Hand of the day #252
The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff Patrick Jourdain presented the following deal ...
The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff
Twenty years ago Tony Forrester wrote a bridge tip about the power of the closed hand, and how declarer can generate tricks if he conceals his assets well. One of my favorite closed-hand stories deals with what I am convinced will be close to a world record when it comes to stealing tricks.
Opening Lead: ♥3
North-South had got themselves into their best fit, albeit a level or two too high, and East had done well to find a takeout double, converted to penalties by West.
As the auction had shown, East was a thoughtful and competent player. But West was a weaker player, and instead of leading the obvious trump against three clubs doubled, he decided to lead a heart. East won this to switch to his singleton club. South took this in dummy and decided to try for a crossruff. Since East was clearly stacked in spades, he led a low spade from dummy, hoping to give East a problem.
Everyone followed in tempo, but South was more than a little surprised to find his six taking the trick! East, who knew that declarer had at most one spade for this line of play, had gone with the percentages, hoping his partner had the spade six so that he could continue the attack on trumps. Unluckily for him, his play not only allowed declarer to steal a trick, but also to establish a heart trick. Now a mini-crossruff saw him escape for two down.
Bid with the aces
Answer: 4NT
Here, your choice is between a double, which is NOT penalties but card-showing (tending to deny spades or you would have bid them yourself) and a call of four no-trump, which would be my choice. That call suggests both minors, and I admit you would be happier with 5-4 pattern. But your weak heart length does suggest partner has a singleton; so I’d guess five of a minor will play just fine.
This Hand of the Day was originally published on aces.bridgeblogging.com.