Contract Bridge

Defensive play can sometimes be hard work, requiring pinpoint accuracy to reach the desired goal — defeat of the contract.

As a case in point, consider this deal, where one slip by either East or West would have allowed South to make three notrump. But the defenders hit on every correct card for the first five tricks, leaving declarer absolutely helpless.

West started the ball rolling by leading the eight of hearts, which East correctly read as the highest card his partner held in the suit. On another deal, East’s proper play to the first trick might be to withhold the ace to avoid establishing two tricks for declarer. But here, East had more pressing business at hand — namely, to try to stop declarer from utilizing dummy’s long diamond suit.

So he took the ace of hearts and shifted to the eight of clubs, hoping to drive out dummy’s ace before the diamonds could be established. South played the ten and West the jack, which declarer ducked.

It was now West’s turn to make a sacrifice for the common cause, and he came through with flying colors by returning the club king! Once again declarer followed low from dummy, hoping that West could not continue clubs. But that hope went aglimmering when the club deuce dislodged the ace.

South’s only chance now was to find the ace of diamonds singleton, but it was not to be. East refused to take the ace on the first diamond lead, and declarer finished with only seven tricks — two spades, two hearts, two clubs and a diamond.

Of course, South would have gone down only one had he taken the second club lead with the ace, in effect conceding defeat. But that’s the best he could have done against a relentless defense that never let up from the word “go.”