Quiz 8D41 Main

Notrump Insight

by Richard Pavlicek

Do you have the insight to be a winning declarer at notrump? Or would you just rather have no Trump in sight? The choice is yours, and you don’t have to wait until Election Day!

Test yourself on these six problems. Assume the scoring is IMPs, and your opponents are world-class, not to be confused with “BBO world class” which can mean a notch above hopeless.

Choose your play on each problem then click “Score Me” to see how you did. Explanations follow the quiz.

Are you ready? Then make the winning plays, or make America great again, but go to it like a bat out of Hell.

Problem 1

IMPs	K 6 2		`West`	`North`	`East`	`South`
None vul	A J 5			1	1	1 NT
	A 3 2		Pass	Pass	2	2 NT
	J 10 3 2		Pass	Pass	Pass

Lead: 7		East plays 10
Lead: 7		East plays 10

	Q 9 4
	K 8 7
	Q 10 6 5 4
2 NT South	K 4		You play low from dummy and capture East’s 10 with the queen.

What next? A. Win A, lead 2 to queen
B. Win A, lead 2 to king
C. Win A, lead 2 to queen
D. Win A, lead 2 to 10
E. Win A, lead 2 to king
F. Duck a diamond

Problem 2

IMPs	6 5		`West`	North	`East`	South
N-S vul	A Q 10				Pass	1 NT
	J 10 4		Pass	3 NT	Pass	Pass
	Q 10 6 3 2		Pass

Lead: 4		East plays 10
Lead: 4		East plays 10

	A Q 7
	K J 7 6
	A 5 3
3 NT South	K 5 4		You win the Q.

What next? A. Win A, 2 to king (wins), 4 to queen
B. Win A, 2 to king (wins), 4 to 10
C. Lead K (wins), 4 to queen
D. Lead K (wins), 4 to 10
E. Lead 4 to queen
F. Lead 4 to 10

Quit
Top Notrump Insight

Problem 3

IMPs	K 2		West	`North`	East	`South`
E-W vul	8 4 3					2
	9 7 6 3 2		Pass	2	Pass	2 NT
	7 4 3		Pass	3 NT	Pass	Pass
			Pass
Lead: Q		East plays K
Lead: Q		East plays K

	A Q 7 6
	A Q 10 2
	A K
3 NT South	A 6 2		You let the K win, and East returns the 8.

Your play? A. Win A, K, finesse Q
B. Win A, K, finesse 10
C. Win A, cash A
D. Win A, lead 6
E. Duck, win A, K, finesse Q
F. Duck, win A, cash A

Problem 4

IMPs	Q 10 4 2		West	North	East	South
Both vul	10 9		1	Pass	Pass	2 NT
	Q 6 4 2		Pass	Pass	Pass
	7 6 4

Lead: 7		East plays Q
Lead: 7		East plays Q

	A K J
	K 5 4 3
	A 9 5
2 NT South	K Q 3

Your play? A. Win K, run spades, lead 10
B. Win K, run spades, lead 4 to king
C. Win K, A-K, lead 3
D. Win K, lead 3
E. Win K, lead Q
F. Duck the first trick

Quit
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Problem 5

IMPs	A 4 3		`West`	`North`	`East`	`South`
None vul	Q 10 4		1	Pass	Pass	2 NT
	9 7 2		Pass	3 NT	Pass	Pass
	6 5 4 3		Pass

Lead: K		East plays 9
Lead: K		East plays 9

	8 7
	A 6 2
	A K J 10 5
3 NT South	A K 8		You duck, West continues Q (ducked) then the Q.

Your play? A. Win A, A-K
B. Win A, A, lead 2
C. Win A, A, lead J
D. Win A, lead J
E. Win A, lead 5
F. Duck the club

Problem 6

IMPs	A 7 6 4		West	`North`	East	`South`
E-W vul	J					1 NT
	A K 7 5 4		Pass	2	Pass	2
	A 4 3		Pass	3	Pass	3
			Pass	6 NT	All Pass
Lead: K		East plays 2
Lead: K		East plays 2

	K Q
	A K Q 10 9
	10 6 3
6 NT South	10 8 6

Your play? A. Win A, K-Q, A, A
B. Win A, K-Q, A-K
C. Win A, run hearts
D. Duck, win A, K-Q, A, A
E. Duck, win A, K-Q, A-K
F. Duck, win A, run hearts

Quit
Explanations
Top Notrump Insight

Problem 1

IMPs K 6 2 Trick Lead 2nd 3rd 4th
E-W vul A J 5 1. W 7 2 10 Q
A 3 2 2. S 7! 2 A 6
J 10 3 2 3. N 2 7 Q! 8
7 5 Table A J 10 8 3 4. S 4 9 3! K
4 3 2 Q 10 9 6 5. E A 4 5 2
J 9 8 K 7 6. E 8 K 6 3
Q 9 7 6 5 A 8 7. S 5 J A 3
Q 9 4 8. N 5 9 K 3
K 8 7 Cash 2 more winners
Q 10 6 5 4
2 NT South K 4

Cross to dummy in hearts, not diamonds (East would unblock the K) and lead a low diamond. Whether East wins or ducks, you can establish diamonds without West gaining the lead.

Problem 2

IMPs 6 5 Trick Lead 2nd 3rd 4th
E-W vul A Q 10 1. W 4 5 10 Q
J 10 4 2. S 6! 2 Q 3
Q 10 6 3 2 3. N 2 8 K 7
K 9 8 4 3 Table J 10 2 4. S 4 9 Q! J
8 2 9 5 4 3 5. N 3 4 5 A
Q 8 7 K 9 6 2 Win 7 more tricks
A 9 7 J 8
A Q 7
K J 7 6
A 5 3
3 NT South K 5 4

You should plan to lead the first club from dummy, and if the K wins, continue with a club to the queen. Logic is that an expert East would hop with ace-doubleton to return a spade, and West would routinely duck twice with A-x-x as the only hope.

