a little white lie

Playing matchpoints, nobody vulnerable, you are the dealer.

♠ K Q J 10 x x   ♥ --   ♦ K Q 10 x x   ♣ Q x

S (you)	West	North	East
1 ♠ 3 ♦ 3 ♠	2 ♥ Pass Pass	Pass Pass 4 ♠	Pass 3 ♥ All pass

West leads the ♦7. Take a moment now to look at dummy and plan your play.

North

♠ 9 8 x ♥ x x ♦ A 9 8 x x x  ♣ x x

South (you)

♠ K Q J 10 x x ♥ -- ♦ K Q 10 x x  ♣ Q x

West leads the ♦7, you play low from dummy, East plays the ♦J to your ♦K.

You lead a small spade to West’s ♠A. She switches to the ♣A – East follows with ♣J (!) – and then leads… Oh, stop, wait a minute. What did you play to the ♣A?

ANSWER:  I hope you played the ♣Q smoothly, in tempo without hesitation.

THE PRINCIPLE:  When you are declarer, be alert for opportunities to sow doubt and confusion in the defenders’ minds. Your ♣Q is worthless – it will never take a trick – so why not play it as if it were a singleton? Maybe the defense will switch to hearts instead of continuing a second club, and you’ll ruff and take the rest of the tricks. Maybe West won’t be fooled; nothing ventured, nothing gained. Expert defenders are less likely to be fooled, but you'll at least gain some respect from them as a crafty opponent.

Just like bluffing at the poker table, playing a falsecard at the bridge table demands a straight face and your normal routine tempo. If you spend any extra time thinking about whether to play the ♣Q, the defenders will surely recognize your attempted deceit.