Contract Bridge

Generally speaking, precise defense is much more difficult to achieve than precise declarer play. Nevertheless, the fact remains that in the majority of deals, the defenders should take every trick they’d be entitled to take if they saw all four hands.

Consider this case where East-West cooperated perfectly to defeat four hearts two tricks. West led the queen of diamonds, and East played the deuce, which in effect asked West to stop playing the suit.

Showing complete trust in his partner, West shifted to the six of clubs. Declarer played low from dummy, and East won the trick with the jack.

East could not know that

West’s club was a singleton, so, in an effort to coax another club lead from partner, East returned the nine of diamonds. East expected West to overtake the nine with the ten or jack and lead another club.

But West allowed East’s nine to win the trick because he wanted a club lead from East so that he could ruff and quickly score the setting trick.

It was not difficult for East to size up the actual situation when he found himself still on lead with the diamond nine. The only sensible explanation he could come up with for West’s play was that West had no more clubs and wanted a club ruff.

So, displaying full faith and confidence in partner, East returned a club at trick four into dummy’s A- Q- 9. West ruffed to put the contract down one, and declarer still had to lose another club to East’s king later on for down two.

The hand demonstrates the importance of partnership cooperation during the play. Exercising plain common sense can work wonders on defense.