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The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff

Opening Lead: ♥K

Today's deal sees how modern bidding and the use of conventions can occasionally solve what could be knotty problems in the auction. (Of course, as we shall see, it is all very well to bid to the best contract, but you also have to make it!).

North described his powerhouse by bidding his long suits, then repeating his spades, in an auction that his partnership played as game-forcing. Over South’s rebid of three no-trump, North decided to commit the hand to slam, and his jump to five no-trump offered a choice of slams, strongly suggesting his precise hand pattern. South was delighted to propose playing in his chunky five-card suit, and North had no reason to mistrust his partner’s judgment.

Take a moment or two – or maybe more – to plan the play in six clubs on the lead of a top heart. The normal route seems to rely on ruffing out the spades (taking heart ruffs in dummy seems to set up trump winners for the defenders). But the risk of overruffs or losing control is very real. So what plan is best?

The answer is to win the heart ace and immediately to duck a spade! The defenders can achieve nothing by forcing dummy to ruff a heart – declarer unblocks the trump king, ruffs a spade in hand, then draws trump and claims. Likewise, on a diamond return at trick three, declarer wins the king, crosses to the club king, ruffs a spade, then can draw trump, using the diamond ace as the entry for the spades.

Bid with the aces

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

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