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The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff
Opening Lead: ♣J
In the following deal, while South's breaking the transfer with the leap to four spades may have been a marginal action, the final slam contract is superb. How would you play it when West leads the club jack?
The best plan is to win the club ace and draw trump in three rounds. After crossing to the club king, eliminating that suit, try a heart to East’s six and your queen. The only dangerous situation is when the full deal is as shown today.
If West trusts his partner’s echo to be based on a doubleton heart (and since he knows his partner has a Yarborough, he ought to get this right) he may well be able to work out that if he wins his heart king, he will be endplayed. A red-suit return would concede an extra trick, either to the heart nine or to South’s diamond jack. A club return would give declarer a ruff-and-discard for the losing diamond.
Suppose therefore West smoothly plays low, allowing South’s heart queen to win. If you have not considered this situation, pause to think how you would continue from this point. It is no good crossing to the diamond king and playing a heart to the jack. West will win and exit safely with the heart 10, killing the heart discard.
Remarkably, the winning continuation is to cross to the diamond king and run the heart nine when East follows low! Here, West can win with the 10 but now he is truly endplayed.
Bid with the aces
Answer: Pass
This feels like a hand where your best result will surely come from penalizing the opponents (or at least defending two diamonds undoubled if your partner has a balanced hand). By passing now, you let your partner reopen with shortage in diamonds. If he doubles for takeout, you will bid two hearts to suggest a minimum hand with hearts.
This Hand of the Day was originally published on aces.bridgeblogging.com.
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Seing the hands, there is one more opsion after "West smoothly plays low, allowing South’s heart queen to win." Playing three rounds of diamonds, ending at West. West again will be endplayed; A heart lead will give three heart tricks, any other lead will cause a heart discard from dummy and ruff at the hand thus again makeing three heart tricks.