ACES ON BRIDGE

Along the same lines of inducing the defenders to continue the suit led, here is the Coriolis coup. The Coriolis effect was once thought to cause bathwater to go down the drain in different directions depending on which hemisphere you were in, and this coup has something in common with the Bath Coup.

Dick Freeman was a former “quiz kid” on the radio and a tournament director with the reputation of being able to add up the scores faster than anyone else in the world. Here, he produced a nice line for his three-notrump contract.

How likely do you think it is that a competent defense will beat three no-trump by South if they find the passive club lead? As long as East wins the second club and shifts to a spade, the defenders should find a way to cash their four spade tricks. Declarer will put up the king on the first round, and then either West can underlead the spade queen, or East can unblock the spade jack under the queen.

At the table, though, after a strong no-trump and Stayman sequence, West led the club nine, which was either top of a sequence denying a higher honor, or from a 10-nine holding with a higher honor. East put up the club queen, and Freeman ducked impassively! He knew that the lead was top of nothing, but East thought the layout was consistent with an original holding of ace-10-nine in the West hand. So, he continued with the king, and Freeman now had 11 tricks rather than eight, by virtue of his maneuver in clubs.

ANSWER: Your good five-card suit and intermediates could justify an upgrade to the 18-19 range, but you would prefer to open one no-trump to ensure you protect those lone honors in the pointed suits. Change the diamond queen into a roundedsuit queen, or add the club nine, and I would open one club. Here, however, I would settle for opening one no-trump today.

“Bright and fierce and fickle is the South, And dark and true and tender is the North.” — Alfred, Lord Tennyson