When this deal occurred in a local pairs game, most pairs landed in three no-trump. As North would occasionally raise a major-suit response to an opening one-bid with three trumps, South's three-no-trump call simply offered a choice of games. How would you play the game when West leads the spade six and East plays the queen?

Most defenders took East’s queen with the king and ran the club queen. East took this with the king and returned the spade seven. As the cards lay, the defenders now had no trouble in making four spade tricks, and those declarers finished down one.

One declarer allowed the spade queen to win the first trick and played the spade jack on the next trick. After some thought, the West at this table ducked, retaining his spade A-10 tenace over South’s remaining honor. This was enough to defeat the contract. When East won the club king and returned his remaining spade, West could take three more spade tricks.

The final declarer judged that West had led from spade length and, as he had not overcalled in spades, decided that the club king was likely to be wrong. He played the spade two at trick one and the spade four under the spade seven at trick two. East continued with a third round of spades to the jack and ace. However, when the club finesse lost, that was the last trick for the defense, and declarer could take one spade, two hearts and six tricks in the minors.

Some suit combinations are instinctive, but what your instinct tells you to do is not always right. With a trump suit of A-10-7-3 facing K-J-8-6, you can cash the king and run the jack, OR cash the ace and run the 10 to guard against 4-1 trumps in whichever hand you choose. But let's look at the full deal from last fall's nationals in Seattle to see how to apply the rules.

North-South competed to the three-level with only eight trumps (a violation of the Law of Total Tricks) when both players perhaps did a little too much. North’s decision to compete to two spades with only four trumps when facing a likely three-card holding was perhaps out of line. (North-South would have managed to collect 200 from three hearts doubled, though it is not so easy to defend with West declarer).

In three spades on a diamond lead, declarer had successfully crossed the first hurdle. Trumps were clearly 4-1, given East’s decision to compete so high facing a passed partner, so South ran the spade 10, covered all around, then ducked a club, won by West’s jack.

A passive diamond exit let declarer cash two more rounds of diamonds, then play a second club. Whatever West did, South could play to ruff a club with the spade ace and run the spade seven, finessing against the nine for nine tricks.

Incidentally, best defense would have held declarer to eight tricks in three spades if he had started trumps by leading the ace.

One aspect of the game that defeats beginners and intermediate players is the concept that every card means something. Take this deal from the second semifinal session of the Kaplan Blue Ribbon Pairs from Seattle last year, and focus just on East's cards and the North's hand (dummy).

North-South were playing Precision, which resulted in an inelegant sequence to one no-trump rather than two diamonds. But it was up to East-West to punish them.

Using fourth-highest leads, West started with the club four: jack, queen, six. The club two went to the nine and 10, and the club three was returned to East’s king. When West let the club eight hold the trick, East had to decide how to continue. Dummy had pitched a heart and two diamonds on the clubs; declarer had thrown a heart.

Should East play a spade, in case declarer started with the doubleton spade ace and five solid diamonds? Or should he play a diamond, in case declarer had the spade king and not the diamond king?

The answer came from West’s decision to win the second club trick with the 10, not the ace. (He knows East has the club king from the play to the first two tricks, so he has a choice of plays from equals.) When he then returns the club three, not the ace or five, he has played his lowest card at each turn, signaling for a diamond through.

The general rule about signaling is that you encourage to get a suit continued, and discourage to get the obvious shift. Occasionally, though, an unusual card should wake partner up to making a counterintuitive play.

In today’s deal from the Seattle Board-a-Match, Sid Brownstein, South, bravely balanced into his opponents’ suit, and his partner took him seriously. Against three spades doubled, the low heart lead went to the king and East’s ace, and East cashed the diamond ace, West signaling with a middle diamond. East now played back the heart jack, on which Brownstein carefully discarded his diamond king, eliminating the threat of the diamond ruff. When declarer subsequently located the club queen, he was able to wrap up 730.

In my opinion, both defenders were responsible for the poor result. East really should have shifted to a low spade at trick three — what high card other than the spade king could his partner hold that would set the contract and without that card how could West have doubled three spades? Equally, West might well have dropped the diamond jack on his partner’s play of the ace. This would have been an “oddball” signal to wake up partner to the need to play the unusual suit to get his ruff — in this case, a trump!

Here, by contrast, the diamond queen would simply show the queen and jack and suggest to East that he could continue the suit if he wanted to, or was able to.

