The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Dealer: West Vul: None		North
		♠	3 2
		♥	7 3 2
		♦	K 8 5 3
		♣	7 6 5 2
West				East
♠	8			♠	J 9 6 5
♥	Q J 10 8 4			♥	9 5
♦	A Q J 10 9			♦	7 4 2
♣	Q 10			♣	J 9 8 4
		South
		♠	A K Q 10 7 4
		♥	A K 6
		♦	6
		♣	A K 3

 

South	West	North	East
	1♥	Pass	Pass
Dbl.	2♦	Pass	Pass
4♠	All Pass

Opening Lead:♥Q

“A man is never so on trial as in the moment of excessive good fortune.”

– Lew Wallace

After South captured the heart-queen lead with the ace in four spades, it all looked like plain sailing until the second top trump revealed the 4-1 break. There now seemed to be a loser in each suit, as dummy’s apparent lack of entries precluded any chance of a trump coup. But South was unwilling to give up yet, so soldiered on with a low diamond. West rose with the ace and returned a second heart to South’s king.
 
As East-West were playing five-card majors, declarer knew that East was out of hearts. Therefore, there were two chances left. First, if East had begun with three clubs, they were precisely the queen, jack and 10 — possible, but unlikely, in view of the bidding. Second, and a far better chance, was that East had precisely four clubs.
 
As both possibilities could be investigated by the same play, declarer cashed the ace and king of clubs, then exited with a third club. South was happy to see West show out, and after East won with the nine, any return except a club would hand declarer the contract on the spot. A diamond would give declarer access to dummy, and a spade would give declarer a free finesse.
 
So East returned the club jack, but this only delayed matters. South ruffed, then played the queen and another spade. On lead with the jack of trumps, East had only diamonds to return. So South’s losing heart went away on dummy’s diamond king.

BID WITH THE ACES

South Holds:

The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Dealer: East Vul: N/S		North
		♠	A K Q
		♥	5
		♦	A K J 7 5 3 2
		♣	9 4
West				East
♠	5 4 2			♠	J 9 7
♥	9 4			♥	A K 8 7 6 2
♦	Q 10 6 4			♦	—
♣	K 7 6 2			♣	J 10 8 3
		South
		♠	10 8 6 3
		♥	Q J 10 3
		♦	9 8
		♣	A Q 5

 

South	West	North	East
			2♥
Pass	Pass	Dbl.	Pass
2♠	Pass	3♦	Pass
3 NT	All Pass

Opening Lead:♥9

“Be juster, Heaven; such virtue punished thus
Will make us think that chance rules all above,
And shuffles, with a random hand, the lots,
Which man is forced to draw.”

– John Dryden

The mark of good declarer play is to have a second string to your bow when your intended line of play fails to hit the target.
 
In today’s deal North’s sequence of doubling, then bidding a suit, suggested 17-20 points and good diamonds. Accordingly, since South had a heart stop and scattered values, he had more than enough to take a shot at three no-trump.
 
West led a heart as instructed, and East erred by cashing a second top heart (dummy pitching a club) before switching to the club jack. This play had removed East’s only re-entry for a second club play.
 
Declarer won with the ace, cashed one more top heart, and played a diamond, intending to take the ace, king and another diamond to minimize the possibility of East’s gaining the lead to play another club.
 
When East showed out on the diamond ace, declarer had to think again. Fortunately, there was an elegant solution available. South cashed dummy’s three top spades and exited with a low diamond to his nine. If West let this hold, declarer would end up with four spades, a club, and two tricks in each red suit. So West took the trick but, after cashing the club king, had the unenviable choice of returning a diamond into the tenace (in which case dummy would be high) or giving the rest of the tricks to declarer by playing a club around to his queen. If he did that, South would cash his three winners in hand.

BID WITH THE ACES

South Holds:

The Aces on Bridge: Monday, February 22, 2010

Dealer: North Vul: E/W		North
		♠	Q 9 7 4 2
		♥	—
		♦	9 5 3 2
		♣	A 6 4 2
West				East
♠	K J 8 6 3			♠	A 10 5
♥	J 3			♥	K 6 4
♦	K Q 10			♦	A J 7 6
♣	J 7 5			♣	9 8 3
		South
		♠	—
		♥	A Q 10 9 8 7 5 2
		♦	8 4
		♣	K Q 10

 

South	West	North	East
		Pass	1♦
4♥	Dbl.*	All Pass

*Negative

Opening Lead:♦K

“When first we met we did not guess
That love would prove so hard a master.”

