ACES ON BRIDGE

“One minute with him is all I ask; one minute alone with him while you’re running for the priest and the doctor.” -- Sean O’Casey

In today’s game, the fate of the contract went from “healthy” to “moribund” at trick one, and the contract sank without a trace at trick three.

South might have upgraded his hand into a one-diamond opener, planning to rebid two no-trump over a major-suit response. The quick tricks in diamonds make that a sensible evaluation. But his side got to game anyway; all he had to do was bring it home.

After West led the spade queen, declarer played by rote, rather than addressing the real problem of the deal, when he ducked in both hands. Now forced to win the second spade in dummy, he started on diamonds, and when the 4-1 break there came to light, he had no fallback play available. The clubs could be set up, but not cashed.

South should have worked out that if diamonds were breaking 3-2 now, they would still be breaking 3-2 later on in the deal. It was therefore right to go after clubs before diamonds, playing the king, ace and a third club. If they broke 3-3 or the queen or jack fell doubleton, then the contract could be brought home.

This line requires a re-entry to the North hand, hence South needed to keep the spade ace intact and win trick one with the king. Then declarer can go after clubs directly, and the fall of the queen makes life easy. Even if one player had the club suit doubly guarded, South would still come home if diamonds broke.

ANSWER: There are three sensible choices: You might overcall one no-trump, or one diamond, or double, planning to bid one no-trump on your next turn. For simplicity’s sake, the no-trump overcall has my vote. If for no other reason, many players frequently fail to lead clubs when that is their best lead. This call also allows partner to transfer, and for your side to find major-suit fits only when you want to.