ACES ON BRIDGE

In today’s deal from a teams match, South overreached in the auction but kept his eye on the ball to score up his game. North stretched to raise hearts at his third turn, keeping the bidding alive in case his partner had considerable extras. South felt he still had a little in hand and bid on to game.

A trump lead or shift would have put the defenders on the right track, but West opted for the diamond ace. East encouraged, not wanting a club shift. Had West shifted to a trump at trick two, East would have ducked, allowing the defense to draw two more rounds later. But West decided to press on with diamonds.

While this defense might have suggested that West had the club king, declarer called for a low club, the queen losing to West’s king. Back came another club to dummy’s ace, followed by a club ruffed high.

Now declarer cashed the spade ace-king before touching trumps, trying to avoid being locked in hand and promoting a trump for the defenders. Crucially, for the same reason, declarer led the heart seven next to dummy’s nine and

East’s ace so that he could win East’s trump return with the dummy’s six.

It was now simple to trump another club high and ruff a spade with one of dummy’s high trumps. Then he could draw the last trump and take the long club at trick 13. The final mistake on the deal belonged to West, who still could have shifted to a trump at trick four, using up one of dummy’s entries prematurely.