ACES ON BRIDGE

Don’t commit suicide, because you might change your mind two weeks later.

— Art Buchwald

In today’s deal, West cut his own throat with an ill-conceived penalty double. This is the kind of double often made by average players and sometimes by players who ought to know better. West has no reasonable expectation of setting the contract by more than one trick, so the double was not likely to make him rich. The double actually tells South how to play the hand successfully.

South must play on the assumption that West doubled on the strength of the top hearts and four trumps.The only hope is to create a situation in which West will be put on lead near the end of the hand with nothing but trumps to lead back. This can be done only if South can ruff twice in his own hand while he clears out all of the side suits.

After the defenders cash two hearts and play a diamond, declarer wins in hand and takes one top trump, relieved to see

East follow. South then lays down the club ace so that he can cash a second top diamond, then cross to dummy in diamonds to ruff a club. He discovers on the third round of diamonds that West can follow to a fourth round, so he cashes the remaining top heart. Next, he ruffs dummy’s master diamond in his own hand. Had diamonds divided evenly, declarer would have tried to ruff another club rather than a diamond.

In the three-card ending, declarer can lead the trump jack to West, forcing him to win and return a trump. An expensive double, indeed!

ANSWER: Bid three diamonds. Fortune favors the bold, but to bid game would be overdoing it. The singleton club ace is not pulling its full weight, and while the trump honors are nice, the hearts are wide open. Any diamond honors in your partner’s hand will fill the suit, so a call of three diamonds will help to put him in the picture.