Bridge Corner, February 23, 2007
By Gary Mitchell 

The bidding

North’s 3NT promised game values and a Spade stopper. When South opened 1NT, stoppers in any particular suit were not promised. 

The play

From the overcall, West is marked with at least five Spades, so South plays low on the first trick and wins the Spade continuation in order to cut communication between the East and West hands. A low Club is led, West plays low and the 10 is inserted. South wins the return, leads a second Club, the King appears and declarer winds up with 11 tricks.

The rule on defense is “second hand low.” As in life, rules are meant to be broken. Watch what happens if West plays the King on the first Club lead. Declarer cannot play low, because West will run the Spades. So, Declarer is forced to win with the Ace. Since there is no entry to dummy outside the Club suit, Declarer can no longer run Clubs and winds up with only eight tricks. There is no combination of Clubs where playing the King can cost a trick for the defenders.

Questions: gary@smabridge.com. 

Lessons: 152-6351.