BRIDGE

The bidding: North East South West

1 ♣ Pass 1 ♠ Pass 2 ♠ Pass 6 ♠ Opening lead — king of diamonds. . Every so often a hand arises where it’s a distinct disadvantage to be a good player. The expert who sees all and knows all sometimes makes a play that wouldn’t occur to a lesser player and as a result pays a price for his superior knowledge. The moral is that ignorance is sometimes bliss. Consider this deal played in a Life Masters Pairs Championship. South quickly got to six spades, and West led a diamond, taken by dummy’s ace.

Declarer, a well-known expert, played two rounds of trumps and then cashed four hearts, discarding a diamond from dummy. The diamond discard wasn’t important as such, but it was by no means a haphazard play. South had a very shrewd purpose in mind. Declarer next led a club, and West, also a top-notch player, stepped right up with the ace. That ended the play, and declarer made the slam. Had West followed low on the club lead, South would have had to guess whether to play the king or jack from dummy. Whether he would have guessed correctly no-one will ever know. In the actual layout, declarer would succeed by playing the king, but if West had the queen and East the ace, the jack would be the winning play. South’s method of play would probably have been a waste of time against an inferior West player. Declarer intentionally went out of his way to show West he had started with six spades and four hearts. By cashing his hearts and discarding a diamond from dummy, South hoped to persuade West that he had started with two diamonds and one club. The actual West swallowed the bait, apparently believing he’d lose his ace unless he took it while he had the chance. .