Treat with care and tricks come

FRANK-N-ERNEST®

GRIZZWELLS®

BIG NATE®

ARLO & JANIS®

ZITS®

There are some plants and flowers that seem to survive despite all of our best efforts to kill them. Others, though, fold up almost immediately unless they are treated with tender, green-fingered care.

Bridge partners are like that. Some will find the best plays despite our attempts to mislead them. Others, though, must be guided over the pitfalls of a deal. East’s play on today’s deal might be determined by whether West falls into the first category or the second.

How should the defense proceed against four spades after West leads the diamond five?

In the auction, the first two bids were artificial, and the rest was natural.

As soon as he saw two spades in the dummy, East knew that his partner was void. So, if West had led from the diamond king, which his fourth-highest card promised, there were four defensive tricks available: two diamonds and two spade ruffs.

The careful defender sitting East, who likes to treat his partner kindly, plays the diamond queen at trick one. When it wins, he shifts to the spade nine. West ruffs and leads a diamond to East’s ace. The second spade ruff defeats the contract.

An East who is playing with an expert, though, can afford to win trick one with the diamond ace -- as long as he returns the spade nine at trick two. West will read this high card as a suit-preference signal for diamonds. Knowing East doesn’t have the diamond king, West will realize that it is showing the queen (or an unlikely singleton). He will underlead in diamonds to get the second ruff.

Treat your partner kindly.