If one won’t work, try something else

Edmond de Goncourt, a 19thcentury French diarist, said, “A painting in a museum hears more ridiculous opinions than anything else in the world.”

But isn’t an opinion about a piece of art in the eye of the beholder?

This week, we are looking at deals in which one defender should take control to make sure that nothing ridiculous happens. However, finding the right play is so much easier with a warning bell ringing. At the table, it would be harder.

In today’s deal, South is in four spades. West leads the club ace: three, nine, two. What should happen after that?

When South opened one spade, West should have overcalled two spades, a Michaels Cue-Bid showing at least 5-5 in hearts and either minor. But he fell in love with his beautiful club suit. North then made a negative double, promising four hearts and 10 or more points. (With slightly fewer points, he could have five or six hearts.) He did not need length in diamonds, but without that, he should have had an idea what he would do if South rebid in that suit. South’s two-spade rebid indicated at least a six-card suit. Finally, North went for the logical game.

West starts with three top clubs, East playing high-low to show his doubleton, then signaling with what?

East wants a heart shift, but the heart three is going to look low and discouraging to West. Similarly, discarding a discouraging diamond eight will look encouraging to West. To avoid the danger of an accident, at trick three, East should ruff his partner’s trick — which is always fun — and cash the heart ace.