ACES ON BRIDGE

“Life without industry is guilt, and industry without art is brutality.”

— John Ruskin

Against three no-trump, West leads the spade three, and South must count his winners before playing to trick one. With seven top winners, two additional tricks must be developed.

A club break would be one simple route for a trick, and South can set up at least one diamond trick easily enough. With a third possibility of the heart finesse, South must take his chances in the correct order.

Dummy wins the first trick with the spade king and leads a low diamond to South's king in the hope of developing two diamond tricks. While the clubs and hearts can be tested without losing a trick if they succeed, the same cannot be said of the diamond finesse. If declarer were to take the heart finesse immediately, he might go down if East won and cleared spades.

When West wins the diamond ace and clears spades, it leaves declarer in need of a new way to develop his ninth trick.

Clubs come first, but West discards a heart on the second round, informing declarer that the suit will not break well. But all that remains for declarer is to take the heart ace and finesse the jack.

Note that if declarer were to start on clubs by cashing the club aceking immediately, he would lead a diamond to the king next. However, if West can manage to duck smoothly, declarer will not know whether to cross to the heart king — spurning the finesse to lead back up to the diamond queen, hoping the ace is onside — or to finesse the heart jack.

ANSWER: Lead a club. It looks as if trumps may be breaking badly, so declarer may struggle if left to his own devices. A passive club lead is unlikely to give anything away, but a heart could easily ride around to declarer's tenace. Leading from a king into a strong no-trump is a tactic of desperation that does not seem necessary here.