AThe Bridge Corner
By Gary Mitchell

Opening Lead: Heart Ace

The bidding explained: When South rebids the suit, showing the sixth Spade, North can easily bid four Spades. Please notice West has passed throughout the auction. West cannot make a take out double without Diamond support, and does not have a five-card suit with which to overcall. Contrary to popular belief, you cannot bid every time you pick up 13 points.

The play: West leads the Heart Ace, and switches to the Spade Queen. Declarer counts four Heart losers and a Spade loser. Declarer cannot run the Diamonds to discard Hearts until the trump are pulled. So, you win the Spade switch and play a second top Spade. Now you play on Diamonds. However, West trumps the third Diamond and takes two more Hearts for down one. 

The key here is to let West win the Spade switch at trick two. If West continues Spades, you can pull trump and run the Diamonds. If West switches back to Hearts, all he can take is two Hearts and a Spade. When you have a sure loser in a suit, think about when you want to lose that trick.

Questions: email me at gary@smabridge.com.  Lessons: Call 152-6351.