Thinking Bridge
By Eddie Kantar
kantarbridge.com
| West | North | East | South |
| 1♦ | 2♥ | 2♠ | Pass |
| 3♠ | Pass | 4♠ | All Pass |
Opening lead: ♥2
Bidding Commentary: East’s 2♥ bid is a “weak jump overcall,” comparable to a weak two-bid: basically, a reasonable six-card suit with 6–9 HCP. It frequently serves as a good lead-director. South’s two level major-suit response guarantees at least five spades with at least 11 HCP. With only 8–10 HCP, South is better placed to make a negative double.
Lead Commentary: Painfully obvious. Some players lead a singleton even when they don’t have one!
Defensive Commentary: East wins the first trick as cheaply as possible and continues with the ♥K A. West anticipates making TWO discards. Why not discard the ♦K Q so a diamond can be ruffed at trick four? After all, declarer may have a singleton diamond, and no diamond trick may be forthcoming. This is not only the best defense, it is the only defense that defeats 4♠.
When several discards can be envisioned, consider discarding from shortness, putting yourself in a position to ruff the suit you are discarding. It will also get you in a newspaper column!
Eddie Kantar (1932–2022) was an accomplished player with two world championships and 17 NABC titles. Kantar is probably best known as a teacher and author of over 35 bridge books. He wrote his first article for The Bridge World in 1954 and was a longtime contributor to the ACBL’s Bridge Bulletin.
