Hand of the day #308
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The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff
Opening Lead: ♥ 10
Today's deal was played at the Dyspeptics Club, South was at the reins in his favorite contract of three no-trump. West led the heart 10, dummy contributed the queen, and East the king. South gave very little thought to ducking the trick — he tried it once and didn't like it. Instead he won with his ace and took a losing club finesse. East cleared hearts, and declarer held up his jack (for no particular reason), won the next heart, and finessed in spades. West won and cashed out the hearts for down one, while South was mournfully complaining about a gypsy's curse that he claimed had doomed every finesse he would ever take for the rest of his life.
North, noting that both diamond honors were also badly located, asked if South would be prepared to bet against the fate of the contract in the hands of a competent declarer. South agreed to the bet, but what had North seen that South had missed?
Say declarer ducks the first trick, wins the heart return, and plays the spade queen from hand next. The defense is now powerless, since West’s entry card has been dislodged. Declarer can win the return and go after clubs, secure in the knowledge that if the finesse loses, the nondanger hand, East, will have no way to reach West for his good hearts.
This example of attacking the entry to the danger hand first is especially hard to spot because the spades have to be led from hand.
Bid with the aces
Answer: 4♣
You have a splendid hand on the auction, more than enough to bid four hearts. But just in case partner is interested in slam, you should bid four clubs to give your partner an additional option if a 4-4 club fit is best for slam. That could easily be right if your partner has a doubleton spade ace or king and five hearts, along with four or five clubs.
This Hand of the Day was originally published on aces.bridgeblogging.com.
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