The Daily Reporter – Feb 17, 2006
Most jokes are funny because of the unexpected twist in the punch line. Vaclav Havel, Czech playwright and former president, thinks the same applies to the theater. He wrote, “Drama assumes an order. If only so that it might have -. by disrupting that order — a way of surprising.”
Doing the unexpected can have good results at the bridge table especially when the subterfuge is perpetrated by the declarer. But sometimes the defenders should see through declarer’s smokescreen by asking themselves this question:
Why did he do that rather than take a normal approach of drawing trumps or establishing dummy’s good suit, or whatever?
 A K Q 2 10 7 3 A 5 J 7 6 3 |
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| 8 5 3 9 6 2 Q J 10 8 K 9 4 |
|
Lead: Q
In this deal, look at only the West and North hands. Defending against four spades, you lead the diamond queen, ace, two, three. Declarer immediately plays a club to his queen. How would you plan the defense from there?
If I had held the East hand: A K Q J 9 7 6 4 2 10 8 5 2
I would have overcalled one heart. That looks like a five-card suit to me. But if I end up as the dummy, I would put a diamond among the hearts. Why didn’t declarer draw trumps?
Because he did not want to give the defenders a chance to signal. Note that if South takes just one round East discards the heart ace to make the situation crystal-clear to his partner. West should still find the heart shift.
At trick one, East played his lowest diamond, denying the king. And if declarer thinks it is right to be playing on clubs the defenders should look elsewhere. But many Wests would take the easy way out, leading a second diamond.
The four hands:
| A K Q 2 10 7 3 A 5 J 7 6 3 |
||
| 8 5 3 9 6 2 Q J 10 8 K 9 4 |
A K Q J 9 7 6 4 2 10 8 5 2 |
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| J 10 9 7 6 4 8 5 4 K 3 A Q |