ACES ON BRIDGE

At the Dyspeptics Club, it is grudgingly accepted by South and West that their partners might be technically superior players, but they would never gratify them by admitting that to their faces.

However, on today’s deal, South struck a blow to establish his bona fides with a neat line of play that gave the defense a chance to go wrong.

In theory, West found the way to hold declarer to eight tricks in three no-trump by leading the diamond king and continuing with another high diamond. This appeared to limit declarer to three club tricks, unless East had the singleton or doubleton club king.

But South found a way to present the defenders with a losing option when he won the second diamond and ran the club queen, then the nine. Next he crossed to the club ace as West discarded the spade nine, before exiting in diamonds.

Now West embarrassed his partner by cashing all the diamonds, reducing everyone to five cards.What was East supposed to keep? He had come down to three cards in each major, and had to decide which suit to unguard. Seduced by his partner’s earlier high spade discard, he pitched a spade, and South scored the last five tricks with three spades and two hearts.

Was East’s play a mistake? Yes, I think so, since West would surely have discarded a small heart from an original holding of three or four small cards or even from jackthird of hearts. His failure to pitch a heart suggested he was holding on to jack-fourth of hearts.

BID WITH THE ACES

ANSWER: This may be only a 7-count, but the combination of the fifth trump and the side ace is just enough to raise to three clubs. This is partly because your hand falls, barely, into invitational territory, but also because it makes it far harder for the opponents to get their act together and compete in a red suit.