ACES ON BRIDGE
“If we must perish in the fight, Oh! Let us die like men.”
— George Washington Patten
This deal features a card combination that is mishandled more often than it should be.
South opens one spade and presses on to game facing the simple raise. Perhaps his hand is worth no more than a game try of three clubs, but the strong trumps, controls and shape more than justify his optimism.
West opens the heart king, and South plans the play. Declarer expects to lose no trump tricks but will certainly lose a heart and a diamond. He must therefore limit his losses in clubs to one trick. The play depends on knowing how to handle this combination in clubs.
South begins by winning the heart ace and drawing trumps. He should then leave diamonds alone; he might need the entry to dummy later. He tackles clubs by leading a low one to dummy’s queen, hoping to find the king on his left. However, East’s king captures dummy’s queen.
East returns a heart to his partner’s queen, and back comes a diamond to the queen and ace, followed by another diamond to dummy’s king.
Now declarer leads a low club from dummy and finesses the 10. Fortunately for him, the second attempt in clubs succeeds. He can now cash the club ace and ruff his last club with dummy’s remaining trump.
By tackling the club suit in this way, declarer has two chances. He needs either the club king on his left or both honors on his right.The alternative, of starting with the club ace and leading to the queen, is not much better than requiring the king to be onside — though it also picks up the doubleton club jack with West.
ANSWER: Lead the heart jack. Partner should have length in both red suits, or he could not stand a five-heart call from you if you had the rounded suits. Your best shot to go plus is to score two hearts and a ruff. A heart trick will likely be needed in any case. Leading the diamond king, to see dummy and hopefully to retain the lead, is another option, I suppose.
If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, email him at bobbywolff@mindspring.com