February 25th, 2018 ~ Bobby Wolff ~ 12 Comments
I picked up ♠ Q-6-4-2, ♥ Q-9-2, ♦ K-5, ♣ A-10-8-3 and elected to pass in third seat. When my LHO opened one club and my RHO responded one heart, should I have stuck with my initially pessimistic judgment and passed, or would you double here to show a maximum pass?
Silent Stephen, Durango, Colo.
Passing in third seat when you don’t really have an opening bid or a suit that you want partner to lead does make sense, I suppose. Opening one club is fine by me, though. But having passed and heard partner fail to overcall, you shouldn’t back in unless you have a reason. With only two diamonds, you do not have a good reason to bid nor any guarantee of a fit. You made your bed; now lie in it.
I have just started learning Keycard Blackwood. When my partner answered my inquiry to show zero or three aces. I had one keycard, so I signed off. My partner then passed with three, thinking I should already know he could not hold zero key-cards because he had opened the bidding. Does this make sense?
Slamma Jamma, Houston, Texas
Your partner should never assume you know he has three key-cards — unless he has either shown extras or initiated or co-operated in slam ventures earlier in the auction. Normal practice here would be to bid on with three by answering whether he has the trump queen. He can raise the trump suit to deny the queen, or cue-bid a king if he has the queen.
I picked up ♠ Q-9-8, ♥ K-4, ♦ A-Q-J-8-5-4, ♣ K-7, and in third seat decided that for tactical reasons this hand looked like a strong no-trump. When my partner transferred into hearts with a call of two diamonds, I was tempted to pass. This would have worked well, but I didn’t think I should risk my partner having a heart attack. What are your thoughts?
Swinging from the Rafters, Macon, Ga.
The no-trump opening bid is a perfectly sensible strategy in third chair (and there are plenty who might extend that strategy to other seats, too). Since the call is hardly a psych, I would respond to it as if I had a regular opening bid. Passing in mid-auction is no way to encourage partnership trust.
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I may be out of touch with modern expert thinking in many areas, but one that particularly confuses me is the use of doubles and redoubles these days. Where would you advise me to look to read up on these subjects?
Red Card Ralph, Woodland Hills, Calif.
I would advocate the general rule about doubling that, facing a passing partner or when the opponents have explicitly or implicitly agreed a suit, almost all low-level doubles are primarily for take-out. I recommend Mike Lawrence’s Complete Book on Takeout Doubles as a good place to start your reading. For beginners, bit.ly/AoBTakeoutDoubles is a simple online resource as well.
Vulnerable and facing a fairly sound bidder, my LHO opened one spade, and my partner overcalled two clubs. When the next bidder pre-empted to three spades. I was looking at a somewhat unusual hand: ♠ —, ♥ A-K-2, ♦ A-J-9-4, ♣ A-K-10-4-3-2. What is the most sensible tactical or strategic approach here?
Grist to the Mill, New Brunswick, Canada
If the opponents promised to stay silent, I would bid four spades and then, over the likely five-club response, a case can be made for bidding five no-trump. Since you would cue-bid an ace in a red suit if you had one but not the other, this call must focus on the secondary controls. I would not be amazed if we were close to a grand slam but the opponents had a cheap save. Playing six clubs might be our best possible result.
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February 24th, 2018 ~ Bobby Wolff ~ 3 Comments
To live means to finesse the processes to which one is subjugated.
Bertolt Brecht
E |
North |
Both |
♠ J 10 2
♥ K 10 3
♦ Q 7 4
♣ K 9 6 4 |
West |
East |
♠ 8 6 5 4 3
♥ 7 6 4 2
♦ J 2
♣ 3 2 |
♠ A 9
♥ Q 9 8
♦ A 10 9 3
♣ Q J 10 8 |
South |
♠ K Q 7
♥ A J 5
♦ K 8 6 5
♣ A 7 5 |
South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
|
1 ♦ |
1 NT |
Pass |
2 NT |
Pass |
3 NT |
All pass |
|
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♠4
Your partner has shown 22-24 or so. Your choice is to let him stew in two no-trump, to transfer to spades or — my choice — to use Stayman and then show your major-suit pattern. You can do this if you use Smolen, which I recommend, by bidding three of your four-card major over a three-diamond response, showing 5-4 in the majors. This way, you transfer declarership if you locate a 5-3 fit.
