Contract Bridge

During the play, the defenders employ an assortment of signals to help them attain the best result possible. Probably their strongest weapon in this regard is the “attitude signal,” which entails signaling encouragingly or discouragingly on partner’s leads or when discarding.

Consider this deal where West led the ace of clubs against four spades. He was hoping to find his partner with the king and get a club ruff on the third round of the suit. East didn’t have the king, though, and to that extent West’s hopes did not materialize. But East happened to be a shrewd cookie, and he quickly processed the meaning of West’s opening lead.

Accordingly, he signaled with the ten of clubs, acting for all the world like a player who had the king of clubs. Encouraged by East’s signal, West continued the suit.

West was naturally disappointed when declarer won with the king, but his feeling of frustration was quickly assuaged when declarer next led a spade to dummy’s king and East took the ace and returned a club for West to ruff. As a result, South went down one, losing two trump tricks, a club and a club ruff.

East’s high-club play at trick one showed his ability to adapt to the special circumstances of the deal. Many players with East’s hand might mechanically play low on the ace of clubs, and would later regret it when West shifted to another suit at trick two. But the actual East realized what West had in mind, and he did what was necessary to defeat the contract.

Tomorrow: A matter of probabilities.