The Schnapsen Log
Resource Stewardship (solution)
Martin Tompa
With the trick point scores so low and the stock already exhausted, this appears to be one of those deals where the decision is going to come down to who wins the last trick. Your 3 trump entries versus Emmi’s 2 entries, ♥T and ♣A, should make it easy for you to arrange to win the last trick. All you have to do is knock out her two entries and conserve your own.
Before proceeding with this plan, it is always prudent to check whether your opponent is going to reach 66 trick points along the way. Emmi’s club marriage and two high cards should sound a warning bell in your head. If you begin with ♥Q, she will win, cash her ♣A, and declare the marriage, for a whopping 85 trick points and 2 game points. So don’t be hasty.
The only way of avoiding the loss is to cash two high trumps first. This flies in the face of the usual strategy for taking the last trick, where you want to conserve your winners and lead out your losers, but there is no alternative. Here is the position after you cash the first trump:
Emmi: (31 points)
♠ —
♥ T
♣ AKQ
♦ —You: (35 points)
♠ —
♥ Q
♣ T
♦ TQ
What can Emmi discard when you next lead ♦T? If she discards either of her big cards, that sets up a new winner in your hand, and you can cash your winners and collect 2 game points. For instance, if she discards ♥T on your ♦T, your trick point total will be 55, and then cashing your two red queens will bring it to 68.
Emmi has no choice but to break up her pretty club marriage when you lead ♦T. Here is the new position:
Emmi: (31 points)
♠ —
♥ T
♣ AK
♦ —You: (48 points)
♠ —
♥ Q
♣ T
♦ Q
With the marriage threat removed, Emmi can only reach 65 trick points and you can proceed with the original plan of winning the last trick. But which of your two losers should you lead? Are they equivalent? Absolutely not. Remember, when trying to win the last trick, you always want to avoid leading suits in which your opponent has more cards than you do. You want Emmi to open up the club suit, because she will lose a tempo when she does so. Lead ♥Q and force her to open up the clubs, and you will win the final trick with your last trump. Be sure you understand what would happen if you lead ♣T instead of ♥Q.
“Did you see that, Hans?” you cry excitedly when the deal is over. “I pulled off a homewrecker squeeze! I forced Emmi to break up her marriage. And then I followed it with a tempo endplay! Just like you showed us.”
“That was a very, very lovely play, my dear,” your Uncle Hans says, beaming at you. “You had many opportunities for a misstep. Not many players could have pulled it off the way you did.”
© 2013 Martin Tompa. All rights reserved.
