ACES ON BRIDGE

This week’s deals are all taken from the IBPA awards presented at the Rhodes Olympiad. The hands are all brilliancies performed at various top-level tournaments from 25 years ago.

In this hand from the Generali Individual Pairs, declarer Wubbo de Boer had to change tack halfway through. His play won him the best-played hand award.

East’s no-trump opening was a bit off center: It was now difficult for East-West to save in five clubs. De Boer ruffed the club lead. It now seemed natural to start on the side suit, but if declarer followed with a heart to the queen, the defense could win and clear trumps, and declarer would lose a second heart. So, de Boer guessed to run the heart 10 around to East’s ace. Back came a second club, which was ruffed, and now South’s problem was that if he played on trumps, the defense could duck the first round. When they won the second trump and played a third club, the hearts would be blocked, and declarer would run out of trumps. However, if South unblocked the hearts at once, before playing the spade king, East would win his spade ace and lead a diamond to his partner, then get a heart ruff.

De Boer found an ingenious if quixotic solution to his problem. Having gone to such lengths to finesse in hearts at trick two, he now led the heart king from his hand, crashing the queen, then ruffed a heart with dummy’s spade king! Then he simply drew trumps

“Talent is like electricity. We don’t understand electricity. We use it.”

— Maya Angelou

and could not be prevented from making 10 tricks.

ANSWER: The spades are lying badly for declarer, so he is likely to go down if left to his own devices. Your target should be to play safe. I would prefer the lead of the heart 10 to that of the club queen. And, of course, there is not much to be gained by leading your singleton when you have natural trump tricks.