EVERY BID THEY MAKE GIVES INFORMATION

Alfred Hitchcock quipped, “Television has done much for psychiatry by spreading information about it, as well as contributing to the need for it.”

Today, information is spread across the internet. At the bridge table, we cannot go online, but we can still gain valuable information by listening to the bidding and watching the cards that are played.

In this deal, East opens one spade, and South ends in four hearts. After West leads the diamond two, what should declarer do?

East and West were robots, who occasionally do strange things. It was surprising that East did not bid two spades over North’s takeout double. If East had, it would have gone pass pass - double - pass, and South would have been even more uncomfortable. (Pass would have garnered 300 for down two.)

North’s raise to four hearts was a slight overbid with the spade king seeming to be worthless. But it was hard to do less.

A human West would have led the spade seven, but not a robot.

South was allowed to win the first trick with his diamond eight. He played a club to dummy’s 10 and East’s king. East cashed the spade ace (dummy unblocked the king) and played a second spade to declarer’s queen. What next?

Since there were only 14 points missing, East had to have the heart king. So South played a heart to the ace, happy to see the king fall. He continued with a low heart to his 10 and West’s jack. After a club to the queen and a diamond to the queen, declarer picked up West’s trumps and claimed.