Ruffing (Part One) - Mr Bridge

JULIAN POTTAGE on DEFENCE♠ K J 6 3Ruffing(PartOne)While it can be a chore havingto discard, ruffing tends to bea different matter. When theopponents have chosen the trump suit,how nice it can be to make a ruffingwinner or two. In general, two mainfactors affect whether it is a good ideato ruff: (i) whether you are ruffing awinner or a loser and (ii) whether youwill score an extra trick by ruffing. Thebest time to ruff is usually when thedeclarer would win the trick with aplain card if you did not ruff and you areruffing with a card that is not to be awinner or a guard to one.Since identifying an opposing winnertends to be fairly straightforward, wewill start by examining some trumplayouts.♠ 10 8 6 3♠ Q 9 4 W E ♠ 5♠ A K J 7 2With a trump suit like this East’s trumpis otherwise worthless and East can ruffin safety. It is more likely, of course,that West will be the defender in a positionto ruff something. In this case, ruffingonce will not gain a trick. Westneeds the two low spades as guards tothe queen.♠ Q 9 4NS♠ 10 8 6 3NW ES♠ A J 7 5 2♠ KAssuming that dummy is North, thelayout could in fact be this. Now Westdoes gain a trick by ruffing. Therefore,if West gets the chance to ruff anopposing winner, it is probably right todo so.♠ Q 9 4♠ 10 8 6 3NW ES♠ K J 7 5♠ A2If declarer might have only four trumps,this is another possible layout. AgainWest may gain a trick by ruffing somesthing– declarer might still lose twotrump tricks by finessing the jack.Beware of an overruffRuffing becomes a more hazardousbusiness when there is a danger of beingoverruffed. Thankfully, if declarer leadsfrom hand, you will know for surewhether dummy is void in the suit ledand has trumps higher than yours. Thegreater danger – and the more commonone – is when the lead comes fromdummy. You need to be more carefulthen about ruffing.♠ Q 8 6 3♠ J 4 W E ♠ K 2NS♠ A 10 9 7 5With a trump suit like this for instance,if either defender ruffs in, declarer canpick up the trumps for no loss. Thismeans that, if it was a loser ruffed andoverruffed, declarer gains a trick. If itwas a winner ruffed, the defenders merelybreak even.♠ Q 4 W E ♠ 8 2♠ A 10 9 7 5With this trump suit, again both defendersneed to be wary of ruffing in adubious cause. If nobody ruffs, declarerhas to decide whether it is a case of‘eight ever, nine never’ or, if not, of whoto play for the queen. If, however, adefender ruffs, declarer has no possiblelosing guess.The delayed ruffThe time has come to look at exampleswith all the suits.♠ Q 10 7 4♥ J 10 9 7 4♦ K 3♣ A5♠ A5♥ A 8 5 3 2NW E♦ 7 2S ♣ J 10 6 3West North East South1♦Pass 1♥ Pass 1♠Pass 3♠ Pass 4♠EndNSPartner leads the six of hearts – clearlya singleton – and your ace wins. Whatdo you return?No doubt, partner has some sparetrumps with which to ruff (the heartwould be a poor lead otherwise; besides,you can tell that South has only fourspades from the bidding). Even so, aheart return would be unwise. As wellas the two aces and a ruff, you need afourth trick to defeat the contract. If thisis not the ace of diamonds or the king ofspades, it will need to be in clubs. Inthis case, you want to lead the suityourself because partner is unlikely tohave the king of clubs as well as thequeen. Your ace of trumps, you see, letsyou give partner a ruff at a convenientmoment rather than rushing straightaway.The full deal is shown on the nextpage:Continued on page 35❿Page 34

