BRIDGE MASTERCLASS

YOUR partner leads ♣8, against South’s 4♥. How would you defend?

ETHICALLY, you are entitled to pause for as long as you need to study dummy and consider your defence before you play to the opening trick. It is usually good practice to say you are doing this to declarer so that he doesn’t think you are hesitating unduly.

This is certainly a case for pausing before playing the ace. The lead suggests that partner is short in clubs, although it is unlikely that he has a singleton, or declarer would surely have shown a five-card club suit in the bidding. It is critical that you hold up the ace so that partner can get you on lead if he can win a trump trick; if you win the ace straight away and return a club, partner will have to try to get you in with a diamond, but of course declarer will rise with dummy’s ace and finish drawing trumps.