In Bridge, dummy play holds a pivotal position in the overall outcome of a closely contested encounter. All top players of Bridge are basically very good dummy players for they can well comprehend at one glance what are the essential requirement and how best to fulfil them so as to reap maximum benefits for their side. A well versed dummy player knows all the Bridge techniques and more often than not he gets his timing right foreseeing the possible distribution of the opponents hands, taking full advantage of the inferential clues available from the bidding.
Not all contracts in Bridge are difficult to execute. Some are mere routine play hands, others obvious and easy to play out. But once in a while declarer is faced with a few alternate lines of play to choose from and it is in such hands that a player's sense of judgment, ie the card sense comes into action. But all top players of Bridge seldom sway in the judgment and handling of cards dexterously. Today's illustration is a lesson in dummy play technique that can be grasped by a attempting to solve the problems that crop up during the play of the hand.
Taking our illustration which is otherwise easy to comprehend but requires the patience and card sense to make the play successful. East west are in a contract of 5C on the following hand and bidding.
The bidding - a highly competitive one is as under: The opening lead from north is the KS. South's card is the deuce of spades. West wins and draws trumps, with north following once. One look at the dummy gives you a shudder as you can see only 10 tricks out of 11 - 5 trumps in hand, 2 in diamonds and 2 in hearts with one in spades. Where in your plan those the 11th trick arise?
The play proceeds with west taking KS with AS while south sheds 2 of spades. West wins and draws trumps, north following once. Can you now make the contract? Which will be west's 11th trick? Those of us well acquainted with end plays and other Bridge techniques will surely be able to solve this Bridge riddle in no time. For the lesser players, who fail to comprehend how a hand with only 10 tricks can conjure up the 11thelusive trick. The solution to it may look difficult to spot but is a perfectly logical one if one puts on his thinking cap and takes the right clues from the bidding and the spot cards thrown. In fact north's 4S bid made single handedly is especially beneficial if the declarer who has noted carefully south's 2S played on his partners KS. Of course the declarer can easily assume north's hand to comprise of at least 8 spades and has also noted that north followed to only one trump. So north hand is easily read to be 8 spades (with south's 2S clearly a singleton), one trump, leaving 4 cards in the red suits.
Can you foresee the solution now? Yes of course all you need to know is how north's 4 red cards are placed. West proceeds to find out by cashing the AK of both diamonds and hearts and notes carefully north's cards as they come out. If north follows all the way, he can be simply be end played, thrown in with a spade. Having no red cards left, north must then concede a ruff and sluff. On the other hand, if north's shows out in hearts, west exits in diamonds and vice versa. Should north then win, he is end played as before. If south wins, he can cash a second winner, but must then, in turn, concede a ruff and discard. The solution here becomes easy to play but difficult to spot.

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    West          East
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       A 7         8 4
      A K 6      8 7 5
      9 5 4      A K 3
A K 1 0 8 6  Q J 9 7 3
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W       N       E       S
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1C     4S      5C     ALL
                     PASS
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