The Aces on Bridge: Friday, October 23rd, 2015
We may have a perfectly adequate way of doing something, but that does not mean there cannot be a better way. So we set out to find an alternative way. This is the basis of any improvement that is not fault correction or problem solving.
Edward de Bono
| S | North |
|---|---|
| Both | ♠ J 8 ♥ 10 8 5 ♦ A K 5 ♣ A K J 10 5 |
| West | East |
|---|---|
| ♠ K 10 6 4 2 ♥ Q 4 ♦ Q 8 6 4 ♣ 8 7 |
♠ Q 7 5 3 ♥ 9 6 3 2 ♦ J 10 ♣ Q 4 3 |
| South |
|---|
| ♠ A 9 ♥ A K J 7 ♦ 9 7 3 2 ♣ 9 6 2 |
| South | West | North | East |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 NT* | Pass | 3 NT | All pass |
*12-14
♠4
When the defenders lead a low spade against three no-trump, you must put up the jack. It will do you no good to play low from dummy and force an honor, since dummy’s remaining spade honor is bare. With three spades in dummy instead of two, the percentage action at trick one would be to play low, hoping West had led from honor-10 fourth or fifth of spades.
When the spade jack is covered, you duck and win the next spade, West playing the spade two to indicate an initial five-card suit. Now how do you combine the club and heart chances?
With the heart nine in hand instead of the seven, you would cash the heart ace then the club aceking. If the club queen had not fallen, you would lead the heart 10, intending to run it. (It is marginally better to take the top clubs as opposed to the top hearts, since the chance of a doubleton club queen exceeds that of a doubleton heart queen). However, you cannot follow this line here, since you might still go down if the heart queen was onside but the suit did not break 3-3.
Your best way to augment your chance of the club finesse is to take the club ace, then the heart ace, unblocking dummy’s eight, and the heart king unblocking dummy’s 10 when West follows with the heart queen. You can then cash the diamond aceking and finesse the heart seven, to make nine tricks. If the hearts did not behave, you would run the club nine, of course.
I’m setting my flag to read ‘Coward of the county’. With two suits open I won’t wait around to see whether both hearts and spades run against me. I’m removing myself to two clubs and apologizing to my partner if I am wrong. One can only go for 800 so many times before learning caution.
BID WITH THE ACES
| ♠ J 8 ♥ 10 8 5 ♦ A K 5 ♣ A K J 10 5 |
| South | West | North | East |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 ♦ | |||
| 1 NT | Dbl. | Pass | Pass |
| ? |
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Bridge-related
Hi Everyone,
Yes, I want to be the first one to suggest West, while holding both the Q94 of hearts and the Q87 of clubs to drop the 4 and then the Queen of hearts on the first two heart tricks.
While doing that and, of course, bamboozling a very competent declarer causing him to go down like the Titanic, (2 tricks), would no doubt, have goaded Clint Eastwood to say, at the very least, “You’ve made my week” or perhaps, since he was always so cool, “two days”.
And let me be the first one to say that is a positively evil suggestion. Well played, sir!
If the queen of hearts is doubleton, you don’t need to finesse the nine. You have nine tricks, 1 spade, 4 hearts, 2 diamonds and 2 clubs.
Darwin
Hi Jeff S,
Evil is what sensational sometimes does. And looking at that queen of clubs, helpless on side, perhaps will awaken brilliance.
Remember, the likely only difference between good solid players and world beaters is vivid imagination on what is going on and while defending, reading what a wonderful declarer is poised to execute.
A word to the wise, is that when a very experienced and decorated declarer is thinking, put that time to good use and instead of preparing one’s life after bridge that day, think along with him (or her) and more often than expected, there will be an effective counter.
Bridge is that uniquel.
Hi Darwin,
Yes, while your count is indeed correct, West’s falsecard of the queen of hearts (keeping the nine) should entice declarer (because of entry problems to his hand) force declarer to throw the 10 8 from dummy in order to finesse East for the nine and enable him to fluidly wind up in his hand in order to cash the 4th heart.
If West envisions the whole hand while declarer is planning his coup, he could be enabled to execute that off-the-charts jettison of the queen. The reward will be a lifetime remembrance or possibly, at the very least, a spot on the All Club Team.
And a hearty welcome to you to this site.
Darwin –
Apologies to Our Host, but South has no late entry on your line. The AS was knocked out. Thus, if AH – KH drops the doubleton QH, declarer can not cash the 10H and have a way back to the good JH.
Hi Jim2,
First, thanks for giving a more complete explanation and proving that in your previous lives you were probably a teacher.
I once, in my relative youth, probably not over 70 years old, had a partner who didn’t trust finesses since she hardly ever took them and so if she would have been declarer on this hand would no doubt, have played the ace king of hearts, downed the nine, queen, then being wide awake, also take the jack, but not the seven, only to then cash the ace king of clubs and concede down one. Unlucky, but now arriving at my reason for including this story.
She must hold the world record for never in my many year bridge relationship, did she ever get end played since when declarer and also while on lead defensively she led out all her high cards first and usually no later than tricks eight or nine had any high cards left worthy of winning any tricks.
Proving that trying to end play her was as difficult as putting tooth paste back in the tube.
Moral: There are bridge diseases worse than
TOCM TM!
Hi Bobby,
There are a lot of escape mechanisms on the market (Wriggle, Houdini etc) for running away from 1N X. On the BWTA hand, would you stick things out if partner had such a mechanism available and hadn’t used it, or would you still head for the hills?
Regards,
Iain
Hi Iain,
Regarding your question whether to run or stay in 1NT after being doubled has about 90% to do with poker which leaves only 10% to bridge psychology.
It has all to do with who doubled you. If it was only a journeyman player who adds up to 7 or 8 points and thus thinks he can overpower you, I tend to hold firm, but if it is a wily coyote, then I run.
Here I suspect he has a good lead (obviously a major suit) so I will run and perhaps rebid again if the bidding stops at the 2 level.
There is a significant history of hands which have produced 1NTX making (or even an overtrick at one table) and a slam bid and made the other direction at the other. Those hands involve a 6 card solid suit and a fortuitous trick on opening lead, while in the other direction one of the players has a key void and a winning finesse in the opening led suit at the other table.
In other words, the winner will be whichever pair out thinks his opponennt,