The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, November 3rd, 2016
We’re making the same mistakes we made 1,000 years ago. So they must be the right ones. So relax.
Chuck Palahniuk
| N | North |
|---|---|
| Both | ♠ A K 10 8 6 5 3 ♥ A ♦ J ♣ Q J 7 3 |
| West | East |
|---|---|
| ♠ — ♥ 9 7 4 2 ♦ 10 9 8 7 5 ♣ 10 8 5 2 |
♠ J 9 7 4 ♥ Q 10 8 5 ♦ A 6 4 ♣ 9 6 |
| South |
|---|
| ♠ Q 2 ♥ K J 6 3 ♦ K Q 3 2 ♣ A K 4 |
| South | West | North | East |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 ♠ | Pass | ||
| 2 ♦ | Pass | 4 ♠ | Pass |
| 4 NT | Pass | 5 ♣* | Pass |
| 6 NT | All pass |
*Three key cards with spades trump
♦10
I often warn against relaxing prematurely because you believe yourself to be in a safe contract – or going to the other extreme of giving up because things appear hopeless. Today, against six notrump West leads the diamond 10. East wins the trick with the diamond ace and returns the six. Plan the play.
Unless the spades are 4-0, with East having the length, you will have tricks to burn. However, you should be in no rush to tackle the spade suit. Instead, after winning the second trick with the diamond queen and throwing a spade from table, you should cash four rounds of clubs and the heart ace. Then after returning to hand with the spade queen, you will know what to do.
If West has followed in spades, you can claim the rest of the tricks, based on the spade suit alone. The only problem arises when West is void in spades, as here.
However, after cashing the heart and diamond kings, two hearts, three diamonds, four clubs and one spade will have been played. Everyone will be reduced to three cards, and so, in order to keep the spades guarded, East will have had to discard the heart queen, hoping that his partner had the jack. You can now take the last three tricks with your heart jack and dummy’s spade ace-king.
This line of play also succeeds in the considerably less likely case that East began with five diamonds and the spade length, as your fourth diamond will become high.
Assuming your RHO’s double is negative rather than penalty, which would normally be the case, your best bet is to pass, and hope that your LHO removes the double – after which your next prayer should be that your partner does not repeat his spades. If you are unlucky enough to have run into a penalty double, redouble here would be rescue and you might risk that action.
BID WITH THE ACES
| ♠ — ♥ 9 7 4 2 ♦ 10 9 8 7 5 ♣ 10 8 5 2 |
| South | West | North | East |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 ♣ | 1 ♠ | Dbl. | |
| ? |
Subscribe to our feed
Bridge-related
Hi Bobby,
Congrats to South for protecting his heart holding, hogging the hand, getting the extra 10 points – oh yes, and also picking a contract with a small but significant extra chance.
Today’s quote is from the author of Fight Club I think which suggests a bad taste game. If he played bridge, who would we like to pair him with for maximum fireworks. Myrtle Bennett springs to mind but, if you play regularly at a club, it is an amusing pastime to visualize particularly incompatible pairings.
regards,
Iain
Hi Iain,
You have the talent and imagination to make even a relatively boring hand (for a disciplined bridge aficionado) vitally important.
Myrtle Bennett (I believe of bridge murder fame, for her husband taking the wrong view while declaring the hand, with some bridge lovers opting for justifiable homicide, but others woodenly sticking to the then current law (1929 in Kansas City).
Yes, I do agree with your potential amusing pastime causing me to suggest that if all of those Hollywood and Rock Stars romantic liaisons develop bridge partnerships instead, yes they may wind up shooting each other, but at least no lonely children will remain lost in their wake.
Bobby,
On the third round of clubs, why didn’t east ruff to set N-S?