The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, November 5th, 2011

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

 

South	West	North	East
			2 ♠
3 ♥	All Pass

Opening Lead: Spade King

“Ninety-nine percent of the people in the world are fools and the rest of us are in great danger of contagion.”

— Thornton Wilder

Today’s deal comes from the Manhattan Bridge Club heat of the New York sectional this summer. East-West were playing an announced hyperaggressive weak-two style where they opened five-card suits almost regardless of suit quality. Hence, West’s decision not to compete to three spades — though maybe if playing this style, East should have balanced with a double of three hearts.

Barry Rigal, playing with Jacqui Slifka, ruffed the second spade, led a club to the king, cashed the diamond ace and king, and led a low club from the board. East, caught napping, ducked and the jack forced West’s ace. That player got off lead with a third spade. (A club is probably a better play, but it does not work as the cards lie.)

Rigal ruffed, ruffed a club, and had reached a five-card ending where he needed three tricks to make his contract. He led a diamond from dummy, and when East followed suit, he knew that player’s precise shape, and therefore that West was down to five trumps. So he discarded a club, and West was forced to ruff his partner’s winner and lead a trump (thus extracting his partner’s last trump). Dummy’s 10 won the trick, and declarer led another diamond to pitch another club.

West was forced to ruff again and, as a final indignity, was now endplayed for a second time, conceding the last two trumps to declarer: contract made!

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 2011. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact reprints@unitedmedia.com.