The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff

Sometimes the problem in a bridge deal becomes evident at trick one; on other occasions the difficulties only become apparent later. Into which category does today's deal fall? You are South in six spades on the diamond queen lead, and I'll give you the hint that trumps do not break 4-0.

Opening Lead: ♦Q

I hope you decided that the problem resides solely in hearts. If you can avoid losing two tricks in that suit, you should make your slam. With trumps to spare in both hands, you should be looking to strip the hand of the side-suits, eliminate the trumps, then force the defenders to help you out.

So win the lead in hand, draw trumps, then play a diamond to the ace and ruff a diamond. Now cash three rounds of clubs, ending in dummy, and exit with a heart, planning to cover East’s card. If East plays a low, you can put in the seven and claim the balance, but what if he plays the eight? You try the queen, but it loses to the king. Back comes a low heart — should you put the 10 up or play low from dummy?

The correct answer is to play low from dummy. East is more likely to the eight or nine than both cards. This is an example of the principle of Restricted Choice, where if East had the 9-8, he would have had a choice of cards to play at his first turn.

Bid with the aces

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

Click here to play earlier Hands of the day ▶