The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, May 25th, 2013
Seek not out the things that are too hard for thee,
Neither search the things that are above thy strength.
Eclesiastes 3:21
| West | North |
|---|---|
| Neither | ♠ A Q J 4 ♥ 5 4 3 2 ♦ K 6 ♣ 6 3 2 |
| West | East |
|---|---|
| ♠ 9 5 3 ♥ 9 7 ♦ A 10 9 8 7 3 ♣ Q 7 |
♠ K 10 8 7 ♥ J 10 8 6 ♦ J 4 ♣ K 9 4 |
| South |
|---|
| ♠ 6 2 ♥ A K Q ♦ Q 5 2 ♣ A J 10 8 5 |
| South | West | North | East |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2♦ | Pass | Pass | |
| 2 NT | Pass | 3♣ | Pass |
| 3 NT | All pass |
♦8
Today’s deal is a curiosity – I’m not sure whether the play could ever go as indicated at the end of the article – but I would take my hat off to anyone who found the winning move.
Let’s look at what happened at the table: South reached three no-trump after West had opened with a weak two diamonds. After South showed a strong no-trump, North used Stayman to check back for a 4-4 major-suit fit and settled for three no-trump when South denied a major.
West guessed to lead diamonds, and declarer was forced to hop up with the king from dummy. East followed with the jack in to unblock, preparing for a later finesse. Declarer now had to go after clubs. He led low from the dummy and put in the jack from hand. West won and shifted to a spade.
Reading the position perfectly, declarer won the ace and ran the club nine. When the clubs came in, declarer had one trick each in spades and diamonds, four clubs and three hearts for nine tricks.
It looks as if declarer had timed the play perfectly, and so he had. So what is the point of the deal? Remarkably, the defenders do have a riposte: if West ducks the club queen, declarer can no longer set up the clubs without letting East on lead in one of the black suits, and that will be fatal to declarer.
In my regular partnerships I believe this double should be played as penalty, suggesting a spade stack. Looking at my hand, though, I know that this cannot be the case. Partner must have a light takeout double, and it must therefore be right to remove to two hearts.
BID WITH THE ACES
| ♠ K 10 8 7 ♥ J 10 8 6 ♦ J 4 ♣ K 7 6 |
| South | West | North | East |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1♠ | Pass | 1 NT | |
| Pass | Pass | Dbl. | Pass |
| ? |
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Bridge-related
HBJ : Yes, it’s another classic example where most players allow their instinct to over-rule their logic.
Who wouldn’t be tempted to rush in with the queen of clubs, desperate to take a trick when the chance is given? Yet the duck works perfectly in that declarer has to use his spade entry to dummy BEFORE he has established clubs.
It’s defence like this which makes bridge such a fascinating and beguiling game. Now if only……
I would run from table if West found that play.
Our Host is playing with us.
How many nefarious club queen doubleton hands is he going to post in a row??
🙂
The hold up is a great play, but after taking his Q of Clubs on the 2nd lead of the suit, doesn’t West have to guess to lead back a spade rather than a heart? Wouldn’t a cunning South holding the spade King lead to the spade Ace in hopes of encouraging a spade return by West?
And since West has fewer hearts than spades, isn’t there more room for East to have the heart Ace than the spade K? I agree that a set is more likely if the Q of Clubs is held up, but doesn’t the hold up increase the probability of a set to close to 50-50 instead of 0% if the Q is not held up?
Hi JHG (aka HBJ), Bob J, Jim 2 and Bob L,
Some might describe that when the queen and king of one suit are both held by one side, especially on defense, they are exactly equal. Those exact words were once uttered by a high level bridge teacher long ago, but this hand proves otherwise. The longer one plays, the more unique situations occur, which tends to glorify bridge even more. So why does North America, the continent with the deepest collection of excellent players, not have bridge in its primary schools like Europe and now Asia?
I’d like to offer a challenge to our ACBL headquarters in Horn Lake, Mississippi to send someone who absolutely loves our game, plays it reasonably well, is well versed in salesmanship and marketing and after getting wonderful reviews from the continents who do teach it, make it happen.
Until that deed is accomplished we will have no assurance that in a few decades, if that long, bridge, as we know it, will, like old soldiers, just fade away. What a terrible shame that would be!