Contract Bridge

There are times when declarer can lure an opponent into a mistake by taking advantage of the fact that the defenders cannot see through the backs of his cards. Today’s deal from a pairs tournament provides a case in point.

At virtually all tables, South wound up as declarer in four hearts. When West led the jack of clubs or a diamond, the contract invariably went down one, with the defenders collecting three clubs and a diamond.

At several tables, however, West led a spade, giving declarer an opportunity for a bit of chicanery. At the table where the bidding went as shown, South knew where the missing high cards were located, thanks to East’s takeout double on the second round.

Declarer won the spade lead with the ace and drew trump in two rounds. He then crossed to the king of spades and led the deuce of clubs toward his hand!

This placed East squarely on the horns of a dilemma. If South had the singleton or doubleton jack of clubs, playing low would cost a trick — an important consideration at matchpoint scoring. After much soulsearching, East decided to go up with the king, and from that point on, he was a dead duck.

In practice, East returned a diamond to declarer’s queen, whereupon South played the ace and another diamond, putting East back on lead. East had to return a spade or a diamond — either one yielding a ruff-anddiscard — or cash the ace of clubs. Whatever he chose to do, declarer could not lose more than two clubs and a diamond, and the contract was home.

Note that East would have done no better by returning a club or a spade after he took the club king. Once he fell into South’s trap, all roads led to 10 tricks for declarer.