Hand of the day #242
The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff The old-fashioned textbooks tell you to lead k...
The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff
In today’s deal, South, declarer in three no-trump, won the heart lead in dummy to advance the club king. East elected to win this and continued hearts. Declarer took this in hand and played a diamond, and West made the natural-looking play of going in with the ace to play hearts again.
Opening Lead: ♥10
However, declarer simply won the heart, took the diamond king, led the club six to his jack, and played the diamond 10. West won and finally switched to a spade, but declarer could win dummy’s ace, take the club queen, then cross with his carefully preserved three of clubs to his five, and cash the established diamond nine for his ninth trick.
The defense to beat three no-trump is not easy to find. West must duck the first diamond, rather than taking his ace. If he wins the diamond ace, a shift to a low spade may be of no avail, as declarer can duck and still establish the second diamond trick later on. Even a high spade shift is no good if South reads the position and ducks the trick, winning the second spade with the ace to play a third spade.
However, if West ducks the first diamond and wins the second, he might be able to work out that a spade shift is needed. The winning play is to lead the spade jack, establishing two spade tricks by force for the defenders. West still has the diamond queen as a re-entry for a second spade play if necessary.
Bid with the aces
Answer: 2♦
You have a good enough hand to force to game, and almost certainly you will end in four spades since partner has virtually guaranteed length in both majors. But it does not cost anything to cue-bid two diamonds and then bid spades. You may find that your side can make slam, or that some other contract is superior.
This Hand of the Day was originally published on aces.bridgeblogging.com.
