The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff
Opening Lead: ♥2
Today's hand comes from Ulrich Auhagen of Germany; you can treat it as a problem by covering up the East and West hands. It is a play challenge in six spades, after East has opened with a weak two hearts, and South has made a strong jump overcall of three spades.
With an inevitable trump loser, you seem to need to find a squeeze on West. And since East partly controls clubs, you have to find a way to isolate the club menace in West — no easy task.
The secret is that after taking dummy’s top hearts, pitching a club, you must ruff a heart back to hand immediately, then cash the spade ace and king. Now take the club ace, finesse the diamond, and ruff a club to hand before exiting with a spade. Those of you who play chess may see some resemblance to a helpmate. The point is that West now has the choice of immediate concession by playing a diamond or, even more painfully, isolating the menace against himself by playing a club, so that he becomes the only player to guard clubs. This means that he will be squeezed in the minors at trick 11 when the last trump is led.
The key to the hand is to ruff dummy’s heart at once; if you delay, the timing is wrong. West can exit with a third heart on winning his trump trick, and you can no longer isolate the club menace, so East will keep clubs and West diamonds.
Bid with the aces
Answer: 1♦
Whatever your opinion is on the right minor suit to open with 4-4 in the minors in third seat (everyone has an opinion, but nobody agrees with anyone else), it is almost unarguable that you should bid the suit you most want partner to lead. Here, opening one diamond is sensible; bidding one club is masochistic, since if partner leads away from a club honor, he rates to lose your side a trick.
This Hand of the Day was originally published on aces.bridgeblogging.com.
