Kingsley Amis, a British novelist, claimed, “The ideal of brotherhood of man, the building of the Just City, is one that cannot be discarded without lifelong feelings of disappointment and loss. But, if we are to live in the real world, discard it we must.”

Occasionally at the bridge table, what we discard can be extremely important, in particular if that discard helps partner to find the winning defense.

In this deal, South is in three no-trump. West leads his fourth-highest heart, East puts up the jack, and South wins with his king. Now declarer plays the diamond 10. What should West discard?

North had a textbook weak-three unfavorable-vulnerability opening bid: a good seven-card suit and 6 to 10 high-card points. South then had a close decision. If North had a singleton or void in spades and had diamonds that needed to be established, three no-trump could have easily failed and five diamonds romped home. But three no-trump was a reasonable shot.

South thought he would win 11 tricks: two hearts, seven diamonds and two clubs. But West’s discard on the first round of diamonds was a nasty blow. However, maybe East would have the spade ace or would not find a spade shift.

West, knowing from trick one that South had the heart ace, realized that his side probably had to take five tricks in a row. If so, East had to be persuaded to shift to a spade. And since West could not necessarily afford to signal with the spade eight, he discarded a heart, preferably the queen.

Now East knew he should not continue hearts, and the spade 10 was the logical switch.

United Feature Syndicate