ACES ON BRIDGE

“An error is the more dangerous the more truth it contains.”

— Henri-frederic Amiel

North-south did well to reach six no-trump in this deal from online play. North might have jumped to five no-trump to offer a choice of slams (since South might still hold three clubs on this sequence), but six no-trump was practical enough.

West found what he thought to be the safest lead of the club 10. Declarer won in hand, East folllowing with the jack perforce, and led a club to the three and dummy's king before advancing the heart jack. East rose with the heart ace and got out with the diamond 10, taken with the jack. Declarer should have cashed the heart king at this point, pitching a club from the board and tightening the position, but he neglected to do so. Now the defenders were under no pressure when declarer ran the diamonds; down one.

There were missed opportunities by both sides, in a sense. Had declarer taken the heart king and then run diamonds, East and West would have been squeezed in turn. East would have had to keep the hearts guarded and West the clubs, so neither would have been able to hold on to three spades.

However, by rising with the heart ace, East had helped declarer tighten the noose on the defense. It would have been better to cover with the queen even though declarer could still get home from there. The fifth diamond would force a spade discard from West; otherwise, declarer could establish the long club. Then declarer would cash two spades, ending in dummy, and exit with the club six, putting West on lead to return a club into dummy's tenace.

ANSWER: You can open light as third hand with a good excuse, and your shape warrants a bid here. You would usually open the higher of two five-card suits, but there is more emphasis on directing the lead here. There is certainly a case to be made for opening one heart on your strong suit or even preempting to two hearts. The question is: Do you feel lucky?