The declarer play is like fancy dress

Moviemakers use music to set the mood for a scene, and we respond accordingly. No one hearing tense, “Jaws”-like music is expecting Dame Julie Andrews to burst through a door singing some gay tune. Only if the movie is by someone like Mel Brooks are we expecting the unexpected. In bridge, we know how to handle certain suit combinations. However, occasionally a deal sneaks up and finds us unprepared. Deaf to the warning music, we do the instinctive thing and, if the Fates (suit breaks) are unkind, go down when an unconventional approach would have yielded a more profitable outcome. Look at today’s spade suit. How would you play it in isolation? What about within the confines of this deal? West starts with three top diamonds against four spades. Declarer thought he saw 11 easy tricks: five spades, one heart and five clubs. To try to accommodate jack-fourth of spades in the East hand, South ruffed the third diamond, cashed the spade king and played a spade to dummy’s ace.

However, when East discarded on the second round of trumps, suddenly the contract perished. Whether South tried the heart finesse or played on clubs, he was down, losing one spade, one heart and two diamonds.

“Sorry, partner,” said South. “I suppose I should have ducked the first trump to East.” “I don’t think that’s best,” replied North. “Why not cash your two top spades? If they break favourably, claim an overtrick. However, if either opponent discards, play on clubs. The spade ace is the entry to the rest of dummy’s clubs, and you win 10 tricks.”