Aces on Bridge — Daily Columns

The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, May 10th, 2018

I’m a games player by nature. Don’t get me wrong. Nothing that involves movement. Like leaving my chair.

Maureen Lipman


S North
Both ♠ A 8 6 4 2
 K 5
 8 5 4
♣ A 7 5
West East
♠ K J 9 3
 2
 A 10 7 2
♣ J 9 3 2
♠ Q 10 7
 J 9 8 6
 9 6 3
♣ 10 6 4
South
♠ 5
 A Q 10 7 4 3
 K Q J
♣ K Q 8
South West North East
1 Pass 1 ♠ Pass
3 Pass 4 ♣ Pass
4 NT Pass 5 * Pass
6 All pass    

*Three keycards

A

One of my occasional correspondents is Maureen Hiron, who lives in Spain but writes a newspaper column for Ireland. She commented that she had first met this type of hand early in her bridge career, and her partner bawled her out for going down. When a similar situation arose a short while later, she knew what to do. As Hiron said, the good bridge player only makes the same mistake four times. By the fifth time, she has learned her lesson.

Barring bizarre distribution, the only thing that could go wrong in six hearts was the trumps breaking 4-1 or worse. If West holds the length, you are doomed; but if East has the critical holding, you may be able to survive as long as you take the appropriate precautions early.

Against the slam, West cashed the diamond ace and continued the suit. Hiron won in hand and noticed that if East did indeed hold jack-fourth in trumps, she would need to reduce her trump holding to parity with East, ending with the lead in dummy.

So at trick three, she took the spade ace then ruffed a spade, reducing South’s trump holding to five. Then came the heart ace and a heart to the king to find the bad news.

However, another spade ruff reduced the South trump holding to the same length as East’s. Hiron could then take her minor-suit winners, ending in dummy with the club ace, and she was happy to see East follow throughout. In the two-card ending, a spade from dummy caught East’s trump jack under South’s Q-10 of hearts.


This is a problem with no sensible answer. If you bid two diamonds, you will force the hand to game without any real confidence in a fit or source of tricks. You could raise either clubs or hearts to the three-level to invite game, which somewhat overstates your trump support in either case, or you could go very low by bidding only two hearts. If you twisted my arm, I would bid three hearts, but don’t expect me to like it.

BID WITH THE ACES

♠ A 8 6 4 2
 K 5
 8 5 4
♣ A 7 5
South West North East
    1 Pass
1 ♠ Pass 2 ♣ Pass
?      

For details of Bobby Wolff’s autobiography, The Lone Wolff, contact [email protected]. If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, please leave a comment at this blog.
Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2018. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].

The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, May 9th, 2018

Self-sacrifice is a thing that should be put down by law. It is so demoralizing to the people for whom one sacrifices oneself. They always go to the bad.

Oscar Wilde


S North
N-S ♠ 7 6 3 2
 7 6 2
 A K 5 4
♣ 8 4
West East
♠ K Q J 9 4
 Q J 9 8 4
 9 7 2
♣ —
♠ 8 5
 5
 Q J 10 8 6 3
♣ 10 9 5 3
South
♠ A 10
 A K 10 3
 —
♣ A K Q J 7 6 2
South West North East
1 ♣ 2 ♣* Pass 2
2 3 3 NT 4
5 ♣ All pass    

*Majors

♠K

As South in today’s auction, should you have bid four no-trump over four diamonds? Against five clubs, West leads the spade king, and East shows an even number of spades. You win the ace and cash the trump ace, on which West discards a low spade. How do you plan to take 11 tricks?

West has at least 5-5 in the majors and a trump void, so you should play him for an original distribution of 5=5=3=0 pattern. This leaves East with a likely starting shape of 2=1=6=4.

Your aim is to strip East of his major-suit cards and all but one trump; then you can endplay him with a club to force him to play a diamond: if so, you will make a spade, a two hearts, two diamonds and six trumps.

