ACES ON BRIDGE

All the deals this week come from the NEC invitation teams in Yokohama, Japan, last year, a world-class tournament with a three-day qualifying event followed by a knockout for the surviving eight teams.

When I was watching on Vugraph, I saw both Easts pass in third seat. Both Wests therefore led an interior heart against three no-trump. In one room, Paw Cheng won in hand to lead a club to the jack and ace. Declarer ducked the next heart, won the diamond switch, then played on spades for his ninth trick.

In the other room, Teruko Nishimura played a club to the jack at trick two, ducked by East. Now declarer came to hand with a diamond to lead a second club up. East won and played back a heart, and the play essentially transposed into the same position as the one Cheng had reached, with the ninth trick coming from spades.

That looks easy, but other tables found the hand harder, especially when East-West joined in the auction. For example, Roy Welland opened one spade in first seat, and now against three no-trump Sabine Auken led a spade to the 10 and queen. Declarer led a club to the jack, and when it held, he fell from grace.

He should have crossed to hand with a diamond to lead a second club toward the queen (as Australian Tony Nunn did in the other room after the same spade lead). Instead, he led a low heart from dummy to his queen and West’s king. Now a spade back left declarer needing clubs or hearts to lie favorably, and today was not his day.

ANSWER: Some partnerships, including mine, play that this sequence guarantees real clubs (at least four). If so, the choice now is whether to invite game in clubs or no-trump since, despite its lack of intermediates, this hand has real potential game interest facing a minimum opener. The location of my club honors persuades me to bid three clubs, as clubs seems like a safer part-score if the auction ends here.

“Minds are like parachutes. They only function when they are open.” — Sir James Dewar