Hand of the day #284
The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff Today's problem is a defensive one, so put you...
The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff
Opening Lead: ♣J
squirreling papers away will come in handy. In cleaning out my files, I came across a hand I'd cut out from a U.S. Daily Bulletin from the 1970s. Declarer was Robert Lebi of Canada, who has been a regular player on Canadian squads over the last 30 years.
The lead against four hearts was the club jack to East’s king. Next the club ace was cashed, and East now erred by playing a third club, allowing declarer to shorten his hand. Lebi earned a game swing for his team in this Spingold match by ruffing, playing a heart to the ace, and, believing his opponent’s king to be a true card, played for a trump reduction. He took the spade ace, then ruffed a spade. Now came the diamond ace and king, a diamond ruff, and a spade ruff. Declarer was down to the Q-10 of hearts and a master diamond while West held J-9-3 of hearts. The diamond jack completed the coup. West had to ruff and lead into the trump tenace to concede the contract.
The Levi team won their knockout match by less than the swing on this deal, when the other declarer did not ruff a spade when in dummy with the heart ace!
Note that if East shifts to the heart king or a diamond, declarer cannot get home. While the heart play could be expensive, a diamond will almost never cost, and as we have seen, it can gain by preventing declarer from shortening himself for the trump coup.
Bid with the aces
Answer: 2♣ / DBL
A simple call of two clubs is reasonable, as is a double. This would not be for penalties, but show the fourth suit, clubs, and tolerance for partner's suit, together with decent values. Your trump support may be on the feeble side, but your opening values probably compensate for that.
This Hand of the Day was originally published on aces.bridgeblogging.com.
