ACES ON BRIDGE

“It’s them as take advantage that get advantage i’ this world.”

— George Eliot

Against three no-trump, West leads the spade two (low from three small in partner’s suit), and East plays the nine.

How do you plan to make your contract?

If you win the first trick with the spade queen and go after diamonds, West ought to rise with the king to play a second spade. After you win the spade ace and discover that the hearts are not breaking, you will have eight tricks, but no more.

The way to avoid this unpleasant outcome is to duck in hand at trick one. If a spade is continued, you should follow low again. If East plays a third round of spades, you will cover that card and win the trick. When you play the diamond 10 to the next trick, West will win the trick with his king, but he will have no spade left to play. After winning the heart exit, you will play a second diamond to dummy’s queen and East’s ace. At this point, you can claim nine tricks: two spades, three hearts, a diamond and three clubs.

You should observe that if East doesn’t continue spades at trick two or three, you will be able to develop two diamond tricks to make your contract.

The justification for this line is that it looks like the spades are 3-5, and you need East to have the three missing spade honors. As most players would open the bidding if they had the diamond ace and king as well as this hypothetical spade suit, you should play on that assumption.