Trump tricks are coming, going

A quotation sometimes attributed to Voltaire is: “Each player must accept the cards life deals him or her; but once they are in hand, he or she alone must decide how to play the cards in order to win the game.”

Perhaps “to try to win the game” would have been more accurate. There are times when your cards are just not good enough to win.

Today’s deal gives two players, East and South, chances to make good plays. What should happen in four spades after West leads the heart king?

North’s rebid showed a balanced 18 or 19 — or a poor 20 — points with at least one heart stopper. If South had raised to three no-trump, it would have “ruined” the deal.

South has three red-suit losers, with possible problems in each black suit if the cards are distributed badly. East can see three defensive tricks: two hearts and one diamond. The fourth will have to come from the trump suit. So, after East wins the second heart, what should he do?

If East immediately leads a third heart, South should discard his inevitable diamond loser. But if East defends better, cashing the diamond ace before playing the third heart, declarer will have to ruff high. Then he has to draw trumps without losing a trick.

Given the 2-6 heart split, West rates to be longer in spades than East. So, South should cash his second high spade. Here, the 10 drops from East. Now declarer should continue with a spade to dummy’s eight. This finesse is a strong favorite to work.

When a defender is hoping for a trump promotion, he should try to cash every sidesuit trick first.