Contract Bridge

Assume you’re in three notrump and West leads the deuce of hearts. You play dummy’s jack, hoping West has led from the K-Q, but East produces the king, and you duck. East returns the heart three, and you play low again. West wins with the ten and continues with a third heart, forcing out your ace.

You have been looking at eight sure tricks right from the start, and the ninth trick seems all but assured. Indeed, with any luck at all, you’ll wind up with an overtrick. But when you lead a low diamond to the queen and another back to the ace, West discards a spade, and making the contract is now far from certain.

The outcome boils down to scoring four club tricks, so you cash the K-Q of clubs and lead your last club, on which West plays the nine.

This brings you to the moment of truth. If West has the jack, you should play dummy’s ten; if East has the jack, you should play the ace. Decisions of this kind are seldom a tossup; there is nearly always a reason for favoring one play over the other. This case is no exception, as there is a good clue to lean on.

It all goes back to West’s opening lead. Presumably, West would have led from a five-card suit if he had one. His lead of the heart deuce indicated a four-card suit, and this was confirmed by East’s return of the three, showing that he also had four hearts.

Once it is conceded that West doesn’t have a fivecard suit, it follows that his original distribution was 4-41-4 (since he showed out on the second diamond lead). Finessing the ten of clubs therefore becomes the right play.