ACES ON BRIDGE

“Put not your trust in money, but put your money in trust.”

-- Oliver Wendell Holmes

This deal is from the first semifinal session of the Kaplan Blue Ribbon Pairs at Providence, Rhode Island, last fall. Most of the field found spades: Half played in game, half in part-score. Take a moment to decide how you would tackle the play in four spades on a trump lead.

It feels right to go after clubs -assuming decent breaks, you can come to three club winners, five trump tricks and two tricks in the red suits. The entry position argues that you should win the opening lead in hand and advance the club king. West wins and continues with a trump, taken in dummy. Now you pass the club jack. No luck there, either: West wins the club queen and plays a third trump. When you cash the club 10, you find the bad break in that suit has reduced your 10 tricks to nine.

However, you are not out of chances. After cashing the club nine, pitching a heart from hand, you need to find East with both key red honors (not that unlikely given his black-suit doubletons and thus redsuit length). You next lead a heart, which East must duck, and can then give up a heart to East. He can try to cash the heart ace, which you ruff, leaving dummy good after you discard dummy’s club on the diamond ace, or he can play a diamond. That allows you to finesse the queen in order to pitch dummy’s two heart losers. Then you can cross-ruff the rest.

ANSWER: While your hand is balanced, the weak length in spades rates to be opposite partner’s shortage on this auction. Does that mean you should bid game? I think not, since you are far too often handing your opponents 500 in a doubtful cause. A better plan may be to bid four clubs; this shows less than a cue-bid raise of clubs, but real trump support.