ACES ON BRIDGE

“And one born in a manger Commands the beauteous files.” — Henry Vaughan There are advantages to being a pack rat (though it is possible my wife would not agree). Going back through my copious records, I discovered a deal from a national tournament in the 1970s. The deal arose in the Spingold Trophy, where both tables declared four hearts. After the lead of the club jack to the king, East cashed the club ace and erred by playing a third club. That gave declarer a chance by allowing him to try to shorten his trumps and cope with a bad break. A diamond shift would have left declarer no chance as the cards lay. Robert Lebi, then of Montreal, earned a 12-IMP swing for his team by ruffing and playing a heart to the ace. Believing East’s king was a true card (who would find the false card here?), he cashed the spade ace, ruffed a spade and took the diamond ace and king, before ruffing a diamond to dummy. After ruffing a spade to hand, declarer was down to the heart Q-10 and the diamond jack, while West had been forced to follow suit throughout and held J-9-3 of hearts. The diamond jack completed the coup: West ruffed and had to lead into the trump tenace. The Lebi team won their knockout match by 11 IMPs when the other declarer was given the same chance at trick three but did not ruff a spade when in dummy with the heart ace! For the record, in almost every variation, a diamond shift at trick two from East is either essential or at least as good as a club.