Simple Saturday

My “Simple Saturday” columns focus on improving basic technique and developing logical thinking.

A trying experience for a defender — one that can tax even an expert partnership — is finding discards when declarer is running a long suit. In some cases, a defender will have no winning option.

Today’s West leads a spade against 3NT, and East plays the queen. South takes his ace and runs five diamond tricks, forcing West to discard four times. West can pitch two hearts and a club without pain, but what next?

FOUR CLUBS

West should reason that, based on the bidding, South has club length. South has shown three diamonds, and if he had four cards in a major suit, he would have bid it. If South holds A-Q in clubs, he has nine tricks, so West must assume East has an honor. Then West can safely pitch a second club.

If South has A K, Q 8 4, K 10 4, Q 10 9 3 2, only overtricks are at stake. But if West discards a spade in the actual deal, he throws away the potential setting trick.

DAILY QUESTION

You hold: ♠ 5 3 2 ♥ K J 7 ♦ AQJ98 ♣ K 5. Your partner opens one club, you respond one diamond and he bids 1NT. The opponents pass. What do you say?

ANSWER: Your partner has shown a balanced minimum opening bid, and since you have 14 points, you must commit to game. Since your distribution is also balanced, raise to 3NT. You can’t afford to worry about your weak spades. The cheaper nine-trick notrump game will succeed more often than not. North dealer Both sides vulnerable