ACES ON BRIDGE
The noblest prospect which a Scotchman ever sees is the high- road that leads him to England.
— Samuel Johnson
This week’s deals all come from the Gold Coast tournament in Brisbane. This is one of the most enjoyable events on the calendar, with sun, sea and sand all augmenting a venue packed with cheap accommodations and excellent restaurants. The bridge is of an excellent standard, too.
Michael Rosenberg and Ross Harper, two expatriate Scots, constantly threatened to break into the top three in the main pairs event, eventually finishing second. Here they benefi ted from some careless declarer play.
Harper led a diamond against three no- trump by South, reached after that player had upgraded his hand into a 1517 no- trump — a perfectly reasonable call.
Rosenberg took the king and shifted to the spade queen. We should all be familiar with the idea of ducking the first round of the suit when we hold the ace facing king, but is this the time to put that notion into effect?
That play might be necessary at trick two to try to neutralize the defender’s spades if the suit breaks 5- 2. But since West appears to have the diamond ace, it may be safe enough to win the lead and play on clubs at once. At the table, though, declarer won in hand and guessed very badly when he led a diamond, maybe thinking West would duck. Harper was having none of that; he took his ace and played back a spade, and now Rosenberg had the entry to run spades when he got in. That was two down, and all the matchpoints.
Note that if you do duck trick two, then on a heart shift you may find yourself with a tough guess in the ending. ANSWER: I can see a case for leading a deceptive diamond seven, simulating shortness in diamonds. Similarly, if declarer is really short in diamonds, we must cash our black- suit winners at once. I’d argue for leading clubs rather than the doubleton spade, since partner had the chance to bid spades and didn’t take it.
If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, email him at bobbywolff@mindspring.com