Aces on Bridge — Daily Columns

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
?      

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, March 1st, 2018

Like Dead-Sea fruits, that tempt the eye,
But turn to ashes on the lips!

Thomas Moore


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

*Forcing spade raise

**Two key-cards and the trump queen

K

In today’s deal, South’s four-club call shows a decent five-card suit. Thereafter, cue-bidding sees North use Key-card Blackwood and drive to slam. West leads the diamond king; after winning with the diamond ace and seeing East follow, how do you plan to make another 11 tricks for the contract?

If spades break no worse than 3-1, you can draw trumps and run the clubs, discarding diamonds from dummy. If trumps are 2-2, you will make an overtrick by ruffing two diamonds in dummy. By contrast, if East has four trumps, the contract looks almost impossible to make.

However, when it is West who has four trumps, you need to be very careful. In that scenario, with the cards as shown, the only way to make the contract is to ruff a heart at trick two. Not until then can you play the trump ace.

When East discards, you continue with a low trump and cover West’s card in dummy. After ruffing a second heart with the queen, you will lead the trump seven and again cover West’s card. After drawing the last trump and throwing a diamond from hand, you will have taken the first seven tricks. At this point, the clubs will provide the five tricks you need to make the contract.

Note that if you played a trump to the ace at trick two, the contract fails because dummy is an entry short for the two heart ruffs you need as the cards lie.


There is no universal agreement about what doubles of this sort mean, but here your hand tells you that your partner has a good hand with spades. After all, who else has the spades? You should pass and lead from your five-card suit. You may not beat one no-trump, but there is no reason to assume you have a better hole to go to.

BID WITH THE ACES

♠ —
 A Q 10 5
 8 5 3 2
♣ 9 7 4 3 2
South West North East
  1 ♠ Pass 1 NT
Pass Pass Dbl. 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, February 28th, 2018

If once a man indulges himself in murder, very soon he comes to think little of robbing; and from robbing he comes next to drinking and Sabbath-breaking, and from that to incivility and procrastination. Once begun upon this downward path, you never know where you are to stop.

Thomas de Quincey


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

*Constructive spade raise

10

When you pick up an 11-count with honors in your long suits, it presents the dilemma of whether to pass or to open.

Today’s deal comes from a recent Australian event, and it illustrates the advantage of getting busy in the bidding at an early stage. Opening can backfire if your partner takes you too seriously or if the opponents buy the contract. But sometimes by not opening, your partnership can be effectively shut out of the auction. Let’s look at what happened at two tables.

In one room, Tony Burke sat North. He judged well to sacrifice in four spades when his partner had passed over four hearts — you can judge for yourself whether South’s decision was well conceived. Four spades went one down, while East/West could have made four hearts without a problem, losing just two diamonds and a trump.

By contrast, at the table where East passed, Tony Nunn — one of Australia’s most talented players — opened the South hand two spades, and North raised to game, thereby winning the battle. But could he win the war?

Four spades seems to be one top trick short, but Nunn pulled off a bit of daylight robbery. He won the diamond lead in dummy, then led the club queen to the two, nine and ace. After winning the diamond return in dummy, Nunn led the club three. An unsuspecting East played low since, after all, Nunn’s nine had all the hallmarks of a singleton — and the six won the trick!


The auction has turned your hand to dust and ashes. When your partner rebids his suit, he suggests a minimum opener with six or more hearts and implicitly no game interest unless you have undisclosed extras. You do not, so pass. If your spade queen were the heart queen, you would at least invite game in hearts.

BID WITH THE ACES

♠ Q 9 7
 7
 A K 5 2
♣ Q J 8 7 3
South West North East
    1 Dbl.
Rdbl. 1 ♠ 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: Tuesday, February 27th, 2018

Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much;
Wisdom is humble that he knows no more.

William Cowper


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

J

When South hears his partner open then raise spades, it suggests a minimum hand, typically with four trumps. So South decides that jumping directly to small slam is more likely to attract a favorable lead than result in missing a playable grand slam.

West has a natural diamond lead; declarer wins the ace and takes the trump finesse. When West wins the king and leads another diamond, the slam now depends on not losing a heart trick. South can simply try to guess which opponent has the heart queen, but one should try to postpone a decision of this kind until the last possible moment.

