If someone leads the ♥2 against your 4♠ contract , consider that the ♥2 probably shows four cards .
Here is a possible layout :
♥ 2
♥ 954
♥ 106
♥ A
Can you tell who has the missing honors in hearts ?
Good defenders , if holding the ♥AK in the East seat , know to win with the king . This informs West that East has the ace and king .
When East takes the ace , it suggests that West has the king . If West had the ♥K and queen , he would have led the king .
This suggests that West does not have the queen . East has it , giving him the AQxx of hearts .
In fact , being a detective in a book is not easy , but the thoughts should be followed when you are playing at a table or at your computer .
When something becomes known , record it in your mind . In a few minutes , when the hand is over , you can forget it , and can go on to the next hand .
If you are not comfortable doing these things during the play of the hand , go back and start reading it again , devoting your time to applying the points above on this trip through the hand .
INTRODUCTION TO PLAY
Declaring a hand is something that does not come automatically . There are all kinds of guidelines you can use , but you have to pick the right one to use .
One thing I can say is that when you play a hand , you need to pay attention to the bidding and to the cards you see played . If at trick six you need to make a decision and you don ’ t recall the
iv / foreword