ACES ON BRIDGE

“God ascended in hearty song; and the Lord in the voice of a trump.”

— Psalm 47:5, Wycliffe Bible

After West’s infuriating preempt, South guesses to introduce his spades (a dubious choice) in response to the takeout double, rather than rebidding diamonds. He must then declare a very delicate game.

South wins the top heart lead and finesses in spades. Then he plays a diamond to the king. East wins and returns a heart, tapping the dummy.

It must be right to ruff, but now South must resist repeating the spade finesse. If trumps are 4-2, declarer should have no problem, but the risk of a 5-1 split is a real one. If the split is as shown, finessing in spades and running diamonds will see East ruff and play a trump. He will then be able to ruff a minor-suit winner and run the hearts on defense.

So declarer runs his diamonds instead. If West ruffs and plays another heart, South trumps in dummy and finesses in spades. He then cashes the spade ace and plays winners, and East only scores a trump trick. If

West instead shifts to a club, declarer wins in dummy, finesses in the trump suit and then runs diamonds, allowing East his trump trick when he wants.

However, at the table, when West shows out, declarer simply keeps playing diamonds. Whenever East chooses to ruff in, a heart return will accomplish nothing. Declarer can ruff in dummy, take the trump finesse and then run winners. If East tries a club instead, declarer wins in dummy, finesses in spades and runs the diamonds, retaining trump control in dummy. Either way, he loses just two trumps and a diamond.

ANSWER: Open one club. Your hand may be a minimum in high cards, but the strong suit and 5-4-3-1 shape compensate for that. You have an easy rebid of one spade, so there are no strategic concerns when planning the auction. When the decision as to whether to open the bidding is marginal, let the strength of your long suit and ease of rebid be the deciding factors. If the majors were switched, I would pass.

If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, email him at bobbywolff@mindspring.com