The idea is to play on side suits first in the hope of finding out something about the distribution. Sometimes one cannot discover anything useful, but it should cost nothing to try.

Accordingly, South uses dummy’s trump entry to ruff dummy’s last diamond, then plays three rounds of clubs. He is rewarded when West discards a diamond on the third round of that suit. At this point, declarer knows that East started with precisely six clubs and two spades. Since East has followed three times in diamonds, East could not have started with more than two hearts. If East began with more than three diamonds, he has room in his hand for at most one heart.

Whatever the case, South knows West has more hearts than East. Thus the odds are that West has the heart queen, so he finesses through West in hearts. When the finesse succeeds, the slam comes home.


This is an area of modern bidding that is somewhat undiscussed. There are three plausible calls to consider: You could raise hearts, rebid one no-trump or introduce your spades. I don’t like bidding spades on such a poor suit with only three clubs, and I am not enchanted with raising hearts on such a square hand. So this looks like a one-no-trump rebid to me. I’d risk losing the spades on a part-score deal.

BID WITH THE ACES

♠ 10 9 8 4
 K 9 4
 A Q 4
♣ K 5 4
South West North East
1 ♣ Pass 1 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: Monday, February 26th, 2018

We ought to feel deep cheerfulness that a happy Providence kept it from being any worse.

Thomas Hardy


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

K

When North raises South’s opening bid of one spade to two, South knows that slam is highly unlikely, but there is bound to be at least decent play for game. So South just ups and bids game in spades, and then must try to make it on the lead of the heart king.

South should expect to lose a heart and a diamond, so must hold his club losers to one. It may look natural to go after diamonds, but that would be a mistake; if the defenders can dislodge the only sure entry to dummy, declarer may not be able to maximize his play in clubs.

Instead, South wins the heart ace and draws three rounds of trumps. He must then resist the temptation to exit passively in hearts; again, the defenders might go after declarer’s diamond entry to dummy before declarer is ready for this to happen.

Instead, South leads a low club towards dummy’s queen, hoping West holds the king. If so, declarer’s queen and ace of clubs will take tricks, and he can trump his last club in dummy if necessary. But East takes dummy’s queen with his ace and returns a heart to his partner’s queen, and West now shifts to a diamond to East’s ace. East returns a second diamond, and dummy wins with the king.

The time has come to try the second finesse in clubs. Declarer leads a low club from dummy and puts in the 10 from his own hand. When it holds the trick, South can cash the club ace and ruff his last club with dummy’s remaining trump.


Your choice is between the black suits, and if you lead a spade, you have the option of a high or low card. The spade lead is just a little too dangerous for me, so I would lead the club six, though give me the spade nine instead of the eight, and I’d settle for a spade.

LEAD WITH THE ACES

♠ J 10 8 3
 K 4 3
 A J 7 6
♣ 6 2
South West North East
    Pass 1
Pass 1 ♠ Pass 3
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, February 25th, 2018

I picked up ♠ J-9-2,  J-10-8-7,  J-5-3, ♣ A-10-8 and heard my partner open one diamond in third seat. The next player overcalled two clubs, and I wasn’t sure whether to make a negative double, raise diamonds or pass. What do you think?

Rumble Fish, Newport News, Va.

This is not a terrible example of an off-shape double, but you should reflect on the fact that partner did open in third chair, so there is always some question of whether he has a full opener. If you pass two clubs and your partner sells out as well, you probably have no great fit. If partner is short in clubs, he will reopen with a double or suit bid.

When is it prudent or acceptable to pass your partner’s one-club or one-diamond opening bid? Does the form of scoring matter for this decision?

Vacuum Cleaner, Hot Springs Village, Ark.

With balanced subminimum hands vulnerable, there is little merit in responding. With six HCP or more, you always respond; so it is the 4-6 HCP hands with a major and no fit where you would tend to respond to a minor. Similarly, you might pass a major-suit opener, since you already have found a playable spot. Non-vulnerable, the upsides of bidding include the tactical (stealing the hand or having them miss a game), finding a better fit or reaching game, or reducing your minus score.

