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Bridge
By Philip Adler
When you are in a trump contract, you start by counting losers. But on some deals (I estimate around 20 percent), you do better to count winners. So, in an ideal world, you count both before playing from the dummy at trick one.
South is in five clubs. What should he do after West leads the spade king?
North's double was negative, promising four hearts. South's two-spade cue-bid was an artificial game-force. Then probably either South should have bid three no-trump over three clubs, or North should have cue-bid three spades over three diamonds to ask his partner to bid three no-trump with a spade stopper.
Note, though, that to make three no-trump, declarer must win four club tricks. And after his ace drops West's jack, the percentage play is to finesse East for the queen.
In five clubs, though, South can get home without guessing the trump suit. Suppose he wins the first trick with his spade ace and cashes his two top trumps. Now he must collect these 11 tricks: one spade, two hearts, two diamonds and six clubs.
Declarer cashes his top diamonds, ruffs a diamond in the dummy, takes the heart ace and king, trumps a heart in his hand, and ruffs his last diamond. That is 10 tricks in. And when South leads dummy's last heart, he must collect one more trump trick with his nine via a coup en passant. If East ruffs low, South overruffs; if East ruffs with his queen, South discards a spade loser and his club nine is then high.