Contract Bridge

This deal appeared in a British par contest many years ago. The par for North-South was to reach four spades; the par for East-West was to defeat the contract.

The bidding shown, which includes a strong jumpovercall by South, was the popular route to four spades at the time. Since most players now use the jump overcall as preemptive, the spade game would be reached today by a different sequence of bids. One possibility would be for South to bid four spades directly over one club.

In the play, West leads a club, and East promptly collects the Q-K-A. It is West’s discards on the second and third clubs that determine the outcome.

If West throws two diamonds, or a heart and a diamond, on the high clubs, South will inevitably score seven spades and three diamonds for 10 tricks. The only way for West to defeat the contract is to discard the six and ace of hearts! East then returns a heart at trick four, assuring West of a spade trick regardless of how declarer proceeds.

While it is highly unusual for a defender to toss an ace away, West should reason that he has nothing to lose and possibly much to gain by discarding both of his hearts.

If South is void in hearts, the heart discards are necessary to promote a trump trick. Even if declarer has a heart, West will be able to ruff East’s heart return at trick four as South follows suit.

Thus, West should conclude that discarding both hearts cannot fail to set the contract no matter what declarer’s hand actually is. Though this conclusion necessitates throwing an ace to the winds, the deed must be done.