ACES ON BRIDGE

“A straw vote only shows which way the hot air blows.”

— O. Henry

In this three no-trump contract, it might seem that declarer will come to either eight or 10 tricks, depending on how the clubs behave, since the defenders will be able to set up and cash spades if they can get in twice more.

After winning the first or second spade, leading a club to the king will need that suit to break 3-3, which happens only slightly more than a third of the time. Better odds are to lead to the nine — that succeeds whenever West has the club 10.

But here, South knows from the bidding that East has all the missing honors, and he can exploit this fact to give East an insoluble problem. After winning the spade lead in hand, he leads a low diamond to dummy’s jack and advances the club nine.

If East rises with the ace (probably his best move in abstract), he establishes the clubs for declarer, as long as the latter holds the queen-jack. Even if South has only four clubs, three club tricks would see South home. Conversely, if East covers the nine with the 10, then South’s queen wins. Now declarer abandons clubs and knocks out the heart ace as his route to nine tricks.

The Morton’s Fork position is named after King Henry VII’s Lord Chancellor, John Morton. His novel approach to fundraising was based on the hospitality his potential victims offered him. Should the fare be uninspiring, his host must have salted some money away and must therefore be able to spare some for the king. If his host was generous, he clearly must be wealthy enough to pay his taxes.

ANSWER: If you were in direct seat, you would bid one no-trump, of course. But in balancing seat, this hand looks too strong for a call where the range is traditionally played as 10-15. Start by doubling, planning to rebid one no-trump over your partner’s cheap response in a major.