Contract Bridge

Bridge is not a guessing game. Even in situations that appear to be a tossup, there is usually at least a smidgen of a clue to steer you in the right direction.

Take this case where South is in four spades and West leads the K-A of diamonds. Declarer ruffs the second diamond, noting that he will almost surely lose two club tricks, so that to make the contract he will have to avoid losing a trump trick.

This doesn’t look like much of a chore, since the trumps are very likely to be divided 2-1. But if South is a steady reader of this column, he knows he should try to make provision for the possibility of a 3-0 trump division.

This is a matter that should not be ignored, since if the spades are divided 3-0, the trump loser can be avoided by tackling the suit correctly. Thus, if West has the Q-6-5, cashing the king first exposes the situation and wipes out West’s potential trump trick, while if East has the Q-6-5, starting the suit by playing the ace first similarly averts the potential trump loser.

So how does declarer resolve the question of whether to play the king or the ace first? Obviously, he doesn’t just toss a coin; instead, he starts looking for clues.

A reasonable inference can be drawn that West is unlikely to be void of spades. With the A-K of diamonds and a spade void, plus one or two of the other missing high cards, he might well have overcalled or doubled for takeout at his second turn after having passed originally.

Declarer therefore plays the king of spades rather than a low spade to the ace at trick three and is rewarded for his perspicacity when East shows out and renders West’s queen worthless.