aceS on bridge

“The torment of precautions often exceeds the dangers to be avoided. It is sometimes better to abandon one’s self to destiny.”

-- Napoleon Bonaparte

In today’s deal, your best slam is six diamonds, but at matchpoints it is frequently hard to locate minor suits. In six no-trump you receive the lead of the heart queen. It is worthwhile giving the right approach a fair amount of consideration; the answer might well surprise you.

Let’s look at three approaches. The fair-weather player cashes the club ace and king and tries to run the club suit for four tricks. If that line succeeds, he moves on to the next deal, oblivious to his own failings.

The more cautious player notes that if West has a singleton honor, he can cash a top card from dummy, then lead a low club toward his 10 to hold his losers in the suit to one. Nice try, but when you win the first heart with the ace and cross to a club to lead up to your hand, East would win his honor and return a heart, removing dummy’s entry to the clubs while the suit is blocked.

In summary, after the heart lead, if either defender has a singleton club honor, there is nothing that you can do, assuming best defense.

But there are precisely two singletons you can cope with -- the bare club eight or nine in East. Win the heart lead and immediately advance the club 10, planning to run it if West plays low. If he covers, win and lead back to your seven, ensuring four club tricks for your side.

ANSWER: Your hand is far too good to pass, but competing intelligently is not that easy. Doubling for takeout will persuade partner that you have hearts, while a call of three clubs takes you dangerously high without a known fit. I’d settle for an idiosyncratic raise to two spades. (Tell your partner you had a club in with your spades.)