The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff
Opening Lead: ♥10
Against six spades West led the heart 10 instead of a fatal trump, which would have removed a crucial entry to dummy. Declarer, Dick Cummings, took the heart ace, ruffed a heart, crossed back to dummy with a trump to the 10, ruffed the heart queen, and then drew trump with the ace and king. Next he led a diamond and took East's queen with the king.
Judging that the queen was a singleton, he next played the diamond 10 from his hand, giving up on possible overtricks to try to ensure his slam.
If West had taken the jack, declarer would have had 12 tricks. So West ducked, and Dick now had to judge who had the club king. He reasoned that West would have been almost certain to take the diamond jack if he did not hold the club king — he would have risked conceding an overtrick if South had that card. (Mind you, would declarer have ducked a diamond in that instance?) In any event, Cummings accurately led the club five to dummy’s ace and now reducing to a three-card ending by cashing North’s last trump.
West, who had already come down to one heart, the doubleton diamond jack, and the club king, had to throw the club king. Had he pitched his heart, he would have been endplayed with that card to lead diamonds into the tenace. But that let Cummings cash his two minor-suit winners to bring home the slam.
Bid with the aces
Answer: 3♦ or 3♥
Your partner's second double shows extra values and is not penalty. (You cannot convert a takeout double into a penalty double at your next turn no matter how much you want to.) With real extras you should cue-bid three diamonds, hoping to get heart support from your partner. A sensible alternative is a jump to three hearts.
This Hand of the Day was originally published on aces.bridgeblogging.com.
