ACES ON BRIDGE

Just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean someone isn’t watching you.

— Anonymous After South bids two no-trump to show a balanced 22 to 24 points, what should North do? If North’s long suit were a major, he would transfer into it. But one should only do the same with a minor if there is a possibility of slam in the air. Here, North knows that his side probably belongs in three no-trump, so why help the opponents by telling them about his diamonds? North should simply raise to game in no-trump — though give dummy as little as Q-10-fourth of clubs instead of his actual holding, and North might want to consider making a slam try.

When dummy comes down after West’s small heart lead, South sees he has five top tricks in spades, clubs and hearts, with only slim chances for developing another trick from the black suits. He therefore needs only four tricks in diamonds to guarantee his contract.

This in turn suggests that at both teams and rubber bridge, South should take the safety play of cashing the ace, then deliberately ducking the second round of diamonds to protect against a 4-1 break in that suit.

As shown in the diagram, South’s precaution is needed to assure the contract today. If South wins the second diamond in dummy, he can take only three tricks in that suit. His best play would be to turn his attention to clubs, but when that suit also fails to break, he emerges with only eight tricks. Having said that, at pairs, where every trick counts, when you are in a normal contract, it might make sense to go down in the search for an overtrick. ANSWER: When you have a weak hand, leading partner’s suit gives you at least a reasonable chance that you might be able to set that suit up. None of your other holdings are appealing, so you might as well play for your partner’s hand. Thus, a spade lead stands out as the safest and most attractive shot.

bobbywolff@mindspring.com