ACES ON BRIDGE

“To consult the statistician after an experiment is finished is often merely to ask him to conduct a post mortem examination. He can perhaps say what the experiment died of.”

— Ronald Fisher

In the Grand National Open Teams at the New South Wales Bridge Association, two strong Australian teams met, and both declarers passed the test they were set.

Against four spades, West led the heart king, then the queen, which East overtook. He returned a club, won in hand by declarer, Andrew Peake.

Then came the spade two. West inserted the 10, and East showed out when the ace was played from dummy. Peake now played a diamond to the king, then the

10, covered with the jack and ace, then a further diamond was ruffed in hand.

A club to the queen followed, then a second diamond was ruffed.

South cashed the club king, on which dummy’s last diamond departed. He continued with his low club, and with nothing but trumps left, West could make just one further trick.

Incidentally, had East followed to the third diamond, declarer would have played four rounds of clubs, ruffing in dummy, then ruffed a diamond with an intermediate trump to achieve the same ending.

The same line was taken by Paul Gosney at the second table, which was even more impressive, since he wasn’t doubled.

A better defense would have been for East to lead a third heart at trick three. When declarer ruffs in hand and West pitches a club, declarer will have to take care not to play trump at all. Instead, he strips off two clubs and four diamonds, and in the four-card ending leads a club from hand, under-ruffing West’s trump honor and endplaying him to concede the rest.

ANSWER: Your partner has invited game, suggesting about 11 HCP and three spades. Your great controls and nice honor structure suggest you have enough to accept the invitation. Your points in your long suits mean that only your weak spade spots might give you a moment’s pause before bidding on.