Outside the box

George and Dafna are a couple. They are the opposite of each other.

George is an accountant: well organized, responsible, punctual and seeking a safe, stable life.

Dafna is a circus artist and she likes to live on the edge. She is messy, spontaneous and tries to think outside the box.

Their life is good and balanced because they have each other. In fact they really need each other.

In Bridge however, things are often not falling into place... It depends on which one on them gets which hand.

"In Bridge there are strict and clear rules! When I lead a suit - Return my lead, especially if I lead a low card to indicate I have length and an honor", insisted George.

"Yes dear, I shall do that... Unless I find a better card to play", said Dafna with grace, and gave him a kiss.

Here is a recent deal they played. Too bad their hands were not reversed...

Dealer South - All Vulnerable

Dafna, sitting West, led the ♦2. George seemed pleased with the lead. However, when declarer asked for a low card from dummy, he thought for a while, then he won the ♦A and returned, without any further thought, another Diamond, throwing his partner a look as if to tell her: "You see? A good partner always returns his partner's lead".

Declarer won the trick with the ♦K and played on Clubs.

George won the ♣A on the second round and played a third Diamond, but declarer won again with the ♦Q and claimed 9 tricks: 1 Spade, 3 Hearts, 2 Diamonds and 3 Clubs.

"I was hoping to find you with the ♦Q, helping you to establish 2 more tricks in the suit. Nothing to do here, we played good standard defense which didn’t work", said George on a serious tone.

"Why didn't you play the ♠K at trick 2? That is what I would do", said Dafna adding a loving smile to her statement.

" The ♠K?? Without holding the ♠Q in my hand? To dummy's long suit headed by the ♠A?? But that is against all the rules", responded George with disgust.

"My dear, please think a bit outside the box, what's with this tunnel vision? What kind of an accountant are you? Count! South showed 5 Hears, 4 Clubs and a Diamond stopper for his 3NT bid, after 3 suits were mentioned. He therefore most likely has at least ♦QXX or ♦Jxxx for that bid, as you have the ♦A and dummy has the ♦K. That leaves him with at most 1 Spade. Playing the ♠K guarantees you to establish 3 Spade tricks, as you also hold the ♠7, guarding against the possibility of South holding the stiff ♠Q, as it happens here. Playing the ♠K will crash declarer's ♠Q, and your ♣A will be an entry to the 3 high Spades in your hand. But I still love you, even if we could have set this", said Dafna and blew him another loving kiss from the other side of the table.

George tried to maintain his serious look, but a weak smile escaped his lips. He was so fortunate to have such a partner, in Bridge and in life.