’t risk getting a bad score, regardless of the result of the races:
You need a Funbridge Premium or Premium+ subscription to keep reading.
To read the rest of this article by Robert Eskinazi, please log in with a valid Premium or Premium+ account.
I love the article, but I’d appreciate a more detailed explanation of the risk of taking the first round of diamonds with the ace.
I wondered this, too, and had to think about it a lot. If you take the DA and draw two rounds of trump, then duck a diamond, west gets in and leads a third trump, the master, and only one diamond ruff is available. (I’ve hoped in vain in play more than once that the person who gets in with what I am ducking doesn’t have the last trump). If you don’t draw trumps and lead a diamond to void dummy, west wins and can lead a third diamond. What do you ruff with? You are uppercut.
If you draw one round of trump and then duck a diamond, the same thing happens, because the jack hasn’t fallen. By ducking the first trick, there may be a switch to something else (he may play the HA, sparing you a guess in that suit, a trump, which will be to your advantage). In any case, you can take the DA, draw two rounds of trump, see the jack fall, and then proceed with ruffing the two diamonds. Great comment, because I had to think about this for a long time.