Bookworm Bridge Conundrums #85
This conundrum was written by Eddie Kantar and was originally publishe...
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The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff
Opening Lead: ♥A
How do you plan the play in six spades on the lead of the heart ace? Obviously, since trumps are under control, the most likely problem comes when clubs are 4-1.
As you will need to exert pressure on the defender who has four clubs, you should tighten the projected ending by discarding a club at trick one! After ruffing the next heart, you will draw trumps, cash the club ace-king, and claim 12 tricks if they split.
If East has four clubs, you need him also to have sole control of diamonds. Then, after all of the trumps are played, he will have to keep four cards, most probably two clubs and two diamonds, and the diamond 10 will become a winner.
What will you do if West has four clubs? All you need for West to hold in addition to his four clubs is at least one diamond honor. Cash the diamond king and run the trumps to reduce to a five-card ending with one trump, two clubs and two diamonds in hand and one heart, one diamond and three clubs on the board.
When you play the last trump, West must keep all his clubs, but throwing the diamond jack will let you finesse the diamond 10. So West parts with his last heart, and you pitch dummy’s small club. Now when you cash the king and queen of clubs, East has no recourse. A heart discard establishes dummy’s heart five, while pitching a second diamond sees your diamond A-10 take the last two tricks.
Bid with the aces
Answer: 3♣
This auction shows more than a strong two-no-trump opening — remember that a balancing action of two no-trump by your partner at his previous turn would show 19-20. So you have enough to go to game, and the best route is to use Stayman with a call of three clubs. This should not be natural. Unless proven to the contrary, bids in the opponents' suit are always forcing.
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.
