THE ACES ON BRIDGE by Bobby Wol f f

“The soldier is ... exact in sums, master of the art of tactics.” -- Walter Bagehot .....................

The play by fourth hand on any trick tends to be a case of winning when you can, and playing small when you can’t. But there is scope for both the tactical and strategic duck in fourth chair.

By using these terms, I am trying to differentiate between a play calculated to increase your trick-taking potential within the suit (a tactical play) and one where no further tricks are gained from the suit (in fact, you may even sacrifice tricks), but you end up with more tricks overall than if you had not made the play.

Today’s deal is an example of a tactical duck -- a variation on the Bath Coup. West leads a top heart (suggesting a king-queen holding without the jack) against three notrump, and East’s discouraging seven may be hard for West to read. If you win the first trick and play on clubs, you might persuade West to win and continue hearts.

But you may feel you are better advised to duck the trick; however, that is not enough. If you follow with the four, West will know his partner’s card was a small one, so he will switch, and you are unlikely to get a second heart trick without letting the defenders find the club shift.

Better might be to duck trick one and follow with the 10 from hand. West will now “know” his partner has a high heart and surely will continue the suit. That will give you your ninth trick.