In today’s column we feature a deal from the latest book by Augie Boehm, a noted bridge player and pianist. The book is ‘Big Deal’– both a memoir and a teaching tool.

During the auction South made a cardinal error when he preempted then bid again in competition. He might have done better to open one spade, but having initially underbid, he endplayed himself into a later indiscretion. Of course if he had passed five hearts, North would have happily collected a sizable penalty.

Against five spades doubled, Boehm’s famous pianist partner Leonard Pennario led the heart jack. If South had routinely covered with dummy’s queen, East would have been compelled to win, and with an easy shift to his singleton diamond queen he would have collected his penalty of plus 300.

But when South didn’t cover with dummy’s queen, Boehm had a problem. Overtaking to shift to diamonds would work poorly if West held the diamond ace. If so, dummy’s hearts could be established for discards of South’s losing diamonds.

At trick one, Boehm therefore discouraged with the heart two. Pennario realized that Boehm must have both top hearts when his jack held, but he must have discouraged the continuation for a reason. He therefore accurately shifted to the diamond ace and gave his partner the ruff for plus 500.

Boehm comments sagely that average opponents usually assume an expert knows what he is doing, hence South’s sacrifice over five hearts. This is one of the reasons bridge experts often excel at Poker; play the opponents not the hand.

If simple arithmetic tells you that your partner is highly unlikely to have an entry, there may be a better defense than trying to set up his suit and hoping for a miracle.

Against three no-trumps West led the heart 10 and East overtook with the queen. South played low on this trick, and ducked again on the continuation of the heart king. East now continued with a third round of hearts, and South won and set about the diamonds. East was able to come to his ace and queen, but that was all; nine tricks made.

By adding up declarer’s and dummy’s high cards East should know that West can have a jack at most. Since the spade or diamond jack cannot help the defenders’ cause, the only suit in which the defenders might be able to establish an extra trick is clubs. For this to transpire, West must be assumed to hold the 10. Accordingly leading a third heart could accomplish nothing, and more importantly, it was a waste of a tempo.

Having taken his two heart tricks, and with the confidence of two more tricks to come from diamonds, East should have switched to his low club at trick three. If South held the club 10, along with the ace and queen that arithmetic tells you he possesses, then nothing has been lost – even assuming declarer guesses to put in the 10. But, on the actual lie of the cards, so long as East returns a club each time he comes on lead in diamonds, he can defeat the game.

This defensive problem proved too hard for the pair who encountered it at the table, when John Lusky, declarer, had competed to three hearts in the expectation of buying a little more high-cards or shape from dummy. Before we come to the play at the table, do you put your money on declarer or the defense?

Against three hearts doubled West led the club nine. What East did at the table was to win the ace and return the heart nine — which was clearly an inferior play since it might have destroyed his partner’s second trump trick or solved a guess for declarer.

While he had not actually committed either of these solecisms, it left his partner forced to guess at trick three in which suit his side had further defensive tricks to come.

At the table, West shifted to a spade on winning the heart king (playing for his partner to have the queen-jack of spades and not the diamond jack. Now declarer could draw trump and dispose of one of his diamonds on the long spade. Cui culpa?

East’s winning move at trick two would have been to return either the club seven or the club 10, in context suit preference for the low suit. West then has to rise with the heart king on the first round of the suit and shift to diamonds, playing for precisely this position. But he should know East doesn’t have, for example, the queen-jack of spades, or he would have returned a high club at trick two.

Today's deal from the Phoenix nationals cropped up in the second qualifying session of the Kaplan Blue Ribbon Pairs.

In three clubs doubled dummy’s shape is no doubt a disappointment to you, but you have to make the best of your contract. You receive repeated spade leads: play on. At the table declarer went down one for a near bottom instead of making his game for a top score. See if you can do better.

The auction has told you that spades are 4-4 and clubs surely 3-3, so is it too much to expect both opponents to be 4-3-3-3 given that East would have bid hearts had he held them? Yes, you would need West to hold the diamond jack, but that is hardly an unreasonable request.

So you ruff the second spade, play a diamond to dummy’s 10 (whew!), ruff a second spade, play a diamond to the ace, ruff a third spade, and now exit with a club to the ace and a second club. In practice, when East follows with a low trump, you will see West win the club jack and return a heart. By now you know West has three or four HCP in clubs and the spade ace-king plus the diamond jack. East’s double of two no-trumps and three clubs must therefore include both the heart king and queen, so you duck the first heart honor East plays. Now in the two-card ending the defenders are endplayed to give you your ninth trick.

