ACES ON BRIDGE

“How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.”

— Henry David Thoreau

West’s weak no-trump opening did not work well here. His side’s club fit was lost, and they missed an easy sacrifice. East could scarcely take a save on his own. South’s three-spade response to the major-showing two-diamond call was only a mild invitation; better hands would have started with a two-no-trump ask.

West chose to lead a club against four spades, East winning the ace. How should East continue?

South is likely to have five spades for his jump, given that he is known to have very little in the way of high cards, so forcing the dummy in clubs is unlikely to help. East’s best bet is to employ a little subterfuge. He switches to the heart six, hoping to threaten a third-round ruff that he knows he cannot enjoy, holding only one trump. Declarer does not know this, though.

When West wins the heart ace and fires one back, South will surely try to cash three rounds of diamonds for a heart discard to prevent the ruff. However, West is the player who can score a ruff for the setting trick.

It can sometimes be right for a defender to switch to a low card from a doubleton to simulate shortness, but that would only help declarer here. Placing three hearts with East for the heart-four shift, declarer would know that the defense could not organize a ruff, with West known to have the major-suit aces based on the bidding and lead. South might simply draw trumps and make the hand without realizing how close he had come to disaster.

ANSWER:

You have the values for two actions, so start with a one-heart overcall. This is descriptive as well as being the suit you want led. If you had less (say the heart king were the two) and were only going to make one call, you might consider doubling instead. As an aside, do not consider a Michaels cue-bid with this honor location. Sometimes with four good spades and five bad hearts, it might be the least lie, but not here.

BOBBY WOLFF