ACES ON BRIDGE

— Sir Isaac Newton

None of the falsecards discussed this week are likely to cost, and all of them offer declarer a different, unsuccessful line of play. Here, West led the unbid suit against four hearts, setting up a spade winner for his side and compelling declarer to bring trumps in for one loser.

Some would tackle trumps by leading to the queen, intending to finesse the 10 on the way back if that loses. However, due to South’s poor intermediates, he preferred to cash the ace, then play toward the queen. In comparison to the other line, this picks up a singleton jack or king offside and the doubleton jack with West, five cases in total. The alternative line succeeds against king-jack-low and jack-nine doubleton offside, only four cases.

Had East followed with the nine under the ace, South would no doubt have led to the queen next, since he could not succeed against king-jack-fourth with West. But our East was made of sterner stuff and nonchalantly dropped the heart jack under the ace, presenting South with an attractive losing option.

Taken in by this, declarer confidently finessed the heart eight on the next round, playing for East to have started with the bare jack or king-jack doubleton. He could survive a 4-1 trump break, since dummy’s spade nine would serve to stop that suit and prevent the force.

Unfortunately for declarer, East won with the heart nine, and yet another apparently unbreakable game had vanished down the drain.

BID WITH THE ACES

South holds:

; A 6

k A 10 4 3 2 l K J 9 3

' 5 2

South West North East

1 ; Pass 2 ; ? ANSWER: It is normally the duty of the player with shortness in their suit to enter the auction. Here, it is more dangerous to stand idly by and allow the opponents to play two spades than to enter the bidding. After all, a heart contract could easily be in the offing. However, three hearts would be too committal and would overstate the quality of the suit. Double is best; if partner bids three clubs, respect his decision. If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, email him at