Table presence wins bucketfuls of tricks

A.N. Other defined an accident as a condition in which presence of mind is good, but absence of body is better.

When your body is at the bridge table, if your presence of mind is excellent and allows you to work out who holds what, you are an expert.

In today’s deal, how did South play in four hearts after West led the diamond five?

North had an awkward rebid. One spade risked missing game. Two spades would have promised five-plus diamonds. The flaw in two no-trump, of course, was the singleton heart. South contemplated raising to three no-trump, but eventually chose four hearts.

A spade lead would have been lethal, giving the defenders two spades and two hearts. However, West, hoping his partner was short in the suit, opened with a diamond.

South won with dummy’s king and led the heart 10, which was covered by the jack and queen. Declarer cashed the heart ace, then paused to consider the situation.

If hearts were 3-3, another round of the suit would have worked well. But from East’s cards, South felt strongly that the hearts were 2-4. He decided to try to score as many trump tricks as possible. He played a diamond to the ace and led another diamond, which was uncomfortable for East. If he had ruffed, declarer would have discarded a spade loser. If he had thrown a club, declarer would have discarded a spade on dummy’s fourth club. So East pitched a spade. South ruffed, played a club to the board and led another diamond to leave East with no answer.