BRIDGE
Subtle point
Andrew Robson
EAST put up one of the most brilliant defences I have ever seen on this week's hand. He was fortunate to be playing against a good enough declarer to be fooled.
Dealer South 4 Q 8 3 11/K 9 8
♦ K 108 6 +K 4 2 Neither 47 5 ♦ 105 3 • Q 4 +A Q 9 side vulnerable 8 7 5 41 109 2 • Q 7 6 ♦ 9 7 5 2 +J 3
N
W E 4A K6 4 • AJ 4 2
• A J 3 4 10 6 The Bidding South West North East 1, pass 2+ pass 3NT pass pass pass West led ♦6 and dummy's ♦Q held. Declarer crossed to 4K and led 410, cor- rectly playing low in dummy after West played low. East ducked. Declarer returned to his hand with VA and led a second 4. When West played low, he stopped to think. The only two 4 layouts consistent with the 4 plays to date that would allow declarer to make the hand were West holding 4Jxx and East 4Kx, or West 41Cmc and East 44.1x. He rejected the latter possibility because he assumed that East would have won +J from +Jx. Therefore he played for East to have start- ed with a doubleton 4K. He rose with dummy's ace and lost all dummy's 4s. He established an extra V trick but ended up two down. Had East won +10 with +Jr, declarer would have won his ♦ return and played a 4 to dummy's 4Q to make all dummy's 4s. East's defence was brilliant, but declarer had missed a subtle point. If East really had started with 4Kx and cor- rectly ducked 410, West would have start- ed with 4Jxx. He would have a standard expert play of inserting 4.1 on the second round, creating the impression that he started with 41(Tx. Effectively, declarer had to choose between West having mis- defended or East having been brilliant. He probably made the right choice in the long run.
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