ACES ON BRIDGE

“Nothing succeeds like success.” — Anonymous

Going into the last stanza of 16 boards in the playoff match in the 1997 Women’s Trials, the WeiSender team led narrowly, but a good card by both pairs made the final margin seem more comfortable than it really was. Kerri Sanborn proved herself up to the task of bringing home a tricky game here.

In the open room, four spades was bid after East-West had bid up to four hearts. It was not doubled, and went two down. However, when Sanborn was declarer after North had opened a 14-16 notrump, East had shown hearts and a minor, and West doubled the final contract.

The heart two was led to the ace, and Sanborn carefully played a spade to hand, getting the bad news. The play might look straightforward if you can find the club queen, but that is not so. Sanborn continued with a spade to the 10, then cashed the spade ace and now had to work out the club position. East’s failure to raise to four hearts implied that she did not have 6-5 distribution, so she seemed likely to hold three clubs. Sanborn played an immediate club to the jack, and when it held, she could take the spade king and crucially discard a blocking club from dummy. Now she was one step ahead of the defense, who could take only their spade, heart and diamond tricks.

Notice that if declarer plays the ace and a second club at an early point in the hand, West can obtain two ruffs to beat the contract.

ANSWER: I’m as capable of overbidding as the next person, but I would pass two diamonds now and hope that it made, rather than look for a game. Since my partner would typically raise with three spades and an unbalanced hand, and would surely have bid clubs on his second turn with four, we have no good fit, no aces and, thus, remarkably few prospects.