The Aces on Bridge: Friday, March 2nd, 2018
Boast not thyself of tomorrow;
For thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
Proverbs 27:1
| S | North |
|---|---|
| N-S | ♠ 10 8 5 ♥ 10 2 ♦ A 10 2 ♣ J 10 9 6 2 |
| West | East |
|---|---|
| ♠ J 6 ♥ Q 9 7 4 ♦ 8 7 5 3 ♣ A 8 7 |
♠ Q 9 7 3 ♥ J 8 5 ♦ Q 6 4 ♣ K 4 3 |
| South |
|---|
| ♠ A K 4 2 ♥ A K 6 3 ♦ K J 9 ♣ Q 5 |
| South | West | North | East |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 NT | Pass | 3 NT | All pass |
♦8
Today’s deal saw West get off to an unfortunate lead against three no-trump, requiring some nice defense from East to defeat the game.
When North raised South’s two-no-trump opening to game, West might have led a heart, but he reasonably opted for the more passive choice of the diamond eight. There is no real likelihood that hearts will be more fertile ground than diamonds, and leading from honor-fourth into a strong hand is more likely to cost a trick than strike gold.
When declarer played low from dummy at trick one, East refrained from contributing the queen. His logic was that he wanted to minimize the later entries to dummy in diamonds by preserving his honor over dummy’s holding.
When South won the first trick with his jack and advanced the club queen, East made his second good play by ducking. Had he won, South would have been able to drive out the club ace, with the diamond entry to dummy remaining in place. As it was, when South played a second club, East won and shifted to spades (again, a diamond would have allowed declarer to create an extra entry to dummy and set up the clubs). When West won his spade jack and reverted to diamonds, declarer put in the 10, but East covered, and declarer now had no chance but to rely on spades breaking.
When that suit split 4-2, he could take no more than three diamonds, one club and two tricks in each major.
You are at the top of your range for your earlier actions. This is the right moment to double, suggesting that the opponents may have made a mistake. This will allow your partner to raise spades, introduce a five-card suit if he has one, or play for penalties.
BID WITH THE ACES
| ♠ Q 9 7 3 ♥ J 8 5 ♦ Q 6 4 ♣ K 4 3 |
| South | West | North | East |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 ♣ | Dbl. | Pass | |
| 1 ♠ | Pass | Pass | 1 NT |
| ? |
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Bridge-related
TOCM ™ comes in many forms.
In last year’s Slush Cup, I sat East when this hand came up and play went precisely as in the column.
Sadly, the field was in 3N and no other West led a diamond, and it was MPs.
Hi Jim2,
Since declarer, when declaring 3NT, and a diamond not led, when attempting to create 2 diamond entries to dummy after clubs were being established, but with you playing with an unethical local partner when declarer led the jack, markedly hesitating before following low and then declarer finessing, play low yourself, denying his later entry, but then when your partner then asked a predictable, but not so bright question, “Why didn’t you win the diamond queen?” instead of taking credit for a great entry denying duck, merely reply to him, “Why?, I thought you had it”.
BTW, I’m hoping for that sort of irreverence to
occur, when after former big time cheaters
are stupidly admitted back into high-level bridge, after serving their less than lifetime sentences, that all potential future partners will just say an emphatic and continuous “NO”!
How any administrator can have what they think is “forgiveness” in their souls and allow them back in, is to deny the certain 100% truth of anyone physically cheating at any decent level in bridge, surely, because of his (or her) total disrespect for it, hates the game and has very likely always felt that way!!!!
STRONG LETTER TO FOLLOW.
Actually, what happened at the other tables was that — after the non-diamond lead — all ducked a club, the second club was won and a non-diamond returned. Declarer led the JD and all ducked again (no word on hesitations). Now declarer finessed again (over-taking the 9D with the 10D) and ended up with down 2.
Hi Jim2,
Served the declarer right since after the first diamond finesse theoretically worked causing declarer to now do as he did, overtaking the nine from him with the ten in dummy but if Lena had been his LHO she would have played the queen on his nine (a classic crocodile coup which in effect is comparable to her looks) so since she did not, a wary declarer should humbly accept down one rather than subject himself to Lena’s expertise and become her prey.
Meanwhile the scuttlebutt at the Slush Cup began and ended with Lena’s bridge talent, rather than her you know what, except for whether her looks were worse luck than being forever victimized, as a special bridge player, by TOCM.