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This page added 10th Nov 2017

On an unadjusted count, N/S have seventeen combined points and a nine-card fit in spades.

E/W have twenty three points and an eight-card fit in hearts.


N/S would expect to make seven tricks in spades, losing one spade, two clubs, one heart and two diamonds.

E/W would expect to make ten tricks in hearts losing one spade, one heart, and one diamond.


Total trumps 9 + 8 = 17

Total tricks 7 + 10 =  17


Move the ♠K from the East hand to the West hand, and then N/S make eight tricks and E/W make nine tricks - but the total is still seventeen.


♠

♥

♦

♣

N

A Q T 5 4

3 2

K 8 3

K J T


♠

♥

♦

♣

S

9 8 6 3

A T 7

9 7 6

9 7 4


♠

♥

♦

♣

W

J 7

K Q 8

A T 5 4 2

6 3 2


♠

♥

♦

♣

E

K 2

J 9 6 5 4

Q J

A Q 8 5

Just to give an idea why this might work


Suppose that all four players at the table hold balanced hands:-


with the points dividing twenty - twenty and a seven-card fit being the best available to each partnership they would broadly speaking each expect to make seven tricks in their trump suit;

of course, if a particular finesse works one pair might make eight tricks, but equally this trick will lose for the other pair and so they will score only six;

if there is a particularly poor trump split then you might make one less than anticipated, but when your opponents play the hand they will make an extra trick in your suit;

if you are lucky enough to be able to take a ruff in the hand with the short trump suit you might make an extra trick, but your opponents will either lose a trick to a ruff in this suit if it is a side-suit or hit a bad trump split if it is the trump suit - so they are likely to make one less;

if the points divide twenty three-seventeen rather than twenty-twenty then you would expect to make an extra trick, and your opponents one less;

in all of these variations the total number of tricks available between the two sides is fourteen - the same as the total number of trumps.


And if you have an eight-card fit and your opponents still have only a seven-card fit at best then you would certainly have hopes of making an extra trick.  The additional trump has boosted the number of total tricks to fifteen.


For a fuller analytic treatment of ‘the law of total tricks’ follow this link.