LEGS 11 CAN GIVE LEGS TO SOMEONE

Leonard Cohen was best known as a singer, but he was also a poet and novelist. In “The Favorite Game” he wrote, “Seven to eleven is a huge chunk of life, full of dulling and forgetting.”

In bridge, though, seven from 11 can be vital. When partner leads what you expect to be a fourth-highest card, apply the Rule of Eleven. Subtracting the value of the card led from 11 tells you how many cards above the one led lie in the other three hands combined. (You ignore the leader’s hand.)

In this deal, look only at the North and East hands. Defending against three no-trump, your partner (West) leads the spade seven. After declarer calls for a low card from the dummy, which spade would you play?

Although three no-trump by North is laydown here, it is right to open one no-trump with that South hand. If South starts with one of a minor, and North responds one spade, South has no accurate rebid.

Seven from 11 is four. So, there are four spades higher than the seven in the North, East and South hands combined. And East can see them all: dummy’s king and his ace-jack-nine. So, declarer has no spade above the seven. (If you study the spots carefully, you can work out that South has exactly the four-three-doubleton.)

If declarer cannot beat the spade seven, neither should East. He underplays his two, leaving West on lead. Another spade allows the defenders to take the first four tricks. Later, the club king is the fifth defensive trick.

Note that if East plays any spade other than the two at trick one, the contract makes.