Bookworm Bridge Conundrums #84
This conundrum was written by NICOLAS LHUISSIER and was originally pub...
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The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff
Opening Lead: ♣3
Consider your line of play in six clubs from London's TGR's bridge club, on a trump lead.
If clubs are 2-2, then you could draw trump and play off hearts, making 13 tricks should hearts break 3-3. If hearts are 4-2, you discard one diamond and then ruff the hearts good but make only 12 tricks, since you eventually run out of trumps.
Equally, if hearts break while clubs do not, then you can make 13 tricks by simply playing out your other top hearts while discarding diamonds. Then you ruff a diamond, cross back to hand with a trump, ruff another diamond, cross back to hand with a spade, ruff to draw trump, and claim the remainder.
However, what you need to do is find a safer line for the slam if neither suit breaks. If you draw three rounds of trump but then find hearts are 4-2, you will need East to hold the diamond ace if you are going to come to 12 tricks. On the other hand, if you play off three rounds of hearts immediately (discarding diamonds) and East ruffs and returns a trump, you will go down.
The solution is somewhat counterintuitive: What you must do is play off two top hearts, discarding a diamond, and then play a diamond. Even if the defenders could win and play another trump (which on the actual lie of the cards they cannot), you still have two trumps in dummy, one to ruff the hearts good, and one to ruff a diamond.
Bid with the aces
Answer: 3♠
Jump to three spades to show a limit raise. Your ruffing value suggests you raise spades directly and get your hand off your chest at one go. It would not be unreasonable to force to game by bidding two diamonds, then raising spades, and I would do that with the diamond king instead of the queen.
This Hand of the Day was originally published on aces.bridgeblogging.com.
You can now play the hand of the day on BBO+ and compare how you get on with the players in the article.
