tHe aces on BriDge

“Seek not out the things that are too hard for thee,

Neither search the things that are above thy strength.” -- Eclesiastes 3:21 .....................

Today’s deal is a curiosity -- I’m not sure whether the play could ever go as indicated at the end of this column -- but I would take my hat off to anyone who found the winning move.

Let’s look at what happened at the table: South reached three no-trump after West had opened with a weak two diamonds. After South showed a strong no-trump, North used Stayman to check back for a 4-4 major-suit fit and settled for three no-trump when South denied a major.

West guessed to lead diamonds, and declarer was forced to hop up with the king from dummy. East followed with the jack to unblock, preparing for a later finesse. Declarer now had to go after clubs. He led low from the dummy and put in the jack from hand. West won and shifted to a spade.

Reading the position perfectly, declarer won dummy’s ace and repeated the club finesse. When the clubs came in, declarer had one trick each in spades and diamonds, four clubs and three hearts for nine tricks.

It looks as if declarer had timed the play perfectly, and so he had. So what is the point of the deal? Remarkably, the defenders do have a riposte. If West ducks the club queen, declarer can no longer set up the clubs without letting East on lead in one of the black suits, and that will be fatal to declarer.

ANSWER: In my regular partnerships, I believe this double should be played as penalty, suggesting a spade stack. Looking at my hand, though, I know that this cannot be the case. Partner must have a light takeout double, and it must therefore be right to remove to two hearts.