Tips from Barnet Shenkin: The Double Loser-on-Loser
This article is part of a regular series from Scottish internationalist and leading player Barnet Shenkin, exploring fascinating hands, practical techniques and advanced bridge thinking.
Each article breaks down real deals from competition play, offering insights designed to help improving players strengthen their judgement, declarer play and defence.
The double loser-on-loser
The Clyde Bridge Centre in Glasgow hosts three separate league divisions. The winners of League One were Scotch Lovers: David Shenkin, Derek and Martin Diamond, Barnet and Maggie Shenkin, Brian Spears and Derek Peden.
The league was decided in the final match, when Scotch Lovers defeated Glasgow University Union. The most interesting board featured a possible brilliancy that was missed by declarer.
Dealer: East | Vulnerability: Both sides
♠ KQT3
♥ 8753
♦ K3
♣ 843
♠ —
♥ Q6
♦ JT9765
♣ AQJ96
♠ J82
♥ AKJT942
♦ 2
♣ T2
♠ A97654
♥ —
♦ AQ84
♣ K75
West led the queen of hearts, overtaken by the king and ruffed by South. A spade was then led to the king, and West discarded a diamond.
Can you find the brilliant play to make the 5♠ contract?
If you draw trumps, you appear to have only ten winners: six spade tricks, three diamond tricks and a diamond ruff.
Count East’s hand. For a vulnerable pre-empt, East has seven hearts, plus three spades and some clubs, which leaves only one diamond. If you try to play even two rounds of diamonds, East will ruff and then play a club.
To have any chance, you must draw all three rounds of trumps and then, say, ruff a heart from dummy. West now has to make three discards, and this is where things become interesting.
West must come down to a position similar to the one below. In this diagram, West has kept five diamonds.
If instead West keeps only four diamonds, the play is simpler: cash your three diamonds and exit a diamond to West’s jack, discarding two clubs from dummy. West must then lead a club, allowing you to take the club king for an extra trick. You still have a trump left in dummy to ruff your last club.
The position is now:
♠ 3
♥ 87
♦ K3
♣ 843
♠ —
♥ —
♦ JT976
♣ AQ9
♠ —
♥ AJT94
♦ 2
♣ T2
♠ A
♥ —
♦ AQ84
♣ K75
West does better to keep five diamonds, as shown. Now he can escape the endplay by leading the fifth diamond. The ruff-and-discard does not help you, as you were planning to ruff the third club anyway.
Note that West has also unblocked the club jack. Otherwise, you would ruff the fifth diamond and exit with a club to West’s jack, endplaying him again. By keeping the nine, he allows East to insert the ten on the first round, ensuring three club tricks.
But wait. The brilliant declarer does not ruff the fifth diamond.
When West plays the fifth diamond, declarer discards the last club from dummy and a club from hand.
The final position:
♠ 3
♥ 87
♦ —
♣ —
♠ —
♥ —
♦ —
♣ AQ9
♠ —
♥ A
♦ —
♣ T2
♠ A
♥ —
♦ —
♣ K7
West is now on play, and declarer needs three tricks. Whether West plays the ace, queen or nine of clubs, declarer scores the king and both trumps for the contract.
This is a beautiful hand. A double loser-on-loser play is very hard to spot, and could rightly be regarded as brilliant if successfully executed.
In the other room, the contract was only 4♠, making. Strangely, there is no defence to 6♥ by East-West.
