What didn’t happen can be helpful too

FRANK-N-ERNEST®

GRIZZWELLS®

BIG NATE®

ARLO & JANIS®

ZITS®

Willie Nelson said, “Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.”

In bridge, we have negative inferences, which, if you use them beneficially, will result in positive results. In today’s deal, how should South plan the play in five diamonds after West leads a trump, and East follows suit?

The good auction ended in the rarest game: five of a minor. But note that three no-trump is down immediately after a heart lead and a shift to the spade jack.

What suit would West usually lead after this auction?

Right — a spade. When he doesn’t do that, what conclusion can South draw?

That West has the spade ace. So, declarer is faced with three losers: two spades and one club. But he will only lose those spades if East can lead the suit. East must not be allowed to win a trick.

South was tempted to lead a low heart from the board at trick two. Maybe East, with the heart ace, would play that card, worried that declarer had a singleton queen. But South realized that if that ploy didn’t work (or couldn’t, because West had the heart ace), he would be poorly placed.

South’s second plan was much better. He called for the heart king. When East covered with the ace, declarer ruffed, played a trump to the dummy and led the heart jack. This time East played low, so South discarded one of his low clubs.

West was welcome to the trick, but now declarer established dummy’s clubs without letting East on play. South took seven diamonds and four clubs.