Bridge Column for September 18, 1994 East - West vulnerable. North deals. NORTH S: A 7 6 H: 9 8 7 4 D: Q J 10 5 4 3 C: V o i d WEST EAST S: Q J 10 8 2 S: 9 4 H: A J 10 H: K 6 D: 7 D: K 8 C: K 8 7 6 C: Q J 10 5 4 3 2 SOUTH S: K 5 3 H: Q 5 3 2 D: A 9 6 2 C: A 9 NORTH EAST SOUTH WEST Pass Pass 1D 1S Dbl 2C 2H 3C 4H Pass Pass Pass South opened one diamond and West made a very normal spade over call. I think that many players in the North seat would make some sort of jump raise in diamonds, especially because the hand was being played in a team competition where the extra points available in a heart contract would not be critical. North had other thoughts and made a negative double, essentially showing a hand with at least six points and at least four hearts. South re-evaluated his hand, somehow came up with the equivalent of twenty points, and bid the heart game. Contracts of this nature should be soundly defeated to discourage players from making these kinds of bids. This was not going to be the case, however. With a normal trump break and the king of diamonds on side, this game was going to make. The defender in the East seat had other ideas. He reviewed the auction, considered the dummy, believed his partner, and went about finding a defense that would cause the declarer the greatest amount of difficulty. The opening lead of the queen of spades was captured in dummy with the ace. A small heart was led toward the queen. East popped up with the king of hearts, and when that won the trick, smoothly continued with the eight of diamonds. Declarer was in a quandary. He tried to picture the layout of the cards that would support the bidding and play to this point. Here is what he saw: NORTH S: A 7 6 H: 9 8 7 4 D: Q J 10 5 4 3 C: V o i d WEST EAST S: Q J 10 8 2 S: 9 4 H: J 10 H: A K 6 D: K 7 D: 8 C: K 8 7 6 C: Q J 10 5 4 3 2 SOUTH S: K 5 3 H: Q 5 3 2 D: A 9 6 2 C: A 9 If this is the actual distribution, declarer must rise with the ace of diamonds and concede a trick to the king later on. If he plays low, he will be defeated immediately. Acting on what appeared to be a very reasonable assumption, declarer took the ace of diamonds and went on to discover that he had been hood winked and defeated in an unbeatable contract. In order to be able to make a defensive play like this, you have to understand the risk involved. What was the chance that East would spoil the defense by playing the king of trumps to the second trick? If you analyze all of the possibilities of the distribution of the heart suit, you will discover that the only negative result occurs when West has the singleton ace. The potential benefit of playing the eight of diamonds through declarer far out weigh the risk of partner holding the singleton ace of hearts. The only way to be prepared to recognize a situation like this so that you may take appropriate action is to study columns and books. and play as much as possible. Believe me when I tell you that the feelings that you experience the first time you are able to make a play like this, and to know that you did it intentionally, will make all of your effort worthwhile.