BRIDGE MASTERCLASS

SOUTH opened a 1NT (strong), which North raised to 3NT. West leads the ♠ 4 which you, East, win with ♠ A, South playing ♠ 5. As East, what do you return and why?

YOU are going to return partner’s suit, so the question is, which card are you going to play back? The answer is the ♠ 3, your fourth best.

If you fear West might take your holding as the second of a doubleton, just consider the number of spades this would leave for South, who elected to open 1NT, not 1 ♠ .

The most important part of defence is to keep your partner in the picture. Here, any other spade than the ♠ 3 is likely to mislead him. you know he started with only a four-card suit, so let him know you started with four as well.