After winning the first trick with the spade ace and drawing a round of trumps, simply advance the spade 10 at trick three. West can do no better than win the trick with the jack and play another high spade. The trap to avoid is ruffing this trick with the two. Instead, you must ruff the third round of spades with the six, draw two more rounds of trumps, cash the high hearts (East will discard a diamond) and then endplay East by leading your two of clubs to his three — assuming East has done his best to unblock in trumps.

East will only have diamonds remaining, so you will make dummy’s two top diamonds along with six trumps and three winners in the majors, for a total of 11 tricks in all.


The simplest path is to raise to two spades, since you have bad trumps and good defense. You might compete to three spades later, depending on how the auction works out. An immediate jump to three spades would be a pre-emptive raise, and this hand is too strong for that. A fit jump to three diamonds, showing a spade fit and a diamond suit you want partner to lead, would be possible if you had a fifth diamond.

BID WITH THE ACES

♠ 7 6 3 2
 7 6 2
 A K 5 4
♣ 8 4
South West North East
Pass 1 ♣ 1 ♠ Dbl.
?      

For details of Bobby Wolff’s autobiography, The Lone Wolff, contact [email protected]. If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, please leave a comment at this blog.
Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2018. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].

The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, May 8th, 2018

Clever men will recognize and tolerate nothing but cleverness; every authority rouses their ridicule, every superstition amuses them, every convention moves them to contradiction.

Henri-Frederic Amiel


N North
Both ♠ A 9 6
 A 10 7 2
 A K
♣ 10 9 8 4
West East
♠ Q 8 7 4 3
 K J 8
 10 8
♣ K J 7
♠ K 5 2
 6 4 3
 7 6 4 3 2
♣ 5 2
South
♠ J 10
 Q 9 5
 Q J 9 5
♣ A Q 6 3
South West North East
    1 ♣ Pass
2 NT Pass 3 NT All pass

♠4

Australia’s most consistent pair in the early part of this last decade was Sartaj Hans and Tony Nunn. On this deal, from a recent World Championship match between Australia and the U.S., Hans played skillfully to land a contract that failed at many tables.

Against three no-trump, Marty Fleisher for the U.S. led the spade four, taken by his partner Mike Kamil with the king. On the spade return, Fleisher ducked declarer’s jack. Hans now played a diamond to dummy’s ace, cashed the diamond king and ran the club 10 to West’s jack. A low spade cleared the suit and put the lead in dummy.

At this point, most of the unsuccessful declarers took a second club finesse and lost two clubs and three spades. Hans instead saw that he needed only two club tricks, but that he surely needed to keep West off lead. So he played a club to his ace, then cashed his two diamond winners, pitching a heart from dummy on the first.

Fleisher could spare a heart on the third round of diamonds, but he had to let go of a spade on declarer’s final diamond — pitching a heart honor would have let dummy throw a club. Declarer would then have been able to lead out the heart queen to establish a second heart trick.

Once West discarded a spade, Hans pitched a second heart from dummy and set up the clubs, leaving Fleisher on lead. The defense could cash a spade, but then had to concede the last two tricks to dummy.


This auction is maybe more about partnership agreement than it is about judgment. I play that when the opponents respond in a new suit after my partner has doubled, a double by me is penalty, not responsive, and a call of two spades says “That is what I would have bid without intervention.” Either of those actions is possible, but the simple two-spade call has a lot to recommend it.

BID WITH THE ACES

♠ Q 8 7 4 3
 K J 8
 10 8
♣ K J 7
South West North East
  1 Dbl. 1 ♠
?      

For details of Bobby Wolff’s autobiography, The Lone Wolff, contact [email protected]. If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, please leave a comment at this blog.
Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2018. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].

The Aces on Bridge: Monday, May 7th, 2018

The better part of valor is discretion, in the which better part I have saved my life.

Falstaff


S North
None ♠ Q 4
 J 8 7 4 3
 A 7 5
♣ A 10 3
West East
♠ K 8 6 3
 K 6
 10 9 6
♣ 9 7 6 2
♠ 10 9 7 5 2
 Q
 J 8 4 3
♣ K Q 8
South
♠ A J
 A 10 9 5 2
 K Q 2
♣ J 5 4
South West North East
1 Pass 3 Pass
4 All pass    

10

With both North and South having five hearts and a decent hand, it’s easy to imagine them going overboard, or at least to the five-level. However, at the table both players exercised restraint, South down-valuing his hand out of a strong no-trump, and North merely inviting game. So now all South needs to do is make 10 tricks.

