BRIDGE

Counting and proper utilization of a card combination came to the fore when South declared this notrump game.

West didn't lead her partner's suit for the best of all reasons but the actual spade lead posed a real threat to declarer.

East captured the spade Queen to play back the ten, accurately ducked by South who won the third round of the suit as dummy discarded two small hearts.

Next, declarer unblocked her two high diamonds before having to face the music by tackling the club suit.

Unfortunately for her side, South hit a very sour note when her choice of club plays was low from hand to the Queen, wrong for two compelling reasons.

And immediately fatal after East won the King of clubs to return the suit. Of necessity, South had to play low from hand but West produced the Jack and two more spade winners with the ace of hearts still to come for down three.

What a difference one play can make!

With East having opened the bidding, there was very little chance she wouldn't have the club King as part of the opening bid: count up the outstanding points!

Further: if West somehow had been dealt the club King, she would not have played Second Hand Low on the first round of the suit, preferring instead to win that hypothetical King to cash good spades.

All to make the indicated play from dummy on the first round of clubs the nine!

Even if East had started with the King and Jack of clubs and won the Jack over the nine, what could she do next other than prepare to concede the contract?

For some deals, the game can actually seem quite easy – sometimes!

The early play in four hearts followed predictable lines: South won the diamond ace, crossed to the heart King and came off dummy with a club to his King and West's ace.

The defender played back a passive club that South won to extract the rest of the trumps. Time to face the critical decision when a low spade towards dummy drew a low card from West.

Almost too easy, you say? Isn't West an odds-on favourite to have the ace for his initial takeout double?

That was the reasoning for the actual declarer in a match as he clicked on the King to win the trick and claim ten tricks to earn the game bonus.

So how did a World Class declarer at the other table of the match miss this inference and go down in four hearts after a similar start to the play?

Ironically, the defeated South was damaged by his own bidding system! The opening bid was not one heart but one club, NorthSouth's strong, artificial and forcing opening. The auction still led to four hearts but with no competitive bidding by East-West as West had no sensible auction-entry available after a strong club opening!

When it came time for South to play spades, he knew West had started with two top diamonds and the ace of clubs but had no further information.

Judging that West might have been more likely to have bid if he also had been dealt the ace of spades, South called for the dummy's Jack on the first round of spades!