Play Some BishDaily Challenge Recap
Jack, Queen and the Spade Trap
The Jack and Queen of diamonds, the Ace and Jack of hearts. The hand is good. There is one wrong call, and it is expensive.
The hand
You start with the Queen, Jack, 7 and 6 of diamonds, plus the Ace and Jack of hearts. You have no clubs and no spades. Diamonds is the clear call: four trumps, with the Jack on top.
The kitty is weak: the 8 of hearts and two clubs, the 10 and the 8. Nothing there changes the plan.
The line that wins
The hard AI, playing all four seats with the cards face up, won seven tricks and took 139 of 162 points, a 139 to 23 score. You need very few good cards when the Jack of trump is in your hand.
Trick 1: the Ace of hearts
Opponent 1 leads the 9 of hearts. Your Ace wins it. It is a small trick, but it puts you on lead for the big one.
Trick 2: the Jack of diamonds, worth 45
Lead the Jack. Opponent 1 follows with the 10, your Partner feeds the King and Opponent 2 is forced to put the Ace of diamonds under it. That is 45 points in a single trick.
Trick 9: the Queen on the last trick
Your last card is the Queen of diamonds and it wins the final trick, 31 points with the last-trick bonus.
Where it's easy to go wrong
Spades. You hold none, and Opponent 1 and Opponent 2 each hold a spade run, Jack, Queen and King for one and 8, 9 and 10 for the other. Call spades and you lose 35 to 127. Call hearts for the Ace and Jack and you lose 57 to 105. Clubs is close, 90 to 72, but you have no clubs in your first six.
The takeaway
Do not call a suit because the other suits look weak. Call the suit where you hold the Jack. For more on choosing a suit, read when to call trump.