Reading the Cards by Steve Becker

The Hour – Apr 23, 2002

North Dealer; Both Sides Vulnerable

Lead: 5

Cards always tell a story. The difficult part is first to recognize the story being told and, second to put the information to gainful use. Here is a typical case.

West led a heart, won by East with the K, and East returned the 8. West took declarers Q with the ace and continued a heart to South’s J. Declarer led a diamond to the Q, East taking the A and that was the end of the hand. South won the rest of the tricks to make 4NT.

The contract should have been defeated — and West was the player at fault. He should have known the exact distribution of the hearts in the unseen hands and should have permitted South to hold the second trick with the Q in order to maintain a link with East in hearts.

Had West ducked the queen, 3NT inevitably would have failed. Declarer would have lost four hearts and a diamond. West can tell from East’s return of the 8, his highest remaining heart, that declarer started with precisely the  Q J 6.

It is true that in theory South could also have had the missing four spot. But in practice he could not, since he would surely have played the 4 rather than the Q at trick two, since dummy had the 10. Once West reaches this conclusion, it becomes obvious that his best bet is to duck the queen and hope his partner will gain the lead before South can run nine tricks. In the actual hand, virtue is rewarded, and the contract is defeated.

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