ACES ON BRIDGE

“The best of men cannot suspend their fate;

The good die early and the bad die late.”

— Daniel Defoe

After the lead of the diamond queen against two hearts, South can see six possible top losers if the black-suit finesses fail. So he must try to hold his diamond losers to one, perhaps by taking a ruff in the dummy. However, an alert defender might shift to the trump ace and another trump, leaving declarer with two possible diamond losers.

To this end, declarer should duck the first trick. If the defenders play two rounds of trumps now, preventing the ruff, declarer will retain diamond control. He can simply draw trumps and finesse in spades. East can win this but can only cash two club tricks. Declarer eventually wins the diamond ace and throws his diamond loser on a spade honor.

Had declarer taken the diamond ace at trick one and returned the suit, the defense still would have played two rounds of trumps, but with better results. Upon gaining the lead with the spade king, East would be able to take two clubs and a second diamond trick. In this variation, if declarer were to finesse in spades at trick two, East could set the contract by shifting to a low trump, keeping his ace for later. Declarer would be unable to cash two spades because of the 4-2 spade split, while playing a diamond would allow the defenders to cash the heart ace and run their winners. The last trap on the hand is that if West gives East count in spades, East may duck the first round. Now if declarer plays for overtricks and repeats the finesse, he goes down.

ANSWER: Overcall one spade. You should take this golden opportunity to get your spades in, suggesting a good lead to partner and perhaps allowing you to find a fit. One-level overcalls do not promise the moon — even if they do normally deliver slightly more than this.