ACES ON BRIDGE

“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all — in which case, you fail by default.”

— J.K. Rowling

In today’s deal, declarer failed to read the lead, and he paid a heavy price.

West opted for a passive lead after the invitational auction, choosing the second-highest heart eight. That went to the 10 and queen. Declarer might have tackled diamonds from hand now, by leading the ace and another (and possibly receiving a spade shift), but he preferred to finesse the club queen and then run the diamond jack to West’s king. Back came the club king to dummy’s ace.

Declarer’s next move was to call for the heart king. East won and shifted to spades, putting the defense on the front foot. Declarer could give up a club, but that was only for his eighth trick. West came under no pressure in the endgame.

Declarer should have taken the precaution of advancing a low heart from the dummy at trick five, to bring down

East’s bare ace. Playing the heart king was not necessary in terms of unblocking the suit since declarer had enough entries to his hand not to worry about communications. He could set up a second club trick for his contract later. If entries permit, declarer should tackle the hearts this way, even on a different lead, playing twice toward the hand with two honors.

It is worth noting that if East errs by returning a minor suit when he takes the heart ace, West can be endplayed with the fourth heart to open up the spades for declarer. Still, West can recover by leading the spade queen to block the suit — an escape maneuver worth remembering! ?

ANSWER: Pass. The unsupported honors and poor primary suit are a red light. When in doubt as to whether to open the bidding, the quality of your long suit may well be a deciding factor. The fifth card is worth something, as are the spot cards. In first seat, this might sway you, but not in second seat.You must not focus so intently on urging partner to lead a diamond on defense that you distort your hand.