Bridge

William Randolph Hearst said, "Don't be afraid to make a mistake; your readers might like it." In the days before email, when I made an error in this column, the United States Postal Service was very happy. Now my inbox overflows. This deal was declared by Steve Conrad of Manhasset, New York. It occurred during a pairs event.

First of all, look only at the South hand. What would you rebid after the given start to the auction? In a pairs game, where you are trying to outscore the other players with your cards, you usually prefer to play in three no-trump, not five of a minor; and that is what Conrad rebid. However, after East's raise, which suggested three-card support, this strikes me as debatable. I much prefer four diamonds. You might even have a slam.

However, if you were in three no-trump, how would you play after a heart lead?

You start with five top tricks: two spades, one heart and two clubs. You cannot drive out the diamond ace, because you will lose five hearts and one diamond. You must hope that East has exactly queen-third in clubs. But even then, you need to get to the dummy to take the club finesse and back to the dummy after cashing the club ace. Where are your two entries? They must be in spades. So, I would lead the spade three and put in dummy's 10. Yes, West can spoil that plan by playing his queen, but how many players would do that? Conrad led the spade jack, which West unwisely covered with the queen. He ended with an overtrick, outscoring me in five diamonds!