Dubious Logic

Three Into Two

Bridge continues to move further online, with ever more activity on the main platform, Bridge Base Online. There are more initiatives as gradually, the 2020 calendar – or at least for at-the-table play – falls away. Locally the county association has taken a lead and several clubs are staging online club nights.

A bit early to reflect wistfully on the last boards of 'face-to-face' bridge but I couldn't help looking up what they actually were, mid-March seems a long time ago. The two-board round was classic matchpoints; an 'average round', the second board underbid by opponents, the first not going our way.

I sat South and partner led the spade eight, second highest from suits without honours; four, six ,king. Declarer led to dummy's club king. Partner surely has something in hearts; how do you play your club spots to show you can help in that suit?

Normally communication between defenders involves just two suits. Classic suit-preference is binary: high for high suit, low for low suit (a few mavericks reverse that). Suit-preference discards have obvious attractions: "not the suit I haven't got, not this one either". But discards come late in the play, it is early signals that are most important.

Defending a trump contract the two-suit assumption is invariably present, for example when you give partner a ruff, and generally, trumps can be eliminated from the options. In no-trumps, for example when knocking out declarer's final stop, it's usual to show your entry. Most of the time one suit, declarer's main source of tricks, can be discounted – but not always.

Here North will have to make discards and South should help and the only way is by playing clubs. But there are three suits South may want to show. North doubtless has 98xx and needs to keep that suit. But sometimes South might hold J1076 (six-spot, lowest, encouraging at trick one) and can tell North to let go spades. Not then highest-lowest, which would show spades. Nor low to high, which would surely imply the diamond king.

I tried a mini-peter, playing my clubs five-four-eight-nine. This was the position when declarer led his fifth and last club out of hand, North to discard first.

North must not discard a diamond but that's what happened. Declarer didn't believe his luck and a diamond went from dummy but he had 12 tricks and a huge matchpoint score.

North is undeniably in trouble; declarer began with ten tricks and spade cedes an eleventh. Likewise a heart – though that's best. Declarer sets up diamonds, king, ace and another but that risks losing heart tricks. That is illusory as the defence only has two heart winners once North pitches the king, declarer never risks his ten tricks but it challenges West to find the play.

This is a tough situation and, as ever, the signal is "easier to give than to receive"; North was focussed on her own troubles, she didn't notice South's plays – even if they could be read. The most surprising thing was that this didn't happen at more tables. Lastly would you have led a top heart as North? I think you should but, like the rest of this deal, it's far from clear.

Published Saturday 4.Apr.2020