ACES ON BRIDGE
Today’s deal features an example of a lead-directing double of Stayman. Most pairs play a double of a Stayman or transfer response to a strong no-trump as showing the suit bid.
Here, though, the double serves to keep North-South out of the normal three notrump, which would not make on any lead. South’s pass denies a club stopper, and the redouble is Stayman again. South denies a major and subsequently plays in four hearts after showing values there.
East takes two club tricks and leads a third top club, hoping to weaken declarer’s trump holding, aware that a ruff-sluff is unlikely to cost anything.
Declarer ruffs the third club in hand, pitching a diamond from dummy. Then he leads the diamond jack, placing the diamond king on his left after East’s original pass. West wins with his king and plays a fourth club. South ruffs in hand again, shedding a spade from dummy; then he cashes the heart ace. He crosses to the spade king and lays down the heart king, dropping East’s eight.
He discards a spade from hand and must then decide how the trumps are breaking.
The line of defense has suggested hearts might be 4-2. If so, South can succeed only when West has the heart length. Declarer leaves the heart jack-nine tenace in dummy and runs the diamond suit through West. If West ruffs in, declarer overruffs, draws trumps and reenters his hand with the spade ace to enjoy the diamonds. If West pitches, so does dummy, and declarer takes the rest via a trump coup at trick 12.
ANSWER: Open one no-trump. Upgrading to a one-diamond opening is not attractive, tactically speaking, because if your partner responds in a major, you may have to jump to two no-trump without a proper club stop. If you had the diamond 10 to bolster your long suit, you might take the high road, but here one no-trump is fine. Also, after one no-trump, if you have a 5-3 major suit, you won’t miss it, and you won’t ever play a 4-3 major unnecessarily.