After a normal auction, West starts with the jack of diamonds. East wins the ace and returns a diamond. Declarer wins the king in dummy and runs the jack of hearts. West wins this trick with the king and plays the nine of clubs.
East wins the ace and returns a club. Declarer wins the queen and draws the rest of the trump, claiming ten tricks.
Everyone is happy. This should be an average board for both sides. Or should it?
Everyone has rules to play by. Two of the most normal of these rules come in to play for the defense on this hand. First, you should return the opening lead unless you have a strong reason not to. Second, you should not underlead a non-trump ace when you are defending against a suit contract.
These are both good rules and everyone should know them and follow them, but don't allow the rules to clog up your thinking when you have more information to work with.
On this hand, you have a lot of information. You may not realize it, but think about it for a moment. How many clubs does declarer have? Go back to the bidding. Declarer raised partner's club bid so he must have three, four, or five. He certainly wouldn't make a direct raise with only two. So how many clubs does partner have? One, two, or none. If he has one, you should lay down the ace of clubs and then play a second club for him to trump, except, he doesn't have one club. Why? He would have led it.
So, he either has two, or he has none. In either case, it is correct to lead a small club to trick two. If partner has none, he will trump this trick and you will score your ace later in the play. If he has two, he will follow suit, and if and when he gains the lead, he will play his second club to your ace so that you can play another club for him to trump.
This is the hand where you will violate both rules and get a good result, as well as a big smile from your partner.
District 5 of the American Contract Bridge League sponsored the All American Regional Bridge Tournament from May 24 to 31 in Independence. The following players were successful in their respective events on May 26. Other results were listed last week, more will appear in future columns.
Two Session Open Pairs (97 pairs). Stratum A. 1. Bruce Keidan and S. Ruskin, Pittsburgh, PA. 2. Sanford and Adrienne Ozan, Cleveland. Stratum B. 1. The Ozans. 2. Steven Grzegorzewski, Meadville, PA, and Chet Mody, Greenville, PA. Stratum C. 1. Lynn Nosse, Grafton, and Barbara Zink, Olmsted Falls. 2. Vivian Duffy and Janet Esmond, Cleveland.
Afternoon Side Game Series 1 (35 pairs). Strata A & B. 1. Lois Butler, Chagrin Falls, and Richard Brown, Lakeside. 2. Opal Taylor, Solon, and B. Shakoor, Pepper Pike. Stratum C. 1. Taylor and Shakoor. 2. Lia Staaf, Rocky River, and Thomas Ball, Lakewood.
Afternoon Non Life Master Pairs (22 pairs). Strata A & B. 1. Melvin Wolfman, Fairlawn, and Dolores Fritz-Rohner, Akron. 2. Donald Snyder and Jon Wendelken, Akron. Stratum C. 1. Snyder and Wendelken. 2. Murray and Marilyn Edelman, Beachwood.
Evening Side Game Series 2 (35 Pairs). Strata A & B. 1. Mark Rishavy, Westlake, and Karl Zaman, Strongsville. 2. Rosemary Kleis, Solon, and Bob Bartko, Aurora. Stratum C. 1. Harvey Cohen, Seven Hills, and Kerry Davidson, North Olmsted. 2. Gary Collins, Univerity Heights, and J. Rose, Painsville.
Evening Non Life Master Pairs (14 pairs). Strata A & B. 1.
Clarence and Martha Kistemaker, Cleveland. 2/3. Jack Charles,
Pittsburgh, PA, and Clair Charnigo, Parma Heights, with John
Kirsits and Allen Beroza, East Amherst, NY. Stratum C. 1. Murray
and Marilyn Edelman, Beachwood. 2. Daniel Flanagan and Jack
Hickey, Canton.
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Bernstein is
a free-lance writer in Solon.