William S. Root - How to Play a Bridge Hand

Copyright 1990 by William S. Root

Introduction copyright 1990 by Crown Publishers

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published by Three Rivers Press, New York, New York. Member of the Crown Publishing Group.

Random House, Inc. New York, Toronto, London, Sydney, Auckland

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THREE RIVERS PRESS is a registered trademark and the Three Rivers Press colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Root, William S.
How to play a bridge hand/by William S. Root. Introduction by Omar Sharif.first edition
1. Contract bridge. I. Title.
GV1282.3R5728 1990 795.4153dc-20 89-28919

eISBN: 978-0-307-77445-3

v3.1_r1

Other Books by William S. Root

Commonsense Bidding

How to Defend a Bridge Hand

Modern Bridge Conventions (co-authored with Richard Pavlicek)

To Vera

When my good friend Bill Root asked me to write this introduction to his new book, my first thought was: Why another book on play? Since the appearance of Watson on Play (1934), theres hardly a bridge writer who hasnt attempted to produce the ultimate book on the play of the cards.

Few, if any, have even come close. As far as I am concerned, only three books have stood the test of time: Goren on Play and Defense, Card Play Technique by Nico Gardener and Victor Mollo, and Defensive Play Complete by Eddie Kantar. All three have a common element: They are written by gifted writers, and those involved are both players of the highest caliber and outstanding teachers!

If it takes a combination of those factors to produce a classic on play, then this book is assured of that status. For Bill Root has not only represented the United States in World Championship competition many times, he has a proven track record as an author and is recognized as the worlds premier teacher.

That piqued my curiosity. Although I am not given to reading bridge books, I decided to peruse the manuscript. It was all I expected it to be. Clearly written, well organized and, above all, easily understandable no matter what the level of ones skill.

Over the years, Bill has been able to accumulate an excellent collection of teaching hands. He puts this material to good use here. Each facet of play is broken down to its elements, then the illustrative hands make the theme crystal clear to the reader. And at the end of each chapter there is a quiz to test ones progress as one goes along.

Had the game of bridge been played centuries ago, Omar the Tentmaker would have recommended taking a bridge book into the wilderness. And if he were to come back today and decide to take up the game we all love so, it is quite likely that this would be the book he would choose. Certainly, Omar the Bridge Player enjoyed it.

Omar Sharif

Please read this section to familiarize yourself with the way tricks are counted in this book. The procedures for counting tricks at notrump contracts and trump contracts are treated separately, but first you must:

After the opening lead has been made and the dummy exposed, your first order of business as declarer is to count your tricks and plan your play. This should be done before you play a card from dummy. It is not unreasonable to take up to one minute (perhaps longer with an occasional tough hand) before playing a card. Some irascible defenders may complain that you are taking too long, but the defenders themselves should be using the time to plan their defense. Of course you will be considered a slowpoke if you hesitate throughout the play of the hand, but not if you take a little extra time to think before you begin to play.

The procedure at notrump contracts is to count the winning tricks in the combined hands and then try to figure out the safest way to develop any extra tricks needed to make your contract.

Here are two illustrations:

You have eight winning tricks: two spades, one heart, and five clubs. Do you see a sure way to get the ninth trick? The answer is to win the first trick in your hand with the king of spades and play the ace of hearts and another heart. The ace of spades will provide an entry to dummy and the queen of hearts will be your ninth trick. Your contract is safe no matter how the missing cards are divided.

If West has the queen of diamonds, you can take twelve tricks by finessing him for the queen. But if the diamond finesse fails, the opponents will have time to establish their spade suit and may win five tricks before you can win nine.

Notice how important it was to count your tricks. The knowledge that you have eight winners and need only one more to make your contract tells you to shun the long diamond suit and develop a sure ninth trick in hearts. If the bid were four, five, or six notrump, you would of course try to establish the diamond suit. The declarers goal is to make his bid; he should not try for overtricks if it puts his contract in jeopardy.

In this deal, you have seven winners: two spades, one diamond, and four clubs. You can afford to lose the lead only once, so you must ignore the diamond suit; the opponents will establish their spades before you can establish any diamond winners.

The only chance to develop the two needed tricks is to tackle the heart suit. Lead a heart toward dummy at trick two and, if West plays a low heart, finesse the ten. If East has the jack of hearts, you will be set (probably down two). If West has the jack of hearts, you will be able to develop two heart tricks and make your bid.

Note that if you play the king or queen of hearts on the first round, you will be limited to one heart trick (barring miracles) even if West has the jack. This would be the correct play if the bid were two notrump because it guarantees eight tricks. But in three notrump, you essentially would be playing safe to go down only one trick.

Counting tricks and planning the play are more complex in trump contracts because there are more ways to win (and lose) tricks. The best method for counting tricks in trump contracts is controversial: You may count the winning tricks in both hands as you do at notrump contracts, or count the possible