Counting, Counting, Counting
By Paul Bowyer

Counting in bridge is an important skill to have.

It can be difficult at times, but there are different ways to count that can make your life much easier.

Try this deal out, for instance.

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Bidding.

The bidding is swift and routine. We open 1NT with 15 points and partner raises to game with his 10 points.

Play.

West leads the ♥K to our 3NT contract and we must Plan the play.

From the outset we can count seven top tricks. (Three Spades, one Heart and three Diamonds). Prospects for "extras" don't look bright in Hearts and Clubs, so we are left hoping that Spades and Diamonds will bring in an additional trick each.

How might that happen? Well, we have seven cards combined in both Spades and Diamonds. We also have the three top honors in both suits, so we have to hope to establish a fourth round winner in both suits.

Can that work? Yes, if lady luck smiles on us. With a seven-card fit in Diamonds and in Spades it leaves the opponents with six cards in both suits. A lucky 3-3 break would leave the last, "long" card a winner after the three top honors have been played off. Here we need two 3-3 breaks... That's more than "lucky". The opponents will regard it as outrageous fortune.

It may seem a little difficult to keep track of the specific cards that are played but there is a better solution than counting cards after they have been played. Here, we should do our counting in advance (so to speak). We need a 3-3 break (actually two of them) so we should realize that  both opponents need to follow suit to three rounds. If one of them shows out on the first, second or third round then the baby Spade (or Diamond) has not grown up into a winner.

For instance, when playing Diamonds we cash the Ace then the King-Queen and watch what happens. If both opponents follow to all three rounds of the suit we can be sure that dummy's ♦7 is a winner.

So, after winning the ♥A, we should start by cashing the ♦A (why the ♦A first? Play the high cards from the short suit first) and follow with the ♦Q then the ♦K. When both opponents follow to the third round of the suit we are confident that the "thirteener", the ♦7, is a fourth round winner.

Note what happens on the last Diamond, by the way. Did anyone pitch a Spade? This is important because that's our next port of call and, if we miss a vital discard, we may miscount the Spade suit.

Next, we turn our attention to Spades by cashing the Ace first, followed by the Queen then the King. Why take the ♠A first? Play the honors... yeah, you've got it. Do both opponents follow to three rounds of Spades? No! However, we have been eagle-eyed and spotted that the ♠2 was dumped by West on the ♦7.

The â™ 6 has duly grown up into a mature winner and needs to be cashed, pronto. That's the ninth (and final) trick. The rest belong to the frustrated defenders, who must have thought that victory was theirs.