ACES ON BRIDGE

The format of the Gold Coast tournament, which lasts for just over a week at the end of every February, is a three-day pairs event with qualifier and final, and a five-day teams event with three days of qualifying and two days of finals.

In the early stages of last year’s pairs tournament, I thought Joan Butts (one of the leading teachers and players in Queensland, where the event is held) did very nicely here. Johnno Newman opened a gambling three no-trump in front of her, and when Matt Brown took the low road by bidding four clubs, pass or correct, Newman duly bid four diamonds.

This was passed back to Butts, and she bravely bid four hearts to end the auction. (Five diamonds would have been a cheap save, even at unfavorable vulnerability.) The defenders led two rounds of diamonds, and she ruffed the second. What would you do now?

Butts read the position correctly when she led a spade to the ace to take the heart finesse and draw a second round of trumps. Then she played a second spade. The defenders could take their spade winner, but they had no way to get more than one trick out of the club suit; declarer had an 88% score on the board.

Of course, if declarer takes an early spade finesse, West gets the spade ruff to defeat the game. Declarer knew not to take that finesse, since West’s gambling three no-trump opener had practically denied a side ace or king.