A good line of play and a better defense

St. Jerome wrote, “Good, better, best. Never let it rest. ‘Til your good is better and your better is best.”

How does that apply to this deal? What is South’s good line of play in four spades after West leads an obvious singleton club? What is the better defense by East-west?

Note South’s jump to four spades. When North made his takeout double, he was going to assume that South had six or seven points. South, with a trick more than that, was right to jump to game.

When an opponent opens with a three-level pre-empt, then leads a different suit, that card is a singleton. (Also, Andy Robson, an English expert, advises that if the pre-emptor leads his own suit, assume he has a singleton in your trump suit.)

If South had led a trump at trick two, East could have taken the trick and given his partner a club ruff. Then West could have exited with a diamond and waited for two heart winners.

However, South saw a chance if he could denude West of diamonds. So, declarer cashed his diamond king, played a diamond to the ace and ruffed the diamond jack. Then he led a trump to East’s ace.

If East had given his partner the ruff, West would have been endplayed, forced to open up the hearts and give South a trick with his king. Instead, East shifted to his heart queen. (Yes, the nine would have been preferable.) South covered with his king, and West took the trick.

Now, in desperation, West continued with a low heart. Bingo — East won with his nine and delivered the lethal ruff. Brilliant!