ACES ON BRIDGE

“Time the destroyer is time the preserver.”

— T.S. Eliot

The declarer missed his best line in this deal from a teams match, but a defensive slip let him off the hook.

North’s light opening (not recommended with a likely awkward rebid) propelled his side to game. South might have taken a slower route to keep three no-trump in the picture, a superior contract today, but he impulsively jumped straight to four spades.

On the lead of the heart king, declarer could see four potential losers. A winning diamond guess would always see the contract home come, so South should have assumed two losers there, which would involve losing the first round to East. If so, declarer’s best chance would be to set up a diamond discard for the third heart. Had he sought to cut the defensive communications by ducking the heart king, he would have succeeded by force.

This maneuver would fail only against a 5-1 heart split, or if West held kingqueen doubleton and one of the diamond honors, in which case winning the first round of hearts would block the suit. The 4-2 division was far more likely than both of those layouts.

As it went, declarer took the first heart, drew trumps, then returned a heart. West won and should have reasoned that declarer had nine tricks on top. West’s echo implied a doubleton, so the defense surely needed East to hold both diamond honors. It should have been clear for West to cash a second heart and play a diamond. When he switched to a diamond immediately, the second heart loser was destined to vanish.

ANSWER: Lead the heart king. This could backfire, but you have a plan. You intend to win the first spade and put partner in with a minor-suit ace to score a heart ruff. You need partner to have an entry, of course; the heart queen or a slow trick elsewhere could be enough. Your trump control makes this defense far more attractive than usual.