The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff

At the Dyspeptics Club time is money, and the regular players in the rubber bridge game often appear to consider it a sign of weakness to pause for thought. In today’s deal it was therefore remarkable that South was prepared to go the extra mile and think about his problem until he came up with a sensible answer.

Opening Lead: ♥Q

East’s classic three-level pre-empt did not silence South, and North had more than enough to raise the three-spade overcall to game. West led his singleton heart queen, and the defense played three rounds of hearts. What do you think South’s best play in this situation might be now?

South saw that if spades were 2-2 and the clubs not unfavorable, he should ruff the heart high and could simply draw trump. But the fact that East had discarded an encouraging club made South concerned about that suit, and with the 7-1 heart break, an even trump split seemed unlikely.

After due consideration (during which time West had ostentatiously shaken his watch to make sure that it was still going), South decided to discard the club 10 on the third heart. He won the club return in hand and decided that diamonds were unlikely to ruff out, since West had at least nine minor-suit cards.

South elected to play out six rounds of trump instead, and on the last one, in the three-card ending, West had to concede, since he controlled both minors and could not retain a high club and three diamonds.

Bid with the aces

This Hand of the Day was originally published on aces.bridgeblogging.com.

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