ACES ON BRIDGE

“It’s the same old same old.” -- Anon.

As today’s quotation suggests, there is nothing new under the sun. Likewise, in bridge most themes have been seen before. I am, however, indebted to JeanPaul Meyer for the idea of this deal, which sees you reach four spades in the teeth of a strong notrump overcall by East. Given the vulnerability, you would assume he therefore has at least a decent 15-count.

When the club 10 is led, East overtakes and cashes his club winners. You ruff the third and would presumably settle down to a quick count of the hand, which suggests East has all the missing high cards.

When you play the spade king, you are hoping West has two spades or a bare 10. No luck today; East wins the third spade and exits in clubs. Whatever you do now, you won’t succeed.

The winning line is counterintuitive, but essentially fail-safe. Instead of leading a spade to the ace, give up the first spade to East by leading to dummy’s jack! Win the likely spade return, cash the two top hearts (a maneuver known as the Vienna Coup, setting up your heart jack as the threat in that suit). Then run the spades, and you can guarantee that East will be squeezed in the red suits. After five rounds of spades, three clubs, and two hearts, you will have the heart jack and two diamonds in hand, the ace-king-jack of diamonds in dummy, and if you haven’t seen the heart queen appear, you will play diamonds from the top.

ANSWER: Before I answer the question, let’s clarify that a jump to two spades would be a highcard invitation. One can, however, play the jump as shapely, not limit, if your RHO has redoubled -- when there cannot be enough high cards in the deck for a true invitation. That said, a simple bid of one spade seems to be enough now; the auction will surely not end there, and you can compete as appropriate.