PAUSE, LOSE, WIN, SUCCEED

My Chinese fortune cookie message the other day was, "Everyone around you is rooting for you. Don't give up!" So, reluctantly, I picked up my spoon and absolutely forced down the rest of my caramelized banana fritters with vanilla icecream!

At bridge, it's often the same. Even when things look grim, hunt for a fortunate lie of the cards that will allow you to finish with a clean score sheet. This deal, which I got from Eddie Kantar's first book of lesson notes, would fool most people. Do you see any chance to bring home four hearts after West leads the diamond jack?

Despite its 10 points, that North hand is only just worth a limit raise. The black-suit queens might be useless, but the five trumps make one loath to settle for two hearts.

Even if East has ace-doubleton of spades, establishing dummy's spade queen for a discard doesn't help you. So, after winning trick one and drawing trumps, did you continue diamonds, hoping for a 3-3 split? Fair enough, but the defenders will surely cash their three black-suit winners to defeat the contract. Both of them can see what is happening.

You must put up a smokescreen at trick one. You should play the diamond eight from hand.

Thinking he has struck gold, West is virtually certain to continue with another diamond. Then, since the suit breaks 3-3, you have a discard established for one of dummy's club losers.

Note, though, that you must make this play smoothly. So, always pause to plan your campaign before playing from the dummy at trick one.