A side advantage of opening one no trump with a five-card major is that an innocent opponent will sometimes lead your suit. The primary advantage, of course, is that it is the best way to describe your hand. After transferring into a major, the bid of a new suit is natural and forcing. South correctly bid three no trump with the other suits well stopped. It would have been an error to bid three spades, as his partner would have been worried about diamonds.
The opening spade lead went to East’s king and South’s ace. Assuming West started with just four spades from his lead of the three, it seems right to set up your long spade right away. That gets you up to eight tricks with several chances for a ninth — a 3-3 club split or a well-placed ace of hearts or king of diamonds. That, however, is not the right play at all.
It is much better to play on clubs first. Regardless of how the clubs divide, the idea is to exhaust all of West’s clubs. Should the clubs split evenly, you are home. If not, then play the queen, jack, and another spade to put West on lead. Should he have another club, he can cash it without hurting you. West will have to exit with a red suit and present you with your ninth trick.
Thanks for this deal goes to Larry Cohen.
