Bridge Play

Another sign beside a church in my town: “Teaching kids to count is good. Teaching them what counts is best.”

Counting is often what counts at bridge. Counting the defenders’ hands can help declarer locate a missing card.

Against today’s four spades, the defense began with three rounds of clubs, and declarer ruffed with the ace of trumps. West discarded a diamond; East had held six clubs. South next drew trumps, finding West with three.

Declarer then led the king of hearts, and West won and returned a heart. South won and ruffed his last heart in dummy. East-West followed.

THIRD CLUB

South knew that West had started with three spades and two clubs. South figured that on the third club West would have discarded from his longer red suit. So South took the ace of diamonds and let the ten ride, playing West for diamond length. Making four.

Note that if West had thrown a heart on the third club, South would have had a complete count after he ruffed a heart in dummy.

DAILY QUESTION

South dealer E-W vulnerable

NORTH Q843 97 KJ62 Q52

WEST

952 A106 Q9743 J10

EAST

7

J5432

8 AK9873

SOUTH AKJ106 KQ8

A 10 5

64

North 2

You hold: ♠ AKJ106 ♥ KQ8 ♦ A105 ♣ 6 4. Your partner opens one heart. The next player passes. What do you say?

ANSWER: You will have 13 tricks if partner has a suitable minimum hand such as Q 4, A J 9 6 4, K 4 3, A 9 5. Tell him immediately that slam is in sight and enlist his cooperation: Jump to two spades, planning to show your heart support next. Some pairs have adopted “weak jumpshifts,” but the strong treatment leads to smoother auctions to slam.