Aces On bridge

“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.” — Joseph Addison Defense is the most difficult part of the game, but in the past, journalists did not tend to write about the principles of defense because it is less glamorous than a well-played declarer hand. This is one of the reasons why past declarers often used to get away with murder. In 1966, Hugh Kelsey’s “Killing Defence at Bridge” dealt with some of the basics of the game for the very first time, and the book has become a classic. Today’s deal comes from that book. Against four spades, West leads and continues diamonds, the second being ruffed by South. Declarer plays the spade king, then another spade to the ace, on which East drops the queen. When the heart jack from dummy is ducked to the queen, what should West return? It appears that, for the defense to matter, South must have started with six spades, and East with queen-jack-third. If East has an ace, it will not run away, but what hope is there for the defense if South has both missing aces and East has one of the kings? Note that a club return is unsafe unless East holds both the king and 10. If you play a passive diamond, declarer ruffs, plays a heart to the 10, and trumps dummy’s last diamond, removing East’s only exit card. Declarer cashes the hearts, then throws East in with the spade queen, to endplay him in clubs. A heart return is best, and it defeats the game, allowing East to keep a diamond exit card when thrown in with the spade jack. ANSWER: Double by you is takeout, showing extras. Your partner can pass with trump tricks, but if he bids, you will be happy to hear him act no matter what he chooses. While you can bid four clubs, there is no reason to expect your partner has real club length. As usual, it is better to ask your partner what he has than to tell him.