BRIDGE

What a difference a lead can make!

At one table of a match, West suspected South’s diamond suit might be a weak spot worth attacking (diamonds was, after all, his own longest and strongest!) but his hopes were soon dashed: East won the diamond King after dummy played low and, for lack of anything more appealing, returned a second round.

For declarer to capture West’s Jack and play a third round. Too late for the defense to launch a meaningful counter-attack although West belatedly attacked clubs with the nine.

South won the ace, played spade ace and a spade finesse but when the Queen didn’t drop on the third round, followed up with a heart finesse: three tricks in each major, two diamonds and one club.

Recognizing he’d need a lot of unexpected length and strength from partner for an attack in any one of the three bid-suits to bear fruit, the other team’s West hit on a lead of the unbid suit, the club four being his partnership’s choice of card from this holding.

Low from dummy for East’s ten to force the ace followed by ace and a winning spade finesse followed by the heart Queen, covered by the King and ace.

South was up to eight tricks and crossed to the diamond ace to cash the spade King.

No Queen but South might have survived by taking a second heart finesse for the nine!

Rather than try that allor-nothing play, he cashed his two high hearts and would still have been okay with a heart exit but when he tried a club towards the Queen instead, the defense had the rest.