PHILIP ALDER

Mark Twain wrote, “One of the most striking differences between a cat and a lie is that a cat has only nine lives.”

Well, it is hard to call an adage like “lead through strength and up to weakness” a lie. There are exceptions, but it is usually correct. Another adage is “eight ever, nine never.” As you probably know, this means that if you have eight trumps missing only the queen, you should finesse on round two. But if you have nine cards, it is better to play off the ace and king, expecting the queen to drop. However, in this latter case, that is only about 2% better than a second-round finesse. If you know something about another suit, the odds can change.

This deal occurred during the 1972 World Team Olympiad in Miami Beach, when the Aces faced Poland. The American West had an unenviable lead and selected the club four, as

would most top players in my opinion. Janusz Pietruk (South) called for dummy’s 10, and when East contributed the nine, Pietruk felt confident that West had started with four clubs and East with a singleton. If so, the odds had altered. Now it was better to play East for long spades. Trusting his judgment, declarer cashed dummy’s spade king, then led a spade to his jack. When the finesse worked, he drew the last trump and lost only three tricks, one in each side suit.

At the other table, East had bid hearts. So West began with the ace and another heart. Now it looked as though West would be long in spades. The American declarer cashed his spade ace and went down one, losing a trick in each suit.