ACES ON BRIDGE

“As man under pressure tends to give in to physical and intellectual weakness, only great strength of will can lead to the objective.”

— Carl von Clausewitz

In today’s deal, you reach a delicate four-heart game after West, as a passed hand, has suggested a three-suiter and a maximum pass. You duck the lead of the club king, and West accurately shifts to a trump.

It may be hard to see how to avoid the loss of three diamond tricks, since the top honors appear to be split, but you can exert a fair amount of pressure if you run five rounds of hearts. You keep all four spades and your top clubs in hand, coming down to the bare diamond queen. But what does West keep?

If he pitches a spade, you ruff out that suit while you still have a club re-entry to hand; while if he comes down to one club, your clubs will be good.

So West also must come down to one diamond. That has to be the king (or ace), or you can establish a diamond trick.

Now you cash the sixth trump and pitch your last diamond, and West must again keep all his spades and clubs to keep you from establishing either suit. So he, too, discards his last diamond, and that lets you lead the king and another spade, aiming to cover East’s card to keep him off lead.

West wins cheaply and must play back a low spade, but you win that, then endplay him in spades to lead clubs into your tenace. Your initial goal on the deal was to avoid losing three diamond winners; in fact, you ended up losing no diamond tricks at all!

ANSWER: Are you a man or a mouse? Most experts would re-open with a double with barely a second thought. If West has been lurking with a powerhouse, you might regret it. But say your partner has five spades to the king and three little hearts. Then no matter what the rest of his hand is, either four spades doubled should come close or the opponents can make game — and sometimes, both games will make.