ACES ON BRIDGE
When West leads the club queen against four spades, it is presumably a singleton. Plan the play as South, knowing that hearts are stacked on your left after the vulnerable two-heart overcall. You could play to ruff two hearts in dummy and then find West with a miracle king-doubleton in diamonds, but if you give up a heart at trick two, West might win and shift to a trump. You must take the spade ace to preserve dummy’s low trumps for ruffing, but now you will not be able to get to hand easily to ruff two hearts.
Since you will need to generate some extra tricks in the red suits, the best plan may be to try to endplay West to lead away from his diamond king. To achieve this, you need West to have been dealt only two trumps. It is best to cash the spade ace-king, to extract West’s exit cards.
Only then do you play a heart, which West will take with the queen. If he plays a diamond now, run it to the queen, finesse the diamond jack, cash the diamond ace, ruff a club to hand, then lead the heart eight from hand and discard when West covers. He is endplayed to lead the heart ace, which you can ruff.
If, instead, West plays the heart ace at trick five (a small heart is no better), you ruff that, ruff a club and then give up a trump. East must return a diamond, and you ruff another club, squeezing West in the process. He has to keep two diamonds and must therefore reduce to two hearts. At that point, the heart king and another heart endplay him into a diamond lead.
ANSWER:
It does not matter that your clubs are so bad; two clubs is still the right rebid. The alternative of one no-trump could leave you in the wrong part-score. Furthermore, partner might think you have another heart and change back to two hearts. When it comes to bridge, stick with the mantra that quantity is more important than quality.
More people are flattered into virtue than bullied out of vice. — Robert Smith Surtees