THE SAME PLAY, BUT DIFFERENT SCORES

Die Propylaen" was a periodical begun in July 1798 by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Johann Heinrich Meyer. In its introduction, Goethe wrote, "The same man will ... often see and judge the same things differently on different occasions."

It is true at the bridge table. An expert will sometimes make a different bid or adopt an alternative line of play depending on the standard of his opponents.

This deal is different from that, though. How should South plan the play in either six spades or seven spades after West leads the diamond queen?

South opens with a strong, artificial, forcing two clubs, North responds with a negative two diamonds, and South reveals his longest suit. Now

North's three-club rebid is a double (or second) negative, showing 0-3 points. Then, on the third round, with a maximum(!), three trumps and a ruffing value in hearts, North jumps to four spades. Finally, South bids what he hopes he can make.

Unusually, the best line of play in six spades is the same as that in seven spades. Declarer, after winning with the diamond ace, draws exactly two rounds of trumps, cashes his top hearts and ruffs a heart in the dummy. When that passes off safely, South discards his last heart on the diamond king, ruffs a diamond in hand, draws West's last trump and claims.

Note that if declarer draws only one round of trumps, East overruffs the dummy on the third round of hearts, which kills seven spades, but not six.