Contract Bridge

When declarer is faced with a threat that cannot be averted, he should seek a way to minimize the risk. South tried to do that in today’s deal, but he overlooked an option that offered him the best chance to save his contract.

West led the king of spades against four hearts after having overcalled with one spade. South won with the ace and returned a spade, planning to ruff his third spade in dummy. East, in the meantime, followed with the five and the three.

When West won the second spade with the queen and continued with the ten, declarer now feared that if he ruffed low in dummy, East might overruff. Since South could not very well afford to ruff with the ace, which would establish a trump trick for the defense, he decided to ruff with the ten, hoping West held the jack.

Unfortunately, East overruffed, and the defenders later scored a club trick and a diamond trick to set the contract.

The misfortune that befell

South was really his own fault. He missed a relatively simple play that would have offered a far greater chance of success. Instead of trumping the third spade in dummy, he should have discarded dummy’s deuce of diamonds!

This maneuver would have solved two problems at the same time. It would eliminate the threat of an overruff by East and at the same time eliminate declarer’s diamond loser. In effect, South simply exchanges a potential heart loser for a certain diamond loser.

Once this countermeasure is taken, the defense is helpless. If West continues with a fourth round of spades, declarer can ruff (or overruff, if necessary) in his own hand, then play the A-K of diamonds and ruff a diamond before drawing trump. All he would lose in this case would be two spades and a club. The result is exactly the same if West shifts to another suit after the ten of spades holds.