The Aces on Bridge: Monday, December 5th, 2016
The combat deepens. On ye brave,
Who rush to glory or the grave!
Thomas Campbell
| S | North |
|---|---|
| None | ♠ K J 8 5 ♥ 6 4 2 ♦ J 9 5 ♣ A Q 5 |
| West | East |
|---|---|
| ♠ 6 2 ♥ J 10 9 5 ♦ A 10 6 ♣ 10 8 4 2 |
♠ A 4 ♥ K 8 7 ♦ 8 7 4 2 ♣ K 9 6 3 |
| South |
|---|
| ♠ Q 10 9 7 3 ♥ A Q 3 ♦ K Q 3 ♣ J 7 |
| South | West | North | East |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 ♠ | Pass | 3 ♦* | Pass |
| 4 ♠ | All pass |
*Limit raise with four trump
♥J
The jury is still out on Bergen raises. The idea is to use a jump raise of a major as weak, with three clubs and three diamonds handling a limit raise and a slightly weaker hand, each with four trump. I am still on the fence here, though I concede they are useful for those would prefer to substitute system for judgment. Faint praise, I admit…
Today’s auction sees a Bergen raise in action. In four spades, the heart lead clears up one concern for declarer. Even so, South cannot afford to draw trump at once, because he is threatened with the loss of one trick in each suit.
Three of those losers are inevitable, but South can do something about the losing heart. He must go after clubs at once, to establish a discard for his slow heart loser on dummy’s extra club.
There would be no hurry about this if the opponents had led clubs or diamonds, but the actual heart opening lead puts South under time pressure. He must finesse in clubs at once. When the finesse loses and a heart comes back, he wins, and can take his discard at once. Now the rest is routine.
South would lose the race if he led a trump at the second trick. East would win and knock out South’s remaining heart winner. The club finesse would be too late; East would take the club king and cash a heart trick.
Note that if East smoothly ducks the club king, declarer had better not repeat the finesse, or he will regret his greed!
This is not an auction where partner is guaranteed to have heart length, but he is surely favorite to have four cards in that suit. The choice of leads is really between the spade 10 and a low heart – I can’t see much argument for leading the heart jack when dummy is quite likely to have a doubleton honor. I vote for the heart.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
| ♠ Q 10 9 7 ♥ J 9 3 ♦ 10 5 2 ♣ K 7 4 |
| South | West | North | East |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pass | 1 ♣ | Pass | 1 ♦ |
| Pass | 1 ♠ | Pass | 1 NT |
| All pass |
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Bridge-related
On LWTA,
What point range do you expect pardner to have?
Do you expect declarer to have clubs? If not, then what is wrong with a low club?
(If Pard has 10 or under points, then longshot to defeat contract. Best hope is a 6+ card suit. Clubs seems more likely than hearts??? 6 hearts and 10 points, pard might not have passed at her first bid. 6 or 7 clubs, maybe would still pass?)
Bryan –
I am not Our Host, but I would not lead a club for fear that dummy will come down with a 4-3/2-2/3-4 pattern that includes the AQxx of clubs facing 3-3-5-2 that includes the club Jx.
Hi Bryan and indirectly Jim2,
By catering to your specific question, partner figures to have between 9-13 hcps. My partner is unlikely to have 12 or 13 by his original failure to get in the bidding the first time, although still barely possible. BTW, the overall vulnerability will play a large part.
Shy away from leading the minors since those opponents may well may have 8 or, on occasions, even 9, between them while the opponents will hardly ever have as many as 8 of a particular major suit between them.
Further while defending against 1NT it is not necessarily advisable to lead one’s best combined suit as the opening leader, since the normal rotation of playing suits at low NT contracts force the leader’s side to have to play first and third to that trick instead of the highly advantageous second and fourth when the opponents are compelled to lead them.
Everything considered, try not to pretend to be clairvoyant with what turns out to just rather be opening jabs, but stay alive to allowing your opponents to have to venture forth with leads when “a full trick” is at risk, the leading side NEVER having the advantage, depending who makes the first thrust in that suit.
Do not worry if you do not understand exactly what I am trying to get across. Yes, bridge itself can become very complex when discussing the play. Learn as you go, but what makes bridge so mind developing is to see the play in action and when four top players meet at the table, even for relatively insignificant part score contracts the competition for each trick becomes worth considering and then later analyzing.
All the above is far more important than the guesswork involved in counting up to what side had exactly whatever hcps between them.
Finally Bryan, the game will come to you if you let it, but until then, just observe, which is how I Iearned it at age 12 in 1944, kibitzing my parents playing against another man and wife while we traveled by train from San Antonio, TX to Chicago, IL and back.
I didn’t get better than them until the return trip. Please excuse my hoped for humorous banter as becoming good at bridge has little to do with random intelligence, but much to do with what is called “numeracy”.
Regarding “greed” in taking the second club finesse: should be easy in IMPs but at MP not so easy. Is my RHO good enough to duck smoothly? Very few would be but even at your level I suspect it would require some thought. I understand better your negative attitude toward MP scoring…
Hi Bruce,
While appreciating your practical application, especially the part about matchpoints, the taking of the second finesse in clubs, while playing matchpoints should take into consideration the non-cover of the jack by LHO as something unusual and surprising.
Why didn’t he cover since it is very normal from that holding, especially when only two are held by declarer to, of course, lead the jack?
The process involves not looking a gift horse in the mouth and being very suspicious of his non-cover perhaps being simply because he didn’t have it. Nothing in stone, but only as often is the case, worth considering.
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