Bridge

“The Bridge World’s Test Your Play” (Master Point Press) is a collection of 100 problems selected by the editor, Jeff Rubens, from the monthly columns in the American magazine of the same name. Easy they are not. In fact, Rubens claims that if you get even half of them right, you can be classed as one of the stronger declarers in the world. Let’s see if you pass the test!

After East has opened the bidding with one spade, South ends in six hearts.

The lead of the spade four from West looks suspiciously like a singleton — especially as there are only 11 points outstanding, which makes East even more likely to have a six-card suit for his opening bid.

Regretting not being in six no-trump will not help your cause. Your problem is that, as soon as a trump is played, East will pounce with the ace and give West a spade ruff, so long as that player has a second trump. Nevertheless, if East has a doubleton or tripleton club queen and a singleton heart ace, the contract can be made.

Win the spade lead, cash the ace and king of clubs, then enter dummy with a top diamond and ruff the club nine. If the queen falls, dummy is re-entered in diamonds and the club jack played. Whether East ruffs with the heart ace or discards, South’s second spade goes away. Now South can ruff the spade return high and draw trumps at his leisure.

Bid with the aces

South holds:

Answer: Bid two hearts and do not contemplate taking more-aggressive action. By doubling and then naming a new suit, you show real extras (typically 17-plus points). Let partner decide where to go from there.