ACES ON BRIDGE

“There comes a time in every man’s life, and I’ve had many of them.”

— Casey Stengel

In olden days, West might have passed, but these days, all 12-point hands are opened lest a tight game be missed. However, the opening bid could only hinder the defense in the play here.

North’s no-trump overcall was a minimum in high-card points, but his diamond tenace over the bidder, coupled with his aces and combination of spade honors, more than made up for that. South could have transferred to hearts, possibly angling for a no-trump game, but (not playing Texas Transfers) he took the practical shot of four hearts to protect his black suits.

The play was quick but, perhaps as a result, imprecise. Declarer won the spade lead in hand and played on trumps, East winning the second round. The spade return was won in hand, then East took the next trump and put his partner in with the diamond ace to score a spade ruff. One off.

Yes, West had hit on a good lead, and declarer was unlucky to run into an unfriendly distribution, but with the diamond ace all but marked on his left, declarer should have won the spade in hand and led a diamond at trick two to protect himself against the 4-1 trump break — in which case the most obvious threat to the contract would be a spade ruff. Say West plays low at trick two: Declarer calls for the diamond king and returns the suit, cutting the defensive link — a neat example of the Scissors Coup. West can continue spades, but will never regain the lead to give East a ruff, and declarer has enough trumps to handle diamond forces.

ANSWER: You should bid three clubs. I recommend that you play your partner’s double as takeout, and passing here would be too risky. Your spade length is sitting beneath the bidder, and the spade queen-jack are unlikely to take tricks. It is best to bid your long suit, though I can imagine a call of two no-trump being right — especially with the spade nine or eight instead of the seven.