Joseph Priestley, an English theologian and chemist with a claim to the discovery of oxygen, said, “The more elaborate our means of communication, the less we communicate.”

How wrong that has proved to be. Our methods of communication are better than ever, and people communicate – in particular by e-mail and text – more than ever before. I also see people talking on their phones while exercising, which I find bizarre; perhaps it is a factor of age.

Communication also occurs everywhere in bridge – between partners during the auction, between defenders, and between partners’ hands. How is communication important in this deal? South is in four hearts, and West leads the spade 10.

East made a pre-emptive raise to four diamonds to show five-card support (bid to the 10-trick level with a 10-card fit) but limited highcard values. (With at least game-invitational strength, East would have cue-bid three hearts.)

When this deal was originally played, South took the first trick in his hand and led the heart three. However, West wasn’t caught napping; he won with the king (East signaled with the diamond 10) and played his second spade. When West took the second round of trumps, he led a low diamond to his partner’s king and received a spade ruff to defeat the contract.

Yes, the 3-0 heart break was unlucky, but since the spade nine was in the dummy, the opening lead had to be a singleton or high from a doubleton. At trick two, South should have led his diamond to cut the defenders’ communications in that suit.

This is called a scissors coup.