ACES ON BRIDGE

“There are no dangerous thoughts for the simple reason that thinking itself is such a dangerous enterprise.”

— Hannah Arendt

We will be looking at the final round of the 2000 Bermuda Bowl trials over the next two days, between Jimmy Cayne’s and Nick Nickell’s teams.

Both tables did well to reach three notrump here. Where Paul Soloway was declarer, his auction had denied four hearts. A club was led in response to a double. East won the ace and returned a diamond, letting the contract through.

In the other room, Larry Cohen had eight quick tricks after the friendly diamond lead. He won the opening lead and correctly attacked clubs at once. Even if the club ace were on his right, the defense might not know what to do next.

When Eric Rodwell took the club ace, he inferred that his partner had a singleton club. Thus, West’s card at trick two was forced, not a Smith Echo relating to diamonds.

Rodwell deduced that declarer had the remaining club honors and the diamond ace. Since the likelihood was that South also had a top diamond, there was no room for the heart ace, and so shifting to the heart jack gave the defense two chances.

At the table, Cohen ducked the jack, hoping to block the suit, and East was able to continue with the heart king and another heart for down one.

Had the heart jack gone to the queen and ace, Meckstroth would have returned an attitude card in the suit: a high heart from a remaining holding of three small, and a low heart from a remaining holding of 10-third. Had Rodwell seen his partner return a high heart, he would have reverted to diamonds.

ANSWER: You lack the traditional values for a two-level overcall, but your shape and good club intermediates justify two clubs if non-vulnerable. The deal could belong to your side, or you might be able to compete effectively in clubs. You might want to consider passing without the club 10.

If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, email him at bobbywolff@mindspring.com