Contract Bridge

One of the first rules of defensive play learned by an aspiring new player is “second-hand low.” Sometime later he discovers that the rule has its exceptions, as all such rules do.

The trouble is that the proper time to abandon this stricture is not subject to precise definition. About all that can be said is that a defender should depart from the usual practice whenever there seems to be a good reason to do so.

Take this case where West leads the queen of hearts, ducked all around. A second heart puts the lead in dummy, and a club is led. What should East do?

First, let’s see what happens if East plays low. South plays the queen, and West is faced with a no-win situation. If he takes the ace, he loses the entry to his heart suit, and declarer ends up with 10 tricks after driving out the club king at his next opportunity. And if West doesn’t take his ace, South has nine tricks.

Now let’s see what happens

if East puts up the king when the first club is led. After it holds, East returns a heart, and the contract goes down as soon as West gains the lead with the club ace.

So the question is how can East know that this is the time not to play second-hand low? The answer lies in the fact that most notrump contracts fail because the defense establishes a long suit and then is able to run it. This objective is defeated if the suit cannot be cashed after it becomes established.

In the present case, East cannot tell what side entry his partner may have, but he should reason that playing the club king cannot cost if South has the A-Q. If West has the ace, though, the king play preserves his entry until the hearts are established.

Tomorrow: Playing according to the odds.