ACES ON BRIDGE

All pass

Opening Lead: Diamond 10

This was a board from the first set of a Vanderbilt match at the 2002 Spring Nationals. The field started at 80 teams and reduced to 32 for day two, by means of either long head-to-head matches or shorter four-way contests.

As South, you open two hearts with one of your sounder collections for this bid. Of course, it goes pass - pass - double - all pass, but dummy gives you some hope of minimizing the damage.

The diamond 10 lead goes to the king, and you start trying to reduce your trumps by leading a low spade from dummy. East now has a problem: Ducking could prove silly, since you might tackle spades this way if you held the spade queen, given that East is virtually marked with the king. By the same token, East might argue that West’s choice of opening lead suggests that you probably have a club honor and are therefore less likely to hold the spade queen.

Anyway, East decides to take the spade king and shift to the club ace and another club before the rats get at that suit. A low club first would still have saved the day for his side since it would have let East lead his trump through you at some point, breaking up the endplay.

After that start, though, there is no escape for the defense. They allow you to win the third club, and you play the spade ace and ruff a spade. A diamond to dummy is then followed by the heart two, covered by the eight and nine. West is forced to lead a low heart to you, and you can endplay him with a low trump.

ANSWER: Bid two spades.You almost have enough to raise to three, with your excellent shape and concentrated high cards, but that would be gilding the lily. Partner will often go on with very little excuse when he has five spades, and you should not mind missing a marginal game in an eight-card fit. More to the point, jumping to game sometimes leads to a minus score at the five- or six-level.