Aces on Bridge — Daily Columns

The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, November 9th, 2022


2 Comments

Steve ConradNovember 23rd, 2022 at 10:54 am

One of my favorite deals involved the singleton switch (so named by Mark Horton). I was North. We normally lead A from AK so when defending 4S by EW (NS vul, EW non-vul), where only North had bid heats. It was IMPs. I led the king of hearts, then the ace, then the king of clubs. Partner, knowing it was a singleton, overtook my king and gave me a ruff.

s 5
h AK1098
d 765432
c K
s KQJ432 s A1098
h 76 h QJ
d 98 d AKQJ
c 432 c QJ10
s 76
h 5432
d 10
c A98765

bobbywolffNovember 23rd, 2022 at 4:20 pm

Hi Steve,

No doubt your post got my rapt attention, but only for discussion not usually offered.

While the logic involved was, is, right on, believe it or not, unless partner has the utmost respect for your defensive thoughtfulness he (or most, if not all) would have to dig deep before overtaking your club king, especially if he had only five cards or even fewer.

Such is reality on display and tends to prove that in order for a bridge partnership to
leap forward in ability and respect (which in most ways becomes the reason for them to sometimes even turn to dirty, filthy cheating) but your duty to partner in a tried and true way, insists on working hard to NEVER (or almost) letting your cherished bridge partner down with a careless play or bid.

Kudos to you for offering a hand which solidifies (at least to me) that truth.

A side other result may also remind a defender to always when appropriate, consider
how the decision to defend must always think ahead to also include besides the suit, the card in that suit.

Again, thanks to you for finding a close to perfect example of that responsibility.