An unusual play can be the winner

Alfred North Whitehead, who was an English mathematician and philosopher, said, “It requires a very unusual mind to make an analysis of the obvious.”

It can also require an unusual mind to make an analysis of the obscure. In today’s deal, how should the play go in four spades? West leads the club jack. East takes two tricks in the suit, then shifts to a trump.

South, with a six-loser hand, made a three-spade game-try. North happily bid four spades because his single raise indicated nine losers, but he had only eight (three spades, one heart, two diamonds and two clubs).

Declarer had nine winners: six spades, one heart and two diamonds. There were two obvious chances for an extra trick: the heart finesse or establishing dummy’s diamond suit. South correctly tried diamonds first. After drawing trumps, he cashed his top diamonds and ruffed one in hand. When they failed to split 3-3, though, declarer took the heart finesse. It lost, and he went down one, losing two clubs and two hearts.

South complained about his bad luck, but North had spotted the unusual winning play. He pointed out that declarer shouldn’t have ruffed the third round of diamonds. Instead, he should have discarded a heart. What could East have done?

If he led a heart, it would have been into dummy’s ace-queen. If he played his last diamond, South would have ruffed, crossed to the heart ace and cashed the high diamond eight. Or, if East returned a club, South would have sluffed another heart from his hand and ruffed on the board, gaining a seventh