Contract Bridge

The question “What can defeat me?” is one declarer should always ask himself at the start of play. He should not dismiss even the remotest possibility of failure without first attempting to protect against it. Take this typical case where West leads a spade against three notrump. South wins East’s jack with the king and notes that he has only eight sure tricks — one spade, two hearts, three diamonds and two clubs. However, he also notes that he may score two additional diamond tricks if the missing diamonds are divided 3-2.

There is no good reason to expect a 4-1 or 5-0 diamond division, and South might therefore feel tempted to follow the usual practice of cashing the ace and then leading a diamond to the king. If he did this, he would eventually find himself going down either one or two. Of course, he could ascribe the outcome to bad luck, but actually it would be due to bad management.

The proper play at trick two is a low diamond to the king. Once both defenders follow suit, the contract becomes a certainty. Declarer continues with a diamond and, if East produces the eight, finesses the nine. This assures nine tricks whether the nine wins or loses, since if West wins the trick — which means the diamonds have divided 3-2 — he cannot profitably continue with a spade.

If East plays the ten or jack on the diamond lead from the dummy, South is all the more pleased. He wins with the queen and is then certain to score five diamond tricks whether or not West follows suit. Declarer is on equally solid ground if it turns out that West has four diamonds. In that case, he can concede a diamond to West to establish his ninth trick. Finally, even if East has all five diamonds, the initial diamond lead to the king — on which West would show out — still permits South to score the crucial ninth trick in diamonds without allowing East to gain the lead.