ACES ON BRIDGE

Opening Lead: Club two

As South, you find yourself at the top of your range for your one-no-trump overcall and gladly accept partner’s invitation. It would be a mistake to suggest three notrump with only one club stopper and no spade fillers.

West leads the club two, third-and-fifth, to East’s 10 and your ace. It is tempting to play three rounds of hearts now for a club discard. That might even allow you to make an overtrick by leading twice up to your diamond honors. However, there is a hidden danger to this course. Not only might East ruff the third heart, but the defenders could organize a trump promotion on the fourth round of hearts even if the third stands up.

The discards can wait. At trick two, lead a trump to the king. If that holds, you plan to return to hand with a heart to play another spade, forcing West to play low if he has been dealt four. Then you can fall back on taking a quick club discard on the third heart and leading diamonds through East.

This line of play will scuttle the contract only if East was dealt the spade ace on a 4-1 break, along with the diamond ace.

If declarer did cash hearts early, East would win the first spade and shift to diamonds. After winning the diamond ace, West would lead his fourth heart. Declarer would either ruff high, establishing a trick for East’s spade 10 with another diamond loser to come, or pitch a diamond from dummy, after which East would do the same and score a diamond ruff to set the hand. ANSWER: Lead the club ace. A club ruff represents your best chance of setting the hand. A diamond lead is unlikely to achieve much when you have so many of them. It is possible you may change direction if dummy makes it clear that continuing clubs is hopeless.

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