The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, July 5th, 2016
If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.
Jim Rohn
| S | North |
|---|---|
| Both | ♠ A Q 10 6 2 ♥ A Q 7 6 ♦ K ♣ J 7 4 |
| West | East |
|---|---|
| ♠ 8 4 ♥ 10 4 ♦ Q 10 6 5 3 ♣ 9 8 3 2 |
♠ K J 9 7 3 ♥ 5 3 2 ♦ 8 4 ♣ Q 10 6 |
| South |
|---|
| ♠ 5 ♥ K J 9 8 ♦ A J 9 7 2 ♣ A K 5 |
| South | West | North | East |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 ♦ | Pass | 1 ♠ | Pass |
| 2 ♥ | Pass | 3 ♥ | Pass |
| 4 ♥ | Pass | 4 NT | Pass |
| 5 ♣* | Pass | 5 NT | Pass |
| 6 ♣ | Pass | 6 ♦ | Pass |
| 6 ♥ | All pass |
*Three key cards
♣9
Today’s deal sees South open one diamond then reverse into hearts, thus forcing any preference to diamonds to come at the three-level. This is the essence of a reverse and it guarantees a king more than a minimum opener, plus at least 4-5 shape.
North can produce a forcing raise of hearts, then use keycard and explore for a grand slam before reluctantly giving up at six.
After a top club lead by West, South can see that the side suits will provide five tricks in aces and kings. The slam will be safe if declarer can win seven trump tricks.
The safest play for the contract is to ruff once in each hand with a low trump and then continue the cross-ruff with high trumps. South should cash the side winners first, then execute the cross-ruff as planned.
So win the club king, unblock diamonds, cross to the club ace and cash the diamond ace to pitch the club jack. Then play ace and ruff a spade low, and ruff a club low (unless you have seen both the queen and 10 appear from East!). Once the low ruffs stand up, crossruff high. At trick 12, South will not care about a possible over-ruff, for he is bound to make one of the last two tricks.
If declarer had ruffed with a low trump after trick seven, he would have risked an early overruff. The defender would then return a trump, and defeat the slam.
The peril may be slight, but why endanger a slam for a possible overtrick?
You should consider making a try for game, but it would be a mistake to repeat the spades, since your side almost surely has only a 5-2 fit. The spade 10 is enough to persuade me to invite with a call of two no-trump, an invitation suggesting extras in a 5-4-2-2 pattern. Without that card, I’d pass two spades.
BID WITH THE ACES
| ♠ A Q 10 6 2 ♥ A Q 7 6 ♦ K ♣ J 7 4 |
| South | West | North | East |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 ♠ | Pass | 1 NT | Pass |
| 2 ♥ | Pass | 2 ♠ | Pass |
| ? |
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Bridge-related
In BWTA, what if pard bids 3D?
Hi Jim2,
I will assume that we, South, have rebid 2NT and then the original responder proceeds with 3D.
I pass, expecting something like:
s. xx
h. Jxx
d. QJ109xx
c. Ax
Of course with that hand I may have passed 2 hearts, although most purists would return to 2 spades. Partner could also hold:
s. Kx
h. xx
d. Axxxxxx
c. xx
although many, including me, would choose 3 diamonds instead of 2 spades as a rebid.
If holding, s. xx, h. x, d. AQJ10xx, c. Qxxx I would rebid 3 diamonds instead of the 2 spade preference (in search of a making part score) but then thinking that I would have originally bid 2 diamonds (in the old days) and then rebid 3 diamonds allowing partner to not be forced, but with holding the diamond king chancing 3NT.
Like all experimental bridge bidding changes,(and 2 over 1 GF, has always appeared to me to be so even though it has caught on with not only the masses, but also the very high level, causing many tweaks to be added, with, no doubt, more to come).
A current partnership has to improvise to succeed, with this type sequence ringing that bell.
Note the difference that King of diamonds means, but can only be thought to be that valuable if the responder so much as mentions that suit during his first two opportunities.
For reference, go back to the English totally naturally Acol system with as few bids as practical being forcing. It had much more to recommend it than the present crop of super experts have thought, who somewhat have missed out on its effectiveness.
However, back then, Acol would have had to been severely tweaked in order to stand up to present day scrutiny.
Would you pass 2N with:
xx
Jx
Q10xxxx
Kxx
Hi Jim2,
A good practical question.
Definitely YES, since IMO, trying to achieve perfection in bridge bidding, becomes a losing exercise.
While on the surface, to bid 3 diamonds, is, of course hoping to catch two in partner’s hand, but the odds IMO tend to switch to only catching a singleton since you have three more of those available diamonds than clubs.
The above is the 2nd reason for my choice, with the 1st being tricks which can come from random card combinations as against naming a trump suit which while on the surface can be used to trump major suit cards in hand doesn’t turn out that way and, of course, you are one level higher in the bidding.
All of the above only comes from so many years of experience, which, in no way, am I claiming to be right, only suggesting that, at least to me, is what happens at the table.
Unless the flag is up and waving, like on the rifle range, just play simple and with your specific question, and against good players, they (or one of them) could sense your intent and with a bad diamond break in progress double you.
Again, those kinds of experience are needed in order to see for oneself, about the Perils of Pauline, sometime cropping out of nowhere to lose some random IMP match.
And to think I am talking with someone who gets random 5-1 trump breaks as randomly as the sun coming up in the morning.