ACES ON BRIDGE

“For all that nature by her mother wit

Could frame in earth.” — Edmund Spenser

When North redoubled and then raised hearts, he suggested a defensively oriented hand with three hearts and 10-11 points. An immediate two-no-trump call would have been an artificial raise with four or more trumps. South tried for game, and North liked his hand.

Against four hearts, West cashed a spade and then shifted to a trump. Declarer counted nine red-suit tricks, but as the club ace was likely to be on his left for the double, he felt that playing on clubs would be hopeless. Instead, South decided to try to generate an extra trump for his contract. He would need a 3-2 trump split, but that was not too much to ask and was surely a better chance than finding the club ace onside. After winning the trump shift with dummy's nine, declarer ruffed a spade. He continued with a low diamond to dummy's jack to ruff a second spade. He then played another low diamond, this time to dummy's king. After ruffing dummy's remaining spade high, he had made six tricks. Hoping for the best, he overtook his heart king with dummy's ace. When trumps were 3-2, declarer was home. He drew the outstanding trump with dummy's queen and claimed two diamond tricks for his contract. He had taken three trumps, three spade ruffs and four diamonds for a total of 10 tricks.

Note that declarer had to score three ruffs in hand for this line of play, known as a dummy reversal, to turn a profit. Strangely, on any lead but a top spade, East could have won the first spade and shifted to a high club to set the game.

ANSWER: Bid two hearts. A takeout double would bring all the unbid suits into the picture, but you could easily miss a 5-3 heart fit. It is best to overcall two hearts, intending to double back in if two spades comes around to you. Were your five-card suit a minor, you would certainly double initially. Without the heart 10 in the actual hand, it would be a far closer call.