BID WITH THE ACES
♠ 8 6 5 4 3
♥ 7 6 4 2
♦ J 2
♣ 3 2 |
South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
2 ♣ |
Pass |
2 ♦ |
Pass |
2 NT |
Pass |
? |
|
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February 23rd, 2018 ~ Bobby Wolff ~ 9 Comments
Science is a first-rate piece of furniture for a man’s upper chamber, if he has common sense on the ground floor.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.
S |
North |
E-W |
♠ 9 8
♥ 9 6 4
♦ A 9 7 2
♣ A J 4 2 |
West |
East |
♠ Q 10 7 5
♥ K Q 10 7 3
♦ Q 8 6
♣ 6 |
♠ K J 6 4 2
♥ 2
♦ K 10 5 4
♣ 8 7 5 |
South |
♠ A 3
♥ A J 8 5
♦ J 3
♣ K Q 10 9 3 |
South |
West |
North |
East |
1 NT |
Pass |
3 NT |
All pass |
|
|
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♥K
This hand is worth an immediate three-spade bid, not just because of the fifth spade, but also because of the honor location and the singleton heart. You want to encourage partner to bid on over the opponents’ likely call of four hearts. If four hearts is passed around to you, you will have an interesting decision, though. I’d favor bidding on, however undisciplined that might appear.
BID WITH THE ACES
♠ K J 6 4 2
♥ 2
♦ K 10 5 4
♣ 8 7 5 |
South |
West |
North |
East |
|
1 ♥ |
Dbl. |
2 ♥ |
? |
|
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February 22nd, 2018 ~ Bobby Wolff ~ 9 Comments
One sees great things from the valley, only small things from the peak.
G.K. Chesterton
S |
North |
N-S |
♠ J 7
♥ Q J 2
♦ A Q 9
♣ K Q J 7 6 |
West |
East |
♠ 10 9 8 5
♥ K 3
♦ 10 6 5 4
♣ A 9 2 |
♠ A 6 4 3 2
♥ 9 8 5
♦ J 8 7
♣ 5 3 |
South |
♠ K Q
♥ A 10 7 6 4
♦ K 3 2
♣ 10 8 4 |
South |
West |
North |
East |
1 ♥ |
Pass |
2 ♣ |
Pass |
2 NT |
Pass |
3 ♥ |
Pass |
4 ♥ |
All pass |
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♠10
A quick reality check for those who think they have extra values, so should therefore bid on for fear of missing game: Your partner heard you ask him to bid hearts if he could. He did so, and indicated he was not interested in game. You have poor shape, only three hearts, and about a queen more than a minimum double. How likely is your side to make game? Not at all, I’d say. Pass and hope to go plus.
BID WITH THE ACES
♠ J 7
♥ Q J 2
♦ A Q 9
♣ K Q J 7 6 |
South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
|
1 ♠ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
2 ♥ |
Pass |
? |
|
|
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February 21st, 2018 ~ Bobby Wolff ~ 4 Comments
The main function of a pseudo-promotion is to deceive people outside the hierarchy. When this is achieved, the maneuver is counted a success.
Laurence Peter
E |
North |
N-S |
♠ Q J 6 5 3
♥ 3 2
♦ A K J
♣ A K 9 |
West |
East |
♠ 8 7
♥ 10 9 5 4
♦ 6 5 4
♣ Q 10 6 5 |
♠ 9
♥ K Q J 8 7 6
♦ Q 10 9 2
♣ 7 2 |
South |
♠ A K 10 4 2
♥ A
♦ 8 7 3
♣ J 8 4 3 |
South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
|
2 ♥ |
2 ♠ |
4 ♥ |
5 ♠ |
Pass |
6 ♠ |
All pass |
|
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♥10
The most accurate description of your hand is to treat it as a balanced 18-19 and rebid two no-trump, which invites your partner to bid game. The small doubleton heart is not a positive feature of your hand, but you never promised your partner a rose garden. Rebidding two clubs here would be too likely to miss a game if your partner should pass.
BID WITH THE ACES
♠ Q J 6 5 3
♥ 3 2
♦ A K J
♣ A K 9 |
South |
West |
North |
East |
1 ♠ |
Pass |
1 NT |
Pass |
? |
|
|
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February 20th, 2018 ~ Bobby Wolff ~ 15 Comments
There is no mistake; there has been no mistake; and there shall be no mistake.
