The Aces on Bridge: Friday, April 17, 2009
Dealer: North Vul: N/S |
North | ||||
♠ | K Q 4 2 | ||||
♥ | Q 8 4 2 | ||||
♦ | Q J | ||||
♣ | A 5 2 | ||||
West | East | ||||
♠ | 9 | ♠ | J 10 7 5 3 | ||
♥ | K 7 5 | ♥ | A 6 | ||
♦ | K 8 4 3 | ♦ | 7 6 2 | ||
♣ | Q 10 8 7 4 | ♣ | J 9 6 | ||
South | |||||
♠ | A 8 6 | ||||
♥ | J 10 9 3 | ||||
♦ | A 10 9 5 | ||||
♣ | K 3 |
South | West | North | East |
1♣ | Pass | ||
1♥ | Pass | 2♥ | Pass |
3NT | Pass | 4♥ | All pass |
Opening Lead: ♠9
“Parliament must not be told a direct untruth, but it’s quite possible to allow them to mislead themselves.”
— Norman Tebbit
I have never heard any decent player claim that the game was too easy for him. But many of us believe that not only is the game too hard, but it is getting harder all the time. Take today’s deal, for example. It is not straightforward, but part of its difficulty is that it LOOKS easy!
The question is how you would play four hearts, looking just at the North and South cards, on the lead of the spade nine.
In real life you would not know who had short spades, if anyone. So you would win the opening lead and knock out first one trump honor then the next. If the defenders managed to take a spade ruff, you would hope it was with the ace or king of hearts. If that were not the case, you would have to fall back on the diamond finesse. If that lost, you could justifiably claim to be unlucky.
But you can do much better. Win the opening spade lead in hand and play three rounds of clubs, ruffing in hand. Then play a trump; East will win and give his partner a spade ruff as you follow with a small spade. But now, after West has cashed his heart king, what can he do? If he leads a club, you pitch a diamond from dummy, ruff in hand, and have the rest. If he plays a diamond, you no longer need the finesse.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
♠ | A 8 6 |
♥ | J 10 9 3 |
♦ | A 10 9 5 |
♣ | K 3 |
South | West | North | East |
1♣ | Pass | ||
? | |||
For details of Bobby Wolff’s autobiography, The Lone Wolff, contact [email protected]. If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, please leave a comment at this blog. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2009. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].