NORTH

NORTH
Q 7 2
A 8 4
Q J 4
K J 10 2
WEST EAST
A 10 8 J 9 5 4
J 9 6 3 7 2
A 9 6 2 8 7 3
A 4 7 6 5 3
SOUTH
K 6 3
K Q 10 5
K 10 5
Q 9 8
The bidding:
NORTH EAST SOUTH WEST
1 Pass 2NT Pass
3NT Pass Pass Pass
Opening lead: Six of
By and large, deception at the bridge table consists of little things: winning with a higher card than necessary; refusing to win a trick to make declarer misread hand; or departing from standard leads and plays to give a misleading impression of how many cards in a suit you hold, as was the case here.
The auction was textbook. With a balanced hand, stoppers in all suits and no ruffing value, South's jump to two no trump cannot be faulted and, with a minimum opening bid, North signed off in game.
From West's point of view, this was a perfect moment for some deception. Taking account of the bidding and his holding, it was obvious that East held nothing of value for the defense so, instead of making the normal fourth-best lead, West attacked with the six of diamonds. Declarer won and led a low club, winning in dummy with the king when West followed low. The club return went to the queen and ace and West continued with the two of diamonds, giving the impression that he had started with five diamonds.
Afraid that, once the defenders got the lead they would be able to cash three diamond tricks to go with the black-suit aces, instead of setting up a spade trick declarer opted to try for four heart tricks. Unfortunately, that set up a heart trick for the defense and, before declarer could set up and cash a ninth trick in spades, the defenders collected two diamond tricks, the jack of hearts and two black-suit aces -- down one.
This column is written by Tannah Hirsch and Omar Sharif. For information about Charles Goren's newsletter for bridge players, call (800) 788-1225 or write Goren Bridge Letter, P.O. Box 4410, Chicago, Ill. 60680.
& copy; 2006, Tribune Media Services
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.