ACES ON BRIDGE

One of the aspects of the game that defeats beginners and intermediates is the concept that every card should mean something. Take this deal from the second semifinal session of a recent Kaplan Blue Ribbon Pairs.

North-South were playing Precision; hence, they failed to identify their diamond fit and perpetrated this inelegant sequence. Using fourth-highest leads, West started with the club four to the jack, queen and six. The club two return went to the nine and 10, and West played back the club three to East’s king. When West let the club-eight continuation hold the trick, East had to decide how to proceed. Dummy had pitched a heart and two diamonds on the clubs. Declarer had thrown a heart. Should East play a spade, in case declarer started with five solid diamonds and the spade ace, or a diamond, in case he had the hand shown? There are several clues in these sorts of positions, which spring from a player’s choice when he could play one of two or more equal cards. Here, West had decided to win the club 10, not the ace, at trick two. (This may not be obvious, but remember: West knows East has the king from the play to trick one.) He had then returned the club three, not the ace or five. In summary, West has played the lowest of equal cards at each turn — so he must want a diamond shift (the lower of spades and diamonds). At the table, East was not up to drawing this inference: When he played a spade, declarer could scramble seven tricks.