ACES ON BRIDGE

“It behooves a prudent person to make trial of everything before arms.” — Terrence

Rote play was not sufficient in today’s deal. Without a ruffing value, South might have tried three no-trump when his partner invited game, but since North could have had an unbalanced hand, South’s controls persuaded him to opt for the heart game.

South won the diamond queen lead, drew trumps, pitched a diamond on a spade, and then worked on clubs by advancing the jack, covered by East. South could eventually set up a second club trick but could not get back to dummy to score it, so he went one down.

Declarer can see nine tricks, so he needs to create an extra trick from the trumps. It is hard to take three ruffs in dummy but relatively easy to ruff the fourth club in hand. The club ruff must be taken with the heart king, though, so declarer should also maneuver to score dummy’s small trumps via ruffs.

South should win the diamond lead, pitch a diamond on the spades, and then ruff a spade low. The club ace comes next, followed by another club. East wins and might as well play a diamond. Declarer wins West’s trump shift with an honor in dummy and surrenders another club. He can eventually ruff a club with the heart king and then arrange to take a spade or diamond ruff in dummy safely with the heart nine.

An alternative would be to duck the diamond opening lead. Now if West switched to a trump, declarer would have gained a tempo, allowing him to draw trumps and lead the club jack, eventually establishing a long club in dummy for his 10th trick.

ANSWER: Keep the bidding alive, for partner could have as many as 18 points. However, a wide-ranging three clubs does not seem best to me. Introduce your strong heart suit. Even a 5-1 fit may play surprisingly well, and you may yet be able to support clubs if the opportunity presents itself. As a passed hand, a jump to three hearts would be a fit-jump, but you would need the club king instead of the jack.