Although the defenders can take a spade ruff to beat six hearts on this deal from the second semifinal session of the Kaplan Blue Ribbon Pairs from Phoenix last fall, many declarers were given the chance to make slam after the West player had given away his spade holding by an incautious overcall or double.

On a passive trump lead, declarer can play West for a singleton spade jack or spade nine, by stripping off the hand and leading the spade king from hand. If you guess well, you might succeed against a doubleton holding of one of these cards. An alternative and winning approach would have got your name in the Daily Bulletin.

After a heart lead you win in hand draw a second round of trumps. If they didn’t split you would need to take a club finesse against East now but when hearts are 2-2 you ruff out the clubs, then the diamonds. You have reduced everyone down to five cards, and you have four spades and one trump in hand, with three spades and two trumps in dummy, and the lead in South.

At this point you must lead the spade king from hand, to which West has no answer. He must win or you will simply lead to the spade queen next. However, after taking his spade ace he is endplayed, forced to lead away from the spade jack round to your 10 or offer a ruff-sluff by playing his diamond.

This deal was played in the first final session of the Kaplan Blue Ribbon Pairs, with Yichoo Chen as South, playing with Jinjie Hu.

Against three spades doubled West led the heart king, to the two, 10 and six. Next came the heart jack to the nine, eight and three. This play suggested West did not have the club king-jack, or he would have led his low club to force East to win and play a club. What next?

At the table, West switched in uninspired fashion to the club queen. Chen took full advantage. He won in dummy and led a spade to the eight, nine and jack. Then he took the club continuation in his hand and advanced the spade queen to pin West’s 10. The intra-finesse brought home nine tricks, but the defense could have done better.

West knew that East did not have a singleton diamond – he would have overtaken the heart jack to play one – but he couldn’t have the club king either – or he would have initially discouraged in hearts. The heart 10 followed by the heart eight ought to suggest a diamond switch. At trick three, West can lead a club if he has the king-queen but here he should lead the diamond ace and another diamond, giving his partner a ruff if declarer tackles trumps as he did at the table.

Incidentally, if East follows with the spade 10 at his first turn at trick four, declarer might go wrong in the play.

Today's deal from the Life Master Pairs at the fall nationals in Phoenix last year saw South playing a delicate heart contract. As declarer discovered, if you play five hearts on a club lead your task is straightforward. You win the trick cheaply and draw trumps ending in dummy, before leading a club towards your tenace. East must split his intermediates again, and you can win and drive out the club king. That way you establish a discard for your diamond loser painlessly. Thus you can hold your losers to one trick in hearts and clubs.

But consider what might happen on the lead of the spade jack. East can see no future in spades, so he should overtake the jack and shift to a diamond. That makes it clear to declarer that West has the diamond king (or else East would leave West on play for the diamond shift), and therefore presumably East has the club king to make up his opening bid.

The critical play comes at trick two. You must duck the diamond in hand — so that only one defender can win the second diamond. Win the diamond ace, then cross to the heart ace to ruff a spade, and come over to the heart king to ruff a second spade.

Now you finesse in clubs and cash the ace, finding the 4-1 break, and finally exit with a diamond to West for the ruff and discard. Whether he returns a diamond or spade, your club loser goes away.

This week's deals all come from the Fall Nationals held at Phoenix this time last year. Currently this year's event is taking place in Providence, Rhode Island. You may be able to follow the action live later this week on Vugraph at www.bridgebase.com.

Since the point eluded quite a few pairs in the Blue Ribbon finals, let’s look at the contract of six hearts by South on the auction shown.

Using Keycard Blackwood South can locate first the missing keycards, then ask for the trump queen, planning to stay in five if partner does not come through for him.

There is no defense to the slam to trouble declarer, but at the table, playing pairs, West might sensibly lead the club ace, for fear that it will get away if declarer has the diamond queen instead of the jack.

After the club ace lead and a trump shift, it may seem that declarer will have to rely on the diamond or the spade finesse, but he can do better. Declarer wins the trump shift in hand and cashes one diamond, then comes to hand with a second trump, and leads the diamond jack toward the king. He plans to put up the king and pitch his diamond loser on the club king unless the diamond queen appears. Of course when the diamond queen does put in an appearance from East, declarer can simply draw the outstanding trump and claim the rest.