AUDREY GRANT'S BETTER BRIDGE MAGAZINE July / August 2017 | Page 5

♥Q; the ♥K would be right if West
holds the ♥A.
Here, however, we don’t have a
guess. Players very rarely lead a low
card away from an ace against a
suit contract for fear of losing it or
confusing partner. If we ‘know’ East
holds the ♥A, our only hope is to
play the ♥J, hoping the complete
deal looks something like this:
♠ Q 10 6 3
4 ♠
♥ K J 6 4
♦ 7 2
♣ A 7 2
♠ 8 4
♠ A 2
n
♥ Q 9 5
♥ A 10 2 7
w
e
♦ A 8 6 4 3
♦ J 10 9 5
s
♣ J 8 4
♣ 10 6 3
♠ K J 9 7 5
♥ 8 3
♦ K Q
♣ K Q 9 5
If East has both the ♥A and ♥Q,
there’s nothing we can do. On the
actual deal, however, when we play
the ♥J, East has to win the ♥A. We
lose two more tricks to the ♠A and
♦A, but that’s all.
Let’s try this deal where the
opponents have been in the auction
but we reach 4♥:
leading away from the ♠A against a
suit contract. Which defender holds
the ♠Q? This must also be East.
West would lead the top of touching
honors against a suit contract, the
♠K from ♠K-Q, or the ♠Q from ♠Q-
J. East can’t hold the ♠A-K-Q since
West wouldn’t have nearly enough
strength to open the bidding.
So we can infer that East holds the
♠A-Q. Even adding a length point
for the five-card spade suit, West
must hold all the remaining high
cards: the ♠K-J, ♥J, ♦Q, and ♣ A-J,
to open the bidding.
Notice we can also infer that the
defenders’ spades are divided 5-3 as
soon as dummy comes down. West
must have five to open the bidding
1♠. East must have three to raise to
2♠. Here's the complete deal:
♠ 10 5 3
4♥
♥ K 8 5
♦ A 10 4
♣ 8 6 5 2
♠ K J 9 7 4
♠ A Q 6
n
♥ J 3
♥ 7 2
w
e
♦ Q 8 5
♦ 9 7 3 2
s
♣ A J 9
♣ 10 7 4 3
♠ 8 2
♥ A Q 10 9 6 4
♦ K J 6
WEST NORTH
EAST
SOUTH
♣ K Q
PASS
3 ♥
1 ♠
2 ♠
After drawing trumps, we’ll
PASS
ALL PASS
4 ♥
confidently play the ♦K and lead the
West leads the ♠7 and dummy ♦J to trap West’s ‘known’ ♦Q.
Suppose we reach 4♠ after this
comes down:
auction:
♠ 10 5 3
4♥
♥ K 8 5
WEST NORTH
EAST
SOUTH
♦ A 10 4
PASS
1 ♣
1 ♠
♣ 8 6 5 2
PASS
PASS
2 ♠
4 ♠
LEAD
♠7
n
w
e
s
♠ 8 2
♥ A Q 10 9 6 4
♦ K J 6
♣ K Q
We have two sure spade losers
and a sure club loser. To make the
contract, we have to guess which
defender holds the ♦Q. Or do we
have to guess? The opening lead has
told us where it is!
Which defender holds the ♠A? It
must be East. West is unlikely to be
We have a potential spade loser,
two heart losers, a diamond loser,
and a club loser. We can ruff our
diamond loser in dummy if the
missing diamonds don’t divide 3-3.
However, that still leaves us with
four potential losers.
Does West’s opening lead help us
decide how to play the contract? I t
sure does.
Assuming the defenders are playing
standard honor leads, West’s ♥Q
must be either a singleton or top of a
doubleton. We have the ♥J, so West
can’t be leading the top of touching
honors. Inferring that East must
hold the ♥K, we can play the heart
suit for only one loser. We can win
the ♥A at trick one, planning to lead
a heart toward our ♥J after trumps
have been drawn.
Turning our attention to the trump
suit, should we try the spade finesse,
hoping to trap East’s ♥K? No! We
don’t want to have our potential
heart winner ruffed if the full deal
looks like this:
♠ Q 10 7 3
4 ♠
♥ A 9 7
♦ K 8 5
♣ K J 7
♠ K 5
♠ 8 2
n
♥ Q 6
♥ K 10 5 3 2
w
e
♦ J 7 3
♦ 10 4 2
s
♣ Q 9 6 5 4 2
♣ A 8 3
♠ A J 9 6 4
♥ J 8 4
♦ A Q 9 6
♣ 10
If we win the ♥A and try the spade
finesse, West wins the ♠K and leads
another heart to East’s ♥K. East gives
West a heart ruff, and we still need to
PASS
PASS
PASS
West leads the ♥Q and dummy lose a club trick.
By playing the ♠A and another
comes down:
spade, we make the contract
♠ Q 10 7 3
whenever the defenders' spades are
4 ♠
♥ A 9 7
divided 2-2 or whenever East holds
♦ K 8 5
the ♠K. We only lose if West has the
♣ K J 7
♠K and three or more spades. Then
n
West can still get a heart ruff, but
LEAD
w
e
there was nothing we could do.
♥Q
s
A s declarer , we must always pay
♠ A J 9 6 4
attention
to
the
opponent ’ s
♥ J 8 4
opening lead . I t may tell us
♦ A Q 9 6
everything we need to know to
♣ 10
make the contract .
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