Make sure you have a PLAN

How many times have you completed play, only to realize that, if only you had played just a little bit differently, you might have taken an extra trick or two? I know I have. Over the years, the bridge gurus have developed a number of concepts and proven techniques that maximize your total trick count. The first concept, and to me, the most important, is the PLAN where each letter of the word PLAN has a specific meaning.
P: Pause to consider your objective. How many tricks do you need in order to make the contract that you bid? Your final bid plus six tricks (the “book”) gives you that number. For example, suppose your contract is three hearts, then you will need book + three, or six + three = nine tricks. Now you know exactly how many tricks you need to win (nine in this case) to make your contract.
L: Look at your winners and losers. In a notrump contract, you should count your total number of “sure tricks.” A sure trick means that you are going to win this trick, no matter what the defenders do. In a suit contract, you should count your losers – a loser is a trick that the opponents are probably going to win. I know this might sound odd, but it really works.
A: Analyze your alternatives. If you need an extra trick to make your contract, how might you accomplish this? Otherwise, how might you get rid of a loser? This is the critical step where you identify sources of where there might be potential winners or places where you might discard your losers. Also, you must be careful when dealing with trump – sometimes it is better to clear all trump out of the defenders’ hands, but sometimes you might need one or more of your trump to ruff a loser. And, you must be careful to keep your entries into dummy so you don’t leave several winners in dummy with no way to get to dummy to play them.
N: Now, put it all together. Once you develop a strategy, you should start playing that strategy. For example, suppose you are short one sure trick, but you hold the KQ in a side suit – you could use the King to force out the ace, which promotes the queen into a sure trick. Now you know that you should attack that side suit KQ in order to develop that one extra trick that you need.
True, the devil is in the details. Step three, analyze your alternatives. This sounds good, but lacks specifics –  namely, the details. This will be the subject of my next column.
Good luck and good bridge.
For entry level instruction or formal play, contact Al at al********@ya***.com or (408) 779-7122.