Someone’s error provides a chapter

A new book from Danny Roth has an accurate title: “You Never Stop Learning at Bridge” (Great Game Products).

Roth, an Englishman, scours magazines, daily bulletins and books looking for analytical errors. This is his third book of those deals.

Ironically, he has a bad misprint in the bidding of the first deal and a debatable recommendation or two. But there is a lot of good instruction. In this deal, for example, how should South play in six diamonds after West leads the club jack, and East drops the king under dummy’s ace?

North was certainly brave in raising to six with his void; although, holding three aces, he knew his partner had to have extremely strong trumps.

South crossed to his hand in hearts and tried to draw trumps. When East discarded a club on the second round, declarer threw in the towel, conceding down one.

South grumbled he was unlucky, but a columnist explained that declarer had to assume West had led a singleton. He said that South should have cashed the spade king, then continued diamonds, giving West his trick. West would have had to lead a major, and declarer could have discarded his club losers on dummy’s aces. Do you agree?

The writer was also wrong. West could have sacrificed his diamond jack under South’s queen to avoid the endplay. Declarer should cash his third high diamond immediately. If West keeps his jack, South unblocks the spade king and endplays West. But if West throws the diamond jack, declarer draws the last trump, overtakes the spade king with dummy’s ace and discards one club on the heart ace.