In today's deal from the Seattle Nationals last year, South reached three no-trump after his vulnerable opponents had done a lot of bidding. So it was fair to assume suits wouldn't split.

The heart queen held the trick on opening lead. A second heart to the ace was followed by a third heart, on which declarer had to discard from dummy. Name your poison!

South erred in practice — and maybe in theory as well — by pitching a spade. He then crossed to the club king to play a diamond to his ace (hoping East had a doubleton queen or jack, in which case the suit might be set up without letting West on lead) as his best chance to bring in the diamonds.

The 4-1 break in diamonds — disappointing but hardly surprising — brought South up short. East discarded a spade, and the best declarer could do was finesse in spades against East and hope for the clubs to break. Hardly surprising that that chance failed, but declarer had already given up his best play for the ninth trick.

Had he pitched a club from dummy at trick three, play would have continued precisely as before. But after a spade to the jack holds, declarer cashes his spade king and plays three rounds of clubs. Because the spade A-10 remains in dummy, declarer would have been able to endplay East in clubs to lead a spade into dummy’s A-10 at the end for his ninth trick.

Many people find percentages at bridge dull. They may have a point, but today we are going to look a little closer at the old adage "Eight ever, nine never."

When you are missing four cards in a suit, you should normally play for the drop of the queen, but when missing five cards in a suit, you normally finesse for a key card rather than play for the drop.

However, note that use of the word “normally.” It is particularly true that when you are missing four cards, the slightest indication that one opponent has greater length in that suit than his partner — as few as a two-card differential — should sway you to play the defender who is short in that suit for the queen.

Let’s look at the first of this week’s deals from the Seattle Nationals last year. West’s jump to four clubs showed that suit and spades (so-called Leaping Michaels).

I suppose I’m getting old, but East and especially South seem to be well short of their bids. On lead against six clubs, West was hoping he had two tricks and that his partner might come through with a little something, given his vulnerable weak two-bid … not tonight, Josephine!

On a heart lead, declarer won and cashed the club ace, but then should he finesse or drop? This one is easy. Since East has six hearts and West two, West has much more room in his hand for the trump queen than East, so the finesse is a heavy favorite to win.

At a recent Nationals, this deal was the last of a four-board extra-time segment. It determined the match, and yes, while four spades might have been easier, let's assume that East would have sacrificed in five clubs had he been offered the chance. Plan the play in five diamonds after a top club lead.

Declarer ruffed the club lead and could see that there was no realistic danger to cope with except 4-0 trumps. He led the diamond king from dummy at trick two and was more hurt than surprised by the trump break. What would you expect to happen next?

He led a second diamond and ducked East’s jack. When the defense found the most challenging continuation of a second club, South found the only route home by following with his remaining club and pitching a heart from dummy!

Now, when a third club was led, he could ruff in hand, then cross to dummy, and draw trumps with the aid of the diamond finesse. He scored a club ruff, four trumps and six major-suit winners. This is the first time I’ve seen that particular maneuver exercised with such expert trump control. Normally, one takes the ruff in the short trump hand, not the long one.

Notice that if declarer ruffs the second club, he can no longer draw trumps. Since he cannot cross back to hand in spades, the defenders will score both a heart trick and a second trump trick for down one.

Today's deal comes from an international report. Against three spades Geir Brekka began with his singleton club jack, ducked all around.

Now West was uncomfortably positioned. A spade continuation would allow declarer to fulfill his contract, since inevitably a few tricks later West would find himself endplayed, obliged to play a heart or diamond, allowing declarer access to dummy to pitch his club losers.

A diamond continuation was also unattractive. So West decided to switch to a small heart. Dummy played low, East played his heart two, showing an odd number of cards, and declarer won the trick with his king and led his singleton diamond.

By now Brekka already knew declarer’s shape: six spades, two hearts, one diamond and four clubs. So he took his diamond ace, played his heart ace, and carefully continued with his spade 10 (NOT the five). Declarer won the trick with his jack and cashed the spade ace.

Brekka had realized that if he now followed with his small spade, at the next trick he was going to be endplayed by declarer with his spade king. He would then have to play a heart or a diamond, providing a much needed entry to dummy, letting declarer pitch all his club losers. Brekka therefore dropped his trump king under the ace, trading one trick for three and defeating the contract.