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Bridge 2/22
With four trumps, tap or ruff?
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    John Galsworthy, an English author and dramatist, said, "A man of action forced into a state of thought is unhappy until he can get out of it."
    At the bridge table, we should be in a state of thought during the auction, then become men and women of action and thought throughout the card play.
    Take the West hand. What would you lead against two hearts? How many hearts will North normally hold to respond one spade, then to rebid two hearts over two diamonds?
    Taking the questions in reverse order, North should have exactly two hearts. That simple preference of two hearts shows a minimum responding hand with 6-9 points. If North had three hearts and that weak a hand, he would have raised one heart to two hearts, not bid one spade.
    With four trumps, it is rarely right to lead one. And a diamond is a very bad choice for two reasons: It is declarer's second suit, and we do not lead from a suit headed by the ace without the king against a trump contract.
    That leaves the singleton spade and a club.
    With four trumps, it is usually better to tap declarer, to make him ruff something. So, lead the club five. (Against a trump contract, as against no-trump, lead fourth-highest from a suit headed by at least one honor.)
    The play might go many ways, but if declarer wins with dummy's club ace and plays a diamond to his jack, you take your ace and continue clubbing declarer, resulting in down one.
    Note that if you lead your singleton spade and get a ruff, the contract makes.
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