NEA Bridge: Some defenses are super tough

Troy Aikman, who won the Super Bowl three times as the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys, said, "I always play every game in my mind before it begins. A lot of times in a game, a play will happen, and it will feel like deja vu, like I've seen the play happen before in my mind."

Maybe you are experiencing deja vu because this is the same deal as in my last column. Then, South made four spades after the defense began with two rounds of hearts. Declarer carefully ruffed a heart at trick three and eventually took six spades, one heart, two diamonds and one club.

East missed a difficult defense. Do you see it?

Should South have raised one no-trump to three no-trump? Here, that works well.

Despite the 4-0 spade break, North can still win nine tricks. If South's long suit had been a minor, we would have bid three no-trump without thinking about it. Maybe we should do the same with an excellent major.

East has four possible defenses after winning the first trick. (If he ducks trick one, declarer can play a second heart himself.) East can lead a card in each suit, but only one works. After any of the other three choices, South can elope with his trumps to win the 10 tricks listed above. However, one return disrupts the timing — a low club.

Suppose declarer plays a spade to hand (getting the bad news), leads a heart to the king, ruffs a heart and gives up a club. East returns a trump (or a diamond), and South lacks a dummy entry to elope with his third low trump.