The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, August 5th, 2015
Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast.
William Shakespeare
| S | North |
|---|---|
| N-S | ♠ K Q 4 ♥ A Q 2 ♦ A Q 10 8 3 ♣ A J |
| West | East |
|---|---|
| ♠ 6 5 ♥ J 10 8 6 ♦ 4 ♣ 10 9 6 5 3 2 |
♠ 10 8 7 3 2 ♥ 5 3 ♦ J 6 5 2 ♣ 8 4 |
| South |
|---|
| ♠ A J 9 ♥ K 9 7 4 ♦ K 9 7 ♣ K Q 7 |
| South | West | North | East |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 NT | Pass | 7 NT | All pass |
♣5
North could hardly believe his good fortune when he saw South open the bidding with a strong no-trump. Yet there turned out to be a sting in the tail…
At any other vulnerability North might have been suspicious, but as it was, with a combined minimum of 37 HCP, North saw no point in hanging about and closed the auction with a majestic leap to seven no-trump.
West led the club 10, captured with dummy’s ace. Hardly pausing for breath, South cashed dummy’s diamond ace then played a diamond to the king, being brought up short when West showed out. He could now count on only twelve tricks, but there were still other chances for a thirteenth – a 3-3 heart break or a red-suit squeeze. But when those failed to materialize, he had to settle for one down – and a disgruntled partner.
As the only thing that can go wrong is an inconvenient diamond break, it is surely worth embarking on a voyage of discovery, to see if you can get a better feel for the distribution.
Cash the diamond ace to start with – if either defender shows out, you can safely finesse for the jack. Then cash all three top hearts, followed by the clubs. Finally, take the spade ace then king. Today this will reveal West’s exact distribution as 2-4-1-6, so East is known to have started with jack-fourth of diamonds. The diamond nine can now be safely finessed, the king cashed, and the spade queen is the entry for the diamond queen.
With a 22-count it is possible to go high or low, that is to say by treating the hand as a balanced 20-22 or a balanced 22-24. Here the quality of your honors and your chunky five-card minor, solidified by the 10 – not an irrelevant spot-card – should persuade you to go high. Open two clubs and rebid two no-trump at your next turn.
BID WITH THE ACES
| ♠ K Q 4 ♥ A Q 2 ♦ A Q 10 8 3 ♣ A J |
| South | West | North | East |
|---|---|---|---|
| ? | |||
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Bridge-related
Hi Bobby,
An interesting hand, and at this vulnerability there is a lot at stake.
The discovery play works nicely on this hand, because two suits break very uneven (spades 5-2 clubs 6-2).
But cashing the heart AKQ right from the start makes it also clear to opponents.
There is another line I can think of that doesn’t work on this hand:
Cash 3 clubs and 3 diamonds.
Imagine west holds T8xx, T8xx, x, T98x. How is he to know which major to throw on the last diamond?
Remark: if west holds this hand the discovery play would not give you any info (other than heart 4-2) so probably you play for the drop in diamonds.
How do you rate the technically correct discovery play against this line?
It is possible to ‘combine’ the lines: Go for the discovery play but if nothing special happens in clubs (and ace of diamonds), cash the diamond winners?
Thx
Leon
Hi Leon,
First, I appreciate someone who takes bridge seriously enough to attempt to analyze alternate lines of play, especially while playing a grand slam.
However, the hand itself allows declarer to easily pick up a 4-1 diamond break onside, leaving as IMO the most likely deal maker (when TOCM is in the air), when East has four ugly hearts and, of course 4 ugly diamonds (ugly, for all nerds, refers to including the diamond jack and/or the heart 10 or jack) a red suit squeeze will automatically appear (a diamond from length can be conveniently discarded on the way to the pay station).
However both the taken line and what I consider the first alternate line (above) can be mutually available.
Again Leon, your inquisitive mindset is indeed invaluable for climbing the staircase to bridge success. Sure bridge is also a wonderful and lovely social pastime, but being good at it, like everything in life worth learning, is much more fun while playing it well.
Hi Bobby,
Thx for your reply.
Indeed declarer should arm himself against east having 4/4 in the reds, but that is still possible after cashing 3 clubs and 3 diamonds.
Just cash the spades afterwards (ending in dummy) and east will be squeezed.
I think in every case clubs can be cashed first then:
The advantage of playing hearts/spades before diamonds is the possible discovery aspect, the advantage of diamonds first is a possible pseudo-squeeze against west (if 4-4-1-4 for example).
thx for your reply,
Leon
Hi Leon,
The only truth I could add is that in the high-level game, pseudo-squeezes do not often work against those defenders, since their carding, particularly when it is important for them to legally signal partner what to hold, will cancel any untoward advantage a wily declarer may thrive to advertise.
Not 100%, since there are almost always exceptions while playing bridge and at all levels, but still, that is the way to bet. Leaving of course, the attempt to pull it off, since it may, from time to time, be successful and nothing ventured ………..
🙂
hello Mr. Wolff
I watched this over the weekend, kibitzing the Spingold.
Once in a while, it pays off to kibitz – a real gem is found.
I hope you and your readers will agree.
North deals
KJ432
975
AT7
A8
T87 65
42 QJ863
J983 Q2
Q764 T932
AQ9
AKT
K654
KJ5
EW were Versace-Lauria
NS were Hegelmo-Helness
Hegelmo, N, opens 1S. Now, wow, Helness, holding 20 HCP, opposite an opening hand.
I do not remember all the bids that were made, but all suits were bid, and the final was 7NT, by South.
Now, I must tell you the situation. V-L were well ahead in the match, something like 30-10, and this was the ante-penultimate board. Did I use that word correctly? I meant third last. This means, all stops are pulled to generate a big, enormous swing, or there is no more time.
On the other table, the contract was 6NT, also by South, and he went down 1. It is easy to see how the declarer went down.
Now, Hellness also went down…., and Hegelmo reportedly was not happy, because he saw that the hand makes. A spade was led.
Well, enjoy it!
If there is any need, I will answer questions.
resending, try to separate hand better
hello Mr. Wolff
I watched this over the weekend, kibitzing the Spingold.
Once in a while, it pays off to kibitz – a real gem is found.
I hope you and your readers will agree.
North deals
KJ432
975
AT7
A8
T87 65
42 QJ863
J983 Q2
Q764 T932
AQ9
AKT
K654
KJ5
EW were Versace-Lauria
NS were Hegelmo-Helness
Hegelmo, N, opens 1S. Now, wow, Helness, holding 20 HCP, opposite an opening hand.
I do not remember all the bids that were made, but all suits were bid, and the final was 7NT, by South.
Now, I must tell you the situation. V-L were well ahead in the match, something like 30-10, and this was the ante-penultimate board. Did I use that word correctly? I meant third last. This means, all stops are pulled to generate a big, enormous swing, or there is no more time.
On the other table, the contract was 6NT, also by South, and he went down 1. It is easy to see how the declarer went down.
Now, Hellness also went down…., and Hegelmo reportedly was not happy, because he saw that the hand makes. A spade was led.
Well, enjoy it!
If there is any need, I will answer questions.
Hi Peter,
The double heart finesse plus reading the ending of a diamond-club squeeze where dummy will keep all three diamonds and ace and one club while declarer will be left with Kx in diamonds and KJx in clubs and when West is forced to “unprotect” the now Queen of clubs declarer plays the AK and snares the thirteenth trick. When the heart distribution (2-5) becomes apparent the non finesse in clubs becomes very reasonable.
Ain’t bridge fun!!!!