The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, March 17, 2009

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

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

Opening Lead: ♦4

“Some people fear gaining fame the way pigs fear gaining weight.”

— Chinese proverb

Let’s look at the three little pigs at work on defense, from the qualifying session of the Life Master Pairs in Detroit. In one no-trump, the lead of the diamond four goes to East’s king, South playing the two.

Little pig number one played the diamond ace and another diamond. When West shifted to the club king, it was allowed to hold. Declarer ended up with seven tricks and a near top.

Little pig number two shifts boldly to a club to West’s 10. West takes his club king (South ducking again), then returns his lowest diamond. Now another club from East through South’s tenace produces plus 100 for the defense. North-South would score a near-bottom now.

But what if declarer had begun life with the heart king and the three top clubs? This line of defense would concede the contract, when a spade shift would have defeated it easily. How can you know which way to go?

Little pig number three goes for a middle-of-the-road defense. At trick two, he returns a low diamond to the queen and waits for his partner’s suit preference from the remaining two diamonds. He will shift to a club to ensure that his side defeats the contract by at least one trick, which will score well enough for his side.

At teams, this last defense is best, but at pairs, number two’s defense has the biggest upside. Moreover, if partner has K-Q-x or K-J-x of clubs, East must play clubs through declarer twice to defeat the contract.

BID WITH THE ACES

South Holds:

If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, feel free to leave a comment at this blog. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2009.