Bridge

Opening lead — eight of hearts.

How to make the most effective use of your honour cards is an important concern on almost every deal you encounter. Electing to play or withhold an honour card may be the key to making or breaking the contract.

For example, take this deal where West led the eight of hearts against three notrump. Declarer very properly covered the eight with dummy’s 10, and East now had to decide which heart to play.

After considerable thought, he chose to cover the 10 with the queen. This play would have proven eminently successful if South had taken the trick with the king. In that case, whenever declarer tried to score his ninth trick by leading a club toward the king, West would rise with the ace and return a heart, allowing East to run his hearts.

But South also had a decision to make at trick one, and he very smartly refused to win the first trick with the king, thereby gumming up the EastWest defence. After the queen held, there was no way to stop South from scoring three spades, four diamonds, a heart and a club for a total of nine tricks.

Subsequent analysis revealed that if East had allowed dummy’s 10 to win the opening trick, retaining both his ace and queen, he would have fared much better. When West later gained the lead with the ace of clubs, his heart return would have sunk the contract.

In refusing to play either of his honours at trick one, East should conclude that defensive prospects are very poor unless he can run his hearts, and that this can occur only if West has another heart to lead. Once East credits West with a second heart, the play of the six or nine on the opening trick — requesting a later continuation — is clearly correct.