POTTAGE ON DEFENCE continued from page 34finesse against the jack of hearts. Let uslook at the spade position again:♠ Q 10 7 4♥ J 10 9 7 4♦ K 3♣ A5♠ 8 6 2♠ A5♥ 6 N ♥ A 8 5 3 2W E♦ Q 10 8 6 S ♦ 7 2♣ K 9 7 4 2 ♣ J 10 6 3♠ K J 9 3♥ K Q♦ A J 9 5 4♣ Q 8After the club switch, declarer cannotmake the contract.When not to ruffThat was the case of a delayed ruff.Sometimes it is better not to ruff at all.♠ J 6 5♥ K 10 7 2♦ 4♣ A 7 6 5 3NW ES♠ A2♥ J 5 3♦ 9 7 6 2♣ 10 8 4 2West North East South1♦1♠ Dbl 1 Pass 3♥Pass 4♥ End1NegativePartner leads the seven of spades, whichyou win with the ace as South drops thenine. You return the two of spades andSouth plays the queen. Partner wins thiswith the king and switches to the queenof clubs. Dummy wins with the ace andleads the jack of spades. Do you ruff this?It may have struck you as odd thatpartner stopped playing spades. The probableexplanation is that partner startedwith six spades and knew that you wouldbe overruffed on the third round. Onething is for sure: declarer must be preparedfor you to ruff the third round ofspades (partner bid the suit and yourreturn of the two implied a doubleton).Can you see why it is so risky to ruff?Look at the full deal:♠ J 6 5♥ K 10 7 2♦ 4♣ A 7 6 5 3♠ K 10 8 7 4 3 ♠ A2♥ Q 8 N ♥ J 5 3W E♦ A5 3 ♦ 9 7 6 2S♣ Q J ♣ 10 8 4 2♠ Q 9♥ A 9 6 4♦ K Q J 10 8♣ K 9No matter how high you ruff, declarercan overruff and then pick up the trumpswithout loss. By contrast, after you discard,declarer must lose a trump and adiamond.Ruffing might also not be very cleverif partner had the ace of trumps. In thatcase, declarer would have a two-way♠ K 10 8 7 4 3♠ J 6 5♠ Q 9NW ES♠ A2After two rounds of spades have set updummy’s jack, most of the time it wouldbe right for partner to play a third roundof spades. This would enable you to ruffdummy’s jack and so prevent declarerfrom discarding a loser on it (because itwould be necessary to overruff). You mayhear this called ‘killing the discard’. Onthis particular deal partner knew (fromSouth’s jump to 3♥) that there could beno useful discard available on the jack ofspades and so switched suits. Suppose thefull deal had really been this:♠ J 6 5♥ K 10 7 2♦ 4♣ A 7 6 5 3♠ K 10 8 7 4 3 ♠ A2♥ 9 8 N ♥ J 5 3W E♦ A8 ♦ 9 7 6 3 2S♣ K J 2 ♣ 10 8 4♠ Q 9♥ A Q 6 4♦ K Q J 10 5♣ Q 9Now, after the same play to the first twotricks, West needs to play a third roundof spades. Then East ruffs and declarerContinued on page 36 ❿Available from the Mail Order Service 01672 519219Silver-plated Opener Tips for Better Bridge Mug – King & Queen Low Vision Cards Royal Blue Tie£15.99. £12.20. £14.99. Two packs. £5.99. £11.65.Page 35

POTTAGE ON DEFENCE continued from page 35After ruffing, you lead the diamond ten,not worrying too much if it is ruffed. Declarerwill have to lead hearts from handand will lose two tricks in the suit wheneveryour partner has the queen or king.will eventually lose a club as well as adiamond.Focus on discardingOn the original version of this deal itdid not matter what you discarded – yousimply had to avoid wasting a trump.On other deals, your choice of discardmay prove important.