I have a theoretical problem when holding 5-6 pattern with a longer minor. Holding, for example, ♠ Q-6,  A-J-9-5-3,  —, ♣ K-Q-9-8-3-2, should I include distribution points to make this hand strong enough for a reverse, or should I take a pragmatic approach by opening one heart and then repeating the clubs if necessary?

Going for Broke, Victoria, British Columbia

Reverses do not specifically guarantee a great hand; extra shape may allow you to upgrade certain hands. With a touching two-suiter and 5-6 shape with a minimum opening, I would tend to open the higher suit. When the six-carder is good and the five-carder bad, and the suits are non-touching, that may be too much of a distortion. Here, I might start with one club — who’s to say partner won’t start by bidding diamonds?

My question is about how much stock to put in shape as opposed to high cards when considering inviting game as responder. I recently picked up ♠ Q-10-4-2,  J-8-5-2,  —, ♣ A-Q-10-3-2 and responded one heart to my partner’s one-diamond opening. When he raised to two hearts, should I have bid on or passed?

Reach for the Skies, Juneau, Alaska

Vulnerable at teams, I would feel obliged to try for game. At pairs, my void in partner’s suit would be a negative in the context of only holding four trumps, as opposed to five or more. For the record, switch the hearts and clubs, and this hand is at least worth a try for game.

I am about to start working with a group of students who will begin bridge, and some of them have not played cards before. Do you think I should mention transfers in the beginning or introduce them later on? What about weak two-bids, or strong twos?

Tortoise Shell, Sacramento, Calif.

The most important concept is to understand what a trick is and what trumps are. Get them playing the cards before they learn to bid, and begin with Knock-out Whist if necessary. Weak twos are best, I think; they are just as “natural” as the strong variety. As for transfers, they can wait a while.


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, February 24th, 2018

Human institutions depend for their existence and stability on the impulse of self-preservation and its close associate, the fear instinct.

Boris Sidis


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

♠10

Today’s deal occurred at matchpoints, which might partially explain South’s imaginative rebid of one no-trump. His partner was somewhat less than complimentary after South failed in his contract of three no-trump, West leading the spade 10.

Declarer called for dummy’s spade two, and East took the trick with his king and shifted to a low club. South played low, and West’s queen won. The club return was ducked to declarer’s now-bare ace, and he crossed to dummy with a spade to the queen to run the jack of diamonds. West allowed this to hold, but took the next diamond and shifted to the heart nine. Now declarer was cut off from his hand, and took only seven tricks.

Observe the difference if you play dummy’s spade queen at trick one. If it holds, declarer will always make at least two spades, a heart, five diamonds and a club. On the actual layout, East would take the spade queen with the king and shift to a low club. Be careful: If you duck the club at trick two, the defenders may find the unpleasant shift to the heart 10!

But your counter to the club switch is to rise with the ace, then cross to dummy in spades, to run the diamond jack. Whenever West takes his king, the defense can only cash two clubs. If West shifts to a heart, you win with the ace and cross to hand with the spade jack to run the good diamonds. You take two spades, a heart, five diamonds and a club.


You have too much to sell out cheaply. While a double would be card-showing not penalty, there is no need to do more than bid one no-trump and take it from there. If the opponents rebid in spades, I would probably let them play there.

BID WITH THE ACES

♠ K 6 3
 K J 10 6
 6 3
♣ K 9 8 3
South West North East
Pass Pass 1 Dbl.
1 1 ♠ 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, February 23rd, 2018

Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to ask for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

John Donne


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

♠6

Today’s deal sees South able to respond two no-trump to one heart to show a balanced game force, rather than a game-forcing heart raise. This has no significant impact on the final contract — had South responded two diamonds, North might have raised the suit, letting South rebid three no-trump. In any event, when West leads a fourth-highest spade against the no-trump game, South wins cheaply, after which he must decide which red suit to go after, and what is the best way to develop that suit.

It looks logical to play on diamonds rather than hearts, doesn’t it? With so many combined honors in the eight-card fit, it would appear declarer needs only to find a normal lie of the diamonds to bring in four tricks. Leading the jack from hand will fail if East began with four diamonds to the king-10, so declarer leads low to the queen, West producing the five. (Low to the ace is also reasonable.)

