The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff
Opening Lead: ♠10
Have all the really good problems at bridge already been created? I think not, since when I read the daily bulletins at the national tournaments, I am constantly surprised at the variations that crop up on themes I thought I knew well.
Today’s deal contains a useful idea that I first saw in a problem by that great writer, Terence Reese. Once you have spotted the theme, I am sure you will remember the concept in the future.
Here you play four spades after a transfer auction, and the spade 10 is led. You take the spade ace and queen, finding the bad break, then unblock the spade jack as East discards a diamond and a heart. This is the best defense — East needs to keep enough small hearts as a possible force against declarer. Now it looks natural to play the heart ace, ruff a heart, then drive out the club ace. But the defenders will be able to win and cash three hearts, thanks to East’s thoughtful defense.
However, after three rounds of trump, declarer does have a counter to this potential problem. The winning play is a low heart from hand at trick four.
The best East can do is win and continue the attack on hearts. Declarer ruffs in dummy, then draws the last trump, discarding a diamond from hand. He next sets up the clubs by driving out the ace, after which his hand will be high, with the exception of a diamond loser at the end.
Bid with the aces
Answer: 2♣
You have a straightforward choice: Do you bid two clubs, or three? The fact that you have soft cards in both red suits (and partner is sure to be short in one of them) means your cards will not be pulling their full weight, so a raise to two clubs should suffice.
This Hand of the Day was originally published on aces.bridgeblogging.com.