On the passive diamond lead, South should expect to lose a trump trick, so he must limit the loss in the black suits to two tricks. If he is not careful, he will also lose two clubs and one spade. The way to make sure of the contract is to force the opponents to lend their assistance and open up those suits to his advantage.

Declarer starts by winning the diamond ace and leading the heart jack, perhaps intending to let it run, but hoping East will incautiously cover from a doubleton honor. When the queen appears, South wins and cashes the diamonds before taking the spade ace and putting the defense in with a spade.

If East wins, he will have to open up clubs sooner or later. As it is, West wins and cashes the heart king, but must then lead clubs. Dummy plays low, and East can win the first club, but he must now concede.

If South had exited in hearts at trick five, West would have won and broken up the endplay by leading clubs. If declarer instead takes the spade finesse, either a club or the heart king followed by a second spade from West should suffice to set the hand.


Even though the opponents’ auction here would tend to get you to look at majors rather than minors, jack-fourth is hardly the most attractive of options. So I would lead from my five-card suit as being a far more promising line of attack than a four-card suit.

LEAD WITH THE ACES

♠ J 8 4 2
 10 8
 Q 7 4 3 2
♣ A 4
South West North East
      1 NT
Pass 3 NT All pass  

For details of Bobby Wolff’s autobiography, The Lone Wolff, contact [email protected]. If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, please leave a comment at this blog.
Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2018. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].

The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, May 6th, 2018

Do you have any plans for a follow-up to “The Lone Wolff”? Would you ever do a book consisting of bridge hands as opposed to an autobiography?

Bookworm, Duluth, Minn.

My book is far more about my life and times than it is about bridge hands. Almost every deal in the book (of which there are very few) is there to advance the story or to make a point. Yes, if asked, I would consider trying to put together hands from the columns for a book. But nobody has been beating down my door with lucrative offers recently.

In a recent column, you have a player with 12 points and 4-4 in the minors opening the bidding with one club. However, in a bidding problem, you suggest opening one diamond. Which is your recommended strategy?

Desperate Dan, Virginia City, Nev.

Much inappropriate and misdirected thought has been wasted on this question; I’m sorry if I innocently added to the confusion. There is no technically superior answer to the question of which suit to bid, but there is a practical answer: I’d recommend always opening the better suit. The reason is that if the opponents end up declaring the hand, you’d rather your partner led your good suit, not your bad one. This also applies when a hand is too strong to open one no-trump.

Have you ever played a forcing pass method or a system that didn’t conform to a standard base? If so, did you enjoy the process?

Lumpfish, Trenton, N.J.

We were all young once, but ever since I grew up, I have tended to follow normal methods. However, that does remind me that 40 years ago it took a lot of persuading to convince one of the top American women that if her opponents played an opening pass as a strong hand, she could not double the pass to show a good hand herself!

At my local club, I picked up ♠ A-Q-3,  10-5-3-2,  A-Q-7-4, ♣ Q-3 and responded with a two-no-trump call to my partner’s opening bid of one heart, to show a forcing raise. When my partner bid three hearts, showing extras but no shortage, what should I have done?

Half Mast, Harrisburg, Pa.

In context, you have nothing to spare. You have bad trumps and at most a queen more than a dead minimum, so I would sign off now. If all your partner needs is two aces, he can use Blackwood to find out more. For the record, if your hearts were J-10-x-x, you might bid three no-trump, meaning it as having nothing to spare, and not being unsuitable for slam but without extras.

What scheme of responses to weak twos do you recommend? Does it depend on the degree of discipline your partnership imposes on pre-empts? If you ask for features, what holding outside the trump suit is needed for the weak-two opener to treat his hand as maximum?

Forward Progress, Portland, Ore.

