An exciting false-card.
Bridge Column for October 25, 2002, Harvey Bernstein
Both sides vulnerable.  South deals.
                              North
                              S: A 4              
                              H: Q J 10 9    
                              D: K 8         
                              C: A Q 6 5 4 
            West                             East
            S: J 8 7 6 3                     S: 10 9 5   
            H: 8 3 2                         H: K 7       
            D: J 6 4 3                       D: 10 9 7 5 2        
            C: 2                             C: K 7 3      
                              South                         
                              S: K Q 2 
                              H: A 6 5 4    
                              D: A Q       
                              C: J 10 9 8 
          The Bidding:  
                  South    West    North    East                  
                   1NT     Pass     2C      Pass
                   2H      Pass     4C      Pass
                   4S      Pass     5C      Pass
                   5H      Pass     6H      Pass
                   Pass    Pass
     Thanks to Paul Facinelli of Avon Lake for this excellent
hand which he recalled from an article on false-carding that he
had read many years ago.
     The auction was standard.  Two clubs was the Stayman
convention, asking for a four card major.  Four clubs was Gerber,
asking for aces.  Five clubs confirmed that the partnership had
all four aces and asked for kings.
     The opening lead was the two of clubs.  Declarer considered
that this could very well be a singleton and called for the ace
of clubs.  East, seemingly without thought, played the king!
     Declarer paused for a moment to consider his options.  Which
club was singleton?  Finally, he decided that the king was more
likely to be the honest card and so played the ace of hearts and
another heart.  He was willing to give up the king of hearts
rather than taking a potential losing heart finesse and having a
club come back to be trumped.  
     East's ploy worked.  He won the king of hearts (which could
not otherwise have been won) and led a small club for West to
trump with his third and last heart.
     Actually, this false card is not that difficult of a play. 
Consider the information available to East when the dummy
appears.  He knows that his king of hearts is a "dead duck" 
if declarer wishes to finesse.  He also knows that it is 
very likely that his partner has three trumps.  North-South 
appear to have a four-four fit and he has two.  What he is 
not sure about is whether the two of clubs is a singleton, 
but it is unlikely that partner has led a small card from 
three clubs against this auction.
     The problem for most of us is that we would never consider a
play like this - it just isn't something that most players think
about until they see it a few times, or have it work against
them.   
     Don't fall asleep just because you are not holding any
"great" cards.  If you bother to think about it, you may find a
wonderful play with the cards that you actually have.
______________________________________________________
Bernstein is a free-lance writer in Solon.