Contract Bridge

Some endplays are sure to succeed, while others depend on how the unseen cards are divided and how well declarer gauges their distribution.

Consider this deal where West leads the king of spades against four hearts. Let’s say declarer wins with dummy’s ace and plays the A- K and another trump to West’s queen.

West returns the queen of spades, ruffed by South, and declarer now plays all his trumps, reducing his hand to the K-7 of diamonds and A- Q of clubs. South can then make the contract regardless of which four cards West holds — provided he gauges West’s holding correctly at this point.

Let’s take the simplest case first. Suppose West’s last four cards are the A-J of diamonds and K-J of clubs. In that event, South can make his game by playing the A- Q of clubs. Declarer’s king of diamonds becomes his 10th trick after West wins the queen of clubs with the king and is forced to return a diamond. But suppose West is a shrewd cookie who foresees what can happen to him if he reduces himself to two doubletons in the minors. Instead, let’s assume West tries to give South a chance to go wrong by coming down to four cards consisting of the lone ace of diamonds and the K-J- 9 of clubs. If declarer falls into the trap by playing the ace of clubs rather than the seven of diamonds, he finishes with nine tricks instead of 11!

To avoid this potential denouement, South should adopt an entirely different line of play from the very start. Rather than take the spade king with the ace, he should allow West’s king to hold the first trick! West will then find himself endplayed in all four suits at trick two! Whatever he leads next — a spade, a heart, a diamond or a club — will hand declarer his 10th trick.