Bridge Play

Bridge is a game of experience, but you won’t win if all you learn from experience is that you made another mistake.

Against today’s four hearts, West led the queen of clubs, winning. South ruffed the next club, led a spade to dummy and picked up the trumps. He took three more spades pitching a diamond from dummy, conceded a diamond, ruffed a diamond with dummy’s last trump and lost another diamond at the end. Making four.

Could East learn from this deal?

ONE HEART

The bidding marks

South with a good hand, so

West’s overcall was light.

West has at most one heart.

If his queen of clubs were a singleton, he might have bid differently. With seven diamonds, he might have preempted. With 6-5 in diamonds and spades, he might have mentioned his spades.

West didn’t lead a diamond and lacks the A-K; his suit may be headed by the A-Q. East should overtake the queen of clubs with his ace and lead a diamond. West can play three rounds, letting East overruff dummy for down one.

DAILY QUESTION

You hold: ♠ A Q J 4 ♥ A Q 10 8 6 ♦ K 10 4 ♣ 8. You open one heart, the next player overcalls two diamonds, your partner raises to two hearts, and “RHO” bids three clubs. South in today’s deal then bid four hearts with this hand. Do you agree with that call?

ANSWER: South’s jump to game was rash. His king of diamonds was probably wasted, and any club honors in North’s hand (except the ace) might be worthless as well. A bid of three hearts would have been plenty.