BRIDGE MASTERCLASS

COUNTING tricks, you have one spade, one heart, three diamonds and four clubs once the

♣ a has been knocked out. Your plan is to hold up the ♥ a until South is void of the suit and cross your fingers that South has the ♣ a.

You will not, I hope, have forgotten the invaluable Rule of 7, which will tell you how long to hold up ♥ a. You have six hearts between yourself and dummy, only one guard in hearts, and expect to lose the lead only once to establish the clubs — an ideal moment for the use of the Rule of 7. Deduct your six hearts from 7 = 1, so you must hold up the ♥ a once only. In case you think it wouldn’t matter if you ducked twice, consider the disaster if the defence switched to spades at Trick Three!