Bridge

Down went dummy and declarer was delighted. The contract was Four Spades and West led the ace of diamonds. South appreciated that he would lose three tricks in the red suits– no way of avoiding those–but there were still always ten tricks for the taking. Or sohe thought.

West continued with the diamond king and followed with the diamond jack. Declarer ruffed then led a trump to the king. Ouch. East pitched a heart. South worked out that if West held at least three clubs and at least one heart his game would still come home, as he could cash the ace of hearts then ru ff his fourth club high in dummy. But West ruffed the third round of clubs and there was no way to avoid the los sofa heart. One Down

North was not am used .“The only way for you togo down was if trumps broke 5-0. You could have legislated for that eventuality. All you needed to do was to refuse to ru ff the third diamond and jettison your losing heart instead. It’s a cost-nothing play, as you always have a heart loser. It was up to you as to when you lost it. Whatever West does next, you have it covered. Unless East is void in clubs, a club switch does you no harm. Nor does a heart or a trump switch.

And if a fourth round of diamonds is played, you can safely ru ff high in dummy, draw trump sand claim .”