The Bridge Column

Opening lead: Seven of ◆ The opening diamond lead went to dummy’s king and East’s ace. The eight of clubs shift was ducked to West’s queen, and West switched to a low heart. Declarer rose with dummy’s ace to take the spade finesse, losing to the king, and another heart was led by West to dummy’s king.

From this point on, South played the hand in a very straight-forward way. He drew two more rounds of trumps, ending in the dummy, and took the club finesse. When that lost, the contract was down one, with declarer bemoaning his fate. South had indeed been unlucky, with the king of spades, the ace of diamonds, and both missing club honors poorly placed for him. Still, he might have done better. Can you spot how?

Before taking the club finesse, South should have made a play in the heart suit. He might have led dummy’s low heart and ruffed it, hoping for the queen to fall. Alternatively, he might have led the 10 of hearts, playing to pin West’s now singleton nine. Trying to ruff out the queen of hearts is a free play. Should the queen not fall, South can cross back to dummy with a diamond to take the club finesse. Leading the 10 entails risk, as South will have to discard a club on the 10 of hearts if East doesn’t play the queen. A declarer with very good table feel and a lot of confidence might do it, but most would just try to ruff out the queen. Some play in hearts should have been made, however, before taking the club finesse.