When on defence in third position, cultivate the habit of playing slowly to the first trick.

Howard Schenken (U.S.A)

Howard Schenken, sad to relate, died in early 1979 after a career as long as contract bridge itself. He and Mike Gottlieb each played a session with Ely Cuthbertson in the ‘Bridge Battle of the Century’, the Cuthbertson-Lenz match of 1031. Soon after, these two became a famous partnership in the Four Aces team. As a pair, they visited England in 1935 and demolished the opposition.

   Gottleib gave up bridge for business, but Schenken stayed at the top for about 45 years. His record in major ACBL championships is unapproached: 10 wins in the Springold, 10 in the Vanderbilt, 5 in the Life Masters Pairs for the Von Zedtwitz Gold Cup. He also won the first three Bermuda Bowl championships and competed in several more. He wrote two books on his one club system and related his experiences in The Education of a Bridge Player, published in Britain by Robert Hale.

   Howard was tall, spare and very relaxed in speech and in manner. He kindly asked me to write a forward to the English edition of the Big Club, (published by Robert Hale) which characteristically was dedicated ‘To Bee, my wife and favourite partner’. My piece ended.

   ‘It is a special pleasure to me to introduce a book by Howard Schenken. I first saw him play, as a callow undergraduate, in a challenge match at the Dorchester when he was a star of the Four Aces. He played then with a relaxed and easy command that has remained over the years.

   In America he is known as the “experts’ expert”. The story goes that a magazine asked twenty leading players to compile a ranking list, all modesty apart. There was one consistent feature in the ratings: 2 – Howard Schenken’.

   Howard called his bridge tip ‘On Defence at Trick One’:

   ‘Much has been written about the careful thought required of declarer before he plays the first trick. But little has been said about the player at the declarer’s right – East in the normal diagram.

   ‘When you are in this position you often have a difficult but vital role to play. Unlike declarer, you cannot see your partner’s hand, but by reviewing the bidding and observing the lead you may be able to visualise it.

   ‘While South is thinking over his plan of attack, you may have a chance to plan your defence. Even if South plays quickly to the first trick, you should not allow yourself to be hurried. For example:

  ‘South opens a strong no-trump. North raises to 3NT and West leads ©2. Declarer quickly plays dummy’s 10, and of course you cover with the queen automatically. Or do you? Not unless you have been lulled into following suit without thinking.

   ‘So I will assume you are concentrating and are ready to begin the chore of counting points. You and dummy each have 10, South has at least 16, so your partner has at most 4. His fourth-best lead shows a 4 card suit with    (a) no honours, (b) the king), (c) the ace.

   ‘If (a) you lose a trick by covering; with (b) you break even. So you focus your attention on (c), which gives declarer K-x. In this case of course, you must duck, and when sooner or later you come in with the king of clubs your heart return defeats the contract.

   ‘Even when you have an automatic play to the first trick, you can pause and say, “Sorry, I’m not thinking about this trick”. This may help you prepare a vital decision at the next trick, as in this example:

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   ‘South opens 1NT, North raises to 3NT and partner opens with the queen of spades. Counting points presents no problem. You have 13, the dummy 8, and partner’s lead has shown 3. The total is 24, and since declarer surely has 15 and more likely 16, you are on your own as sole defender.

   ‘Now you turn your attention to tricks. If declarer can bring in the diamond suit, he will romp home. But as you gaze at the dummy you notice that the §A is only once guarded. The light dawns! Triumphantly you win the first trick with the ace of spades and lead the king of clubs. AS Muhammad Ali would say, “The ace will fall in two rounds”.

   ‘Note that the king of clubs cannot possibly give declarer a ninth trick: at most he will make one spade, three hearts, two diamonds and two clubs.

   ‘The next hand is difficult and requires careful planning. Please cover the West and South hands.

South dealer

Both sides vulnerable

                                                     South                        North             

                                                  1©                           1ª

                                                 1NT                        3NT       

                                                 Pass

   ‘West leads the ¨2 and declarer play’s dummy 5. Plan the defence in detail.

