Can you picture their key cards?

Vincent van Gogh said, “A good picture is equivalent to a good deed.”

He had such a great visualization of the world around him, especially when he was in the countryside. I am not confident that he would have made a good bridge player, but being able to picture the placements of your opponents’ cards is important.

In today’s deal, for example, how should South play in four hearts after West leads the spade king?

South might well rebid three notrump over two hearts, which North would pass with such a flat hand and poor hearts. But making that contract after West leads the spade king would need good guesswork. If South correctly reads the spades as 4-3, he will play for one spade, three diamonds, two clubs and three hearts, which involves taking two heart finesses through East.

In four hearts, declarer has two losers outside trumps, so he must hold his heart losers to one. If the suit is splitting 3-2, there are no problems. But what if they are 4-1?

If West has four, South will need to find East with a singleton honor. If East has the length, though, declarer will be fine if he is careful.

The percentage play is first to cash the ace. If an honor drops, fine. But when one does not, South continues by leading low toward dummy’s 10. Here, West discards, and East wins with his jack.

When declarer regains the lead (probably by ruffing the third round of spades), he crosses to the board with a diamond and plays a heart to his nine.