MY KINGDOM FOR AN ENTRY

Eric Schmidt, who was the CEO of Google from 2001 to 2011, in his 2009 University of Pennsylvania commencement address, said, "We have an opportunity for everyone in the world to have access to all the world's information. This has never before been possible . ... Information is power."

It is the same during a bridge deal. The more information you have about the unseen hands, the better you should declare or defend.

In today's deal, South is in three no-trump. West leads his fourth-highest spade. Declarer calls for dummy's king, but East wins with his ace and cashes the spade queen. South is expecting to lose the first five tricks in spades, but suddenly East is thinking, not leading. The spades must be 6-2. What should East do now?

He should note that he has seen all of the highcard points but 8, given that West presumably has the spade jack. If South has them all, the contract will be unbeatable. Declarer will take four hearts, four diamonds and one club. What useful card can West hold?

Only the club queen; and to make that an entry, East must shift immediately to the club king. South will win with dummy's ace, cross to hand with a heart and try the diamond finesse. But East takes that trick and leads another club, resulting in down four!

This play, sacrificing an honor to establish an entry for partner, is called the Deschapelles Coup, after

bridge

Guillaume Deschapelles, a famous whist player.

Probably North will apologize for not opening two no-trump, because three no-trump from his side is unbeatable.

Copyright United Feature Syndicate (Asia Features)