– Robert Bridges

Today’s deal is a classic example of identifying what your best chance is to make your contract, then playing for it.
 
South sensibly jumped to four hearts over East’s one-diamond opening. West’s double showed cards and encouraged East to bid four spades if he had a four-card suit, or to make any other appropriate call with significant extra shape. As it was, East had nowhere to go but to pass and hope he could beat the game.
 
West led out the diamond king and queen, then the 10 to East’s ace. South ruffed in and laid down the heart ace, but now had a choice. He could play the heart queen to try to pin the jack, or he could play a low heart and try to drop the king. He actually played for the second choice and quietly went down a trick.
 
When he told his partner that it was a blind guess as to what to do, he received a less than sympathetic answer. “Imagine that East DID have the doubleton heart king. What would have happened to you when you led out the low heart and the king captured thin air? East would have been able to lead the fourth diamond now, re-promoting West’s heart jack to the setting trick. So your best chance was to try to pin the heart jack by leading the queen. If that works, there can be no promotion.”

LEAD WITH THE ACES

South Holds:

The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, February 21, 2010

If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, e-mail him at bobbywolff@mindspring.com. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2009.

The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, February 20, 2010

Dealer: West Vul: N/S		North
		♠	7 6 3
		♥	Q 7 4
		♦	A Q 6 5 4
		♣	K 8
West				East
♠	K Q 10 9			♠	8 2
♥	9 5 2			♥	A 8 6 3
♦	K 9			♦	J 10 8 2
♣	J 5 4 3			♣	10 9 2
		South
		♠	A J 5 4
		♥	K J 10
		♦	7 3
		♣	A Q 7 6

 

South	West	North	East
	Pass	Pass	Pass
1 NT	Pass	3 NT	All Pass

Opening Lead:♠K

“God sent his Singers upon earth
With songs of sadness and of mirth.”

– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

In today’s deal from the finals of the Yeh Brothers Cup, Huub Bertens of the Netherlands must have hoped for a more favorable comparison in the scoring than he achieved.
 
Playing in three no-trump, he ducked the top spade lead, won the heart shift cheaply in hand, and ducked a diamond in both hands. Back came a low heart, so he won and led a diamond to the king and ace. Now, rather than test diamonds, Bertens read the position accurately and gave up a heart, letting East cash the 13th heart. On this trick, declarer pitched a diamond from dummy and a spade from hand.
 
In the six-card ending, East made the natural but erroneous return of a spade. (It was hard to see at the table, but a club would have disrupted declarer’s communications.) Bertens won in hand and crossed to the club king to take his diamond winner, pitching a spade from hand. This had the effect of squeezing West in the black suits, so the contract came home.
 
So why was he disappointed when it came to the scoring? In the other room, his teammate as West opened a 10-12 no-trump, and then the doubling started. Eventually East wriggled out to two hearts. The defenders doubled and cashed two diamonds, three clubs and a spade. Finally South led the 13th club, ruffed high by North, to promote an extra trump trick for South, for a penalty of 800.

BID WITH THE ACES

South Holds:

The Aces on Bridge: Friday, February 19, 2010

Dealer: South Vul: All		North
		♠	K 10 7
		♥	K 9 7 6
		♦	A 9 7 4
		♣	3 2
West				East
♠	Q J 8 5			♠	9 3
♥	8 4			♥	A 10 5 3 2
♦	5 3 2			♦	Q 10 6
♣	A J 8 7			♣	10 9 6
		South
		♠	A 6 4 2
		♥	Q J
		♦	K J 8
		♣	K Q 5 4

 

South	West	North	East
1 NT	Pass	2♣	Pass
2♠	Pass	3 NT	All Pass

Opening Lead:Your choice

“Like one whose doubts
Are chased by certainty, and terror turn’d
To comfort on discovery of the truth.”

