ACES ON BRIDGE

“Any man more right than his neighbors constitutes a majority of one.” — Henry David Thoreau

Today’s deal was played in an online league match.

South declined to open his ace-aceking in second seat at unfavorable vulnerability, but he made up for it via an invitational two-no-trump response. North closed his eyes and raised.

West was not to be put off by the fact that South was likely to have club length and led the club six.

Declarer had seven tricks on top and could look to the pointed suits for more. He ducked the first trick and won the second in dummy, hoping to cut the defensive communications. With few entries back to hand, South next ducked a spade. A diamond shift now would have doomed the contract, but West lacked the courage to do anything other than safely continue spades when in on the spade eight.

South won in hand and tried the diamonds himself now, leading one up to the 10. After winning the jack, East returned a third spade. Declarer played the long spade, East shedding a diamond and West a club. He then cashed the three top hearts, ending in dummy, before exiting with a diamond. After taking the diamond ace, West had to return a club into declarer’s ace-10 tenace, and South was safely home.

The contract could have been defeated earlier, but the final error was West’s. He ought to have seen the endplay threat looming and (hard as this might seem) discarded the diamond ace on the fourth spade. Declarer would then be unable to produce any kind of endplay or squeeze because East would be discarding after the dummy on the club ace.

ANSWER: If you were to respond in your stronger red suit, it is likely that you would miss a heart fit. (Partner may rebid one no-trump with a balanced hand containing four hearts, expecting you not to have a four-card major.) Even with four small hearts, you would prefer to play two hearts in an eight-card fit instead of one no-trump, so bid one heart now.