Series - The Mistakes I make at Bridge

This is a typical example of a declarer play which many players will simply put on automatic track. It is one of the examples on my page "Tips for better Bridge", linked at the top of this blog.

The 4♥ are a nice sacrifice because opponents can make 5♦, or due to a lucky club brake 5NT. Anyway, almost everyone will bid the same, although it is a bit borderline vulnerable against non-vulnerable. You need to keep the fullers down to one, if possible.

The lead is a small diamond. Following the advice to get an overview, you should notice that there are only the top two trumps missing, and West has indicated a shortness with some points elsewhere. You can assume that both trump honors are at East. West might easily have some Aces. You look through your hands and see four losers, and a fifth if East gets to play through your clubs and West has the Ace there. 

Now, you should not simply hope for the best, but see if you can avoid the problem. It should dawn to you that your chance is to find the ♠A with West and discard a club on the spades. So, play spades before anything else. 

Of course, your next thought must be that West could duck and take the second spade. To your relief, you find that you can ruff to the table from the Ace of diamonds. In fact, it turns out that West needs to continue with the ♣A, or you will even make the contract.

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