BRIDGE with Bob Jones

There was a time in bridge history when North might have been the one to open the bidding on this deal. In the modern game, East, South, and West would all likely have opened the bidding before him.

Some players feel that they must always lead their singleton when they have one. It’s the law! Good players know to pick and choose -- a singleton lead can sometimes ruin any chance for a successful defense. Looking at a likely natural trump trick is a good indicator that a singleton lead won’t be best. Accordingly, West chose to lead from his diamond sequence instead.

South won the opening lead with dummy’s ace and led the jack of spades for a finesse. West won this trick with his queen and now, with his trump trick safely in hand, shifted to his singleton club. The queen won in dummy and East won the ensuing spade lead. What to do? Should East try to cash a diamond trick or try to give partner a club ruff?

East came up with a lovely solution. He cashed the ace of hearts to allow West to tell him what to do. When West played his lowest heart, East shifted to a club to defeat the contract. A high heart from West would have carried the message that West couldn’t ruff a club and East would have tried to cash a diamond.

South could have done better. From the auction and the lead, East was certain to have both major suit aces. A low spade to the king at trick two would have brought home the game.