How to Make the Most of Your Intermediate Cards

In this lesson:

After sorting your hand, check for for intermediate cards (eights, nines and tens).

An average holding would be one of each intermediate, so of course your will hope to receive more than your share. Obviously, you should look more fondly at tens than the two lesser intermediate cards.

The presence or absence of intermediate cards should always influence your hand evaluation and bidding. Not only is K1098 a lot different than K432, but the former is the equivalent of KJ32 and you can call it 4 HCP.

The presence or absence of intermediate cards is also extremely relevant for both the declarer and the defenders.

If you have to declare a notrump contract with K1098 opposite J 6 5, be eager to attack that suit. 50% of the time, you will take 3 tricks, but even if their queen is offsides, you still will have developed 2 winners. Whereas, with K432 opposite J65, if you need to attack this suit, the most likely result is that you set up several tricks for the defenders !

In this lesson, Marty will show you how to use your intermediates to:

• - Give yourself an extra chance to make a "hopeless" contract
• - Induce an opponent's error
• - Succeed regardless of which opponent has the missing honor
• - Improve your knowledge of suit combinations
• - Be in a position to take finesses that are guaranteed to succeed
• - Overcome a blocked suit
• - Understand the important principle of Restricted Choice
• - Execute an avoidance play to ensure that the dangerous opponent never gets in
• - Improve your proficiency with ruffing finesses
• - Take logical precautions to guard against a bad trump split

Here is an example of what Marty will teach:

You open 1NT, which ends the auction. West leads the ♠J - how will you play?

Answer to How Will You Play?

You have 5 immediate winners: 3 spades, 1 heart and 1 diamond. Of course, to preserve dummy's ♠K entry, you will win the first spade in your hand.

Because of dummy's 3 club intermediates, obviously the correct suit to develop is clubs. However, the normal way to attack this club suit is NOT the best way to play this hand!

Here is the entire deal:

If you lead the ♣Q, East will duck. When he wins the 2nd club, you lack the entries to dummy to get a 2nd club trick, and you'll be limited to 6 tricks.

Fortunately, dummy's three intermediate cards offers a guaranteed opportunity to develop 2 club tricks. At trick 2, when you begin leading clubs, do not "Use up the honor from the short side first." Instead, lead the ♣5 from your hand and play one of dummy's lovely intermediates.

Without knowing the E-W cards, here are the possible outcomes of this play:

1. If you win the trick, you'll lead a club from dummy towards your queen, and must win either your ♣Q or dummy's ♣K.
2. If on a different layout, East won the ♣A, you will obviously be able to win your ♣Q and later win dummy's ♣K. Obviously, if East returns a spade, you'll win it in your hand
   and preserve dummy's ♠K as an entry to cash the ♣K.
3. If East wins the first club with the ♣J, you are still okay. You'll win his spade return in your hand and lead the ♣Q and overtake it with dummy's ♣K. Dummy still has the ♠K entry, so it doesn't matter whether an opponent wins his ♣A or plays low.