BRIDGE NOTES: No, thank you

In card play especially when winning tricks is the determining factor for victory or defeat it becomes a natural habit for the players to do that to which they have attuned themselves by force of habit.
But bridge is in more than one way a game of paradoxes where one has to be constantly alert, especially in defence and keep a vigilant eye not only on the break of the suit but the high card points distribution amongst the remaining threesome inclusive of one's partner. Such sharp alertness helps the defence to be in a tiptop shape and ready to counter any subtle or deceptive moves on the part of the wily declarer who in his desperation to make his bid contract shall move heaven and earth to induce you to slip in defence so that he can get the breathing space for his otherwise choked contract. In other words a good defender should possess what is known in bridge parlance as table presence.
Defence in bridge, however is not everyone's bed of roses. Since a lot of serious thinking, deep intuition and sound judgement are required in working out the possible over all distribution of cards around with special attention on declarer's point count and key cards. For unless you work this out mentally in the light of what the declarer is offering you in the plate, you just can't outwit the declarer by good defence.
Today's, illustration is of classic defence that was displayed by a star of bridge at a World Championship on the following deal: The bidding went as under:
North, on lead knew from the outset that his failure to double the contract of 4H when he had almost 3 sure trump tricks besides Ace of clubs could cost him the match. So he resolved to make life as difficult for the declarer as he possibly could, when he made his opening move with the AC which held. It was routine defence to short ruff the declarer by leading another club, which west had to ruff leaving him with 3 trumps with his queen of trumps now fully exposed to fall under the defender north's massive trump Holding which hovered menacingly above the declarer.
In the other room of course, normal defence gave the declarer enough breathing space to net in his 9 tricks for a doubled one down set vulnerable for - 200 But with Kryztof Martyns as north, it was an entirely different ending for the same story when in the closed room too north opened ace of clubs followed by a low club for declarer to ruff. Again like in the other room when declarer crossed to dummy in spades and took the losing heart finesse of jack.
In the open room. North took his 3 heart tricks and forced east to ruff out clubs giving him the 4 tricks. But in the closed room defence had wings of glory. Martyns took the first heart with the king and not the jack, which he refused as a free trick saying 'No thank you. But I need more.'
When he next leads a club, what would you have done in the west chair 'knowing' jack of hearts to be under the queen. So placing north with AK doubleton would give him the only chance for making the contract. He therefore, had to ruff in dummy to play a low heart finesse almost certain that north would take the second heart per force with AH. But surprise, surprise, north took it with jack, knocked the trumps out and ran with the clubs for 4 down - 400 and the match. A Kibbitzer rebuked "why did you not double"? Martyn's response was "Better 4 down undoubled than one down doubled - double? No thank you."

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North        West      East     South

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109           KQ6      AJ52      8743

AKJ          Q974      8532       106

83         AK1052       QJ6       974

AJ10984         3        Q7      K652

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West        North      East     South

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1D             2C       Dbl        3C

3H           Pass        4H         P

P        All Pass

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