ACES ON BRIDGE

“A fool must now and then be right by chance.” — William Cowper

In today’s deal, South’s jump to three spades is invitational, and North has reasonable values for his initial response, so he should go on to game.

It is not clear whether North should try for game in no-trump, but if he were to bid three notrump, South would pass, of course, with no shortage. Since a club lead by East would give the defenders five tricks off the top, North’s decision to bid the suit game can hardly be criticized.

In four spades, South must win the first diamond in his own hand, leaving dummy’s king as a later entry for a heart trick.

He next draws one round of trumps, but must then try his luck in hearts.

When dummy’s heart queen wins, South can get back to his hand using dummy’s remaining trump. He then draws the rest of the trumps and leads his second heart. West will take the heart ace, and must switch to clubs in desperation.

This shift will defeat the contract if East’s clubs are good enough, and West can see that declarer has 10 tricks if he does not make this play. The switch may surrender the overtrick, but it is surely worth the risk of investing an overtrick to have a shot to defeat the hand.

Note that West must shift to a low club in case today’s precise layout exists.

If West plays the club ace and another club, declarer would survive. As it is, though, the low club switch lets the defenders cash out the clubs for down one.

ANSWER: It certainly feels wrong to lead diamonds here. The question is whether this double calls for a heart lead, or whether you must guess if partner has a solid suit — which would likely be spades, I suppose.

My best guess is to lead hearts; I’m prepared to look stupid. But the opponents might have run if they were off the spade suit — and partner might have acted on his first turn with good spades.