ACES ON BRIDGE

Opening Lead: Spade king

Against four hearts, West led the spade king, which declarer ducked. West persisted with the spade queen, declarer winning the ace and ruffing a spade in case the jack came down. South then drew trumps and advanced the club nine.

East was all but marked with a minor-suit ace, and if it were in diamonds, West could have beaten the contract by simply winning the club ace and getting off lead in spades. So, when West followed low on the club, declarer decided to run it to try to embarrass East.

A club return would concede the game, with the diamond queen the entry to the club king, so East shifted to a low diamond — not good enough. Declarer inserted the seven, forcing the jack and queen, and could then finesse the diamond nine on the way back to land his game.

East’s correct exit card was the diamond 10, to freeze the suit for both sides. Here, it would force a cover from declarer (or he would go down immediately).West would take the diamond ace and lay down the spade jack, leaving declarer without recourse.

Had South won the spade ace at trick one and come to a top heart, then let the club nine run, East would have a safe spade exit, but West would then be endplayed. If instead East tried the same maneuver of leading the diamond 10, South could now cover with the king. West would have to win, but could no longer exit in spades or clubs, since the diamond queen would provide access to whichever black-suit winner West established.

ANSWER: While you have a lot in hand for a simple club raise, it feels wrong to go past three no-trump, so I would bid three clubs. A jump to four clubs should be more about shape and less about high cards. The advantage is that if you limit your hand initially, you can shoot for the moon if partner doesn’t pass at his next turn.