Hand of the day #453
You can now play the hand of the day on BBO+ and compare how you get on with the...
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The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff
Opening Lead: ♥4
How would you have dealt with the club situation in this deal?
Defending against four spades, West led the heart four. South won with the bare king, cashed the spade ace and king, then got off play with a trump. Back on lead with the spade queen, West deviously returned the club queen, which was ducked all around. West continued with the club nine, and declarer, deciding that West’s initial club holding was Q-J-9, ducked again. East’s jack won, and the club return to the ace defeated the contract.
Great play by West, but should declarer have fallen for it? Probably not. Think back to the opening lead. If West had held both the heart queen and jack, the queen would surely have been the opening lead. The actual lead of the four suggests that it is away from one honor, not two. So, if West had held such an attractive sequence of club honors — the one South was playing him for — wouldn’t that have been the more obvious choice of attack?
At another table, also against four spades, West led a low diamond. Declarer inserted the jack — just in case — and East fell from grace and covered. South won, cashed his top trumps, then cashed his other top diamond, overtook the heart king with dummy’s ace, and discarded a club on the diamond 10. When later in the play declarer led a club to the king, that brought in 11 tricks.
Lead with the aces
Answer: Low ♦
Don't be a hero. Yes, the club ace or a low club could be right; but equally you may need to set up diamond tricks before they are discarded on declarer's clubs, and nothing in the auction tells you that you need to be desperate. So simply lead a low diamond and try to find your partner at home. When in doubt, avoid the unilateral play; it helps to keep partner's blood-pressure stable.
This Hand of the Day was originally published on aces.bridgeblogging.com.
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