A falsecard may cause a brain freeze

William Shakespeare, in “Hamlet,” wrote, “He’s loved of the distracted multitude, who like not in their judgment, but their eyes.”

At the bridge table, a well-timed falsecard may distract an opponent. When should you make a falsecard, though?

When you have no legitimate chance to make your contract. Then maybe an opponent will take his eyes off the cards. Today’s deal was played some years ago during a rubber-bridge game in London. The stake was approximately $3 per point.

North’s opening would not meet with universal approval, and South took a logical shot at three no-trump.

Obviously, a diamond lead would have defeated the contract quickly. But West chose the spade two. Then East, for some reason confident that declarer had the ace, played his jack so that he could learn who held the queen.

The declarer, Howard Cohen, was confident that if he took the first trick with his spade queen and immediately played a heart, whoever had that ace would take the trick and shift to diamonds. So he won the first trick with the spade ace! Then he led a heart.

West, suitably fooled, dashed in with his ace and continued with the spade 10. When East thoughtlessly played low, South scooped up the trick with his queen and soon claimed 11 tricks: two spades, three hearts and six clubs.

Afterward, East apologized to his partner. He realized that if West had started with the spade queen and 10, he would have led the queen at trick three.