Professional player Ben Norton has recently published his first book - Why I Lose at Bridge - where he openly discusses the cardplay errors he committed in many locations over a three-and-a-half year period.

After setting the scene, Ben presents each hand as they were dealt and poses them as problems for the reader to solve, much in the same style as his BridgeBee sets. Ben regularly plays in the American Nationals, and fittingly, below is an excerpt from Ben's book including two deals from the Austin NABCs in 2021.

A BLESSING AND A CURSE

We are still at the Fall Nationals in Austin, Texas. We had a good run in the Soloway, but were knocked out at the quarter-final stage. We are playing in one final Swiss teams side-event before flying home. It’s not uncommon to experience a lull in motivation when dropping from a big event into a smaller one. It’s almost a test of discipline.

I pick up (spots approximate):

♠ Q 7 6 5 4 2 ♥ K ♦ Q 9 6 2 ♣ 7 4

Vulnerable against not, I do not consider this spade suit good enough for a pre-emptive opening of any type. My singleton king is a bad holding for pre-emption too. I therefore pass.

My left-hand opponent opens 4♥ and partner doubles for take-out. He should have some spades for that, so I’m delighted to bid 4♠, which ends the auction.

West leads the ♥A and this comes down in dummy:

♠ A K 9

♥ 6 2

♦ A 7 5 3

♣ A Q 9 3

♠ Q 7 6 5 4 2

♥ K

♦ Q 9 6 2

♣ 7 4

What I thought:

West presumably has eight hearts for his 4♥ opening. If the ♣K is onside, I have only to pick the diamonds up for one loser. If the club finesse isn’t working, in addition to bringing the diamonds in, I’ll need to endplay East for a club return, assuming he started with a doubleton heart.

For that to work, I should first strip East of his exit-cards in diamonds. I will lead a low diamond off the dummy next, hoping the king is on my right. Say East grabs his ♦K then plays a spade; I will take the ♠KQ, cross to the ♦A and lead a diamond back to the queen. Only then will I exit with a spade to East, forcing a club return into dummy’s ♣AQ.

What I should have thought:

The Complete Deal:

I should be planning to endplay East in case the ♣K is offside, but

West’s carding would suggest the ♦K is on my left. He was presumably angling to give his partner a heart ruff, else he would just switch to a minor. When delivering a ruff, it’s commonplace to also send a suit preference message. West presumably has strength in diamonds for his ♥J continuation. In that case, if I broach diamonds myself, West will get in with the ♦K and shove a club through to break up the throw-in. I doubt the ♦K is singleton, which would leave West with twelve rounded-suit cards.

I should first put East in with the fourth spade. He will then have to open the diamonds. If East holds ♦J10 doubleton, I will be able to cover his exit with the queen, forcing the king, and subsequently endplay East in diamonds for a club return. If East instead shifts to a club, I will cash the ♦A then duck a diamond on the second round, playing West for ♦Kx.

This was not a clear error, for my line of play would have been necessary had East’s diamonds been K10 K8 or K4 rather than J10, but the clues were there from West’s carding.

When I actually led a diamond to the queen at trick four, West won and switched to clubs to defeat me. Had I put East on play with the fourth spade, he would have switched to the ♦J, covered by the ♦Q. Now West could give me a losing option by playing small, in case I wanted to play East for ♦KJ10, but I would just duck a diamond to East on the next round. West couldn’t afford to step in with the ♦K without blowing the whole suit.

West had to shift to a club at trick two to beat the game on this layout. It could be argued that a heart ruff was unlikely to be necessary as it might be taken with a natural trump trick anyway. However, for all West knew, clubs was going to be my source of tricks. A club shift might even resolve the suit for me when I had such as ♣K10 doubleton. West’s defence was reasonable.

HEARTBREAK

This is the last one from my stay in Austin. I hold:

♠ A 6 5 3 2 ♥ A 7 ♦ 8 4 ♣ K 8 5 4

Spots are approximate. No one is vulnerable and I open 1♠. 5-4-2-2 hands with a five-card major should strain to open, especially with such fine controls. My partner responds 3NT, showing a singleton in a minor and a minimum raise to 4♠. I do not care which he has as I am minimum. I sign off in 4♠ rather than bidding 4♣ to ask his singleton.

West leads the ♥Q playing Rusinow, where this is consistent with being from the ♥KQ:

♠ K Q 9 8

♥ J 6 4 2

♦ A Q 10 7

♣ J

♠ A 6 5 3 2

♥ A 7

♦ 8 4

♣ K 8 5 4

That’s a setback, but I am still in a good position. I will lead a club off dummy to pave the way for ruffs. If East plays low on the ♣J, I might even run it on the basis that if East had the ♣A, he might hop up to lead another trump. Preserving the ♣K in hand rather than just low cards may help me in the endgame too.

What I thought:

West probably has five diamonds as he chose a diamond for his

first discard. That wouldn’t be safe from a four-card holding, given what’s in dummy. The chances of both missing diamond honours being onside are therefore reasonable.

I will draw the final trump by crossing to the ♠A, then bank on scoring three diamond tricks by starting with one to the ♦10. I will thus succeed if West holds the ♦KJ or if I can set up a minor-suit squeeze against West. I cannot see anything better as ruffing hearts in hand won’t get me anywhere, with West’s pesky ♠J still out.

What I should have thought:

I would rather not rely on a double finesse in diamonds. I also

doubt a minor-suit squeeze will come about as if East wins a diamond trick, he can return a diamond to cut my link with the menace in dummy. I could try to set up a squeeze myself by drawing trumps ending in hand then ducking a club. That would serve to rectify the count for a squeeze. However, that would not work if East’s diamond honour was the king rather than the jack, or if East had the ♣A all along.

Perhaps my best shot at this point is to play along crossruff lines. Assuming my inference regarding the diamond layout is correct, I can succeed as long as the ♦K alone is onside, regardless of the whereabouts of the ♦J. I should cross to hand by ruffing a heart with the ace. West cannot really afford to discard a diamond, allowing me to ruff dummy’s long card good, so he will throw a club. I can then finesse the ♦Q, cash the ♦A and ruff a diamond. A club ruff will follow, then I will score my final low trump in hand with a diamond ruff. The ♠Q will remain in dummy for the game-going trick.

The Complete Deal:

When I played a diamond to the ten, I could no longer make the hand on accurate defence. East’s diamond return breaks up the squeeze.

The recommended line would have worked just fine, as would ducking a club at the end, to rectify the count for a squeeze.

West might have considered leading a trump from his hand, since East was unlikely to have the resources to deliver a heart ruff. It’s often best to lead low from J10x of trumps, so as to not crash an honour in partner’s hand.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ben Norton is a renowned bridge player and writer residing near Leicester, England. Introduced to cards by his grandparents, his passion found its true north in bridge, nurtured at Loughborough Grammar School. Partnering with Mike Bell, the duo represented England in the 2021 European qualifier and the 2022 Bermuda Bowl, reaching the quarter-finals. They also played the 2022 European Championships together. With his new partner Stefano Tommasini, Ben recently won a bronze medal at the World Transnational teams.

Since writing his book, Ben has played in many more big events. One such tournament was the Chicago Nationals. For BridgeBee, Ben wrote up 20 of the most interesting hands he played in the Windy City.

If you develop an appetite for Ben's writing, his book is now on sale and plenty more sets of electronic hands are available on BridgeBee; both focusing on cardplay technique and reporting on major tournaments'.