Bridge Corner
By Gary Mitchell, Jan 12, 2007

The bidding

A nice, straightforward Stayman auction. Oh, if there were only more of these!

The play

With the opening Spade lead, it looks like the defenders are going to lead Spades whenever they get in. So, to make this you need to trump two Diamonds in dummy, thereby needing two trump in dummy. So, you win the opening lead in dummy and lead a Diamond. This is a defensive problem! 

Was East ready? Did East play low smoothly? If so, you should play West for the Ace and put in the Jack. If you do this on this layout, you go down one. West will lead a Spade when in with the Diamond Queen, and again when in with the Club Ace. 

If you put in the Diamond Jack, did you play it wrong? No! If East was ready, she deserves to do well. If East was not ready, she deserves to lose. Should you go up with the Ace when there is a singleton in dummy? Only if you want to be sure to score your Ace every time. But not if you think about how to defeat the contract. 

Questions: gary@smabridge.com 
Lessons: 152-6351.