ACES ON BRIDGE

This was the final swing from the Fleisher-Cope semifinal match at the NABC in Phoenix last fall.

Finn Kolesnik’s balancing effort of two hearts was, of course, rather wild, but he was still swinging from the rafters for every international match point he could generate. Ishmael Del’Monte was not going to stop short of game in the circumstances.

West had a tricky lead problem, and he opted for a low trump as his best attempt at safety. How do you think declarer should play from there?

South can see two spades, a club and a heart to lose. He must try to ruff out the opponents’ clubs for a spade, which will likely require the club queen to fall in three rounds.

Declarer should win the trump in hand and lead out the club king at trick two, while his communications are intact. Say East wins and shifts to a spade; declarer takes the spade king, ruffs a club and crosses to the diamond ace. Another club ruff fells the queen. Declarer then cashes the heart ace and ruffs a diamond across to play the club jack for a spade discard. West can ruff and cash only one spade, with a further diamond-ruff entry remaining in dummy to reach the fifth club.

At the table, Kolesnik played a diamond to the ace and then tried to sneak a club through to his king. That was hardly likely to work, based on the bidding, but declarer’s club king did score. From then on, it was an easy plus 620. That scored up with one notrump down two in the other room for 9 more IMPs to Cope, giving them a stunning win.

ANSWER: This hand is too strong for a preemptive raise to four hearts.The club holding is not ideal for a splinter bid, but four clubs is the best of a bad bunch. This is an auction where one can play two tiers of splinters: a direct jump to the four-level being 12-15 points, and a call of one over the double raise (here, three spades) showing a hand of this strength with unspecified shortness. Partner can inquire further if interested.