Bridge

William Shakespeare, in Act 5, Scene 4 of “Richard III,” has the king shout, “A horse, a horse! My kingdom for a horse!”

What is the horse that rules our kingdom of no-trump? In this deal, what should West lead against three no-trump, and what happens after that?

It was a simple, quantitative auction. South rightly did not worry about his club weakness, and North just went for the nine-trick game.

In no-trump, length rules. So, West should lead the heart eight, not the spade jack.

South starts with six top tricks: three spades and three hearts. He will hope to establish three more winners in the minor suits, but that necessitates losing the lead thrice. The result is determined by the number of tricks that the defenders can bank before declarer has nine.

It is normal for South to take the first trick on the board and to lead a club. Now East must be on the ball, winning with his ace and leading a second heart. That leaves West with two entry cards, the diamond ace and club king. With one he can dislodge declarer’s last heart stopper, and with the second entry he can cash two heart tricks to defeat the contract. East-West take two hearts, one diamond and two clubs.

Note that if East fails to put the club ace, West will win the trick and continue with a second heart. Now, though, South can play on diamonds to dislodge West’s last entry and take nine tricks.

Finally, note that an initial spade lead establishes only one long card, so three notrump makes.