Duke of Wellington
S |
North |
Both |
♠ 7 6 4 3
♥ A J 9 7 4
♦ 7 2
♣ A 2 |
West |
East |
♠ J 10 9 2
♥ —
♦ K J 8 3
♣ 10 9 8 6 4 |
♠ Q 8
♥ Q 10 5
♦ A Q 10 6 5
♣ Q J 3 |
South |
♠ A K 5
♥ K 8 6 3 2
♦ 9 4
♣ K 7 5 |
South |
West |
North |
East |
1 ♥ |
Pass |
3 NT* |
Pass |
4 ♥ |
All pass |
|
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*Raise to 4 ♥ plus some defense
♠J
The heart intermediates argue for a two-heart rebid here. Although one time in a hundred your partner will have a singleton heart and 3-1-4-5 shape, you are more likely to find that the 5-2 or 5-3 heart fit plays better than no-trump. Terrence Reese argued that a 5-4-2-2 pattern is best played in a suit, and my experience supports this theory.
BID WITH THE ACES
♠ 7 6 4 3
♥ A J 9 7 4
♦ 7 2
♣ A 2 |
South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 ♣ |
Pass |
1 ♥ |
Pass |
1 NT |
Pass |
? |
|
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February 19th, 2018 ~ Bobby Wolff ~ 14 Comments
The awful daring of a moment’s surrender.
T. S. Eliot
S |
North |
Both |
♠ A 7 2
♥ 8 6 2
♦ Q 10 8 3
♣ K J 8 |
West |
East |
♠ K Q J 9 6
♥ 7
♦ K 7 2
♣ 9 6 4 2 |
♠ 10 5 4 3
♥ 10 9 4 3
♦ A 6
♣ 10 7 5 |
South |
♠ 8
♥ A K Q J 5
♦ J 9 5 4
♣ A Q 3 |
South |
West |
North |
East |
1 ♥ |
1 ♠ |
2 ♥ |
2 ♠ |
4 ♥ |
All pass |
|
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♠K
The opponents’ auction suggests they have few values to spare. Should you lead aggressively with a club intermediate, or the top of a doubleton diamond, or go passive with a spade from your four small? I’m going to go passive here, worried that a club or diamond lead could cost the setting trick too easily. The spade two seems like the right card here.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
♠ 10 8 6 2
♥ Q 10 3
♦ J 8
♣ Q 10 9 2 |
South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
|
1 ♥ |
Pass |
2 ♣ |
Pass |
2 NT |
Pass |
4 ♥ |
All pass |
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February 18th, 2018 ~ Bobby Wolff ~ 10 Comments
I’m a near-beginner, and I have heard people talk about jump shifts, jump overcalls and jump raises. I cannot work out if there is a rule to say which sequences are weak and which are strong. Please help!
Fast Learner, Hartford, Conn.
Jump overcalls of the opponents’ opening bids are weak, though jump overcalls of their weak opening bids such as preempts are strong. If our side opens the bidding, a simple way to play is that in a non-competitive auction, jump raises are invitational and jumps in a new suit are strong. However, if the opponents come in, play weak jumps. I’ll cover the subject of jumps by passed hands in another letter later this month.
When my opponents opened a suit, my partner passed and the next hand bid one no-trump (announced as forcing). If I cue-bid their suit here, should this be natural or a Michaels Cue-bid, and is it alertable?
Twofer, Orlando, Fla.
Yes, this should be Michaels showing the majors, or the unbid major plus a minor, as appropriate. After they open a minor, you don’t need to be able to bid that minor naturally, since one opponent has shown that suit and the other implied it by virtue of not having the majors. Even if this does not require an alert (the bid carrying its own alert, so to speak) I would alert as a matter of courtesy.
I was taught not to ask for aces when holding a void or two losers in an unbid suit. However, jumping to slam without an ace-ask may alert the opponents to your void. So would it ever make sense to go through the motions of Blackwood when you are bidding a slam, regardless of the outcome?
Locked-up Louie, Queens, N.Y.
Al Roth, the apostle of sound bidding, once did precisely that, to make his opponents assume he did not have a void in their suit — and thus not to sacrifice. There is a place for psychology in bridge. Of course, this approach may also give the opponents space for a double or further action, so it may be a double-edged sword.
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At matchpoints, when you hear your partner open one club and raise your one-spade response to two, would you invite game with ♠ A-Q-6-4-2, ♥ 9-2, ♦ Q-7-5, ♣ K-9-3, or would you drive all the way there directly?
Steady Eddie, Manchester, N.H.
Game isn’t necessarily cold here — though many would indeed jump to four spades. If you invite game, there are two ways to go. A help-suit try of three clubs would allow your partner to look at their hand and their club suit. If a rebid of two no-trump is forcing (as some do play), then that call also allows you to find out if partner has three or four trumps, and whether he has a minimum or maximum.
