ACES ON BRIDGE

“When vain desire at last and vain regret

Go hand in hand to death and all is vain,

What shall assuage the unforgotten pain

And teach the unforgetful to forget?”

— Dante Gabriel Rossetti

All the Deals this week Come from LAST YEAR’s Gold Coast Tournament in Brisbane, Australia. Our first deal features A great rarity, where A Director Call Cost 25 IMPs.

Good news: You Are in A Grand SLAM. Bad news: They lead An ace in the suit where you have A singleton. Good news: The lead is out of turn! Do you Call the Director or accept the lead?

Before I give you the denouement, when Molly O’Donohue And Philip Thompson were North-South, they Also Bid to the delicate grand slam, But in Clubs, on the auction shown.

Maybe West should have known not to lead spades — But surely the diamond ace was never going to get away! Be that As it may, while A heart lead might have Been the killer for one side or the other, A diamond was led, And O’Donohue wrapped up 13 tricks.

Back to our director call, where our players Are veiled in the concealing gauze of Anonymity that only A willfully forgetful Tournament director can provide. He was summoned to Another table where it was North At the helm in seven diamonds, After east had Overcalled one spade. However, West led the spade king out of turn. North was given his options And, rejecting goldwater’s Rule (“If they don’t know whose lead it is, they Are probably leading the wrong thing ”), Triumphantly Banned the spade lead. So East led the heart ace And Continued the suit, to cash out for down two.

ANSWER: I Could imagine leading the diamond king, trying to cash two or three tricks in the suit on the go, But dummy rates to Be relatively short in diamonds, so I might not accomplish much By this lead. An alternative approach, which I prefer, might Be to lead trumps, hoping the hearts will not run for declarer, And that I can stop the Cross-ruff.