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The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff
Opening Lead: ♠Q
Against three no-trump West led the spade queen. After holding off on the first round, declarer won the spade continuation. It was natural enough to play on clubs — a low card went to the king, which held, and declarer ducked the second round of the suit completely, hoping that West had started with the doubleton ace. No joy, for West won with the jack and cleared the spades.
One possibility now was to hope that the spades broke 4-4 and lead another club, However, South correctly decided to abandon the suit. Instead, he cashed the diamond king and finessed the 10. East won and exited passively with another diamond. Declarer cashed dummy’s two diamond winners, throwing two clubs from hand, and watched West’s discard with interest. That player parted with the heart three on the last diamond and kept his winning spades and club ace.
Now South came to hand with the heart ace and led another heart. When West showed out, it was easy to play low from the table and leave East on lead, compelling him to lead a heart into dummy’s K-J.
Curiously, if West lets a winning spade go on the last diamond, declarer is helpless. He cannot throw East in with a heart without covering West’s nine with the jack; then East has two natural heart tricks. Had West found this play, declarer would have regretted his failure to play the club queen from hand at trick three, a far easier way to knock out West’s sure club entry.
Bid with the aces
Answer: 5♥
Your partner rates to have extra values (typically three-suited with short spades), and your hand has negative defense. Your heart length augurs that his heart tricks won't stand up, while your three small spades indicate your side has no future in trumps. You should therefore bid five hearts as a sort of two-way shot.
This Hand of the Day was originally published on aces.bridgeblogging.com.
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pass
Pass