The beat is still the same

Philip James Bailey, an English poet, wrote, “We should count time by heart-throbs.” In bridge, though, this is impractical. How should we count, given that pen and paper are not permitted? In other circumstances, fingers often suffice. But with a hand full of cards it is hard to use all of our fingers. We could employ both feet, but it is best to rely on the good ol’ brain.

For a declarer who counts, today’s contract is easy. Against six no-trump, West led the club king. How should South have made all of his cards count?

South had 11 top tricks: three spades, three hearts, four diamonds and one club. The 12th trick had to come from the spades, but as there were different ways to play the suit, South cashed the other suits first.

Declarer ducked his club ace at trick one, won West’s club10 continuation and noted from East’s heart discard that West had begun with five clubs.

Then, when South played off his seven red-suit winners, he learned that West had started with three diamonds and at least three hearts. So, West had at most two spades. Declarer cashed the spade king, led a spade to dummy’s ace and, when the jack hadn’t appeared, finessed the spade 10 on the way back. The spade queen was South’s 12th trick.

If West had held jack-fourth of spades, would the contract have failed?

No! After the red-suit winners, West would have been squeezed down to four cards. He would have had to retain the club queen to stop dummy’s eight from being promoted. So he could have kept only three spades, and the suit would have run