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The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff

Opening Lead: ♣10

Because the opening bid of two no-trump promised 20-21 points, North had an easy raise to the small slam in no-trump. How do you plan to make 12 tricks after West leads the club 10?

You have 11 immediate winners along with the possibility of a winning finesse in spades, hearts or diamonds. While those who never get a two-way finesse wrong will have no problem, the rest of us have to find a plan that avoids guessing which finesse to take.

The secret is to win the club ace and cash the three remaining club honors. Next you should lead a spade from dummy, intending to cover East’s card cheaply. Suppose he plays the four, then your spade eight will force West’s queen and you will have 12 tricks immediately. Even if West were able to win the trick with the spade 10 or nine, he would then have to lead into one of your tenaces. Your 12th trick would then come in whichever suit he chose to return.

You may ask “What would happen if East played the spade 10 or nine?” Well, the spade jack would be taken by the queen, and the A-K-8 would then be good for three tricks if West chooses to get off play in spades. As a red-suit return would also cost a trick, you would still be certain of making 12 tricks.

The consequence is that this simple plan of covering the spade that East plays on the first round of the suit guarantees 12 tricks no matter how the cards lie.

Lead with the aces

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

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