The Bridge Corner
By Gary Mitchell

The bidding explained: North’s 3 Heart bid showed about 9-11 points with Heart support. East’s 3 Spade bid was pointless. All this kind of bid does is drive the opponents to game, which they may not have bid freely. Either bid 4 Spades with this, or just pass. 

he play: The lead should tell you that East has the King. Why would West lead a Diamond from KJ10, when they have both bid Spades? Covering the Diamond with the Queen leads to defeat. East will play the King, which you must win, or East will shift to a Spade. You will then lose a Diamond, two Spades and a Club. Oops, been here before, haven’t we?

Let the Jack win the first trick. West’s best play is to lead another Diamond. You win and pull trump in three rounds. Now you want to set up the Clubs, but again keep East off lead. Lead a Club from dummy and put in the 10. West is on lead and can take his Spade Ace, but that is all. If they don’t take it, they won’t get it, as your Spades will all go away on the Clubs. 

On this hand, we call East the danger hand. The danger hand is the Defender that can hurt you the most if he gains the lead. This is a very important concept to understand.

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