ACES ON BRIDGE

“While there is a soul in prison, I am not free.” — Eugene Debs

North’s first call might be a slight stretch today. A cue-bid should invite game facing a weak no-trump equivalent. Since three no-trump is the likely destination here, it tends to require a combined 25 points unless you deliver extra playing strength. However, North’s intermediates are undoubtedly a plus.

West’s unlucky lead of the diamond queen against three no-trump gives South a fighting chance. He wins with the king and leads another diamond to the 10. When the nine appears from East, declarer turns to clubs. Since West has at least eight red-suit cards, East is favored to hold club length; he might have opened a weak two spades with 6=2=2=3 distribution.

Declarer therefore abandons the usual percentage play of cashing the club ace and finessing twice through West, instead running the club 10 from dummy, covered by East. Declarer wins and knocks out the club queen. South ducks the low-heart shift from East and can subsequently take the marked finesse of the diamond eight for his ninth trick.

Say West had begun with queenjack-nine-low in diamonds. After the diamond 10 held, declarer would again run the club 10 from dummy. He would set up clubs as before, and West would win the heart switch and revert to diamonds. Declarer could subsequently cash the clubs to force a spade pitch from West, then take two spades ending in dummy to extract West’s exit-cards, and endplay him in diamonds for a heart lead around to South’s king.

ANSWER: West did not bid Stayman, so he probably has some length in diamonds. You are therefore unlikely to run the diamonds right off the bat, and you do not have an outside entry. Still, a diamond lead looks best — anything else would be a shot in the dark. I would lead the jack — after all, we aren’t beating this unless diamonds are breaking around the table.