ACES ON BRIDGE/ OPINION

A bridge player must know when to forsake the rote guidelines such as “second hand low.” In today’s deal, when North doubles two hearts for takeout, he has to guess at his next turn whether to raise two no-trump to game. His undisclosed long suit is his only justification, but now it is up to South to justify his partner’s faith.

On lead, West tries a low club, hoping to establish his long suit. That club eight is a tip-off to declarer, though. West would lead the club 10 from an honor-10-9-8 sequence, so the eight must be fourth-highest from A-K-9-8 or A-K-10-8.

Thus, declarer can safely put up dummy’s club jack, retaining his queen as a stopper, and then run the diamond jack as an avoidance play against East. West wins the diamond king, and his best return is a diamond, leaving declarer to work out which major-suit finesse to take to conjure an extra trick. Declarer has a good picture of the hand by now, though, and when West shows out on the third diamond, the way is clear.

Assuming West would not lead a club from a broken four-card holding in preference to his side’s agreed suit, West must have five clubs (backed up by East’s count-showing club nine at trick one), four hearts and two diamonds, leaving room for only two spades. So, declarer now cashes two rounds of spades, in case the queen should drop from West. When it does not, declarer eventually finesses the heart queen for his contract.

ANSWER: This hand is quite powerful if you have a spade fit. Take your chances with Stayman. If partner bids two diamonds, you can pass. If he shows four spades, you can raise him to three. If you hear two hearts, you can continue with two no-trump (or two spades if allowed in your methods). That may not be perfect, but at least you have a long suit to compensate for the stretch.