ACES ON BRIDGE

“The dinosaur had two sets of brains —

One in his head (the usual place), The other at his spinal base. Thus he could reason a priori As well as a posteriori.”

— Bert Leston Taylor

South failed to justify his partner’s bidding on today’s deal. By modern standards, South’s weak two was more than sound — many would act with less. However, North took his partner seriously and raised all the way to game rather than merely inviting it.

It is sound tactics to lead aggressively when declarer has pre-empted, which often denotes weakness in several of the side suits. West had a choice between the red suits; while the diamond king might set up a third-round ruff, it might also have helped develop dummy’s suit, so West chose the heart 10. When it held, West led a heart to East’s jack. Declarer ruffed the third round and started on trumps, conceding the third round to East, as West pitched a discouraging club.

Declarer needed to bring the diamonds in, but today the suit would be blocked if West put his king up on the first round. Had East exited with a safe heart, declarer would have put his lefthand opponent to the test by trying to sneak the diamond nine past him. East removed his partner’s losing option by shifting to a diamond himself. West played third-hand-high, and declarer had to go one down.

East’s defense was exemplary, but declarer need not have given him the chance. On today’s lie of cards, it would have been better to lead the diamond nine at trick three before using up dummy’s trump entry. Say West covers the nine. You win the ace, unblock the diamond 10 and cash two top spades, ending on the table. When the third diamond stands up, both club losers go away, just in the nick of time.

ANSWER: Double. Do not be tempted to raise clubs at this early stage. It is important to find a heart fit if you have one, to reach the cheaper (and easier) game. If your hearts were four-small, you might consider raising to three clubs immediately, to consume bidding space.