BRIDGE MASTERCLASS

You are East, declarer in 6 ♣ , against which North leads ♥ A and continues with another heart. What is your best line of play?

DISCARD a spade and win with your king, which was luckily established by the lead. You still have problems, and your best chance is to play on a ‘dummy reversal’. lead a diamond to the ace and then ruff ♦ 4 in hand. Cash ♣ Q, and then play ♣ 8 to dummy’s ace. If both defenders have followed to the second round of trumps, ruff dummy’s ♦ 8 with your last trump, then cross back to ♠ a and draw the outstanding trump.

Even when the opponents’ trumps break 4-1, this approach gives you a fair chance of success. But when you lead the second trump and discover the bad break, you now have to lead a third club to your knave, instead of ruffing the second diamond.

now, return to dummy as before and draw the last trump. Unless the outstanding diamonds break 5-2, you are home and dry. Even if there is a bad break, you still have the chance of a successful spade finesse.