Goren on Bridge

When this deal was played in a recent online tournament, three no-trump became the final contract at almost every table. The contract succeeded after a club lead and club continuation after East won his ace of spades at trick two. Occasionally, North became declarer after a different auction. A low heart lead saw declarer romp home with nine easy tricks.

At this table, the expert North-South pair had an unusual agreement — the two-diamond rebid denied as many as three spades. We can’t be sure, but we imagine this pair had agreed to always raise partner’s major with three-card support rather than rebid a six-card minor suit. That might be a useful agreement, but it backfired on them this time.

West led a fourth-best club, won by declarer with the jack. A spade to the king lost to the ace and East had all the information he needed to defeat the contract. East knew that South had, at most, one more spade, and it did not matter what that spade was even if South had one. East continued with the jack of spades! West might have to unblock in spades should South have the doubleton nine or ten, but East’s four of spades sat powerfully over dummy’s three-deuce. No unblock necessary on this deal and three no-trump failed by one trick.

One great thing about bridge is that you cannot have a secret agreement. You must share your agreements with your opponents and risk that the information will help them more than it helps you.

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