   ‘From the bidding and lead you deduce that partner’s distribution is probably 4—1—4—4. If his lead is from the jack your 10 will force the ace. But if partner has the jack, declarer would have played dummy’s queen, hoping to hold the trick!

   ‘So you conclude that your king will win and that you can establish three diamond tricks. You can certainly expect to make the king of hearts, but you will need at least one trick in spades. With this in mind, you win the king of diamonds and return the 8, thereby deceiving partner into thinking that South started with J—10—7—4!

   ‘This produces the desired result as partner wins with the ace of diamonds and shifts to a spade. Declarer perforce plays low from dummy and you win with the king. Now you shift back to diamonds and are ready to take the setting trick when you get in with the king of hearts. You apologize to partner for your deceit, but he forgives you readily since no other defence would have set this contract.

   ‘My tip therefore is: When on defence in third position, cultivate the habit of playing slowly to the first trick. Careful thought will help you defeat many more contracts.’

   This last deal was exceptionally difficult. Who would think of returning the 8 of diamonds, so that partner would place the declarer with J—10—x—x ? When Howards’s article first appeared in the IBPA Bulletin I dutifully covered the West and South hands and found an alternative answer of sorts – the jack of spades at trick two. If declarer held Q—x—x and placed East with J—10—8 he might allow the jack to hold. The analysis doesn’t quite stand up in the present case. I know, because declarer cannot afford to concede a spade trick at this point. However, the type of play – jack from K—J—x – is worth noting. This is another play of the same kind:

   East, on lead, needs to establish two tricks in this suit. The bold play of the queen (similarly the king from K—x—x ) will almost always succeed. Placing the leader with K—Q—10, the declarer will play a Bath coup – and get wet!

   Returning to the general subject of Howard’s Bols Tip, note in particular his advice that the third player should make a habit of counting the points when dummy goes down, so that he will have a picture of how much he may expected from partner. This practice will put the defender on the track of many a killing defence.

   South opens a strong no-trump and lands up in four spades after a Stayman inquiry. When dummy goes down East adds his own 10 points to declarer’s expected minimum or 16. At best his partner may hold the queen of clubs in addition to ©Q—J. To beat the contract it will be necessary to come to a heart trick in addition to a diamond, a club and a trump. Accordingly, when South wins in dummy and leads the singleton club, East must duck, hoping that South holding ©K—J, will finesse the jack. If East were to put up the ace of clubs the contract would surely be made, as a heart from dummy would go away to the king of clubs.

   ‘The Norwegian writer, Helge Vinje, in New Ideas in Defensive Play, published by Robert Hale, makes some very good points about the play by third hand. Consider this common position:

  What usually happens is that West, defending against no-trumps, leads low to the jack or king (queen), and when West obtains the lead he is nervous of laying down the ace. Vinje’s system is that East, when he can place declarer with a doubleton, should play low, not the jack. Then West need have no qualms about leading the ace when he comes in, and East will of course unblock.

   This is another situation of the same sort, where the best play is seldom recognised:

   West leads low and the 10 loses to the king. When West gains the lead he may be afraid to continue, since East may hold J—10—x and declarer K—Q—x. There is advantage for East in playing the jack on the first round. Then, from West’s angle, it can do no harm to lead low when next: either partner has Q—J—x or declarer has K—Q—10.

   A subtle reason for unusual play by the third hand occurs on this idea:

West dealer

Both sides vulnerable

              South                        West                         North                       East  

                                                 1¨                           Pass                       Pass

                Dble                        Pass                         2§                           Pass

                2NT                        Pass                         3NT                        Pass

                Pass                         Pass

   West’s lead of ¨7 goes to the 10 and queen. South forces out the ace of clubs and West returns the king of diamonds, clearing the suit. Declarer cashes his winners in the black suits, West discarding a heart on the fourth club, then exits with dummy’s 8 of diamonds. West makes three diamond tricks but has to lead from the king of hearts at the finish.

   What could the defence have done about this? Well, East must not play the 10 of diamonds on the first trick. Now West cannot be end-played, because East wins the third diamond and exits with a heart.