ACES ON BRIDGE

“Don’t lie, but don’t tell the whole truth.”

— Baltasar Gracian

In today’s deal, Tommy Sanders, competing in the Spingold Knockout Teams Championship, found an ingenious holdup in an unlikely spot.

Most Souths would have rebid three hearts or three diamonds, but Sanders did not want to risk playing in an inferior strain, and he felt he had too much for a direct three hearts. That persuaded his partner to raise to game.

After an opening diamond lead, the obvious thing to do was to win the diamond ace, ruff a diamond and start thinking — too late. There is no entry for a second diamond ruff, and the contract will fail even if South guesses clubs.

Instead, Sanders allowed East to win the diamond king. This neither gained nor lost a trick, but it convinced West that his partner held the diamond ace. South won East’s trump shift with the ace and ruffed a diamond.

When he led a spade from the dummy, East should have put up the king. However, he played low, and West won with the nine. Now the illusion became crucial. West confidently led a diamond and was discomfited to find that South could win cheaply. Sanders then made the winning guess in clubs since East was almost sure to have the club ace to justify his two-heart cue-bid.

West had assumed that if East had the diamond ace, South was sure to have the club ace and would be able to run that suit after a spade continuation. In that case, though, after ruffing the diamond, wouldn’t South have crossed to the club ace, drawn trumps and taken a club finesse?

ANSWER: You have too much for a one-heart overcall, which partner might pass with an ill-fitting 8-count. It is best to double and follow up with a heart bid to show a strong hand. Spade preempts may prove embarrassing, but surely you can compete to the four-level with relative safety.