| You have received the Ace and the Queen of Spades from East. At first glance, you appear to be in trouble. You have only three guards ("backers") for your Spade Queen, and anyone with four small Spades will be on your case. However, his Royal Majesty, the King of Spades, may be favorably located, and perhaps you will have a chance for salvation. West wins the Ace of Clubs on the first trick, and plays the Jack of Spades -- a card that is very pleasing to you. North must duck, unless he has good reason to believe that West is underleading the Queen -- a rather remote possibility. East plays low, and now, you must duck, too. Taking the Ace would make no sense here. Let the hand play on! West continues with the tenspot, and two more low Spades appear, as you drop your 8. The 9 (a card that warms your Heart) initiates the third round of Spades, and now North is squirming. His last low Spade appears, and East drops a middle Heart. NOW, you win the Ace.
Many lazy players would shift to another suit. Perhaps North might discard that "hot" Spade King on a Club or Diamond lead. You are not lazy. You can count to 13, and you know that the King is still out. After all, three rounds of Spades have been played, and the count is 11. Your Queen is the 12th Spade, and his Nibs is #13! Thus, you make the bold play of the Queen of Spades, and sure enough, she catches the King, and the opponents are impressed. (Well, maybe they aren’t; it all depends on who is sitting at the table.) In any case, you have avoided 13 points. In the early days of the New England Hearts Players' Association, this maneuver was called "The Spear Play." In summary, when you hold the Spade Queen and a short suit as in the example above, be on the lookout for the favorable lead, and watch the cards that appear, and count those Spades!
Advanced Alley: Instructional Hand -- March Column
Partnership Hearts -- Hand of the Year
Let’s assume that you are playing the Original version of the game, in which the partners can "Shoot" together. Look at this hand. Is it possible for North/South to Shoot the Moon with this layout? Note -- The pass has been completed.
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| You are allowed to peek at all four hands. Assume best play by everyone. (In other words, no "tanking," or helping the opponent to Shoot the Moon.) You are in the South seat. The Deuce of Clubs lead goes to King, Jack, and 6. Now you lead the 10 of Diamonds to the 7, King, and Jack. Your partner takes his Club Queen, as low spots appear. A medium Spade (the nine-spot) goes to your Jack. Now what? Can you make a Moon? Is the hand dead?
This hand is an example of the "Vienna Coup" -- a very rare play in the game of Bridge, and probably unique in the game of Hearts. At first glance, it appears that North/South cannot shoot the Moon, as West has the Heart suit stopped. This is an optical illusion, and therein lies the charm of this deal.
The opening Club lead went to the King, Jack, and 6. South led his Diamond 10 to the 7, King, and Jack. North now took the Queen of Clubs, as everyone played low. Next came the 9 of Spades, and South was in with the Jack. The Ace of Clubs was cashed, as West shed the 6 of Diamonds, and North dropped a low Heart. South now tabled the 6 of Spades, and West released the Heart 10, still leaving his Queen of Hearts guarded, and hoping that his partner might have a top Spade. Instead, North climbed with the Ace of Spades, and made the very imaginative play of a low Heart. South took the Ace, and then the King of Hearts, which established West's Queen of Hearts as a winner. Then South pushed his last Spade, and North won the King (West dropped a low Diamond). Now came the pièce de résistance! North led the Queen of Spades. (If this was a game of Chess, we would see two exclamation points after this move!) East's hand was dead, and South dumped the Heart 7, as West let go of another Diamond. The position was reduced to this:
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| North led the Spade 3, and East dropped his useless Diamond. South released the Jack of Hearts, and West was sunk. If West played a Diamond, then South's Ace and nine would win the last two tricks. (North knew that South did not hold the Queen of Hearts, as he would have had these cards earlier). If West shed the Queen of Hearts, then North's nine-spot would have been a winner -- completing a "total eclipse of the Moon." Thus, we have a jewel of a hand, and worth examining over and over.
"Live" Tournament Update
For more information on the "live" event tour (Hearts, Spades, and Euchre), go to the Grand Prix Site:
http://www.grandprixtournaments.com
See you in May! | |
