Today’s players appreciate beauties of the game

It’s a pleasure to watch when Ed, my club’s expert, opposes Rose, who also knows and appreciates the beauties of the game.

Rose was today’s South in a penny game. A contract of four spades would have failed with an unlucky break in trumps, but Rose’s 3NT had a chance. Ed led the four of diamonds: nine, ten, jack.

Rose had eight tricks. She saw that if she attacked the spades, she might go down even if the suit broke 3-2; the defense might take a spade and four diamonds. So at the second trick, Rose returned a diamond (!) to let West take his tricks.

Ed won with the king and huddled. If declarer wanted him to run the diamonds, it couldn’t be right to oblige her. So Ed exited with the jack of hearts. Rose took her ace and persisted with her last diamond.

Ed won that — East threw a club — and still refused to take his good diamonds. He led the ten of hearts. (As it happened, he could have cashed one more diamond, then led a spade.) Rose had to win. If she ducked, Ed would cash his two remaining low diamonds for down one. But then East was left with two good hearts and still had Q-J-10-8 in spades, so Rose went down one.

If Ed takes his ace of diamonds at the third trick — even if he shifts to the jack of hearts at Trick Four — East will be squeezed in the major suits when Rose cashes her club tricks. East must concede declarer’s ninth trick.

“Fine defense,” Rose told Ed.

“Thanks,” Ed acknowledged. “You played it well.”

I wish I heard such gracious postmortems more often.