Contract Bridge

Let’s say that on a given deal, your opponents bid and make four hearts, vulnerable. At duplicate scoring, they would be plus 620 points.

Now let’s suppose you defeat the contract. In that event, you’d be either 100 or 720 points richer, depending on how you view such matters. For example, you could argue that the only actual gain is the 100 points you entered on your scorecard. Alternatively, you could argue that you had improved your position 720 points by depriving declarer of 620 points and by scoring 100 points for your side instead.

Regardless of which philosophy you adopt, or what form of scoring you are using, the fact remains that there’s still a big difference between a contract that’s made and a contract that’s defeated.

All of which serves as an introduction to today’s deal, where if you defend correctly against four hearts, you defeat the contract, while if you misdefend, declarer gets home safely. Two hurdles must be surmounted. One arises at trick one, when East should overtake the spade king with the ace in order to continue with the queen. This is not a very challenging play, since East can easily afford to play the ace at trick one regardless of whether South has one spade, two spades or even no spades at all.

The second hurdle arises when East plays a third spade at trick three. If South ruffs with the queen, West must be careful not to overruff with the king. If he does, declarer will have no trouble taking the rest of the tricks. Instead, West should discard a club or a diamond in the hope that East was dealt either the jack or ten of hearts, in which case West will eventually score the nine of hearts as well as the king to defeat the contract.