No overruff, no disaster

A baseball executive pointed out that you cannot reach second base while keeping one foot on first base. In other words, you must occasionally take risks. But how often have you seen a runner thrown out trying to steal second, when only a moment later the batter gets a walk? One must balance profit and loss, gain and risk.

In a bridge deal, sometimes you must take risks; other times you should play as safely as possible. How would you handle today’s five-diamond contract? West leads the heart three. East wins with the ace and switches to the spade two.

The auction was sensible, North’s three-diamond raise promising extra values.

If the trumps are splitting favorably and the clubs are running for five tricks, you can collect an overtrick. But if the minors lie badly, your communications are tenuous.

With this layout, there is only one way home. Win trick two with the spade ace, play a club to West’s sneaky jack and dummy’s queen, and cash the club king, discarding your spade loser. (If West had a singleton club, you had no chance.)

Now play on crossruff lines. Trump a spade low in hand, a heart in the dummy, a spade low in hand and a heart in the dummy. Needing to get back to hand safely, you ruff the spade jack with your diamond ace. Then you ruff your last heart in the dummy, West being forced to underruff. That is 10 tricks played and nine won. In hand you have left the 10-9-8 of diamonds. Graciously, you concede a trump trick, being delighted to find that they were 4-0 all along.*