BRIDGE NOTES: Table presence

Bridge is a game where you need the presence of mind throughout. This awareness of what the declarer or defenders are up to is known in bridge parlance as table presence. And in bridge this is a key factor in bringing success at the bridge table.
Although each player in his own way tries to concentrate as much as he can to out beat his opponents, it is not enough to bring in the desired results. Mental alertness and visualisation of the opponents strategy in play or defence are the top ingredients of winning bridge. It always help to know what your opponents are doing and why they are doing something that does not look the routine or normal approach in the play or defence.
Of course the problem is easily resolved without much strenuous effort by the professionals who are so geared up in their game that it takes them a few seconds to gauge the situation developing and, therefore, they chalk out a counter strategy almost in immediate response to the strategic and surprising game plan of the opponents.
Most of the time there is not much the defence can do against the lie of the cards and the declarer's thorough professional approach to the play of the hand. But at times, there comes an opportunity where one's mental skill needs to be vibrantly matching that of his adversary to counter act in a manner whereby the declarer is thwarted in his game play or the defence is rendered helpless by sound technique adopted by the declarer in play.
Our problem for today is one of defence. The subtle art of defence is not everyone's domain but it takes a sharp mind with full alertness to work out the moves of the declarer and thwart his intentions there and then.
Place yourself in the east seat with the following hand:
You hear the following bidding undertaken:
As east, you see partner leading 4H and the following dummy is revealed on your right.
The heart 4, 9, 2, is taken by the declarer's ace. The declarer, a good player of great repute immediately cashes the spade ace followed by the spade king in dummy.
It is here at this moment where you as east should put on your thinking cap. You see the declarer is in a contract of 5C and yet he is not touching the trump suit. Why? And on top of it his encasing of ace of spades followed by the king of spades is a trifle puzzling, isn't it? This is where the demarcation line between average players and the thorough professional becomes clearly marked because with the professional there is an inherent curiosity sparked off immediately by the declarer's non routine somewhat unusual sequence of play. It becomes almost mandatory on the part of the expert to reason out why the declarer is not running after trumps.
The point of decision crops up at the next move of the declarer when even after he is in dummy with the king of spades he, instead of playing clubs, plays the low spade from dummy.
Well, well, what is declarer up to? Is he going for shortening his trumps by ruffing in the long hand so that he cane counter any adverse club break that he may apprehend. Or is his game based on some other strategy. Can you guess the answer to the sequence of plays? for unless you do, your defence shall remain ineptly stagnant. It is table presence that gives us the answer if we visualise the implication of the opening lead of heart 4. Yes, the heart 4 looks every inch to be a singleton. The declarer is apprehensive that if he loses the club tempo immediately with the lead going to east, the heart ruff could be life threatening in the 5 club contract. And if lead goes to west as in the actual deal, west held the ace of clubs, declarer feared an entry to east in diamonds would spell the same result of a heart ruff.
The full hands were as under:
What did you as east do on the third spade? Yes ruff it to preclude declarer from pitching his singleton diamond as scissors coup in defender's communication. That's table presence!

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65        K102

86532    Q1097

AJ42     KQ953

42           9

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South      West   North   East

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1C           2S     DBL   PASS

5C     ALL PASS

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North     West    East      South

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K102    QJ9874      65         A3

Q1097        4   86532        AKJ

KQ953     1086    AJ42          7

9          A65      42   KQJ10873

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