ACES ON BRIDGE

When North showed a minimum game force in spades, South simply punted a slam.

West chose a passive spade nine lead, which declarer won in dummy. South could have played to ruff two diamonds in dummy when trumps were 3-2, but even then, he would still have to guess the clubs.

So declarer simply decided to play West for the club queen. This way, he would only have to ruff one diamond in dummy, while not giving in to a 4-1 trump split. He won the trump in dummy, unblocked the heart ace, cashed the top diamonds and ruffed a diamond high. South’s diamond jack went on the heart king, and he returned to hand with a spade to draw trumps, East thoughtfully throwing two clubs and a heart.

South then led a club to the 10, which held.

What next? Continuing clubs from dummy would have worked, but from his perspective, West could have started with the club ace-queen in a 4=3=3=3 shape. East had discarded two clubs, after all, and he surely would not do that with a surfeit of losing hearts in his hand, South thought. Declarer eventually ruffed a heart to hand and led another club — unlucky. East won his ace and cashed the heart queen.

East discarded well to give declarer a losing option, but South could have avoided this guess easily. His best play is a club to the 10 after unblocking the heart ace. If that holds, declarer can follow the same line as before, but can now lead the second club while he still has trump control.

ANSWER: Pass. You have found a semblance of a fit and can hope to score spade ruffs in your hand. To remove to two hearts would be to court danger. Partner could easily have a singleton heart, after all. Two diamonds may not be the best possible contract, but it may be the best contract possible.