Mislead partner and declarer

Fran Lebowitz said, “Remember that as a teenager you are in the last stage of your life when you will be happy to hear that the phone is for you.”

It was once believed that a teenager would never win an open world bridge championship. But it happened back in 2013, when Michal Klukowski from Poland captured the Rosenblum Cup at the age of 17. Two years later, he won the Bermuda Bowl, the most prestigious world title.

Klukowski surely would have found the best defense on this deal. What happens in four hearts after West leads the spade ace?

North’s two-spade cue-bid announced a heart fit and at least game-invitational values (at most eight losers).

When the deal was originally played, the first trick went spade ace, four, two, six. Then came the spade king: jack, three, nine. For want of anything better to do, West continued with the spade queen: heart seven, spade eight, spade 10.

Declarer took dummy’s two heart honors, played a club to his ace, drew the rest of East’s trumps and led a diamond. West won with his ace to save the overtrick.

“I had hoped to gain a trump trick,” commented East.

“Well, maybe you could have,” responded his more experienced partner.

West pointed out that East should have played high-low in spades, feigning a doubleton. Then South would surely have ruffed the third spade high on the board and gone down, losing two spades, one heart and one diamond.

This is the type of deceptive play that always works — unless you hold your cards badly!