aceS on bridge

“For my Vienna is as different from what they call Vienna now as the quick is from the dead.”

-- Erich von Stroheim

Ely Culbertson was credited with playing today’s deal. Against his slam of six spades, West cashed the heart ace, then shifted to the club 10. With 11 top tricks in view, Culbertson correctly decided that the diamond suit offered a better chance for the 12th than the straightforward club finesse. So he rose with the club ace and played six rounds of trump, discarding two clubs from table.

Next came the diamond aceking. When East proved to hold the diamond suit, declarer’s only hope was that East held the club king too. So Culbertson led out the spade nine and threw the club jack from the table. East, who had to discard from his diamond J-9 and the club king, chose the latter. So Culbertson took the last two tricks with the club queen and diamond queen.

This is a perfect example of the Vienna Coup, where declarer’s best play is to take the club ace early to avoid squeezing dummy on the run of the spade winners.

It could be argued that West’s shift to a club was naive, since it forced declarer into the winning line. However, if West plays a trump at trick two, declarer might well ask why he had not shifted to a club. Would he be more likely to do so with the club king or without it? Depending on just how good (or bad) a player West is, you might reasonably assume that he would never shift to a club if he had the king.

ANSWER: Today’s problem is more about style than anything else. My philosophy is to get the majors in as quickly as possible, especially with hands that are not forcing to game. So I’d respond one spade here -- planning to raise a rebid of one no-trump to two, to invite game. A one-diamond response might lose spades -- or force us to play game if I bid spades next over partner’s one-notrump rebid.