Play Some BishDaily Challenge Recap
Lead the Jack, Then the Nine
You hold the two best trumps, the Jack and the Nine of diamonds. The hand is about using them in the right order.
The hand
Your first six cards are the Jack, 9 and 6 of diamonds, the Ace and Queen of spades, and the 9 of hearts. Diamonds is the call. The Jack and Nine are the top two trumps, and a trump suit with both of them is hard to beat.
The kitty gives you the Ace of clubs and the 10 of hearts. Both are cards that can win a trick on their own.
The line that wins
The hard AI, playing all four seats with the cards face up, took six tricks and won 119 to 43. It also called hearts in the same deal and got almost the same result, 118 to 44, so this is a strong hand either way. Diamonds is the cleaner call.
Trick 2: cash the side Ace
Opponent 1 leads a low club and the Ace of clubs wins it. Take your sure points before you start leading trump.
Trick 3: the Jack
Lead the Jack of diamonds. It takes the 10 and King of trump from the opponents, your Partner feeds the Queen, and the trick wins 37 points.
Trick 4: the Nine
Follow with the 9. It wins the Ace of diamonds, and that is 25 more points. After two leads the opponents have lost their best trumps, the 10, the King and the Ace.
Where it's easy to go wrong
Calling the wrong suit. Spades loses this deal, 57 to 105. Clubs ends 81 to 81, a tie, and a tie when you are the caller is a half-bait. You hold no clubs in your first six.
The last three tricks also leak points. Opponent 1 takes tricks 8 and 9, and the last one is worth 20.
The takeaway
With the Jack and the Nine, lead the Jack first, then the Nine. Together they pulled out the 10, the King and the Ace of trump. For more on this order, read why the Jack beats everything.