RETAIN AN ENTRY TO YOUR WINNERS

Moviemakers use music to set the mood for a scene, and we respond accordingly. No one hearing tense, “Jaws”-style music is expecting Julie Andrews to burst through a door singing some gay tune. Only if the film is by someone like Mel Brooks are we expecting the unexpected.

In bridge, we know how to handle certain suit combinations. But occasionally a deal sneaks up and finds us unprepared. We do the instinctive thing and, if the Fates (suit breaks) are unkind, go down when an unconventional approach would have yielded a profitable outcome.

Look at today’s spade suit. How should declarer play it in isolation? What about within the context of this deal? West starts with three top diamonds against South’s four-spade contract.

Declarer thought he saw 11 easy tricks: five spades, one heart and five clubs. Also, to try to accommodate jack-fourth of spades in the East hand, South ruffed the third diamond, cashed the spade king and played a spade to dummy’s ace.

However, when East discarded on the second round of trumps, suddenly the contract was off key. Whether South tried the heart finesse or played on clubs, he was down.

Declarer apologized to his partner and suggested that he should have ducked a round of trumps immediately. North pointed out that although that would have worked, it would have been better to cash the spade king and queen. If they split 3-2, declarer can claim the overtrick. Here, though, South shifts to clubs. West ruffs the third round, but the spade ace is still in the dummy as the entry card to the last two clubs.