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Opening lead: 5

The jack of hearts is the key card ... to play on the
table!

This hand, from a reprint of the late Hugh Kelsey's
More Killing Defense at Bridge, shows how much
fun it can be to help your partner by playing the
card he's looking for. Presumably, partner led his
fourth best heart, the 5. So after South wins the
ace, he has no higher hearts left. Therefore, on the
third round of diamonds, it's safe to throw the jack
of hearts. If you discard anything else, partner may
try to reach you to play a heart through South, and
it will be too late.

If you throw the 2 of hearts, it should indicate an
original holding of four hearts, and that will also
work. For example, if you started with K-8-4-2, the
2 would be the right discard, and partner should
figure out that South has the bare jack left. But
the discard of the jack of hearts is so much nicer,
don't you think?

For more about this kind of defensive
thinking, consider taking the:

Switch in Time bridge course #190
Click here for more information.