Three Notrump On Ice

As South, can you find the plays to guarantee making each contract?
No fair peeking at the answers!

Problem 1

Total points	A Q 5 4 2			West	North	East	South
None vul	A 10 5 4						1
	Q			Pass	1	Pass	2
	Q J 10			Pass	2	Pass	2 NT
				Pass	3 NT	All Pass
Lead: 2		East plays K
	3
	Q 3 2
	A K 10 9 8 7
3 NT South	A 4 3

Your play?

A. Win A, finesse Q B. Win A, Q, lead 4 C. Duck K, win Q, A D. Duck K, win Q, Q

Problem 2

Total points	3 2			West	North	East	South
None vul	K Q 10 9 2				1	Pass	2
	A Q 10 9			Pass	2	Pass	3 NT
	6 5			Pass	Pass	Pass
Lead: 8
	Q 9 6 4
	A 8
	K J
3 NT South	A J 10 4 3

Your play?

A. Win Q, A, K B. Win Q, A, finesse 10 C. Win Q, lead 2 to eight D. Win Q, lead 5 to jack

Problem 3

Total points	3			West	North	East	South
None vul	K 3 2						1 NT
	Q 9 4 3 2			Pass	2 1	Pass	2 NT
	A Q J 10			Pass	3 NT	Pass	Pass
				Pass
Lead: 5		East plays 10
				1. minor-suit Stayman
	A Q J
	Q J 5 4
	K 7 5
3 NT South	K 3 2

Your play?

A. Win Q, lead 4 B. Win Q, lead 5 C. Win Q, Q, lead 2 D. Win Q, Q, lead 2

Quit

Explanations

Top Three Notrump On Ice

Problem 1

How sweet it is! Did you pounce on East’s K? If you did you can say goodbye to your contract. This would remove a crucial entry and you could no longer establish and use the diamonds. It’s a bit painful but you must duck the K. Don’t accept a Trojan horse!

Assume a club is returned. Win in dummy, lead the Q and overtake it in your hand — look at those beautiful diamond spots. Just continue leading diamonds to smoke out the jack, and you have nine certain tricks: two clubs, five diamonds, and dummy’s two aces.

Problem 2

You have eight top tricks, and the heart suit will supply another even if the J fails to drop. The danger is the spade suit — if East gains the lead in hearts, he might lead twice through your Q and allow the defenders to run four spades. Note, however, that if West gains the lead this threat vanishes.

Therein lies the key. Win the Q in dummy, and lead a low heart to the eight. If it loses and West tries to shut out dummy with a diamond return, you can win the A and cash the 10 to discard the A — a neat jettison play.

Problem 3

After winning the Q you have six top tricks, and you can establish two in hearts and one in diamonds. The problem is you may have to give up the lead twice, and a spade through your A-J will hurt.

The solution is to force East to waste an ace. Cross to dummy in clubs and lead a low heart. If East takes the ace you’ll get three heart tricks and the battle is over. So assume the Q wins. Cross again in clubs and lead a low diamond. Similar story! Finally, if the K wins, just lead another heart to ensure nine tricks.

Quiz 7H74 Main

Top Three Notrump On Ice

© 1998 Richard Pavlicek