The Bridge Column

MUD, or middle-up-down, is a popular agreement when leading from three low cards. The middle card is led, followed by the highest card and then the lowest. The idea is to tell partner how many cards you hold in the suit while warning him, by your failure to lead your lowest card, that you have no high honor in the suit.

Today’s deal is from a tournament in Europe, where it was played at many different tables. A popular defense was to start with three rounds of hearts. Some declarers ruffed the third heart with dummy’s king of spades, crossed to their hand with the ace of clubs, and then led the ace of spades followed by a low spade. This lost to East’s doubleton queen, but a fourth round of hearts promoted West’s nine of trumps into the setting trick.

Some West players were reluctant to play the 10 of hearts on the second round, fearing that declarer might have the nine, and a few declarers succeeded by allowing West to win the third round of hearts with the 10. They won the trump shift, crossed to their hand with the ace of clubs, and cashed the ace of spades. When that felled the queen, South drew the last trump and took the winning diamond finesse for their contract.

Some West players were devoted to their agreements and they did play the 10 on the second heart. This allowed East to continue with the nine of hearts and declarer had no answer. Should South refuse to ruff, East would be on lead and a fourth round of hearts would sink the contract whatever declarer did. MUD wins the day!