Get declarer off the right road

Senator Dianne Feinstein said, “Winning may not be everything, but losing has little to recommend it.”

In a bridge deal, it might be a matter of declarer’s finding the right line or the defenders’ producing the killing defense. But sometimes one side will try to deflect the other from a winning plan.

How might that apply in this deal? South is in four spades. What happens after West leads either a heart or a diamond?

West’s jump to four hearts would normally indicate at least five-card support, but with the void, four trumps were sufficient. If West had bid less, North would have advanced with four hearts to show a good four-spade raise.

After a heart lead to the king and ace, declarer discards a club on the queen heart, plays a club to dummy’s ace and leads a spade. When East follows with the six, declarer finesses, taking a safety-play in case the trumps are 3-0. After winning the trick, he cashes the spade ace and plays a club. A moment later, he ruffs his last club and claims.

After a diamond lead to the queen and ace, East should shift to the club king, and West should play his part by signaling with the queen. South wins with dummy’s ace, leads a heart to his queen, discards a club on the heart ace, plays a diamond to the king and leads a trump. Now, though, the safetyplay will look less appealing, because if West has a singleton spade honor, he will take the trick, cash his club jack, then lead another club, and East will overruff the dummy.