ACES ON BRIDGE

“Everyone has got to realize you can’t hold on to the past if you want any future. Each second should lead to the next one.”

— Joe Strummer

The European Open Championships allow anyone to enter, and cross-national partnerships and teams are permitted.

Last year the championship was held in Montecatini Terme, Italy, and all this week’s deals come from that event. Today’s deal features a clash between Norwegian and Austrian squads. This was a nice auction to a sensible spot.

In the other room, Terje Aa passed the West hand after a strong club to his right, then bid up to four spades on his own. Since South had shown both his suits, North was persuaded to bid on to five hearts over four spades.

Unluckily for his partnership, while declarer does not appear to need the club finesse in that contract, repeated spade leads promoted the heart nine into the setting trick, so five hearts went quietly one down.

At our featured table, South appeared to have found himself in a contract where there was no home for the club loser, but things did not work out that way. Declarer in five diamonds doubled, Petter Tondel, won the spade ace and ruffed a spade, overtook a trump to dummy to ruff a spade, then drew the last trump and took a heart finesse of the jack.

If Andreas Babsch, West, cashed the queen and ace, he would then have to open up clubs, so he won his heart ace and returned the queen, hoping his partner had the jack. (Of course, declarer would have then ducked the second heart.) Whatever he did, declarer had 11 tricks and 12 IMPs.

ANSWER: There are two plausible lines of defense here. Without the double, you probably would have led a spade (though a case can be made for a diamond, I suppose), so you shouldn’t lead a spade now. Do you play for the club ruff, or do you try to let partner cash the diamond ace-king? I think the club play is right, but I could be persuaded otherwise.