When is a duck not a duck? Answer: when it’s a hold-up. I do love bridge terminology. Though the two manoeuvres are mechanically identical (you deliberately refrain from winning a trick by playing low), strictly speaking a duck is in your own suit, while a hold-up is in a suit played by your opponents. Either way, a duck/hold-up is one of the most formidable weapons in bridge. It can be used to sever communication between opponents, cut declarer off from dummy, establish a long suit and much more.
The trouble is, because it’s so often the right thing to do, players sometimes duck without proper thought. And that can be very dangerous – especially when your opponent is as sharp and imaginative as England’s Fiona Brown.
This hand comes from the recent European women’s teams championship in Denmark. England was playing against Norway, the eventual winners.
*relay to spades. Fiona (East) led the ♦️Q.
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