ACES ON BRIDGE

“I do not know which makes a man more conservative — to know nothing but the present, or nothing but the past.”

— John Maynard Keynes North bids Stayman, intending to invite with two no-trump if South bids two diamonds or two spades. When his partner shows hearts, North’s shape persuades him to take a shot at game.

Declarer wins the spade king lead and may be tempted to go after diamonds. He can even handle a 4-2 split by taking two ruffs, provided trumps are 3-2. The plan would be to cash the diamond ace-king, ruff a diamond high, cross to the heart jack, ruff another diamond high and then lead a trump. It would not matter when the defenders took their heart ace; declarer would be able to ruff a spade to dummy and enjoy the long diamond. However, against today’s layout, with trumps 4-1, South would be unable to draw trumps, and the contract would fail.

Yet, there is no need to rely on hearts breaking. All declarer needs is for his four side- suit winners to stand up, after which his excellent heart intermediates will take care of the rest on a crossruff. Declarer should plan to ruff a spade low in dummy and then trump diamonds and spades high in each hand.

The correct line is to win the spade ace, cash the top diamonds, cross to the club ace and then ruff a spade with the heart two. When all that goes peacefully, ruff a diamond high, ruff a spade, ruff another diamond high and ruff a third spade. Dummy’s remaining heart jack covers the heart three, and declarer is home free. It would not help the defenders to overruff and return a trump at any stage.

ANSWER: Since you have shape and length in the ranking suit and the opponents appear to have a good fit, you should risk coming into the auction with a two-spade call. There is little downside to this. It might easily be right for your side to declare spades, either to make or as a good sacrifice. Your call is non-forcing when everyone is bidding, as here. With the black suits switched, I might double for takeout.