Contract Bridge

Errors of omission often are just as costly as errors of commission. Take this case where you’re South, and West leads a spade against your five-club contract. You ruff and note that prospects of making the contract are reasonably good, since you can score 11 tricks if the opposing hearts are divided 3-3 or, failing that, if East has the ace of diamonds.

But if your thoughts stop there, you haven’t gone far enough. There also is a third chance to make the contract, even if the hearts don’t divide evenly and West has the ace of diamonds. You can avail yourself of this additional possibility by first performing the necessary spadework.

After ruffing the spade lead, you draw two rounds of trump, play a heart to the queen, ruff a spade, play a heart to the king, then ruff dummy’s last spade. These preliminary moves, although they don’t directly gain any tricks, are made to cater to the possibility of an uneven heart division, with West holding the greater length.

When you next play a heart to the ace and East shows out, you have a right to congratulate yourself for having had the foresight to eliminate dummy’s spades. That effort is now certain to bear fruit, regardless of the location of the ace of diamonds.

Accordingly, you lead dummy’s seven of hearts, and, instead of ruffing it, you discard a diamond! West wins with the jack but must either hand you a fatal ruff-and-discard by returning a spade, or lead a diamond, establishing your king as a trick. One way or the other, you wind up making the contract.

The point of the hand is that you should never just settle for a good chance to make your contract without first looking for a better chance.