The Schnapsen Log

Elimination Play (solution)

Martin Tompa

Uncle Hans continues to edify his relatives. “Polona, when you were first thrown in with your ♣K, you should have cashed your ♦A immediately. Your opponent would have discarded the losing club, resulting in this position.” Hans quickly arranges these cards on the table:

Polona: (54 points)
♠ J
♥ TJ
♣ —
♦ —

You: (34 points)
♠ K
♥ AQ
♣ —
♦ —

Hans continues. “Now when you exit with ♠J, your throw-in works, and you can’t be prevented from winning your ♥T and, with it, 13 more points. See how it works? By playing ♦A before the throw-in, you eliminate your opponent’s safe exit card, the ♣Q, and simultaneously eliminate an entry into your own hand, the ♦A. Bridge players call this an elimination play, when you eliminate safe exit cards before the throw-in.”

You say, “OK, I see that. But you said that I made a mistake, too, Hans.”

“Yes, dear, you did,” Hans replies. “Polona had that elimination play to escape your endplay. But you could have denied her that escape with a foolproof endplay. You see, you had your own elimination play available to you, but you missed it. Before you lead any clubs at all, you should cash your ♠K.” He rearranges cards on the table:

Polona: (34 points)
♠ —
♥ TJ
♣ K
♦ A

You: (40 points)
♠ —
♥ AQ
♣ QJ
♦ —

“This eliminates Polona’s ♠J exit and simultaneously eliminates ♠K as an entry to your hand. Once that’s done, you can exit with a club, and this time Polona is helpless. She has nothing but trumps and hearts left in her hand, and she will have to open up the heart suit, which will give you another 26 points.”

Your uncle Hans is a smart man. But even he missed a clever twist in this deal. It turns out that your original endplay was foolproof. Go back to the original position, and imagine that you forgot to eliminate spades before you exited with ♣J:

Polona: (40 points)
♠ J
♥ TJ
♣ —
♦ A

You: (34 points)
♠ K
♥ AQ
♣ Q
♦ —

Polona now correctly leads ♦A for Hans’s elimination play. Instead of discarding your losing ♣Q, you should discard your winner, ♠K! Polona has eliminated her entry on this trick, but you thwart her by discarding your entry. Her ♠J has now become a winner instead of an exit card but, whether she cashes it or not, she is the one who will have to lead hearts and hand you the last trick and the deal. Your discard of the winning ♠K is a surprising and beautiful move to avoid being endplayed, a move related to what bridge players would call unblocking. This unblocking play is one that only Schnapsen masters, and now you, know.

© 2012 Martin Tompa. All rights reserved.

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