Contract Bridge

Assume you reach four spades on the bidding shown and West leads the ace of diamonds. West then shifts to a low club. How would you play the hand?

When the deal occurred in a duplicate game, every declarer put up the ace of clubs, after which the play varied. Most Souths, fully aware of the danger of a diamond ruff, refused to try a spade finesse. Instead, they next led a spade to the ace and returned the spade ten.

Alert defense now defeated the contract. West took the ten of spades with the king and led a club to East’s king. East then returned a diamond, ruffed by West to put South down one.

At a few tables, however, the contract was made. The declarers at these tables realized that only a diamond ruff could stop them from scoring 10 tricks, and they took the necessary step to circumvent the ruff.

After winning the ace of clubs at trick two, they next led the king of hearts from dummy! When East followed low, declarer discarded the jack of clubs, thereby exchanging a sure club loser for a nonexistent heart loser.

This maneuver had the desired effect. West took the king of hearts with the ace but could no longer reach East’s hand to obtain the killing diamond ruff. When he tried returning a club to East’s king, declarer ruffed and played trumps, eventually scoring six spades, three diamonds and the ace of clubs to make his contract.

The loser-on-loser play utilized by the successful declarers is sometimes called a “scissors coup” because of the way it severs communications between the defenders. It is not a particularly difficult play to execute; all you have to do is think of it.