ACES ON BRIDGE
Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.
Today’s deal features an unusual safety play. After North agrees spades, South rebids three no-trump to show a minimum balanced hand. North places the contract in four spades.
Declarer wins the diamond queen lead in hand and leads the spade jack to allow for four cards on his left. (There will be little he can do if East holds king-10-ninelow.) The trump jack goes to the king and ace, and the bad break is revealed. Next, declarer thoughtfully leads a low spade to his eight, preparing a later finesse. When West continues with the diamond jack, declarer should be careful to duck, breaking the link between the defenders. (If instead he wins, crosses in clubs and leads the spade seven,
West will cover. Now declarer has to take the first of his two heart finesses, lest he be an entry short, but West wins and plays a diamond across to his partner for a fourth diamond lead, promoting the spade five. It would not help declarer to give up a heart before finessing in trumps, because the same diamond play would still promote a trump trick.)
After declarer ducks the diamond continuation, he can win the third round and cross to the club ace to advance the spade seven. West covers, but declarer wins in dummy and leads a heart to the 10. With the defenders’ communications cut, South can take the next club in dummy and repeat the combination finesse in hearts before finally drawing the last trump.
ANSWER: Do not bother looking for a spade fit with your sterile shape and soft honors. The question remains how aggressively to raise. With nine, one can go either way, but I would invite; the quacks outweigh the spade intermediates. The intermediates are good, but I have it on good authority that your partner will know better than you if he has a decent hand for the bidding so far.