Briefly, if playing Ogust (which assumes a pre-empt may be on only a moderate suit — or worse), what constitutes a good suit and a good hand may still depend a little on the vulnerability. A good suit should have decent play for one loser facing a doubleton (a minimum of six to the king-queen). The range is 6-10, no matter what style of responses you play; and if you have a maximum, show a feature with an ace, king or guarded queen.


For details of Bobby Wolff’s autobiography, The Lone Wolff, contact [email protected]. If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, please leave a comment at this blog.
Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2018. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].

The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, May 5th, 2018

As man under pressure tends to give in to physical and intellectual weakness, only great strength of will can lead to the objective.

Carl von Clausewitz


W North
None ♠ K 2
 K 10 9 7 6 4
 J 4 2
♣ 9 4
West East
♠ Q 9 7 4
 8
 A 9 7 3
♣ K Q 6 3
♠ J 8 5
 J 5 3
 K 10 6
♣ 10 8 7 5
South
♠ A 10 6 3
 A Q 2
 Q 8 5
♣ A J 2
South West North East
  Pass Pass Pass
1 NT Pass 2 Pass
2 Dbl. 3 Pass
4 All pass    

♣K

In today’s deal, you reach a delicate four-heart game after West has suggested a three-suiter and a maximum for his original pass. You duck the lead of the club king, and West accurately shifts to a trump.

It may be hard to see how to avoid the loss of three diamond tricks, since the top honors appear to be split, but you can exert a fair amount of pressure if you run five rounds of hearts. You keep all four spades and your top clubs in hand, coming down to the bare diamond queen. But what does West keep?

If he pitches a spade, you ruff out that suit while you still have a club re-entry to hand; while if he comes down to one club, your clubs will be good. So West also must come down to one diamond. That has to be the king (or ace), or you can establish a diamond trick.

Now you cash the sixth trump and pitch your last diamond, and West must again keep all his spades and clubs to keep you from establishing either suit. So he, too, discards his last diamond, and that lets you lead the king and another spade, aiming to cover East’s card to keep him off lead.

West wins cheaply and must play back a low spade, but you win that, then endplay him in spades to lead clubs into your tenace. Your initial goal on the deal was to avoid losing three diamond winners; in fact, you ended up losing no diamond tricks at all!


Are you a man or a mouse? Most experts would re-open with a double with barely a second thought. If West has been lurking with a powerhouse, you might regret it. But say your partner has five spades to the king and three little hearts. Then no matter what the rest of his hand is, either four spades should come close or the opponents can make game — and sometimes both games will make.

BID WITH THE ACES

♠ Q 9 7 4
 8
 A 9 7 3
♣ K J 6 3
South West North East
      Pass
Pass 4 Pass Pass
?      

For details of Bobby Wolff’s autobiography, The Lone Wolff, contact [email protected]. If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, please leave a comment at this blog.
Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2018. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].

The Aces on Bridge: Friday, May 4th, 2018

Sole survivor, cursed with second sight
Haunted savior, cried into the night.

Eric Bloom


E North
None ♠ A 7
 Q 9 2
 K 5 4
♣ A Q 10 9 5
West East
♠ Q 9 8 6 3 2
 10 8 6 4
 A 10 7
♣ —
♠ 10 5 4
 A 3
 Q 8 6
♣ J 7 6 4 3
South
♠ K J
 K J 7 5
 J 9 3 2
♣ K 8 2
South West North East
      Pass
1 2 ♠ 3 ♣ Pass
3 NT All pass    

♠6

One of the regular fundraising activities of the American Contract Bridge League is to produce simultaneous pairs events with a commentary. This allows people to compare their results at the table with what, in theory, is par on the board.

In today’s deal from a recent such event, North does not possess a classic opener. (Indeed, Ely Culbertson might be turning in his grave at the idea of opening a hand with no aces and a bare, balanced 12-count.) Having said that, with nobody vulnerable at pairs, it often pays to get in early and try to steal the contract. You’d expect West to bid spades over one diamond, and now North-South rate to reach three no-trump, probably by South, and most likely on a spade lead. (Of course if West leads hearts, declarer will come home with no problem.)

