Sauk Valley NewSpaperS November 21, 2009
Bridge
John Brown said, "Be mild
with the mild, shrewd with
the crafty, confiding to the
honest, rough to the ruffian,
and a thunderbolt to the liar."
This last deal covering
third-hand play is much more
difficult than the others. If
you and your partner would
find the right defense for the
correct reason, you are a
shrewd pair.
You are West. Against two
spades, you lead the heart
two: four, king, eight. Partner
cashes the heart ace: 10,
discard, six. Then partner
leads the heart five: jack, ruff,
nine. Would you shift to a
diamond or a club? Why?
Yes, you should have bal-
anced with two no-trump,
showing both minors.
Declarer has been crafty
with his heart cards. You
cannot tell if partner's five
is high or low. The unseen
hearts are the seven and
three. The key came at trick
one. Since East cannot have
started with ace-king-dou-
bleton (that would give South
six hearts), if his entry were in
diamonds, East would have
won the first trick with the
heart ace, then cashed the
king, a suit-preference signal
for diamonds, the higher-
ranking of the other two side
suits. Because East won trick
one with the king � the lower-
ranking card � then cashed
the ace, it is right to shift to
a club.
East wins that trick with
the ace and returns a heart
for you to ruff, defeating the
contract.
Note that if you switch to a
diamond, declarer takes nine
tricks: six spades, one heart
and two diamonds.
Finally, if partner lied (mis-
carded) in hearts, having the
diamond ace, don't throw a
thunderbolt. Quietly move to
the next deal.
� 2009 NEA Inc.
How to outsmart
sneaky opponents
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