AceS On briDge

“How you think when you lose determines how long it will be until you win.” -- G.K. Chesterton

Today’s deal originally arose in a home countries international match between England and Northern Ireland (and was subsequently recycled into the Lords-versusCommons match).

After a strong two-club opener, South ended as declarer in three notrump. West led the heart queen, won perforce by South. Rate your chances.

The club blockage is extremely aggravating, and with only one heart stopper remaining, it might seem that, after cashing the top clubs, you will only be completely safe if West has both of the missing aces. Similarly, if West has just one of the aces, it may be a matter of guessing which, in order to reach dummy before the hearts are established.

Curiously, though, declarer can always get home if he plays the hand correctly. When the hand was originally played, after unblocking the clubs, both declarers continued with the diamond king at trick five. Naturally, East ducked; but now with a diamond trick in the bag, the declarers abandoned diamonds and knocked out the spade ace, to come to nine tricks without breaking a sweat.

The second time around, Lord Hamilton and Lord Kalms were defending three no-trump on the lead of the heart queen. After cashing the top clubs, South advanced a sneaky spade jack. But Lord Kalms wasn’t fooled -- he ducked, and now declarer was toast. A second spade would see the defense win and shift to hearts, while declarer had only eight tricks. So declarer tried a diamond to the queen, but East won his ace and cleared the hearts to set the game.

ANSWER: Your partner’s double followed by a minimum action in no-trump shows more than a oneno-trump overcall (with a balanced hand and fewer than 15 HCP, he would pass initially). You have a straightforward raise to three notrump. Your partner may not make it, but he should be allowed to give it a try.