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Step By Step: Discarding
Danny Roth
ISBN 0 7134 8611 2, 144 pages £10.99 - Available From Batsford Books

One of our "new" authors is Danny Roth. He has written fifteen bridge books, but this is his first one for B.T. Batsford. This is not a book about signalling - it covers the important field of what to discard and why; a woefully neglected subject in bridge literature. Countless points are literally thrown away by players of all standards through poor discarding. The book is intended for players from intermediate through to near expert status. Try your luck at this problem:

			A 7 4 2
			7 6
			K Q 9 7 5
			K 6
	J 10 9 8
	8 5
	A 4
	J 10 9 5 2

West	North	East	South
			1NT
Pass	2	2	Pass
Pass	3	Pass	3NT
All Pass

You lead the 8 to the 6, 10 and #. Now follows partner's A and J, South winning the third round with the K.

What do you discard? Desperate measures are called for. If declarer can make four diamond tricks - and it looks as if he almost certainly will - then he is bound to make his contract. South will have enough tricks in the black suits to bring his total to nine.

But you can foil him by discarding the A on the third round of hearts, creating a potential entry to partner's hand:

			A 7 4 2
			7 6
			K Q 9 7 5
			K 6
	J 10 9 8	N W E S			6 3
	8 5				A Q J 10 4 3
	A 4				J 8 2
	J 10 9 5 2				Q 4
			K Q 5
			K 9 2
			10 6 3
			A 8 7 3

This holds declarer to two diamond tricks (he cannot let East gain the lead), so he will finish at least one down.

Don't worry if you did not find this defence: Danny devotes an entire chapter to this topic. The step-by-step approach takes you through the various subjects in easy stages, so you will soon become the master of, among other things, the unblocking play!