Hand of the day #39

The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff

Today’s themed deal comes from a past Asian Pacific Championships.

Opening Lead: ♠Q

West led the spade queen to three no-trump, East taking the ace before returning a spade. Looking at all four hands, it is hard to see how declarer can go down. Both rounded-suit finesses are working; indeed, 12 tricks are available!

However, Australian international Sartaj Hans showed how easy it can be to put a spanner in the works. He returned the spade two at the second trick rather than the normal spade nine. From declarer’s perspective, the two was either from ace-doubleton to begin with, or it was East’s original fourth-highest, in which case spades were 4-4. East would normally return the highest from a remaining doubleton.

In that case, declarer’s best bet was to cash the club ace-king and continue with the club 10. If spades were 4-4, declarer would lose only four tricks. If West began with six spades, East was a favorite to hold club length and with it the club queen, and would not be able to reach his partner’s hand. Alas, Hans won the club queen and produced the spade nine, allowing West to cash out for one down.

This false card could hardly cost, because East knew his partner was broke outside of spades, while it might mislead declarer. But on the normal spade nine return, declarer would probably assume a 5-3 spade split and combine his chances by cashing the club ace-king planning if necessary next to run diamonds and take the heart finesse.


Bid with the Aces

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