Since declarer does not have second sight, he will probably win the spade ace, cash the club ace, then play a club to the eight and take the club king. To keep himself in the game, West must pitch two diamonds and a spade; if he pitches a heart, declarer establishes a third heart trick without too much trouble.

But after this start, South will have a shrewd idea of West’s original distribution: to bring home his contract, South must lead a heart to the nine at trick five. As the commentary indicates, any declarer who reads the cards this well will truly deserve his top!


You showed 15-17 at your first turn. Then completing the transfer showed three trumps. In context, you have a minimum, plus soft cards in the opponents’ suit. You have absolutely no reason to think of bidding now. Partner is in control of the auction, and he wants to sell out. Respect his authority.

BID WITH THE ACES

♠ A 7
 Q 9 2
 K 5 4
♣ A Q 10 9 5
South West North East
1 NT Pass 2 Dbl.
2 3 Pass Pass
?      

For details of Bobby Wolff’s autobiography, The Lone Wolff, contact [email protected]. If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, please leave a comment at this blog.
Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2018. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].

The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, May 3rd, 2018

The fixation on school has become a class trait. It manifests itself as a mixture of incurious piety and parlor game.

V.S. Pritchett


S North
None ♠ 9 8 3
 A K J 7
 K 8 6 4
♣ A 5
West East
♠ A 10 7 4 2
 9
 J 9 2
♣ J 8 4 3
♠ K 5
 Q 10 4 3 2
 Q 5
♣ 10 7 6 2
South
♠ Q J 6
 8 6 5
 A 10 7 3
♣ K Q 9
South West North East
1 Pass 1 Pass
1 NT Pass 3 NT All pass
       

♠4

Bridge at the Dyspeptics Club is often equivalent to a game of hot potato. A contract may start out as makeable, or off in top tricks, but quite frequently the fate of the contract will switch from one side to the other. All too often it is the player who makes the last mistake who will come in for the criticism, while the other errors are glossed over altogether.

See if you can decide how many times the outcome of today’s contract of three no-trump changed hands here.

West led a spade to the king, won the second spade and played the spade two, as East pitched a heart. Declarer next played a diamond to the king and a second diamond, thoughtfully ducking when East produced the queen. Now the suit had been established with West kept off lead, so declarer had nine tricks.

When South started to brag about his foresight, North corrected him and told him that he was the poster child for the slogan “It’s better to be lucky than good.” How many mistakes had been made on the deal?

Had East pitched his diamond queen under the king, the defense would have prevailed. But South could have broached diamonds by crossing to a top heart and leading a low diamond to his ace, then a diamond back. Now the defenders would be unable to unblock successfully.

Or, if West had played a high (suit preference) spade at trick three, maybe East could have discarded the diamond queen at that point, rendering declarer helpless.


This sort of deal demonstrates why it is a good idea for the opener to be allowed to break the transfer whenever he has four trumps and anything but a dead minimum, and also perhaps when he has three good trumps and a maximum. The point is that when opener doesn’t break the transfer, you can pass two hearts and not risk going overboard, since game is unlikely to be good.

BID WITH THE ACES

♠ K 5
 Q 10 4 3 2
 Q 5
♣ 10 7 6 2
South West North East
    1 NT Pass
2 Pass 2 Pass
?      

For details of Bobby Wolff’s autobiography, The Lone Wolff, contact [email protected]. If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, please leave a comment at this blog.
Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2018. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].

The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, May 2nd, 2018

Brazil? He twirled a button
Without a glance my way:
But, madam, is there nothing else
That we can show today?

Emily Dickinson


E North
E-W ♠ Q 9 2
 6 5 4
 A Q 3
♣ K 8 4 3
West East
♠ 10 6
 10 9 8 2
 5 4
♣ 10 9 7 5 2
♠ K J 7
 A K Q J
 10 9 7 6
♣ Q J
South
♠ A 8 5 4 3
 7 3
 K J 8 2
♣ A 6
South West North East
      1 NT
2 ♠* Pass 2 NT Pass
3 Pass 3 ♠ Pass
4 ♠ All pass    

*Spades and a minor

10

Gabriel Chagas is one of the few players to have won the three major world teams championships as well as the World Open Pairs. Forty years ago, he wrote a Bols bridge tip to alert players to the intra-finesse, using this hand to illustrate his point.

