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BRIDGE

BY STEVE BECKER

THURSDAY, FEB. 2, 2023

Defence is said to be the most difficult part of the game, and there is no doubt that the great majority of players would probably agree with this assessment. But there is also no denying that good defence is a very logical process, and that most mistakes in this area are due largely to lazy thinking. There are important indicators available in nearly every hand, and the player who is always on the lookout for them is sure to do well in the long run.

Let’s say you’re West and lead a spade against South’s threenotrump contract. East wins with the king and returns the five, South following with the 10 to the first trick and the queen to the second. An impetuous West might take the queen with the ace and return a spade. South would win with the jack and, after losing a club finesse to East, make four notrump.

A more thoughtful player, however, would defeat the contract. He would have no trouble deducing at trick two that South had started with the Q-J-10 of spades and East with the K-5-2.

South’s play of the 10 and queen in conjunction with East’s plays of the king and five help to clarify the situation in two different ways. First, declarer cannot have the Q-10 alone because, in that case, East would have returned the two, his original fourth-best spade, not the five.

Secondly, it can be inferred that South has the Q-J-10 without the deuce, because it would not make sense for him to play the 10 instead of the two on the opening trick if he held the Q-J-10-2.

In the actual deal, ducking the queen at trick two leaves South in an untenable position, and he eventually goes down one after the club finesse loses and East returns his remaining spade.

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2023-02-02T08:00:00.0000000Z

2023-02-02T08:00:00.0000000Z

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