Only chance (nearly)
By Paul Bowyer

This set of deals contains a loose theme on defending against 3NT. Some of these hands are easy and some... aren't.

Naturally enough we will start with an easy one.

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East-West reach 3NT after a transfer sequence and, as South, you lead your fourth-highest spade - the ♠3.

Now, after North produces the ♠J and East the ♠K you know that declarer (East) has 15-17 points and either the ♠K Q 10 or the ♠K 10 × (although East could have a fourth spade). Your partner's informative play of the ♠J shows that East has the ♠10 so there is no point in trying to put partner on lead for a spade lead through declarer.

The best chance is to continue with a low spade hoping that North has the ♠Q. In point of fact, this defense may still be effective if East does have the ♠K Q 10 as in this layout:

♠ J 8 6
♥ 8 6 4 3 2
♦ A 5
♣ Q 9 7

♠ 7 5
♥ Q J 10 9 5
♦ K 10 7
♣ A 10 5

♠ K Q 10
♥ K 7
♦ Q J 6 4
♣ K J 8 6

♠ A 9 4 3 2 
♥ A
♦ 9 8 3 2
♣ 4 3 2

After the defense of a low Spade lead won by the ♠Q, a Heart won by the ♥A and another low Spade, won by the ♠10, declarer may decide to cash some Hearts and to knock out the ♦A. North returns his last Spade and North-South take three Spades and two Aces. Declarer can make his contract (by guessing the location of the ♣Q) but “can” is not a synonym for either “should” or “will”.

As a point of technique, when leading a second Spade you might consider leading the ♠4, to try to convince declarer that Spades are 4-4...

How to Play:

There is a Chinese saying:
'An image is worth 1000 words!'

You may want to take the
Online Player Guided Tour

1 - Bidding: Click the 'Play' button in the middle of the page to display the bidding box.

When you are ready, click the 'Start Bidding' button.

When a bid is alerted, it is shown on a yellow background. You can then click that bid to display the related alert.

When there is a comment or a question about your own bid, you can read it on the bidding box comments pane, and then, click the 'Ok' button to continue bidding.

Click 'Close Bidding Box' to proceed to playing the hand.

2 - Playing: The lead is automatic if you are declarer, otherwise you'll see the 'It's your lead' warning in the center pane.

You will play your cards and dummy's as if you were at a live table.

2.1 -Touching cards are considered equivalent! e.g. if you have 876 and you play the 7 while Vu-Bridge expects you to play the 6, then the 7 will blink and the 6 will be played.

2.2 -Sometimes there will be a comment or question during the play.
You should read it and click the 'Click to continue' button at the top of the comment text.

If its a question, there will be a 'Show Answer' button to click at the bottom of the comment panel.

2.3 - When a comment bears a 'Finish flag' button, you can click it to reveal hidden hands and continue playing. We use this to explain technical coups like end-plays, squeezes etc.

2.4 - You can review the last trick by clicking on the last won or lost trick (back of card) at the bottom of the screen. The last trick will show during 3 seconds and then play will continue.

2.5 - You can click the 'Undo last trick' button at the left of the screen in order to redo one or several tricks and review the attached comments.
You can review the auction by clicking the 'Auction' tab in the same area.
3 - Moving the comment panel:

When the mouse hovers the dark green background of the bidding box or the comment panel, you'll see a crosshair cursor and you can drag and move it around the page.

The left and right arrows on the top left corner of the comment panel allows you to increase or reduce the width for better readability.

4 - When a hand is finished, you can click the 'Board List' at the top of the comment panel, and play other hands From the same Series.

To play other Series, visit the Vu-Bridge's home page and click the 'Bridge Hands' button.