Wordsworth

How would you play 4S when West leads the two of hearts, an obvious singleton? The first move is to win with the ace, to prevent that card from being ruffed if East gains the lead subsequently. If trumps break 2-2, you will be able to ruff the fourth heart. How can you succeed when West has three trumps? You should cross to dummy with the diamond ace and lead a club towards the 10. If East rises with the king, to give his partner a heart ruff, he will have no subsequent club entry to deliver a second ruff. You will be able to draw trumps and eventually ruff your last heart with dummy’s remaining trump. Suppose instead that East plays low on the first club. West will win your 10 with the jack and play the diamond king (say). You ruff and play a second club. One heart ruff will not assist the defence. If East plays a third diamond instead, you will ruff and play a second heart yourself. West cannot gain by ruffing a loser and you will be able to ruff the fourth heart in dummy. It was important to lead the first club from dummy. If you lead from your hand, East can give his partner two heart ruffs.

CORRECTION

Last week’s Bridge column contained an error. It should have read: “This will work well when West holds a singleton queen of spades.”

The general rule is that you should respond in your longer suit, provided you are strong enough to make two bids. Here, you will respond 2C, intending to continue to 2S over 2H. This shows at least the values for a game try. In some systems, such as Standard American, it is game-forcing. Awards: 2C – 10, 1S – 7, 3NT – 4.