Leaving A Light On

You are West, holding ♠ K 8 3 2 ♥ K J 6 4 3 ♦-- ♣ A Q J 2. 

North, on your left, is the dealer. After two passes, your right-hand opponent opens 1 ♦. You have good support for the unbid suits and opening values -- a textbook takeout double. 

You	North	Partner	South
	Pass	Pass	1 ♦
Dbl	1 ♥	1 ♠	1 NT
2 ♠	3 ♦	Pass	Pass
3 ♠	4 ♦	All pass

Partner bid spades, so you lead one. Your fourth-best ♠ 2 goes to partner's ♠ J and declarer's ♠ A.

	♠ 7 4 ♥ A 9 7 5 ♦ A Q 9 4 2 ♣ 10 3
♠ K 8 3 2 ♥ K J 6 4 3 ♦ — ♣ A Q J 2	N W E S

Declarer draws three rounds of trump, ending in her hand. You discard the ♣ Q to get partner's attention, then a high spade and a low heart. Declarer leads the ♥ Q and you cover with the ♥ K. Declarer wins with the ♥ A, and leads a low heart to her ♥ 10 and your ♥ J; partner followed suit. Dummy's hearts are now established, she can pitch two black-suit losers from her hand if she can get to dummy.

Your lead. Now what?

	♠ 7 ♥ 9 7 ♦ Q 9 ♣ 10 3
♠ K 3 ♥ 6 4 ♦ — ♣ A J 2	N W E S

ANSWER: Partner left the light on for you! Lead the ♠ 3 to the only entry in her hand, the ♠ Q. Then partner can lead a club through declarer. A heart trick, two clubs, and finally your spade king: down one.

Remember the first trick. Partner played the jack, and declarer won with the ace. If declarer had the queen, surely she would have played that instead. So, partner showed you she has the ♠ Q. What's more, declarer must have the ♠ 10; partner would have played the ten (from Q-J-10) if she had it.

Once partner is in with the ♠ Q, dummy will be out of spades. (Note that if you cash your king first, dummy will ruff the third round of spades.) Dummy's hearts and diamonds are all good. The club switch will be obvious to partner, especially since you discarded the queen on the second trick.

THE PRINCIPLE: This hand highlights the importance of following suit with the lowest of touching honors. If partner had woodenly played the ♠ Q on the first trick -- denying the jack -- you would presume that declarer has the jack. In that case, your best hope would be that partner has the club king. That won't work out very well today.

	♠ 7 4 ♥ A 9 7 5 ♦ A Q 9 4 2 ♣ 10 3
♠ K 8 3 2 ♥ K J 6 4 3 ♦ — ♣ A Q J 2	N W E S	♠ Q J 9 5 ♥ 8 2 ♦ 10 7 5 ♣ 9 6 5 4
	♠ A 10 6 ♥ Q 10 ♦ K J 8 6 3 ♣ K 8 7

BONUS MINUTE: Your first discard is the queen of clubs, not the jack. When signaling with touching honors, signal with the highest one; that promises the next honor down. Your queen signal thus denies holding the king; partner can easily realize that you must have the ace and jack.  With touching honors, always

• lead from the top
• follow from the bottom (partner's ♠ J)
• and signal from the top (your ♣ Q).

-- Ray 

Better Bridge in 5 Minutes. Guaranteed! (or the next one is free)