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PLAY and DEFENCE
NOT FOR THE DEFENCE’S BENEFIT.
What’s the ultimate insult for a defender, defending a no-trump contract? You make a bad lead…and…get the suit you led played straight back at you! You may feel deflated… but do not give up, just yet!
You lead 4th highest of your longest and strongest. It appears to be a huge failure as partner lets you down (again?!) contributing some miniscule card and declarer winning with far too low a card. Then, the ultimate insult. Rather than running their own excellent looking long suit (or taking a finesse or losing a trick in that suit), the declarer plays back your suit at trick two!
Hold on! Time to take stock. Stop feeling sorry for yourself, annoyed at partner (she cannot play what she was not dealt!) and time to apply yourself to the matter in hand which is to beat the contract or at least restrict declarer to the minimum. So, take a look!
North (dummy)
Dealer South ♠ 94
Vul. All. ♥ J753
♦ 92
♣ AQJ72
West (you)
♠ K1053
♥ Q9
♦ AJ854
♣ 10
West North East South
1NT 1
2♣ 2 x Pass Pass
2♦ 3♣ Pass 3NT
Pass Pass Pass
¹ 15-17 ² any single- suited hand
North’s double of 2♣ was penalty style and although it did not have to show clubs, it did this time as was evident by the 3♣ bid. You led a low diamond on which your partner played the ♦ 6 and declarer the ♦10. At trick two, back came the ♦Q. Do you duck or win and if you win, what do you play at trick three?
If you duck, you will be able to run four tricks in the suit once you get in with one of your major suit honours. Great. There’s just one little snag. When declarer thanked their partner for dummy’s wealth, they would have noticed a moderately good club suit. Why not run tricks in that suit first? There is an answer which will cater for a good 90% of the cases when you get your own suit played back at you and a good suit faces you in dummy.
Declarer has a weakness somewhere and if he runs his long suit first, then the defence will either work out or signal to each other where it is…and when the diamond is eventually played, the defence will take their tricks. So, you cannot afford to duck a second diamond since that could easily be declarer’s ninth trick.
Put on your thinking cap. Win your ace. You know your partner does not have the king. Which major are you going to play? For spades to be right, you will need your partner to have the ace and the queen. For hearts to be right, you need your partner to have the ace, king and the 10. So, which is more likely?
My money is on the spades. Did you play ♠3?
Dealer South North
Vul. All ♠ 94
♥ J753
♦ 92
♣ AQJ72
West East
♠ K1053 ♠ AQJ7
♥ Q9 ♥ 108642
♦ AJ8543 ♦ 76
♣ 10 ♣ 43
South
♠ 862
♥ AK
♦ KQ10
♣ K9865
Hey, partners are not always unhelpful! This one had the ♠ J as well! There is a really useful rule to follow. If declarer wins trick one cheaply and plays your suit back at trick two offering you a trick, and ignoring their own long suit, then:
1 Their suit is solid.
- They have a weakness somewhere.
When you realise that, all you have to do is win the trick and work out where the weakness is. There’s only a choice of two suits!
So, at the table, did our West find the spade switch? They won their diamond ace at trick two…and then played…..another diamond! 
p.s. Did you see how the declarer could have made his contract without the defence's help? Cash the two top hearts and down would come the queen...nine tricks! However, were the queen not to fall, then the line of playing back a diamond after cashing one or two high hearts was surely doomed to failure. At the table, South was lucky though maybe judged (and judged correctly) that West was unlikely to find the best defence.
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