– Dante Alighieri

In today’s deal from last year’s Yeh Brothers Cup, would you rather play three no-trump on a club lead, or on a diamond lead? In one room Paul Hackett led the diamond two. Declarer won in hand and drove out East’s heart ace. East shifted to clubs, so declarer put up an honor (taken by West’s ace), ducked the second club, and won the third. Now, after unblocking hearts, he had time to test both red suits. Given the opening lead, it was natural for him to misguess by cashing the diamond jack and leading to the diamond nine. He now had only eight tricks.
 
In the other room, on a club lead, Tom Townsend won and led the heart queen, taken by the ace. East returned a club and the defenders cashed out the clubs, forcing dummy to pitch two spades, with East erring by letting go a spade. Back came a spade, so Townsend won dummy’s spade king, finessed in diamonds, unblocked his heart jack, and cashed the diamond king. East dropped the diamond queen, the card he was known to hold, trying to fool declarer as to who had the diamond 10.
 
But when Townsend cashed the spade ace, pitching dummy’s heart, East showed out. Now West was marked with 4-4 in the black suits and had followed to two hearts already, so he could not hold more than three diamonds. Therefore, Townsend successfully played for the drop in diamonds.

BID WITH THE ACES

South Holds:

The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, February 18, 2010

Dealer: North Vul: None		North
		♠	A 7 2
		♥	K J 4
		♦	K Q 10 9 6
		♣	A 5
West				East
♠	J 6 5 4 3			♠	K Q
♥	10 8 3			♥	A 9 6 2
♦	3 2			♦	7 4
♣	Q 6 2			♣	K J 7 4 3
		South
		♠	10 9 8
		♥	Q 7 5
		♦	A J 8 5
		♣	10 9 8

 

South	West	North	East
		1♣	Pass
1 NT	Pass	3 NT	All Pass

Opening Lead:♠3

“You may fool all the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all the time; but you can’t fool all of the people all the time.”

– Abraham Lincoln

Some players hate to go down in a contract they might have made by using a technically sound line. Others would always rather go for what they consider the best practical line and not worry about looking silly. Consider today’s deal from the finals of the Yeh Brother’s Cup last year as a classic example of the two different approaches.
 
Both Souths reached three no-trump after North had opened a Precision club, keeping East out of the bidding. Both Wests led an attitude spade three. (The smaller the card, the more they liked the suit.)
 
For the Dutch, Bas Drijver preferred to play the best technical line (hoping that spades would be 4-3 or that there would be a doubleton double-honor in the East hand to prevent the defenders from running four tricks there). He therefore rose with the spade ace and knocked out the heart ace. When the spade suit refused to run for the defenders, he had his nine tricks.
 
By contrast, the Swedish declarer, true to his nature, went for the psychological line of ducking the first spade. If spades were continued, he would be no worse off and might be much better off. (Consider East with an initial holding of the doubleton spade queen, for example.) Alas for him, East could see that his partner had a near Yarborough and realized that his only chance was to find the club queen in the West hand. He shifted to a club at trick two and defeated the game by two tricks.

BID WITH THE ACES

South Holds:

The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Dealer: West Vul: E/W		North
		♠	A Q 10 8 7
		♥	A K J 2
		♦	5
		♣	A 5 3
West				East
♠	K 3			♠	J 5 2
♥	Q 10 3			♥	9 5 4
♦	Q 8 6 3			♦	A 9 7 4
♣	K Q J 10			♣	8 7 4
		South
		♠	9 6 4
		♥	8 7 6
		♦	K J 10 2
		♣	9 6 2

 

South	West	North	East
	1♦	Dbl.	Pass
1♥	Pass	3♥	All Pass

Opening Lead:♣K

“Only the actions of the just
Smell sweet, and blossom in their dust.”

– James Shirley

In the Yeh Cup last year, this was the last deal of the semifinals between two undefeated teams. Many Wests would open one club, North would double, and South would respond one diamond. North would now bid one spade and play there quietly — no need for drama.
 
Ah, but what if West opens a Precision one diamond? What does South do after North doubles? He fearfully bids one heart, trying to stop at a low level. That was what the American South did, but his partner produced an unrefined jump to three hearts. Now declarer could never reach his hand to take a heart finesse. Eventually the defenders scored their four plain tricks and could lead the 13th club to promote the heart nine. Down one — but not necessarily a tragedy.
 
