AceS On briDge

The French were one of the teams who were invited on very short notice to fill the gaps in the Bermuda Bowl in Chennai, India, last October after the cheating scandals broke. They not only played well to reach the knockout phase, but they very nearly defeated the eventual winners in the quarter-finals.

On this deal from the round robin, Godefroy de Tessieres as South had made 11 tricks in three no-trump on the lead of the diamond 10. He had had plenty of time to set up hearts for three tricks, and when he cashed out the clubs from the top, he could drop the club queen and lose just the two hearts.

The fireworks went off in the other room, though. Here, Thomas Bessis as West obediently led his partner’s suit, which went to Frederick Volcker’s 10 as declarer played low. Declarer won the next spade with his queen, crossed to dummy with the diamond jack and played a low heart to his queen. When Bessis followed low without a quiver, declarer ducked a heart to East, who now cleared the spades.

At this point, can you blame declarer -- who was convinced that East still had the heart ace as an entry for his spades -- for falling back on Plan B? When he finessed the club jack, looking for his ninth trick from that suit, this proved to be the entry to East for the spades. Three no-trump was two down, and Bessis’ brilliant maneuver was good for a huge pickup for France.

ANSWER: In the context of what you have shown already, it looks right to me to double two diamonds, very much suggesting this pattern. You might ask yourself where the spades have gone, and what you plan to do if the opponents run to two spades. I say sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

“When good Americans die, they go to Paris.” -- Oscar Wilde