Bridge

There are other ways to get partners to do the right thing, however. Leaning over the table to confiscate their drink or simply throwing things at them are techniques that have their supporters but ideally we should employ less drastic methods.

East deserved full marks on this hand from a matchpointed event, where every overtrick (or overtrick prevented) is vital. West led the diamond five to the four, Ace and three. East returned the diamond six, won by declarer's King. The Ace and King of trumps followed and when West's Queen fell East paused to assimilate this new piece of information.

West's carding in diamonds could be from nothing other than 52 doubleton, so declarer must have three diamond winners, to go with six spades and the two hearts visible in dummy. The only possible trick left for defence is the club Ace. Could anything go wrong? When declarer leads a club, West, who doesn't know the diamond layout, may play low, hoping South began with two low clubs and misguesses. To prevent him doing this, East discarded the club Queen on the second round of trumps and now West had no reason not to rise with the club Ace at the next trick.

This article first appeared in Scotland on Sunday, September 12, 2010