ACES ON BRIDGE

Do not confuse fantasy with imagination. The former consumes itself in daydreaming; the latter stimulates creativity in the arts and in the sciences.

— Fausto Cercignani A routine auction saw South declaring three no-trump here — but the play was far from pedestrian.

West led a fourth-highest club six, and East unflinchingly contributed the jack! His own hand plus dummy’s and declarer’s hands added up to 36 points, so his partner had at most 4 points. East could not hope for West to have a heart card unless South had the club ace, in which case East’s play to trick one would not matter.

The goal had to be to take four club tricks and the spade ace, which could only be done if West had A-10-fifth of clubs and declarer could be persuaded to take his queen at trick one. To win the club king and return the jack would surely see declarer duck, after which the suit would be dead.

When declarer won the club queen — who wouldn’t? — East could take his spade ace at his first turn and return the club king, which could be overtaken for one down.

Could declarer have known to refuse the first trick, thus blocking the suit? Just conceivably — West was relatively unlikely to lead low from ace-king-10-low, which might have been overly committal, and with three cards in dummy, surely East would never play the jack from honor-jacklow. Disregarding a 4-3 club split, then, it could scarcely lose the contract to play low. It might burn an undertrick, but if declarer’s sole concern were in making his contract, ducking might well be correct.

Whatever the case, you have to give East credit for even considering this layout.

ANSWER: This hand lacks the strength for a one-no-trump overcall, which usually shows a good 15 up to a poor 18. The 4-3-3-3 shape and absence of intermediates do nothing to improve matters. A takeout double is the best you can do for now. Your honor ltocation is not perfect, but it is a far less dangerous entry into the auction and keeps a 4-4 spade fit in play — never a terrible idea.