Analyzing the full deal

At top bridge tournaments, sometimes there is an auditorium in which spectators may follow the play at one featured table. The deals are displayed on a screen, the bidding and play are relayed through from the playing room, and expert commentators describe the action, often making predictions.

If you have ever been to one of these presentations, you will know that occasionally a player will diagnose a deal better looking at only 26 cards than the commentators do studying all 52. Sometimes it is hard to see the proverbial wood from the equally proverbial trees.

Put on your analyst’s hat, examine today’s deal, and decide the fate of South’s contract of three no-trump. West leads a low diamond, and East puts up the king.

The first key play comes at trick one: Declarer must duck East’s king. He wins the second diamond and takes the heart finesse. East wins with the king and returns his last diamond. South cashes the heart jack, seeing the 10 drop, before turning his attention to the clubs. He cashes the king and finesses dummy’s jack, East winning with the queen and switching to a low spade.

Here is the second key play: Declarer should put up the spade king. He knows West holds two winning diamonds, so he must be kept off the lead if possible. That makes the spade king the right play. True, now the contract goes down three (was that your answer?) instead of only two, but at the table West actually had the spade queen and East the spade ace. When South put up the spade king, it won, and he made an overtrick!