Play Some BishDaily Challenge Recap
A Narrow Win With the Jack and the Nine
Holding the Jack and the Nine of trump sounds like a lock. Here it is a coin flip you narrowly win, because the other side holds a lot of diamonds too.
The hand
Your first six cards are the 9 of hearts, the Jack of diamonds, the 8 and 7 of clubs, and the Queen and 9 of spades. Only one of them is a trump, the Jack of diamonds, so the game scores the call low.
The kitty is the Jack of clubs, the 9 of diamonds and the 8 of diamonds. Now you hold the Jack, the Nine and the 8 of diamonds, the two best trumps and a spare.
The line that wins
The hard AI, playing all four seats with the cards face up, won only four of nine tricks. It still finished 87 to 75.
Tricks 1 and 2: your Partner wins with aces
Your Partner takes the Ace of spades and the Ace of clubs, 14 points each. You let them. Good partners win the early tricks while you save your trumps.
Tricks 7 and 8: the Nine, then the Jack
Opponent 1 leads a heart and you cut it with the 9 of diamonds for 24 points. Then you lead the Jack and take 35, the biggest trick of the hand.
Trick 9: the last trick slips away
Opponent 1 still holds the Ace of diamonds, the last trump out. It wins the final trick and the 10-point bonus, 27 in all. That one trick is the whole margin between a close win and a comfortable one.
Where it's easy to go wrong
Hearts is a disaster, 29 to 133. Clubs ties at 81 each, and spades matches diamonds at 87 to 75. A call that only just wins is the risk of forced hands. A call has to take more than half of the 162 points, and this one cleared it by 6.
The takeaway
The Jack and the Nine are the best trumps, but they are only two cards. Count how many trumps are left in the other hands before you lead them all. For how the points add up, read the 162 on the table.