Against four spades, the defense begins with three rounds of hearts, South ruffing the third. The success of the game hinges on not losing more than one trump trick. Under normal circumstances, you would lead toward the queen after cashing the ace. But here, East is known to hold the king, by virtue of his opening call of one no-trump.

There are two sensible lines of play that declarer should consider. The first is that East might have started with the doubleton spade king, in which case declarer can drive it out without wasting the queen. The other possibility is that West holds the doubleton 10 or jack, so an intrafinesse will be the winning move.

Start by leading a spade to the nine, which lets East win with the jack to return the club queen. Now declarer ruffs a club to hand and discovers that East also began with a doubleton club.

Although East might be 2-4-5-2 for his one no-trump opening bid, 3-4-4-2 is a far more likely shape. So, declarer leads a diamond to dummy’s ace and advances the spade queen. Since West’s 10 falls under the queen, whether East covers or not, declarer holds his trump losers to one and has succeeded in his task.


This hand comes down to the Law of Total Tricks. When you cue-bid two hearts, you showed a limit raise with at least three trumps. (Some pairs might have a way to show a limit raise with four trumps, but we do not.) You should assume your partner does not have enough to bid to three spades, and your balanced hand argues for defending, as you have only three trumps. So pass three hearts.

BID WITH THE ACES

♠ Q 9 2
 6 5 4
 A Q 3
♣ K 8 4 3
South West North East
  1 1 ♠ Dbl.
2 3 Pass Pass
?      

For details of Bobby Wolff’s autobiography, The Lone Wolff, contact [email protected]. If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, please leave a comment at this blog.
Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2018. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].

The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, May 1st, 2018

Art is not a mirror to hold up to society, but a hammer with which to shape it.

Bertolt Brecht


S North
None ♠ 9 7 4 3
 10 5
 A J 9 5
♣ A J 3
West East
♠ K 5
 J 9 6 4 2
 K 10 2
♣ 9 5 4
♠ 10 8 6 2
 K Q 3
 7 6 4
♣ 8 6 2
South
♠ A Q J
 A 8 7
 Q 8 3
♣ K Q 10 7
South West North East
1 ♣ Pass 1 ♠ Pass
2 NT Pass 3 NT All pass
       

4

Most partnerships these days use a 15-17 no-trump opening bid rather than 16-18. The logic is that if you open most 12-counts, you do not want your rebid of one no-trump to be 12-15; that is an uncomfortably wide range for exploring game and slam.

In today’s deal, South has a little too much for the no-trump opener, despite his square pattern. Of course, any action South chooses should lead to his declaring a contract of three no-trump on a low heart lead.

The contract may appear to be in jeopardy, but South can prevail by using a maneuver that should be in everyone’s armory: the holdup. He merely delays taking his heart ace, playing small hearts on the first and second tricks and taking his ace on the third round of the suit.

What is the result of this approach? South knows that he will eventually finesse in diamonds into what he imagines will be the safe hand, East, since it is West who appears to have long hearts.

Note that when South leads the diamond queen, if East wins the finesse to shift to a spade, declarer will have to decide whether to take the spade finesse or play for diamonds to behave. Rising with the ace feels right to me.

However, when the diamond queen is covered with the king, as it is today, declarer comes back to hand in clubs and runs the diamond eight. Whether the finesse of the diamond 10 wins or loses, he has nine tricks and does not need the spade finesse.


Had East not bid one heart, you would probably have bid two spades. As it is, should you bid two spades anyway, or is one spade enough? I think it is right to bid two spades, since you would compete to one spade on the same hand without one of the aces — that call really doesn’t show anything more than fourplus spades, though it denies weakness.

BID WITH THE ACES

♠ 9 7 4 3
 10 5
 A J 9 5
♣ A J 3
South West North East
  1 ♣ Dbl. 1
?      

For details of Bobby Wolff’s autobiography, The Lone Wolff, contact [email protected]. If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, please leave a comment at this blog.
Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2018. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].