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PLAY and DEFENCE for Improving Players
One Ruff is Enough
South should have been very thankful on the following board that West scored a diamond ruff because without that ruff, the 4
contract would have been pretty hard to make. However, South did not take advantage of their good fortune:
| South Deals N-S Vul |
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| West | North | East | South |
| 2 ♠ | |||
| Pass | 4 ♠ | All pass |
South opened 2, a weak 2, with North having a shot at the reasonable 4 game.
West led 
3 to East’s ace and your king. Undeterred, East returned the 5 ruffed by West’s 3. West exited the 
8… and you were at the crossroads.
Our declarer played low with East putting in Q and gave West another diamond ruff. West cashed A and exited a club with declarer drawing trumps finishing in dummy to discard their club loser on the established diamonds. That was down 2, no great result. Should South have done better?
| South Deals N-S Vul |
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The answer is, of course,"yes".
If East held the A, there was no hope for the contract. East would score two aces and West two ruffs. Too often, we are fatalistic about where honours are. We have to convince ourselves that certain cards are where we want them to be. On this deal, South needed the A with West. There was nothing in the bidding that suggested who held this card. So, assuming the heart honours are split (nothing will save you if East has both ace and queen while it does not matter if West has them both), play for the lie which will benefit you. Up with the king in dummy and give West a wry smile if you like. It is true you will go two down instead of one down if West did hold the queen and East the ace but playing the king gives you your only chance of making the contract.
After winning the K, play two high spades, hoping that West started with 3 trumps (it is quite likely West had more trumps than East since West was short in diamonds). The news would be good and two discards on the diamonds will land you a lovely overtrick. How good is that!
Compare all that to an initial club lead. Try manoeuvring between the two hands without losing a trick in each suit or two trumps and two aces. West did South a favour by leading their singleton but South was not up to taking advantage of this friendly situation. One ruff is enough, thank you.
Richard Solomon
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