Choose your play

COVER today’s East-West cards. Plan the play at six clubs when West leads the jack of hearts.

The deal arose in the final of the Senior Teams at the Fall NABC. It began a comeback for the team that won the match and the title after trailing at the half.

South won the first heart with the queen and took the trump finesse, losing. If West had exited safely, South probably would have gone down, but West questionably shifted to a spade. South played low from dummy and made his slam.

LAST HEART

A different (maybe inferior) line of play would work. South leads a trump to his ace at Trick Two. When East-West play low, South takes the A-K of hearts to pitch a diamond from dummy, ruffs his last heart, takes the ace of diamonds and ruffs a diamond. He exits with a trump, and a defender must break the spades or yield a ruff-sluff.

In the replay, North-South rested at 3NT after East opened two diamonds. West led a diamond, and when the club finesse lost, the result was down two.

DAILY QUESTION

You hold: A 8 5 AK65 A7 A 10 8 7. You open one club. (A 2NT opening would show more strength.) Your partner bids one spade, you jump to 2NT and he tries three hearts. What do you say?

ANSWER

The hand is worth a slam suggestion. Bid four clubs or four diamonds as an “advance cue bid.” If you lacked four-card heart support, you would bid 3NT or maybe three spades. With four cards in hearts but a less slammish hand, you would just raise to four hearts.

North dealer N-S vulnerable

Opening lead –

J