Developing dummy's side suit: Entry concerns

Larry Hammick
larry@hammick.com
2000.06.01

Contents
;Introduction
;Driving out the master trump with an entryless dummy
;Trump entries to a side suit, and weakening dummy
;Locking declarer in dummy to avoid trump pulls

;Introduction
When declarer plans to develop a side suit in dummy, he needs entries
to dummy as well as entries to hand for pulling trumps. This article
is about the special communication problems that arise in that plan,
owing to the special ruffing property of the trump suit.

;Driving out the master trump with an entryless dummy
If the small trumps have been pulled, but the defenders still have one
boss trump, it usually just wastes a tempo to drive it out. An
important exception is when the defender might use that trump to
interrupt the run of an established side suit, leaving the remainder
of the suit unreachable. A trivial case:
	Kx
	AKJTx
	xxx
	Qxx

	AQTxxx
	Qx
	AQx
	xx
Against 4S West leads CKA and a third round, which East ruffs, say
with the 9. Ten tricks are certain. You overruff and cash SKAQ. If the
J is still out you lead another trump to get rid of it. If you tried
to run hearts while a trump was still out, an opponent might ruff the
second or third round, leaving the remainder of the suit dead.

;Trump entries to a side suit, and weakening dummy
Forcing dummy to ruff, if it makes dummy shorter than one of the
defenders, usually has the effect of removing an entry to dummy.
Declarer cannot then pull trumps ending on the table.
	Kxx				Kxx
	x				x
	xxxx				xxxx
	KJTxx				KJTxx
x		xxx		x		xxx
AKxxx		JTxxx		AKxxx		JTxxx
Kxx		Qxx		Kxx		JTx
xxxx		Ax		xxxx		Ax
	AQJxxx				AQJxxx
	Qx				Qx
	AJT				AQx
	Qx				Qx
Against 4S West leads out HAK. Suppose declarer ruffs in dummy.
Whether or not he pulls trumps next, East needs only hold up CA once
to disable the suit. In the variation at right, declarer can make the
hand by simply discarding a diamond from dummy at trick two. This
allows him to ruff the next heart in hand if need be, so that he can
win the last trump round in dummy. At left, West would have to find
the diamond shift at trick 3.

The same principle is at work on the following hand. If a defender is
longer in trumps than dummy, declarer shortens that defender, to
enable dummy's suit to cash.
	Qxx
	QJTxxx
	Q
	Axx

	AKxxx
	Kx
	Kxx
	Kxx
Against 4S West leads CJ. You win in hand, reserving dummy's ace as an
entry to the hearts. If you take SQK and find the trumps 4-1, and then
play SA and another, the defence will drive out CA, establishing a
fourth trick for themselves before you have ten. It is better to start
with SAK, retaining dummy's Q for use as an entry. If both follow, you
can take the Q as well, but if someone shows out, you knock out HA
while SQ is still on the table. Say the opponents take the second
heart and lead a club, removing the ace. You continue hearts, throwing
first a club. The defence can ruff the third heart only at the cost of
their trump trick, so this line is sure to succeed unless a major is
5-0 or both are 4-1, and might work even in the latter case.

In the next two hands, the issue of trump entries to the side suit
determines which suit should be tested first.
	KQx
	AKxxx
	xx
	Qxx

	AJxxx
	Qx
	Axx
	Txx
Against 4S, the defenders take three clubs and exit with a diamond to
your ace. You need only four heart tricks. The correct play is to test
the trumps with, say, the Q and J (preserving a high one in dummy). If
they are 3-2 you can afford hearts 4-2: take HQK and a heart ruff
high, followed by a trump to dummy to cash the established hearts. If
someone shows out on the second trump, you need to pull the remaining
trumps and try to split the hearts 3-3.
	KQTx
	xx
	AKxxxx
	Q

	AJxx
	AKx
	x
	xxxxx
Against 6S West leads a heart to your ace. This time the side suit is
weaker and may need to be ruffed twice. You test the side suit first:
DAK and a diamond ruff high. If that suit is 3-3 you are home even if
trumps are 4-1. If diamonds are 4-2 you will need to to enter dummy by
means of a ruff, and therefore you will need trumps 3-2.

;Locking declarer in dummy to avoid trump pulls
When dummy is out of trumps, declarer needs a side entry to hand to
pull the remaining trumps. When he has no such entry, the defence may
be able to exit to dummy's established tricks, and wait for a ruff or
a trump promotion.
	Jx
	KJTx
	AKQJx
	AQ
xx		AQx
Ax		xxxxx
Txx		xx
JTxxxx		Kxx
	KT9xxx
	Qx
	xxx
	xx
Against 4S the lead is CJ to the Q and K, and a diamond comes back.
Declarer starts trumps with SJ. East must duck this and win the next
trump, breaking communication in spades. Now he exits to dummy in
diamonds, and waits for a diamond ruff. Similarly, again in 4S:
	Jx
	KQT9
	AKQJx
	AQ
ATx		xx
AJx		xxx
xx		T9xx
JTxxx		Kxxx
	KQxxxx
	xxx
	xx
	xx
At left, CJ goes to the Q and K, and back comes a club or DT. West
ducks the SJ but takes declarer's Q (i.e. takes dummy's last trump)
with the ace. West exits to dummy in clubs or diamonds, and the
defence has a fourth trick in one form or another.