Aces on Bridge — Daily Columns

The Aces on Bridge: Friday, April 17, 2009

by admin on May 1st, 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.

ANSWER: Assuming you can resist the temptation to bid no-trump, concealing your major, the question is which red suit to bid? You will surely not want to play diamonds unless partner has a lot of them — in which case he will let you know in due course. But if you do not bid hearts now, you may lose them. So respond one heart and head for no-trump unless you find a fit.

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 theLoneWolff@bridgeblogging.com. 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 reprints@unitedmedia.com.

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