ACES ON BRIDGE

“This world, where much is to be done and little to be known.” — Samuel Johnson

When North opens one club, South should bounce directly to three no-trump to show a balanced 12-15 points. With this pattern, he does not want to suggest alternative contracts or let the opponents find out more about which suit it is right to lead.

When West leads the spade 10 against three no-trump, South must decide whether to win or duck, and which suit to attack first.

It is normally right to duck when you have two high cards to knock out, but here the fact that he can potentially keep West off play, and that he fears a diamond shift, might persuade declarer to win the first trick. What next?

If the club finesse works, South will have time to set up hearts and make overtricks. But if the club finesse fails, South will have only four clubs and will therefore need at least one heart trick for game.

So declarer must go after the hearts first, the reason being that the heart ace would be a certain entry to West for his spades. If West takes the first heart, his entry to the spades is gone. South can duck one spade, then finesse clubs and be safe unless East has five spades. When West ducks the first heart, South can switch to clubs and be sure of nine tricks.

If South tackled the clubs first, East would take the club king and return a spade to establish that suit while West still had an entry. If declarer ducks at trick one, a diamond switch defeats him.

ANSWER: I can see an argument for a passive club lead — the fact that your partner has not doubled for a club lead should not affect that decision, since you know he is relatively limited. That said, I think I prefer a spade lead, since dummy has by no means guaranteed four spades. I think my second choice would be a diamond.