When playing two-over-one, if your partner sets up a game force at his first turn by responding with two of a minor, should you repeat a six-card suit or bid two no-trump at your second turn, or does it depend on suit quality?
Storyteller, New Smyrna Beach, Fla.
If you play two-over-one game forcing, then repeat a good suit with an unbalanced hand (or an open suit). Rebid two no-trump with 12-14 or 18-plus HCP and a balanced hand, or a quasi-balanced hand with shortage in partner’s suit and no convenient alternative. A jump to three no-trump suggests a strong no-trump with doubleton support for partner’s first-bid suit. And a new suit at the three-level is extra shape or high cards. A raise is almost undefined in terms of range, though new-suit jumps show shortage.
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February 17th, 2018 ~ Bobby Wolff ~ 2 Comments
If it were not for the presents, an elopement would be preferable.
George Ade
S |
North |
None |
♠ 10 9 8 4
♥ A 4 2
♦ 6
♣ A 6 4 3 2 |
West |
East |
♠ Q J 6
♥ K Q J 7 5
♦ 8 5 3
♣ K 9 |
♠ 3 2
♥ 10 3
♦ A K 10 7 4
♣ Q 8 7 5 |
South |
♠ A K 7 5
♥ 9 8 6
♦ Q J 9 2
♣ J 10 |
South |
West |
North |
East |
1 ♦ |
1 ♥ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
1 ♠ |
Pass |
Pass |
2 ♥ |
2 ♠ |
All pass |
|
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♥K
Are you going to land on the head of a pin and stop in three hearts by inviting game, or are you going to drive to game and hope your partner can make it? Here, your ruffing value rates to be pulling its full weight; unless partner has queen-third or queen-doubleton of clubs, it is hard to imagine game not having a chance. So I would bid four hearts and let partner figure out how to bring it home.
BID WITH THE ACES
♠ A K 7 5
♥ 9 8 6
♦ Q J 9 2
♣ J 10 |
South |
West |
North |
East |
|
Pass |
1 ♥ |
Pass |
1 ♠ |
Pass |
2 ♥ |
Pass |
? |
|
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February 16th, 2018 ~ Bobby Wolff ~ 10 Comments
The splendid achievements of the intellect, like the soul, are everlasting.
Sallust
E |
North |
N-S |
♠ Q J 10
♥ 9 4 3
♦ A 3 2
♣ K 10 8 7 |
West |
East |
♠ 9 7 3 2
♥ A K Q 10 5
♦ 7 5
♣ Q 6 |
♠ 8 5
♥ 8 7 2
♦ J 10 9 6
♣ J 5 4 3 |
South |
♠ A K 6 4
♥ J 6
♦ K Q 8 4
♣ A 9 2 |
South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
|
Pass |
1 ♦ |
1 ♥ |
2 ♦ |
Pass |
2 ♠ |
Pass |
3 ♠ |
Pass |
4 ♠ |
All pass |
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♥K
Were you tempted to treat this hand as worthy of an invitation to game? Despite your fine intermediates, this hand is nothing more than a maximum raise to two spades — and that is especially true if you play the forcing no-trump, where a simple raise is already a constructive hand. There are many ways to go minus when you should be going plus. This is one of the more common!
BID WITH THE ACES
♠ Q J 10
♥ 9 4 3
♦ A 3 2
♣ K 10 8 7 |
South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 ♠ |
Pass |
? |
|
|
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I’m guessing many of my readers will be only slightly familiar with the concept of an intra-finesse.
Even straightforward finesses are not always easy. Intra-finesses can be quite complex, in that they are a combination of finessing followed by pinning a vulnerable doubleton, in a sense creating bricks with very little straw.
I’m sure today’s deal isn’t a record (maybe some reader with more time than me can find the minimum position for creating an extra trick), but the hand does feature an elegant example of the theme. It occurred in the Common Game, played all over North America.
The auction was revealing, in that declarer knew East had length in diamonds, so West had either a singleton or doubleton. Against three no-trump, West led a spade to the ace, and East returned his second spade. Declarer won in hand, tried the diamond five and let it run to East, who won cheaply with the nine to return a top club. Declarer won the club in hand and now tried a diamond to the jack, queen and ace.
When a top club came back, declarer ducked; now East could do no better than play a diamond, allowing declarer to finesse. That got declarer up to eight tricks; he cashed the top club to find the bad break, confirming that he needed to find the heart queen to make his game.
Since East had shown only 11 HCP outside the heart suit, it was clearly the percentage line to play East for the heart queen, and the game duly came home.