Contract Bridge

A Subtle Snare

The first trick is often the most important one of the entire deal, both for the declarer and the defenders. As a case in point, consider this deal from a national championship where the play at trick one by both sides altered an outcome that appeared inevitable.

At first glance, it would seem that South must lose two diamonds, a spade and a trump trick at four hearts. But declarer found a way to lay a trap for the opposition, and once the trap was sprung, there was no escape.

The critical moment came when South played low from dummy on the opening club lead, posing a difficult problem for East. East could not tell from the lead of the four how many clubs West held, nor could he place the queen or ten with any certainty. Eventually, he decided to play the king, and from then on he was a dead duck.

Declarer ruffed, cashed the K-A of hearts and put East on lead with the heart queen. East could not return a club or a spade without handing declarer a trick, so he tried the queen of diamonds. South won with dummy’s ace and returned a diamond. When the ten appeared on his right, he allowed East to hold the trick.

This sounded the death knell for the defense. If East retained the lead, his forced spade or club return would give declarer the contract. If instead West overtook the ten with the king, South would lose only one diamond trick instead of two, and again he would wind up with 10 tricks.

After South’s crafty play at trick one led East astray, the outcome was inevitable.