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The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff
Opening Lead: ♥J
One of the most heartbreaking boards in the Bermuda Bowl in Beijing occurred right at the end of the quarterfinal match between France and China. The Chinese had led narrowly throughout their match, until the penultimate hand came up.
In the closed room for the French, Philippe Cronier had raised a 16-18 no-trump to game, and on a spade lead Michel Lebel had wrapped up 10 tricks with the aid of the favorable club split, for plus 430.
By contrast, in our featured room, Shao for China opened a 15-17 no-trump, and rejected his partner(s invitation because of his sterile distribution. The largely Chinese audience gasped, but realized that on any normal lead declarer would finish up with 10 tricks. The loss would be only 6 IMPs, and the home team would still lead by 1 IMP.
However, that was not the way it worked out. Michel Perron for France led a devilish heart jack, and Shao won his king and considered his alternatives. If he took the club finesse and it lost, then the defense would certainly have at least six winners to cash. It looked much better to play on spades. All that was needed was an original 4-3 split in hearts.
Accordingly, declarer gave up a spade, and the defense cashed their four heart and two spade winners for one down, and a 10 IMP swing to France, who won the match by 3 IMPs. If the heart suit had divided evenly, the match would have been tied and would have gone to extra boards.
Lead with the aces
Answer: ♥Q
The lead of the heart queen may cost your side a trick in hearts, but when faced with a hand where there is no good practical alternative, settle for the simple choice. Bear in mind declarer may have a strong hand with a doubleton heart king and what he hopes for is a running minor — in which case he is about to be sorely disappointed.
This Hand of the Day was originally published on aces.bridgeblogging.com.
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