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The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff

Opening Lead: ♦2

In four spades it looks natural to win the diamond lead in hand and lay down the spade ace, planning to cash the trump king. Remarkably, after one top trump, the game can no longer be made against the 4-1 trump break! West will ruff in on the diamonds, draw dummy's trump, and cash three hearts.

Suppose instead that you play a heart after cashing one round of trump. East will win and deliver a diamond ruff. The switch to the club king will then set up a fourth trick for the defenders, to go with West’s trump queen.

Since the contract will be easy if trumps break 3-2, you should assume a 4-1 trump break and direct your efforts to countering that. The answer is to lead a low trump at trick two!

What can the defenders do now? If West wins with the queen and crosses to his partner’s hand with a heart to receive a diamond ruff, you can draw trump when you regain the lead. If instead West ducks the first round of trump, you can duck another round. West has to win his queen this time and can do nothing to harm you. Whether he plays a club, or plays two rounds of hearts to force dummy to ruff, you will be able to draw his remaining trumps and run the diamond suit.

The message: When you can afford to lose a trump trick, lose it at a time when the defenders can do you no harm.

Lead with the aces

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

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