Remembering what cards have been played
First of all, you must ask why would you do it and the answer to that is that you are trying to build up a picture of the missing cards. Remembering what's been played is no good unless it helps you work out what's left. Bob Hamman is one of the all time great bridge players. He said "If you are to amount to anything at this game, you must build up a picture of the unseen hands."
Imagine you are declarer in 7NT. We'll make it redoubled and vulnerable to make sure you're focussed. This is your hand. Look at the shape and notice that it's 4234. That's 4 spades, 2 hearts, 3 diamonds and 4 clubs.
No peeking now, do you remember the shape of your hand? You need to, so if you don't remember now, take another look.
| ♠ AQ6 | |
| ♥ KQ2 | |
| ♦ A42 | |
| ♣ AT96 | |
| ♠ | | ♠ |
| ♥ | | ♥ |
| ♦ | | ♦ |
| ♣ | | ♣ |
| ♠ KJT9 | |
| ♥ A5 | |
| ♦ KQ3 | |
| ♣ KJ87 | |
Now you can see dummy. What's dummy's shape?
No peeking. What was your shape? What was dummy's shape?
West leads the ♥T. You win that in your hand and play three rounds of spades. On the third round, West shows out...
| ♠ | |
| ♥ KQ | |
| ♦ A42 | |
| ♣ AT96 | |
| ♠ | | ♠ |
| ♥ | | ♥ |
| ♦ | | ♦ |
| ♣ | | ♣ |
| ♠ 9 | |
| ♥ 5 | |
| ♦ KQ3 | |
| ♣ KJ87 | |
...leaving this position. How many spades did West start with? How many spades did you start with? Dummy? Do you know how many spades East started with?
You started with 4 spades, Dummy had 3 and West started with 2 (remember West showed out on the third round). 4+3+2 = 9. There are 13 spades in a deck of cards so East started with 4.
You can use the same technique for analyzing the other suits. Whoops, do you remember what West discarded on the third spade? Do you remember what West led?
Did you remember that West led the ♥T and discarded a...
...OK, I didn't tell you what West discarded, but you should have asked! It's very difficult to remember individual cards, but relatively easy to remember cards in context. West led the ♥T. Who has the ♥J? Probably not West because with ♥JT West would have led the ♥J, top of a sequence. Take the time to look for these clues and you'll be well rewarded. It seems to make things easier to remember later in the hand.
Anyway, on the third round of spades, West discarded a heart.
| ♠ | |
| ♥ KQ | |
| ♦ A4 | |
| ♣ AT96 | |
| ♠ | | ♠ |
| ♥ | | ♥ |
| ♦ | | ♦ |
| ♣ | | ♣ |
| ♠ | |
| ♥ 5 | |
| ♦ KQ3 | |
| ♣ KJ87 | |
You play your last spade, throwing a diamond from dummy. West discards another heart.
Now, here is a very important point. Notice that I haven't suggested that you 'count' the spade suit. All I'm saying is that you should notice that West showed out on the third round and what, therefore, that means about the original distribution of the suit. Just to recap, you know that West started with 2 spades, North had 3, East had 4 and you had 4.
| ♠ | |
| ♥ KQ | |
| ♦ | |
| ♣ AT9 | |
| ♠ | | ♠ |
| ♥ | | ♥ |
| ♦ | | ♦ |
| ♣ | | ♣ |
| ♠ | |
| ♥ 5 | |
| ♦ | |
| ♣ KJ87 | |
Next, you play three rounds of diamonds. On the third round, West discards a club. How many diamonds did West start with? What was the original distribution of the diamond suit?
West started with 2 diamonds (showing out on the third round). You started with 3 diamonds, North started with 3 diamonds. How many diamonds, therefore, did East start with?
East started with 5 diamonds. 2+3+3 in the other hands and a total of 13 in the deck means that East must have started with 5.
| ♠ | |
| ♥ | |
| ♦ | |
| ♣ AT9 | |
| ♠ | | ♠ |
| ♥ | | ♥ |
| ♦ | | ♦ |
| ♣ | | ♣ |
| ♠ | |
| ♥ | |
| ♦ | |
| ♣ KJ8 | |
Now you play your two top hearts throwing a club from hand. East and West follow suit.
Your head is probably spinning a little now because this thinking is all new. However, with practice it gets easier. A lot of practice makes it a lot easier. And the point is?
You now have enough information to guarantee making the contract, even though you are missing the ♣Q. Use a deck of cards or a pen and paper or, if you can, reconstruct the hands in your head by running through what I've written so far.
Remember the opening lead? It was a heart and everyone followed suit. You played two more rounds of hearts and everyone followed. West has discarded two hearts. Therefore, East started with 3 hearts and West started with 5 hearts.
OK, we're almost there. Hang in there if it seems difficult at first. Remember what Mr. Hamman said: "If you are to amount to anything at this game, you must build up a picture of the unseen hands."
West started with 2 spades, 5 hearts and 2 diamonds. Therefore, West must have started with 4 clubs! You started with 4 in hand and 4 in dummy, so East must have started with a singleton club! Whoopee! If you're with me still then you've just seen the mirrors behind the magic.
| ♠ | |
| ♥ | |
| ♦ | |
| ♣ AT | |
| ♠ | | ♠ |
| ♥ | | ♥ |
| ♦ | | ♦ |
| ♣ | | ♣ |
| ♠ | |
| ♥ | |
| ♦ | |
| ♣ J8 | |
You can now play the ♣K to take care of East's one and only club, and then finesse West for the missing Q. Like it?
| ♠ AQ6 | |
| ♥ KQ2 | |
| ♦ A42 | |
| ♣ AT96 | |
| ♠ 82 | | ♠ 7543 |
| ♥ T9864 | | ♥ J73 |
| ♦ T9 | | ♦ J8765 |
| ♣ Q543 | | ♣ 2 |
| ♠ KJT9 | |
| ♥ A5 | |
| ♦ KQ3 | |
| ♣ KJ87 | |
Here's the whole hand.
