Bridge column, October 13: One card may place two others

Bob Hope said, "A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove you don't need it."

One of the arts of bridge is placing the critical missing cards -- you can bank on that.

Try this quick quiz. Look at the North and South hands. West leads the heart queen against four spades. Who has the heart king?

It must be East, because West would have led the king, not the queen, if he had held that card.

Who has the heart ace?

It must be East, because West would not have led from the ace-queen-jack of hearts against a trump contract.

So, one card has placed two others. But how does that help South in his four-spade contract? The defenders take two heart tricks, then cast adrift with a trump.

North made a game-invitational limit raise to show 10 to 12 support points, eight losers (two in each suit) and four or five spades.

With three top losers, declarer must find the club queen to get home.

After drawing trumps, South should play on diamonds to learn who holds the ace. When it turns out to be East, he is known to have 11 points: the ace-king of hearts and the ace of diamonds. Therefore, since he passed as dealer, he cannot also have the club queen. Declarer should play a club to his king and run the jack through West.

If West had the diamond ace, South would have to guess well.