Bridge

The Dyspeptics Club is not low on ill-placed optimism, and on today’s four-spade game South seemed in excellent spirits when dummy came down. In retrospect his play was too brisk, since declarer’s strategy at the first trick turned out to be critical.

It seemed simple enough to South to take West’s heart king with the ace and ruff a heart with dummy’s low trump, then cash the ace and king of spades. When East showed out on the second spade, South came to hand with the diamond ace, cashed the spade queen, then played two further rounds of diamonds.

Had West followed to three diamonds, a fourth round of diamonds would have allowed South to pitch a loser from hand. Unfortunately for declarer, West ruffed the third diamond, cashed two hearts, then played a club to his partner’s ace for one down.

The winning line was obscure enough that even North (generally South’s fiercest critic) commented on the line chosen only in terms of mild contempt, not outright disdain. If, at trick one, declarer had simply ducked the heart king, he would have retained complete control.

Should a heart be continued, South ruffs with dummy’s low spade, retaining the heart ace to control the suit, then cashes dummy’s top spades. Now a diamond to his hand is followed by the spade queen and another spade. No return can now harm the contract: The rest of the diamonds can be cashed peacefully, and a loser from hand discarded on the fourth round.

Bid with the aces

South holds:

Answer: Double, for takeout. Yes, passing might work, and if your RHO’s behavior at the table suggested he had the balance of high cards, you might decide to pass. But in practice the percentage action is to reopen. Your side might collect a decent penalty or make a game in either major, so the upsides are obvious.