ACES ON BRIDGE

When today’s deal was originally played, all but one declarer went down in four spades. The successful South did not employ any special technique but chose psychology over the percentages.

After winning the diamond jack lead in hand, most declarers would draw trumps, then run the heart jack, pinning their hopes on a winning finesse. Our South did much better when he advanced the heart jack at trick two. When West nonchalantly played low, South trusted his read of the hand and went up with dummy’s king. He reasoned that an inexperienced West would have at least hitched, considering whether to cover the old maxim “Cover an honor with an honor.” Even though the cue of considering whether to cover would not be available against experienced defenders, this South knew his customer.

When the heart king held, South cashed the diamond tops, returned to dummy with the spade 10, threw a heart on a diamond, and conceded the next heart. It was then a simple matter to win the return in dummy, ruff out the hearts and draw trumps, ending on the table.

South’s maneuver was most likely to be effective at the earliest possible stage in the hand, hence his leading the heart jack at trick two. To unblock the diamond tops first would give West time to think and prepare. For the record, we all know opponents for whom an artful hesitation at trick two would deny the queen rather than suggest its presence ... but that is another story.