Bridge

Mark Twain said, “There are several good protections against temptations, but the surest is cowardice.”

Bridge, though, is not a game for cowards. In today’s deal, there is a tempting play that declarer must bravely avoid. What is it?

After a straightforward transfer auction, South is in two spades. West leads the heart ace, cashes the heart king and shifts to a trump. After drawing trumps in two rounds, how should South continue?

Transfers into the majors are such a good idea. In particular, they allow responder to show a game-going two-suiter below three no-trump. The only drawback is that they give the opponents more options. In this deal, if East had good hearts, he could double two hearts. (Transfers into the minors occur much less often because you need at least a six-card suit. Also, the follow-ups are more complicated. Only use them if you play with a regular partner whose memory is nearly as good as yours!)

There is a temptation to take the diamond finesse, hoping to get eight tricks via five spades and three diamonds. But that puts the contract in jeopardy. If the finesse loses, a diamond back will force you to win a club trick, which is unlikely. ( The best approach is to lead the jack from the board, hoping that East does not cover when he has one honor.)

Much better is to ruff the heart jack on the board, then to play three rounds of diamonds. Whichever defender has the diamond queen will be endplayed. He will have either to lead a club or to concede a ruff-and-sluff.