♠ 8 7 5 3 2♥ A7♦ 8 7 3 2♣ AK♠ A K J 10 6 ♠ 9 4♥ K 10 9 6 N ♥ J 5 4 3W E♦ Void S ♦ A9 5♣ 10 8 4 2 ♣ 9 7 6 5♠ Q♥ Q 8 2♦ K Q J 10 6 4♣ Q J 3West opens 1♠ and, after two passes,South reopens with 2♦. Thereafter theopponents climb up to 5♦.Partner starts with two top spades. Declarerfollows once, ruffs the secondround and leads the king of trumps.When West shows out, you, East, winwith the ace and return the five. Nextdeclarer cashes dummy’s heart and clubwinners. Now comes a spade. What areyour plans?South has already ruffed one spade andsurely intends to ruff this one as well.Ruffing would therefore be completelypointless. Perhaps your nine of diamondswill come in handy later – using it tooverruff dummy. Which suit is it thatdeclarer plans to ruff in dummy?The answer surely is hearts. The line ofplay chosen suggests that West has theking of hearts. This means that declarerintends to throw dummy’s remainingheart on the queen of clubs before ruffingtwo hearts in dummy. To thwart this planyou discard a heart. You discard a secondheart on the next round of spades. Thiswill come after declarer throws dummy’sheart on a club and ruffs a heart in dummy.This way you are able to overruff thethird round of hearts to beat the contract.When should you ruff with a card thatwould be a winner anyway? You ruff ifyou need to gain the lead quickly or tointerrupt the run of dummy’s suit.♠ Q 8 3♥ A 10 9 6♦ J 10 8 2♣ 10 7♠ 10 5♥ J 8 2♦ AK 6♣ A J 9 5 2NW ESYou lead the jack of diamonds againstSouth’s 4♠. After the ace wins, declarercomes to hand with a top trump and runsthe club queen. East wins with the kingand returns the diamond queen to dummy’sace. Next comes a second top trump(East following), followed by a club tothe ace and the club jack, on which Souththrows a diamond. Should you ruff – withyour trump winner?Although you have been unable toprevent one discard, you certainly wantto ruff now. Dummy has a master nine ofclubs, which will provide a parking placefor one of South’s heart losers if youleave the lead there. This is the full deal:♠ 10 5♥ J 8 2♦ AK 6♣ A J 9 5 2♠ Q 8 3 ♠ 7 6♥ A 10 9 6 N ♥ Q 7 4 3W E♦ J 10 8 2 S ♦ Q 7 5♣ 10 7 ♣ K 8 4 3♠ A K J 9 4 2♥ K 5♦ 9 4 3♣ Q 6♠ 10 9 8♥ A K Q 9 6♦ J 8 5 4♣ Q♠ K Q J 7 4 2♥ J 5 2N♦ AQ 2W E♣ 2SWest North East South1♠ 2♥ Pass 3♦Pass 4♦ Pass 5♦EndYou, West, lead the king of spades. Declarerwins with the ace, cashes the club aceand leads a second club. Should you ruff?If declarer wants to reach dummy tofinesse in trumps, that’s fine by you. Themore likely explanation for this play,however, particularly if East played thesix of spades at trick one (to show a doubleton),is to reach dummy to discard aspade on dummy’s hearts. To scotch thatplan you should ruff in with the queen (oreven the ace) of diamonds and cash yourspade winner. This is the full deal:♠ 10 9 8♥ A K Q 9 6♦ J 8 5 4♣ Q♠ K Q J 7 4 2 ♠ 6 3♥ J 5 2 N ♥ 10 8 7 4 3W E♦ AQ 2S♦ Void♣ 2 ♣ K 10 8 7 6 4♠ A5♥ Void♦ K 10 9 7 6 3♣ A J 9 5 3Give yourself a consolation mark if youworked out that a heart discard wouldbe fractionally preferable to a spade. Ifdeclarer carelessly tried to cash threetop hearts, you would be able to ruff. ■REDUCE THE COST OF YOUR POSTAGEPostage stamps for sale at 90% of face-valueValues supplied in 100s, higher values available as wellas 1st and 2nd class (eg 1st class: 100 x 28p + 100 x 2p)/Fax 020 8422 4906Page 36