Basketball great Michael Jordan’s advice on how to be successful: “Practice like you’ve never won; play like you’ve never lost.”

Bridge is an intellectual challenge. Nobody ever stops learning. Nobody ever plays a perfect session, but players are driven to attain perfection.

Bridge is like any other pursuit: You get out of it what you put in. To excel, you must apply yourself: read, study, practice. If I were asked to name the single most important quality a successful player needs, I would say “desire.”

Today’s deal is a tough exercise. Bridge can give rise to complex situations. West leads the queen of hearts against 3NT. Declarer sees nine tricks: four diamonds, three clubs and two hearts. He takes the king of hearts and unblocks the A-K of clubs. Next, trying to keep communication, he leads the queen of diamonds. East plays low and plays low again and when dummy leads the jack next.

South can get only three diamond tricks; he needs a spade. At Trick Six, dummy leads a spade.

East must be on the ball. It’s a principle of no-trump defense that when your partner has led a long suit, you must strive to win an early trick to return his lead. Moreover, if declarer has the ace of spades, the contract may be unbeatable. So East should put up his king. When it wins, he leads his last heart, and West sets up his hearts with the ace of spades as an entry. South wins only eight tricks.

To be part of a duel between declarer and the defenders such as this is exhilarating. It’s why we play the game.