Aces On Bridge

“The face is the mirror of the mind, and eyes without speaking confess the secrets of the heart.”

— Saint Jerome

After North drives to game in spades, and South shows extras and no shortage, then looks for a grand slam before settling in six. Slam is made more difficult by the fact that the side-suits are perfectly mirrored in the two hands. Switch the diamond four in North’s hand to the club four, and the grand slam would hinge on a finesse. As it is, though, declarer appears to be poorly placed. What can you do about the fact that you have an inevitable heart loser and a likely diamond loser?

The club jack opening lead goes to the ace. Declarer draws trumps with the ace and king, then cashes the club king and both top hearts before exiting with a third heart.

Whichever defender wins this trick, they must lead diamonds. If the diamond finesse is right, then West must win the trick, since a low diamond lead from East around to the queen would clearly be hopeless for the defense.

However, no matter which defender has the diamond 10, the contract is still cold, since declarer puts in a low diamond from dummy when West shifts to a diamond. East can put up his king or withhold it, but declarer can play diamonds for no loser.

This line simply needs the diamond king to be well-placed.

Note that if declarer leads a diamond to the jack before exiting in hearts, that line would result in defeat. West would be able to win the third heart and shift to diamonds, and the defenders would collect a trick in diamonds.

ANSWER: In this auction, the range for the one-no-trump response is wider than it would be if your LHO had passed over one spade. The point is that your partner would probably pass rather than bid one no-trump with scattered values, such as a balanced 5- or 6-point hand. I would look favorably on my spade spots and bid three notrump.