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The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff
Opening Lead: ♣J
The small slam in spades was a fair bet on this deal, but the trump break seemed to make South's task impossible. Never a player to give up lightly, declarer set West a problem that he failed to solve.
West led the club jack and, after winning, declarer played off the two top trumps to reveal the loser in the suit. With no clear idea in mind, he led a third trump and noted that West (who had already thrown a club) brooded for a little before discarding the diamond two. After winning with his trump queen, East pushed through the heart nine.
At this point South could have settled for one off, but risking a larger loss, he won with the heart ace and played off his remaining trumps. On the first of these, West threw the heart queen, but on the last, something vital had to go. In the vain hope that his partner held 10-third in diamonds, West let a second diamond go and suddenly South had four tricks in the suit.
It was true that West was squeezed, but he knew that declarer now had only 10 top tricks. A club discard looks illogical since it would give South an 11th trick immediately. However, West would now be discarding after declarer (who would have to use the diamond king to reach the clubs), and there would be no additional pressure on the defenders, with East’s heart eight now controlling that suit if necessary.
Bid with the aces
Answer: 3♠
Once East is known to have extra length in hearts, the chance that partner also has too many hearts (and thus only a three-card spade suit) is greatly diminished. That being the case, you should invite game, rather than drive to game, and the simplest way to do so is to jump to three spades. If partner cannot bid game now, you won't make it!
This Hand of the Day was originally published on aces.bridgeblogging.com.
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