Contract Bridge

There are plays that seem to make no sense whatever but have lots of wisdom behind them. Consider this deal from a team-of-four match where the contract at both tables was four spades.

After West’s pre-emptive three-club bid over South’s one-spade opening, both Norths passed -- they were slightly short of a voluntary raise to three spades. But when South then doubled for takeout, indicating a strong hand, both Norths jumped to four spades to show greater strength than a three-spade bid would have shown.

At the first table, West led the diamond ten, East playing the seven on the ace to start a high-low signal. Declarer returned a trump from dummy and, after successfully finessing the jack, led a diamond to the queen on which East played the six.

On the next trump lead from dummy, East went up with the ace and returned a club to West’s ace. West thereupon led a third diamond, ruffed by East, and declarer later lost a heart trick to go down one.

At the second table, after the ace of diamonds and jack of spades also won the first two tricks, declarer made a peculiar play at trick three. Instead of returning to dummy with a second diamond as his counterpart had done, he led the king of clubs! This apparently senseless move proved to be just what the doctor ordered.

West took the king with the ace and played a second diamond. But, with the enemy’s only line of communication having been severed, declarer was now in the driver’s seat. He won the diamond with dummy’s queen and led a trump. East took the ace, but he had no way to reach his partner for a diamond ruff. South thus lost only a spade, a heart and a club, and his shrewd king-of-clubs play -- known as a “scissors coup” -- was justly rewarded.

Tomorrow: Cards always tell a story.