Chinua Achebe, a Nigerian novelist, said, “A man who makes trouble for others is also making trouble for himself. ”

A bridge player who makes trouble for himself is also making trouble for another — his partner. There is always pressure not to let your partner down, but a good partner will ease those fears by accepting that you are doing your best.

In this deal, South could easily make life impossible for himself; but if he just stops to think and consider the alternatives, he should come up with the line that will please both himself and his partner.

How should South play in three no-trump after West leads the diamond king?

South begins with seven top tricks: two spades, one heart, one diamond and three clubs. Since he is wide open in diamonds after taking the third round with his ace, he needs to collect those five club tricks.

When the deal was originally played, declarer cashed his club ace, dropping East’s jack, then played his club four to dummy’s queen. When East discarded, South could not recover.

North was unhappy, observing that the club jack was probably a singleton. As South correctly pointed out, a clever East would have played the jack from J-10-x of clubs. The right continuation was momentarily overlooked by both players. South should have led his club nine to dummy’s queen on the second round of the suit. Then, when he saw East discard, South could have crossed to his hand in, say, spades, and played a club to dummy’s eight.

Consider all of the alternatives.