Hand of the day #321
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The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff
One of the techniques all bridge players must become familiar with is the avoidance play. To keep the danger hand off lead, declarer may have to go to great lengths. In today's deal no trick needs to be sacrificed, but declarer does need to be careful.
Opening Lead: ♦K
Against four hearts West leads the diamond king to dummy’s ace. Where is your 10th winner coming from, and what precautions do you need to take to prevent the defenders from thwarting your plans?
Rather than relying on the club finesse, you should try to develop a spade trick if you can, which requires spades to be 3-3. But you also need to try to do so without letting West on lead for a club switch. To accomplish this, first you lead the heart jack to your queen. A diamond is ruffed high, and then you lead the heart nine to your 10 and advance the spade nine, planning to let it run.
West must cover with the queen, and you win the spade ace, East unblocking the 10, Now you play the heart two to the eight in your hand, then advance the spade two. You can cover West’s card, and East must now win the defense’s spade trick. Consequently, the contract is safe, spades having split.
If you start spades by leading a high one from dummy, then East unblocks a spade honor and West can now arrange to win his side’s spade trick for the lethal club play.
Bid with the aces
Answer: Pass
Your partner's redouble shows extra values and asks you to describe your hand appropriately at your next turn — typically by supporting your partner with extra trump or doubling the opponents with suitable defense. Here you have a balanced hand and no diamond support, so have nothing to say. You must pass and hope your partner knows what to do next.
This Hand of the Day was originally published on aces.bridgeblogging.com.
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