Bridge

This is another in a series of weekly columns on “Simple Saturday.” The intent is to help aspiring players master basic technique and learn to think logically.

North’s bid of 2NT is an artificial forcing spade raise. Modern pairs use “limit” double raises and need a gadget to show a hand worth a game-force. South’s four spades denies slam interest.

West leads a heart: queen, king, ace. Declarer draws trumps and exits with a heart. East shifts to the king of clubs, and the defenders take two clubs and force South to ruff a club.

South needs to pick up the diamonds. A 3-2 break will make things easy, but if a defender has J-x-x-x, South must retain a finessing position after taking two high diamonds. Which defender might have started with four?

An inference is available: If West had a singleton, he might have led it. South should take the A-Q in case West had Jx-x-x.

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