In the other room, West also opened one diamond, Precision, and North doubled. East passed, playing a style where this showed nothing about his hand at all, and Peter Fredin produced the sort of call that makes him such good reporting material. He passed one diamond, knowing that West would almost never sit for it even with moderate diamond length. It worked like a charm. West thought he was walking into a bad split, so escaped to one spade, and when doubled, he ran to two clubs, doubled and down 800. Even on best declarer play in one diamond, West would surely have gone down a trick, so Fredin’s pass would have won points for his side whatever happened next.

BID WITH THE ACES

South Holds:

The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Dealer: East Vul: E/W		North
		♠	—
		♥	10 6 5 4 3 2
		♦	Q 10 7 6 3 2
		♣	6
West				East
♠	A J 10 9 6			♠	K Q 7 4 3 2
♥	J			♥	7
♦	K J 9			♦	8 5
♣	A 5 4 2			♣	K J 8 7
		South
		♠	8 5
		♥	A K Q 9 8
		♦	A 4
		♣	Q 10 9 3

 

South	West	North	East
			1♠
2♥	4♥	5♥	5♠
6♥	Dbl.	All Pass

Opening Lead:♠A

“Tell me, Muse, of the man of many tricks.”

– Homer

All this week’s deals come from last year’s Yeh Brothers Cup in Brisbane, to mark the tournament taking place now.
 
In the later stages of the event both Souths in one match reached six hearts doubled. Our hero, Peter Fredin, was one of those declarers, after overcalling a one-spade opening with two hearts, then bidding again. Both Wests led a top spade; both declarers ruffed and drew a round of trumps. The Norwegian declarer cashed the diamond ace, playing for his legitimate chance of the singleton diamond king, then played a second diamond. West won his king and cashed out for down one.
 
By contrast, Fredin — never afraid to put his neck on the block and risk looking stupid — led a low diamond from hand at trick three. Now you know why the commentators and journalists love to watch him play! Of course, this play gives up on a legitimate chance to make the contract, but some declarers would rather go for what they see as their best psychological line, not the best technical line, and who can argue with success?
 
Sitting West was a member of the current European Championship winning team — no rabbit. Yes, his decision to duck the diamond might look ridiculous, but Fredin had given him the chance to look silly, and I assume he thought Fredin was not capable of such guile. He knows better now.

BID WITH THE ACES

South Holds:

The Aces on Bridge: Monday, February 15, 2010

Dealer: South Vul: ?		North
		♠	—
		♥	A K J 10
		♦	A 10 8 6 5 3
		♣	Q 3 2
West				East
♠	Q 10 8 4 2			♠	K 9 7 6
♥	9 8 5 4			♥	6 3 2
♦	—			♦	K J 7 4
♣	J 9 5			♣	10 4
		South
		♠	A J 3
		♥	Q 7
		♦	Q 9 2
		♣	A K 8 7 6

 

South	West	North	East
1 NT	Pass	3♣*	Pass
3♦	Pass	4♠**	Pass
5♣	Pass	6♦	All Pass

*Diamonds

**Spade void

Opening Lead:♥9

“When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me;
When I was shown the charts and the diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them.”

– Walt Whitman

All the deals this week come from The Yeh Brothers Cup, held last year in Australia.
 
In the featured match on Vugraph, both tables bid to slam. The deal reduces to an exercise in percentages — though not an especially simple one. The issue is how to play the trump suit for one loser in six diamonds: What three sensible options are available?
 
The first, selected by both Souths, is to run the diamond queen, planning a second finesse. This loses when East has both honors — and therefore works approximately three-quarters of the time. Can you do better?
 
I first thought that a better approach might be to start by cashing the ace. This loses either when West began with a void, or when he began with both the king and jack and one or two small cards. This is fractionally better, but it too would fail today.
 
Best — and also successful today — is to run the eight from the North hand. This loses when West has jack singleton or doubleton so long as East ducks stoically on the first round (don’t we all?) and you misguess. However, you can negotiate the 4-0 split in either hand. Accordingly, there is one losing combination fewer and it is the best play.
 
Note: If you have a 5-4 fit, as opposed to the 6-3 fit, playing the ace no longer loses to a void in West, but from a psychological perspective, running the eight still looks to be the best play.

LEAD WITH THE ACES

South Holds: