ACES ON BRIDGE

“There is a large stock on hand, but somehow or other, nobody’s experience ever suits us but our own.” — Letitia Elizabeth Landon

North took a practical shot at the diamond slam once he found partner with a spade stopper and no huge extras.

West did well to kick off with a trump, inferring that declarer had spades under control for his three-no-trump bid. On any other start, declarer could have played the entire hand on a crossruff, scoring eight diamonds, two spades and two aces. As it was, he could rely on the spade finesse for a 12th trick, but it made more sense to try to use dummy’s powerful clubs.

Declarer won the trump lead in hand and finessed the club queen. He did not have the entries to take three club ruffs and also to draw trumps, so knocking out the club king early was a sound plan. Had the queen won, declarer could have reverted to a crossruff, but

East took the king and returned a trump, further reducing declarer’s ruffing potential. However,

South could still enjoy the clubs on a 4-3 break and fall back on the spade finesse if the clubs were not kind.

It was necessary to score two heart ruffs in dummy, and the entry position demanded that declarer take them immediately. After winning the second trump in dummy, he played the heart ace and ruffed a heart. Next came the club ace and a low club ruffed in hand. If someone had shown out, declarer would have found out in time to fall back on an eventual spade finesse.

As it was, clubs broke, so declarer ruffed another heart, crossed to the spade ace and drew trumps. Dummy was now high.

ANSWER: You would prefer to have a better suit or a sixth card for a call of three hearts. If partner were to raise with a doubleton or pass, you might easily find yourself in the wrong strain. Make a takeout double instead, bringing all three other suits into focus.You may miss a 5-3 heart fit, but you maximize the chance of finding your best fit. That is an excellent return on investment.