If he declines, force him anyway

When did the routine, “After you,” “No, after you,” start?

The earliest reference I can find is Alphonse and Gaston, two Frenchmen who bowed deeply and never got anything done because each waited for the other. Forty years later, the theme was adopted by Warner Bros.’ Goofy Gophers, Mac and Tosh.

Today’s deal made me think of that. How should South play in four spades after West leads the trump jack, and East plays the queen?

In the auction, South’s one-spade rebid showed four spades and was forcing for one round, not to game. If instead South had jumped to two spades, that would have been fourthsuit game-forcing and denied holding four spades.

Over one spade, North jumped to game with a hand worth 18 support points (16 high-card points and 2 shortage points for the singleton) and having only five losers (one spade, one heart, one diamond and two clubs — you look at only the first three cards in each suit).

Perhaps your first thought is to ruff dummy’s club losers in your hand. The play goes: spade king, club ace, club ruff, heart to dummy, club ruff, heart to dummy, club ruff with your last trump, diamond king. But East wins with his ace and returns a heart, West ruffing your ace. Now you have four losers: two spades, one heart (dummy’s six) and one diamond.

It is better to establish your diamond suit. At trick two, lead dummy’s diamond. And if East ducks (good defense), you say, “No, after you,” by leading another diamond and discarding a heart or club from the board. You will lose only two trumps and the diamond ace.