Aces on Bridge

When North, playing the forcing no-trump, produces a constructive raise of hearts, South makes a help-suit game try of three clubs, asking North to decide whether what he has is right for game. North’s two builders in clubs make up for his bad trump holding, so he takes a shot at the heart game.

When West leads the spade queen, declarer must duck, or else East would win and continue the suit, leaving declarer with four losers when trumps did not behave. It is often incorrect to cover when declarer wants to keep East off lead, but here ducking the lead prevents either defender from continuing spades without surrendering a trick.

West has a difficult play now, but accurately shifts to the diamond seven. Declarer wins the ace in hand, then takes the heart ace; the sight of the king persuades him to try for an endplay if trumps do not break, by cashing the diamond queen and leading a second trump.

If trumps break, declarer is home; when they do not, East wins his two hearts, but now South’s small extra chance kicks in, since East has no third diamond left to lead and must open up one black suit or the other. Either way, declarer’s two clubs will disappear on dummy’s winners.

If declarer leads a third diamond instead of the second heart, East discards on this trick and the fourth diamond. Declarer can do no better than play a trump. East cashes his hearts and exits with his spade ace, leaving South with an eventual club loser.