ACES ON BRIDGE

“Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.”

— W.B. Yeats

In today’s deal, North had no convenient cue-bid available, and so he had to commit as to whether to go low or go high. He opted for the aggressive position and got his partner to the notrump game.

The spade-queen lead was ducked all around. East took the continuation with his ace and cleared the suit, leaving declarer apparently needing to run nine tricks on the go. South’s ninth trick had to come from hearts, but East’s opening bid had marked him with five spades, and he was certain to hold the heart ace as an entry; few players would dare to open with a 10-count when vulnerable.

What chance did South have? When a three-no-trump contract looks hopeless, it can pay to run your long suit. Sometimes an opponent may come under real or imagined pressure, especially when they hold all the missing honors.

Here, declarer’s only chance was to run diamonds and hope. If East had both top clubs along with his heart ace and spade winners, he would crumble under the pressure. Indeed, East could spare two hearts and a club as his first three discards, but the sixth diamond would turn the screw.

If East discarded a spade, declarer could knock out the heart ace. A club discard would set up declarer’s jack, and pitching the heart ace was out of the question.

Since West had discouraged in clubs, East chose to let go of a spade. This meant that declarer could simply play on hearts to bring home the ninth trick, as East no longer had enough winners left to set the game.

ANSWER: Some mavericks will open a strong no-trump, which might be about right on power, but I would prefer not to have a small doubleton and be technically outside the highcard range for such an off-center action. I would content myself with one diamond, followed by two diamonds. If I had the diamond 10, an upgrade would be more appealing. In third seat, one no-trump might appeal for tactical reasons.