The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff

Just because your main chance of success in a contract fails to materialize, there is no excuse for failing to keep your head and looking for other possibilities.

Cover up the East-West hands and plan the play in six spades on the lead of the club queen, won by the king.

Opening Lead: ♣Q

Superficially, it looks as if the contract depends on the play of the spade suit. So after winning the club king, you cash the ace and king of spades. This is the correct play in the suit, although the calculations are so close that if you know East has a long suit, the second-round finesse becomes the percentage play.

Much to your annoyance, East shows out on the second round and the slam seems doomed. However, your remaining chance is that West began life with ether a singleton or a doubleton heart, not that unlikely a shot. Take your diamonds, discarding a club from the dummy, and then cash your clubs and the heart ace. Finally, exit with a trump. West can win his queen, but has to give you a ruff and discard. You ruff in the dummy, discarding your heart loser from hand. Six spades bid and made.

If declarer had reason to suppose that East had the heart shortage, he could have won the lead in the dummy, drawn one round of trumps, cashed his minor-suit winners (again discarding a club from dummy), played a heart to his king, and run the spade jack. If East had won the spade queen but had had no hearts to play, then declarer would have again succeeded.

Bid with the Aces

This Hand of the Day was originally published on aces.bridgeblogging.com.

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