aces on bridge

“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” — Mark 12:17

In pairs, overtricks and undertricks are your bread and butter, but in teams and rubber, they tend to fall by the wayside.

In today’s deal from the Dyspeptics Club, South sensibly chose to rebid two spades rather than two no-trump, though had his red suits been switched, he might have gone the other way.

Against four spades, West cashed his hearts, then led a third heart, ruffed by declarer in hand. Declarer continued with the spade ace and a spade to the king, East showing out. South next attacked diamonds, but West ruffed the third round and accurately returned his last trump. Stuck in his hand, declarer had to lose a club trick, and with it the contract

When South looked around for sympathy, he was faced with North’s grim visage. Wisely perhaps, South did not tempt fate by seeking support for the line he had chosen. Can you see why North was upset?

Declarer was playing for an overtrick by his handling of the trumps. If East had held the spade length, he could have picked up the suit without loss. But South should have focused on making 10 tricks, and the way to do that is to cash the ace and queen of spades. If they split 3-2, draw the last trump, then play on diamonds for two club discards.

But when, as here, South runs into length on his left, he leaves the spade king in dummy and starts running diamonds. West will ruff the third round, but declarer will have the spade king as an entry to the winning diamonds.

ANSWER: Your honors may not be pulling their full weight, but there is no reason to assume that West must hold both the missing club honors. Start by cue-bidding two clubs, and even if your partner signs off, your hand is still worth one at least one further try for game.