When the diamond eight appears from East, the warning bell should go off! Declarer crosses back to hand with a top club and takes care not to lead the diamond jack, since East might have been sneakily contributing the eight from K-10-8-6! Instead, he leads low to dummy’s seven, assuming West follows with the six. Should this lose to East, declarer has a comfortable route to at least 10 tricks. If the diamond seven wins, as here, declarer should probably just set up his ninth trick from spades.


The two questions here are whether this hand is worth a drive to game, and if so, whether to mention the diamonds on the way to three no-trump, if there should be no eight-card spade fit. I say that the concentrated honors make it worthwhile to bid game, and that same factor argues for showing the diamonds and letting partner know the full story.

BID WITH THE ACES

♠ A J 8 6 2
 7 4
 K J 7 5
♣ 6 3
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: Thursday, February 22nd, 2018

No man thinks there is much ado about nothing when the ado is about himself.

Anthony Trollope


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

*Game-forcing relay

♣K

You blast into the spade slam, against which West leads the club king. Is there anything to be wary of when planning to make 12 tricks?

If trumps are not extremely hostile, you will have 12 easy tricks: six trumps, three hearts, two diamonds and a club. So, your concern should be overcoming a potential 4-0 break in spades. As a preparation against that possibility, ruff a club at trick two, to try to guard against the diagrammed layout.

Next, cash the trump king. If everyone follows, you can claim your contract. If West has four trumps, you will need him to have precisely 4=3=2=4 shape. You continue with the queen and ace of trumps, then ruff a second club. After cashing the diamond ace-king, plus the three heart winners ending in dummy, you ruff a third club at trick 12. West will take the last trick by ruffing your diamond loser. You will have scored six trumps and six plain-suit winners for your contract. But notice that if you had not ruffed a club at trick two, you would not have had the entries to ruff three clubs in hand.

Finally, if it turned out that East had the four trumps, then you would need him not to be too drastically short in any of the side suits. The best order of play to follow would be to cash the top diamonds, then the top hearts, ending in dummy. Now you take a club ruff, then the queen and ace of trumps, followed by leading a fourth club from dummy to make your last trump, whatever East does.


Your partner’s double of the two-spade call is take-out and shows extras — the equivalent of a game-try with short spades. In context, your combination of decent spot cards plus a ruffing value suggests you have enough to make one game-try of three clubs and let your partner know where you live.

BID WITH THE ACES

♠ J 10 8 3
 10 8 7
 J 10
♣ K Q J 9
South West North East
Pass 1 1 Dbl.
2 2 ♠ Dbl. 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, February 21st, 2018

The hand you are dealt is determinism; the way you play it is free will.

Jawarhalal Nehru


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

♣2

Today’s deal is from Andrew Robson’s latest themed collection, “Counting and Card Placement”, available at baronbarclay.com.

Andrew is one of the top European players. One of his specialities is explaining the game in simple terms. He is much in demand as a teacher and lecturer, and his source material is excellent.

Consider today’s deal, where you have driven to slam in somewhat cavalier fashion after partner’s limit raise in hearts. Of course, the club king wasn’t the card you had hoped to see in dummy — you would happily have traded it for the heart jack.

As declarer you receive the lead of the club two, third and fifth and take the queen with your king. What should be your plan to play hearts for only one loser?

You can do nothing about 4-0 hearts, but if one defender has the bare ace, it seems slightly more likely to be West, since he appears to have the long clubs. Rightly or wrongly, you cross to hand with the diamond ace and lead a heart to the 10, king and ace.

Back comes a spade; plan your next move.

It is best to win the ace, cross to dummy by leading the diamond 10 to the jack, then play a trump. When East follows with the eight, the odds of finessing are clearly better than playing the queen. Why? Because we are weighing up either a singleton 10 or jack with West — in which case he would be forced to follow with that card — against doubleton jack-10. Each of the singletons is almost as likely as one specific doubleton, so the odds are almost 2-to-1 in favor of finessing.


This hand may not be quite worth a double followed by a heart bid, but the alternatives are so inelegant (a two-heart overcall or a bid of one no-trump?) that the more flexible route seems wisest. You plan to double and bid hearts, but this might also allow you to get to diamonds in some circumstances.

BID WITH THE ACES

♠ A Q 3
 Q 9 6 5 4
 A K Q 10
♣ 4
South West North East
      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].