Pull, pause, switch, pull again, win

Artur Schnabel, a German-born U.S. pianist, said, “The notes I handle no better than many pianists. But the pauses between the notes -- ah, that is where the art resides.”

That reminds me of humor, where the timing of both pauses and lines is often vital.

In bridge, timing can be important, and we have acceptable pauses too. There should always be one after the dummy is tabled, while declarer and the defenders plan the play. But there is another type of pause in this deal. How should South play the cards to make four spades after the defenders begin with three rounds of hearts?

The South hand, despite having only 16 high-card points, is nearly good enough for declarer to start with a takeout double, planning to bid spades on the next round, which would promise 18-20 points. (If South does double, the auction should continue two diamonds - two spades - four spades.)

There seem to be 10 easy tricks: five spades, two diamonds and three clubs. However, after ruffing the third heart and drawing two rounds of trumps,

South must pause. If he draws all of the trumps, when he drives out East’s club ace, that defender will cash two heart tricks. Instead, declarer must shift immediately to clubs, continuing the suit until East wins with his ace.

Now, if East leads another heart, South ruffs it in the dummy, returns to hand with a diamond, removes East’s trumps and notes the 620-point plus score.