The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, February 22nd, 2017
by Bobby Wolff on
March 8th, 2017
I claim not to have controlled events but confess plainly that events have controlled me.
Abraham Lincoln
| E | North |
|---|---|
| N-S | ♠ Q J ♥ A K 9 5 ♦ 9 4 2 ♣ A 6 4 2 |
| West | East |
|---|---|
| ♠ K 10 5 3 2 ♥ 10 8 3 ♦ K Q 6 ♣ J 3 |
♠ A 9 8 7 6 4 ♥ Q J 7 ♦ 10 8 7 ♣ 7 |
| South |
|---|
| ♠ — ♥ 6 4 2 ♦ A J 5 3 ♣ K Q 10 9 8 5 |
| South | West | North | East |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 ♦ * | |||
| Pass | 3 ♥ | Pass | 3 ♠ |
| 4 ♣ | 4 ♠ | Dbl. | Pass |
| 4 NT | Pass | 5 ♣ | All pass |
*weak in hearts or spades
♠2
Although there are worse six-card majors you could hold, I would counsel you not to open a weak two on a suit like this, without intermediates, but headed by only the ace. This is because you might have three or four losers in the suit facing a singleton – and also be able to take ace and a ruff on defense. Your strong heart fragment is also a negative for pre-empting.
BID WITH THE ACES
| ♠ A 9 8 7 6 4 ♥ Q J 7 ♦ 10 8 7 ♣ 7 |
| South | West | North | East |
|---|---|---|---|
| ? | |||
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Bridge-related
On the first day of the Gold Coast tournament in Brisbane there is a two-session qualifying event. The top 28 pairs go through to an all-play-all final, as do the next 28 pairs, and so on and so forth. It is a very satisfying format, and it always seems to lead to a desperately close finish.
In the second session of the final, only two declarers were successful in five clubs here. One lucky declarer was helped by a top diamond lead, but Hugh McGann received the more neutral spade lead. He ruffed, drew trumps while eliminating spades in the process, then played ace, king and a third heart.
He had now reduced to an ending where he had nothing but minor-suits in his hand, while dummy still had two trumps, three diamonds and a master heart
When East won the third heart he could see that a ruff-sluff could not be right from his side’s perspective, so he chose to shift to a low diamond. When McGann played low from his hand and the queen appeared, he could claim the rest for a shared top.
East should probably have shifted to the diamond 10 – incidentally, a play that would beat the contract by force if he had a three-card holding including a top honor. Declarer must cover the 10 with the jack, and West can win deceptively with the king and return a low diamond.
This gives declarer a guess that he should probably not get wrong, of course. But any guess is better than none.