ACES ON BRIDGE

“Self-trust is the essence of heroism.

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

After opening a slightly off-beat weak two-bid, you find yourself in four spades doubled after a top heart lead. (If East had passed four

spades, West might have doubled, after which East might or might not have bid five hearts.)

East encourages at the first trick, and West continues with a top heart rather than playing for a diamond ruff. What now?

At the table, declarer ruffed the heart, then elected to draw trumps, not play on diamonds. After two trumps ending in hand he led a diamond to the 10, jack and king, then got back in via another heart ruff to lead a diamond toward dummy. He had just enough entries now to bring in the diamonds. Contract made; but whose play was less than perfect after trick two was completed?

Both East and South missed the chance to be heroes at trick five. Watch what happens if declarer leads a diamond to the jack, and East ducks!

Declarer can duck a diamond or play on clubs, but the defenders keep leading hearts; declarer cannot set up either minor now.

Declarer had two resources. The first was the unlikely one of pitching a diamond at trick two. More straightforwardly, he could ruff the heart at trick two, draw trumps and lead a diamond, ducking West’s 10!

South will be able to win the heart or club return in hand and lead a diamond. He can then regain the lead to take an eventual ruffing finesse against East’s diamond honor, to bring home the bacon.

ANSWER: Your partner’s opening bid guarantees at least four cards, unless he has both majors (which he clearly doesn’t here). You cannot by any means guarantee that three diamonds will make, or even come close, but it feels wrong to sell out when you have at least an eight-card fit, and the opponents also have a fit. So I would bid three diamonds now.