ACES ON BRIDGE

“There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” -- Soren Kierkegaard

When North can offer only a simple raise of spades on his second turn, South contents himself with a bid of four spades. Since both players have minimum opening bids, there is no reason for a slam try. (A jump to four hearts would be a splinter -- appropriate if South had king-fourth of diamonds, say).

After winning the heart lead in dummy, South can see that he might lose a trump and three diamond tricks. One discard on dummy’s high heart seems irrelevant. South may be able to discard another diamond on dummy’s fourth club, but only after trumps have been drawn.

South’s best play might be a deceptive move at trick two. He should lead the heart ace from dummy and discard the low club from his hand, creating the impression that he is weak in clubs.

Declarer now takes the trump finesse. West wins with the spade king and is likely to return the club 10. South can now win the club ace, draw the remaining trumps, and cash the club queen. He then enters dummy with a trump to discard a losing diamond on the club king. When both opponents follow to the third club, dummy’s last club takes care of a second losing diamond.

West’s best chance to defeat the game comes if East can signal suit preference on the second heart -- and maybe on the first trump, as well. A high heart at trick two, and maybe the spade six on the first trump, might tip West off to South’s devious plan.

ANSWER: I may be going out on a limb here, but I like a penalty double here. Your partner will pull with real extra shape (especially if he has concealed spade support), but if he has a balanced hand with spade shortage, you surely want to defend here -- don’t you?