Quiz 8D41 Main Top Notrump Insight

Problem 3

IMPs K 2 Trick Lead 2nd 3rd 4th
E-W vul 8 4 3 1. W Q 3 K 2
9 7 6 3 2 2. E 8 A! 5 4
7 4 3 3. S A! 5 3 6
J 3 Table 10 9 8 5 4 4. S 6 3 K 4
J 9 5 K 7 6 5. N 4 7 Q 9
J 10 4 Q 8 5 6. S 2 J 8 K
Q J 10 9 5 K 8 Win 5 more tricks
A Q 7 6
A Q 10 2
A K
3 NT South A 6 2

Goal is to prevent East from unblocking successfully in hearts. If he does so immediately, you can switch horses and squeeze-endplay West.

Problem 4

IMPs Q 10 4 2 Trick Lead 2nd 3rd 4th
E-W vul 10 9 1. W 7 9 Q K
Q 6 4 2 2. S A 3 2 5
7 6 4 3. S K 6 4 7
6 3 Table 9 8 7 5 4. S 3! J 10 6
A J 8 7 2 Q 6 5. W A 2 8 4
K 10 J 8 7 3 6. W 8 4 9 5
A J 10 2 9 8 5 7. W 2 4 5 5
A K J 8. W J 6 8 K
K 5 4 3 9. S J 2 Q 3
A 9 5 10. N 10 7 3 A
2 NT South K Q 3 Win 2 more tricks

Only realistic hope is a doubleton spade West, so he’ll be endplayed after running hearts. If he exits with a low club, he’ll be strip-squeezed in the end.

Quiz 8D41 Main Top Notrump Insight

Problem 5

IMPs A 4 3 Trick Lead 2nd 3rd 4th
E-W vul Q 10 4 1. W K 3 9 7
9 7 2 2. W Q 4 2 8
6 5 4 3 3. W Q 3 2 A
K Q 10 Table J 9 6 5 2 4. S J! Q 2 4
K J 3 9 8 7 5 5. W J 4 10 K
Q 8 3 6 4 6. S 5! 3 9 6
Q J 9 7 10 2 7. N A 5 2 10
8 7 8. N 7 6 A 8
A 6 2 9. S K 3 5 5
A K J 10 5 10. S 10 7 6 7
3 NT South A K 8 11. S 8! 9 4 8
West is endplayed

To squeeze-endplay West you must reach dummy to cash the spade ace and return to hand in diamonds. Only the immediate J allows this.

Problem 6

IMPs A 7 6 4 Trick Lead 2nd 3rd 4th
E-W vul J 1. W K A! 2 6
A K 7 5 4 2. N 4 5 K 2
A 4 3 3. S Q 3 6 8
J 3 2 Table 10 9 8 5 4. S 3 8 A 2
5 4 3 8 7 6 2 5. N A 9 6 J
Q 9 8 J 2 6. N J 2 A 3
K Q J 5 9 7 2 7. S K 4 4 6
K Q 8. S Q 5 5 7
A K Q 10 9 9. S 10 5 7 8
10 6 3 10. S 9 ?
6 NT South 10 8 6 West is squeezed, lose 1

If you duck the K to rectify the count for a squeeze, a heart shift will ruin your communication. Therefore, you should win the first trick, unblock spades, cross to the A and cash the A. Running hearts then effects a delayed-duck squeeze.

Perry Groot Wins!

These six problems were published in 2018 as a long-running contest, which is now closed. Congratulations to Perry Groot (Netherlands) who topped all participants with the only perfect score. Scoring was based on how many of the first eight plays on each problem matched my recommended plays, so the best possible score was 48 (8×6). Equivalent plays or transpositions were accepted as correct.

There were 37 participants, and only one attempt was allowed for each. Only those scoring 32 or higher are listed below. Ties are broken by the date and time of entry (earliest wins).

Honor Roll
Rank Name Location Score
1 Perry Groot Netherlands 48
2 Wojciech Papuga Poland 46
3 Ding-Hwa Hsieh Missouri 44
4 Sjaak Smetsers Netherlands 44
5 Ben Norton England 43
6 Jonathan Mestel England 42
7 John Reardon England 36
8 Jean-Christophe Clement France 35
9 Charles Blair Illinois 35

Honor Roll
Rank	Name	Location	Score
1	Perry Groot	Netherlands	48
2	Wojciech Papuga	Poland	46
3	Ding-Hwa Hsieh	Missouri	44
4	Sjaak Smetsers	Netherlands	44
5	Ben Norton	England	43
6	Jonathan Mestel	England	42
7	John Reardon	England	36
8	Jean-Christophe Clement	France	35
9	Charles Blair	Illinois	35

Quiz 8D41 Main Top Notrump Insight

IMPs	K 6 2		Trick	Lead	2nd	3rd	4th
E-W vul	A J 5		1. W	7	2	10	Q
	A 3 2		2. S	7!	2	A	6
	J 10 3 2		3. N	2	7	Q!	8
7 5		A J 10 8 3	4. S	4	9	3!	K
4 3 2		Q 10 9 6	5. E	A	4	5	2
J 9 8		K 7	6. E	8	K	6	3
Q 9 7 6 5		A 8	7. S	5	J	A	3
	Q 9 4		8. N	5	9	K	3
	K 8 7			Cash 2 more winners
	Q 10 6 5 4
2 NT South	K 4