| MANAGING THE SPADE SUIT -- "THE SPEAR PLAY"
Note: The term "Spear Play" was created by Bill Nicholls of Westford, MA, an original member of The NE Hearts Players Association.
Managing the Spade suit is a critical part of the game. Due to the power of the Spade Queen, you must be able to count this suit and track the location of the top Spades -- the Ace and King. This is a very basic skill, yet many players are lazy, and do not make the effort. Here is a simple layout (after the pass).
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| PASS DIRECTION -- LEFT / FIRST HAND OF THE GAME
(South has received the Ace and Queen of Spades and a low Heart from East. Assume that there is no "moon" possible in this hand, as everyone holds a losing Heart. The red suits are immaterial here, as the discussion is geared toward the Spade suit.)
After the pass, East opens with the required Deuce of Clubs. West wins with the Ace and immediately shifts to the obvious Jack of Spades. North has to duck, unless he knows that West holds the Queen -- an unlikely situation. East drops his four, and South plays his three. The 10 is continued, as North plays another of his spot cards, and East lets go of his Deuce, and South dumps the 8 spot. The third round finds North playing his last low card (and "blanking" his King). East drops a middle Heart (or anything else), and South is in with the Ace. Now he pauses to count. "All followed suit twice, making eight Spades. On the third round, East discarded, thus 11 Spades played. His majesty, the King, has not appeared. My Queen is the 12th Spade, and the King is the 13th Spade. If I lead the Queen, she will catch the King." Bill Nicholls applied the colorful term "The Spear Play" in the early 70s. It reminds me of impaling the unfortunate holder of the Ace or King of Spades with the Queen!
On a few occasions, this combination occurs:
After a few rounds of Spades, one player will hold the Ace (or King) and another (lower) Spade. This often happens when two players each have a four- or five-card spade suit. The opponents have discarded other suits. Another player will hold the Queen and a (lower) Spade. A typical layout might appear like this:
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| Now both players are "frozen." Whichever player is on lead, they must not touch the Spade suit! (If East underleads the Ace, the 10 will win, and the Queen will come right back! If South leads the 10, East will rise with the Ace, and drive the lady out with the eight.) Thus, a "shift" of suits is necessary. Of course, South will endeavor to dump the Queen as soon as possible, while East will try to drop the Ace unless they have a weakness in another suit.
Sometimes, the "Spear" play is not the best line. It all depends on the score. If the "low" person is stranded with the "hanging" Ace or King, by all means, let the Queen of Spades "rip"! If your hand is safe, and the "low" player does not hold the high Spade, then it is best to maneuver the play and wait, if possible. Then again, if you are in trouble with a weak side suit holding, and a high risk of taking the Queen yourself, you must make a decision. The worst-case scenario is to run another suit, while allowing the holder of the Ace or King of Spades to discard their high Spade. Unless you are "shooting," the results may be disastrous.
Hearts is game of counting and discarding, and of cooperation with the opponents. Laziness and random play will yield poor results. Once you have mastered counting the Spade suit, your game will improve.
Then you can concentrate on the other suits... | |
