BRIDGE MASTERCLASS

YOU are West, defending against South’s 4♠ (1♠-2♣; 2♠-4♠). You lead ♥6, won by East’s ace, who then continues with queen and another heart. Declarer ruffs the third round and leads a trump. How do you plan the defence?

The bidding suggests east could hold no more than 6hCPs, so you have seen his total values in ♥AQ.

You can also see that declarer has plenty of tricks available once he has drawn trumps (four clubs, at least three diamonds and four trumps). So your obvious solution is to prevent him from drawing trumps safely.

You do this by holding up your ♠A, not once, but twice; if declarer then persists with a third round, you win and play another heart, which kills the contract when it forces declarer to ruff with his last trump, promoting two more winners for you.

if you win ♠A before the third round, dummy will still have a trump to protect against your heart lead.

PETER DONOVAN