Continuing our discussion about Losing Trick Count, we’re going to advance into auctions involving LTC.
Losing tricks count only in a suit contract with a trump fit. They’re determined by how many missing honors you have other than ace, king, and queen. You’ll recall that there is also one loser in a suit if you have a singleton other than an ace, two losers in a doubleton other than AX or KX, and three losers in a 3+ suit with no ace, king, or queen. Don’t count more than three losers because someone probably will ruff the fourth round.
You’ve read here before about the losing-trick count (LTC). Now I’m going to explain in more detail how it works.
The LTC applies to suit contracts. When there’s a suit fit, you want to establish how many losers there are in each hand. Typically, a minimum one-bid to start the auction shows seven losers. If responder has no more than seven, you’re probably in good shape to bid 4H or 4♠️ if a major-suit fit exists.
Peggy Malaspina and Derrick Niederman, who arrived at our little slice of heaven from Charleston, SC, are leading players who have won pairs events at the regional level.
When you’re trying to establish a long suit in a suit contract, it’s often best to ruff low cards first rather than cash high ones. Here’s a case in point where East is dealing, with East-West vulnerable:
It’s usually unwise to lead an unprotected ace, even if you’ve bid the suit and partner has raised it. You might be setting up an opponent’s king. Trudy Ulmer understood this and made an unusual killing lead at my expense in the weekly 2 p.m. duplicate game at Howes House next to the West Tisbury Library on June 20.
She was sitting West and dealing, with both sides vulnerable:
Q. 1—Sitting South, with East dealing and no one vulnerable, you hold:
♠️ 6
♥️ 10 7
♦️ A Q J 10 6
♣️ A K Q 3 2
East opens 4♠️. What do you bid?
A.—4NT. This is not an ace-asking bid but one that shows a two-suited hand. Partner should respond in the lowest suit that has at least three-card support. More often than not, 4NT will advertise both minors. Hearts and a minor are not beyond the realm of possibility.
Q. 2—Sitting South, with North dealing and East-West vulnerable, you hold:
