ACES ON BRIDGE

Give all thou canst; high Heaven rejects the lore Of nicely calculated less or more. — William Wordsworth

Many people find percentages at bridge dull. They may have a point, but today we are going to look a little closer at the old adage “Eight ever, nine never.”

When you are missing four cards in a suit, you should normally play for the drop of the queen, but when missing five cards in a suit, you normally finesse for a keycard rather than play for the drop.

However, note that use of the word “normally.” It is particularly true that when you are missing four cards, the slightest indication that one opponent has greater length in that suit than his partner — as few as a two-card differential — should sway you to play the defender who is short in that suit for the queen.

Let’s look at the first of this week’s deals from the Seattle Nationals last year. West’s jump to four clubs showed that suit and spades (so-called Leaping Michaels).

I suppose I’m getting old, but East and especially South seem to be well short of their bids. On lead against six clubs, West was hoping he had two tricks and that his partner might come through with a little something, given his vulnerable weak two-bid. Not tonight, Josephine!

On a heart lead, declarer won and cashed the club ace, but then should he finesse or try for the drop? This one is easy. Since East has six hearts and West two, West has much more room in his hand for the trump queen than East, so the finesse is a heavy favorite to win.

LEAD WITH THE ACES

ANSWER: Although your cards lie extremely well on defense, that is not quite enough reason to go passive automatically. Your choice is between the black suits, and I would opt for a spade rather than a club. This is primarily because you don’t rate to sacrifice a third-round spade trick by attacking the suit. Declarer will probably be able to ruff spade losers in dummy.