Aces on bridge

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.” — Albert Einstein

Chris Willenken brought home a difficult contract in the Round of 64 of last year’s Spingold Trophy in Washington, D.C. Against four spades, reached on a somewhat unusual but very revealing auction, West led the diamond eight, covered by the king and ace, and East returned a trump.

The trump return and the auction had suggested that West would have a natural trump trick. Declarer could see nine tricks in the form of one club, one diamond, two ruffs and five trump winners. But where would trick 10 come from?

Willenken decided that his best shot — assuming his view of the enemy distribution was correct — was to endplay West into leading a heart in the endgame, so he won the trump switch, ruffed a heart in dummy, ruffed a low club in his hand and ruffed another heart. When East followed with the heart king, Willenken was sure West had started with a 3=6=2=2 pattern.

So Willenken ruffed another club in hand, cashed the trump king and crossed to the diamond queen. In the five-card ending, West was down to four hearts and the trump queen.

On the club ace, declarer pitched a heart, and the ending Willenken had envisioned materialized. West, realizing that ruffing the club ace would leave him endplayed, discarded a heart. Willenken then ruffed a club in hand (West again discarding a heart) and exited with his nowbare spade jack to West’s queen, ensuring he would collect the game-going heart trick at the end.