ACES ON BRIDGE

“I have come too late into a world too old.” -- Alfred de Musset

To say that South had been given a complete blueprint of the deal in his contract of five clubs would be only a slight exaggeration. After the bidding and the play to the first trick, he could pinpoint every high card in the defenders’ hands. The good news is that he was given the opportunity for a rather unusual play; the bad news is that he thought of it too late.

Against five clubs doubled, West led the spade ace to the three, queen and six, then rather woodenly led another spade. As it turns out, a heart switch would have been more purposeful. South ruffed and led a trump to the two, 10 and jack. East returned a heart to dummy’s ace. Although the finesses against both of East’s kings were right, there was now only one entry to the table. East was able to cover whatever card was led from dummy and wait for the setting trick in the other minor.

Can you spot the winning line? If you place East with every missing honor card, then declarer should start trumps by the highly unusual maneuver of leading the nine from his hand. East can win with the jack and lead a heart, but the difference now is that declarer can make his second trump play the lead of a club honor from dummy. Whether East covers or not, there will remain a vital entry on the table to lead the diamond jack and avoid a loser in that suit.

ANSWER: Normally with a weak hand and four trumps facing an overcall, you should raise to the three level preemptively. You can cue-bid with a high-card limit raise in this seat. But here, your balanced hand argues for a simple raise. There is no need to do any more than that since your hand is so defensive in nature.