Bridge - The Scotsman 13/06/12

THIS is another deal where careless discarding allowed declarer to make a contract that ought to fail. To make the right discards a defender needs to indulge in a little logical thought.

West led the three of clubs against 3NT, and the defenders cashed four club tricks. East switched to the queen of diamonds, taken with the ace. Declarer now applied pressure by cashing his own long suit. Four rounds of hearts forced East to make two discards from spades and diamonds. The spades did not look very exciting, so he discarded two of those. A grateful declarer cashed four spade tricks for his contract.

East should count declarer’s points. South has announced 12-14 and has already played ace-king of hearts and queen of clubs. He may have the king of diamonds, or the king of spades, but not both. If he has the king of spades he has eight Sure Tricks, and will make nine unless East guards the fourth round of spades. If he has the king of diamonds he has just seven Sure Tricks, but the spade finesse will bring an eighth. If he also has the ten of diamonds he will make three diamond tricks with a finesse, so East must rely on West to have that card: there is little point in clinging to the jack.

A helpful rule is ‘Keep Length with Dummy’. As the only defender who could possibly win the fourth round of spades East must keep all his spades and discard two diamonds.