December 15th, 2011 ~ Bobby Wolff ~ 4 Comments 
Ask me no more: what answer should I give?
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
| South |
North |
| North-South |
♠ J 6 4 3
♥ A 10 8 7
♦ 10 3
♣ 9 4 2 |
| West |
East |
♠ A Q 10 8
♥ K Q J 6 4 3
♦ 7
♣ K 7 |
♠ K 9 5 2
♥ 9 2
♦ A J 6 5 2
♣ J 10 |
| South |
♠ 7
♥ 5
♦ K Q 9 8 4
♣ A Q 8 6 5 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♦ |
Dbl. |
All pass |
|
♥K
Respond one spade rather than one heart, planning to compete to two hearts if the opponents bid again. You may not have much, but you do have enough to get both majors into play at the two-level, assuming you can trust your partner always to deliver a reasonably shape-suitable hand for his double.
BID WITH THE ACES
♠ J 6 4 3
♥ A 10 8 7
♦ 10 3
♣ 9 4 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
1♣ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
December 14th, 2011 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, November 30th, 2011
| Dealer: South
Vul: Both |
North
♠ K Q J 10 9 6
♥ 4
♦ 9 7 4
♣ 6 4 3 |
|
| West
♠ A 5 4 3
♥ 9 6 5 3
♦ Q 2
♣ 10 8 5 |
 |
East
♠ 8
♥ 7 2
♦ J 10 8 6 3
♣ Q J 9 7 2 |
| |
South
♠ 7 2
♥ A K Q J 10 8
♦ A K 5
♣ A K |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 2 ♣ |
Pass |
2 ♦ |
Pass |
| 2 ♥ |
Pass |
2 ♠ |
Pass |
| 6 ♥ |
All Pass |
|
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| |
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|
Opening Lead: Heart Three
“Life that dares send
A challenge to his end,
And when it comes, say, Welcome friend!”
— Richard Crashaw
Challenge the Champs is a popular monthly bidding contest that has appeared in The Bridge World magazine for over 40 years. In each match, two top expert pairs bid 10 difficult deals, and the contracts reached are scored on their merits. Collections of these classic matches have been published in books in which the players’ hands are removable, allowing readers to test their own partnership’s bidding against the champions’, then to see the experts’ sequences analyzed. The ninth book in the series has just been released. For details see www.bridgeworld.com.
Occasionally the deals feature play problems as well as bidding problems; here is one of my favorites. Ideally, you would play six spades — this can be accomplished if you use an artificial response to two clubs to show a solid or semisolid suit. But let’s say you do not have such a neat gadget available, and North has failed to convert six hearts to six spades, which he might well have chosen to do. How should you play six hearts on a trump lead?
The answer is to run all but one of your trumps, then cash the club ace and king before leading a spade to dummy, which the defenders must duck. Now you ruff a club, cash the high diamonds, and lead a second spade, hoping to find one defender unable to avoid giving trick 13 to the dummy.
With this layout, West cannot defeat the slam after the initial trump lead.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
8 |
| ♥ |
7 2 |
| ♦ |
J 10 8 6 3 |
| ♣ |
Q J 9 7 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1 ♣ |
1 ♥ |
| 3 ♣ |
4 ♥ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: When you make a preemptive call you transfer captaincy of the deal to your partner; he knows what you have and you should let him take the decision for the partnership. Here you showed a weak hand with clubs and he opted to defend – why distrust him? Lead your singleton spade and cross your fingers.
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 2011. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
December 13th, 2011 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, November 29th, 2011
| Dealer: East
Vul: Both |
North
♠ J 10
♥ Q 10 7 5
♦ K J 10 5 3
♣ A 5 |
|
| West
♠ K 7 6 2
♥ 9 3 2
♦ 2
♣ J 9 4 3 2 |
|
East
♠ Q 9 8 4
♥ 8 4
♦ A Q 9 4
♣ Q 8 7 |
| |
South
♠ A 5 3
♥ A K J 6
♦ 8 7 6
♣ K 10 6 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
Pass |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
2 ♣ |
Pass |
| 2 ♥ |
Pass |
4 ♥ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: Diamond Two
“‘Much noise and little wool,’ said the devil when he sheared a pig.”
— English proverb
The three little pigs have taken to duplicate bridge — I’d say like ducks to water, if that didn’t throw up a disturbing zoological image. All three piglets sat East, at their various tables, defending four hearts, and the three Wests all led their singleton diamond. The first little pig — addicted to straw houses — won the diamond lead, cashed the diamond ace and gave his partner a ruff. He was hoping his partner would have an ace to cash – close but no cigar, since declarer’s slow spade loser went away on the established diamond.
The second little pig, who had constructed a house from twigs, saw the danger of establishing the diamonds. He did not cash the diamond ace, but gave his partner the ruff by leading back a low diamond at trick two – a very nice play, you would have thought. So it was, but West did not know what to do next. He guessed to play a club through dummy’s ace, and declarer wn and drew trump, then knocked out the diamond ace in comfort.
The little pig who preferred the brick house also shifted to a diamond at trick two, but he thoughtfully gave suit preference by returning the diamond nine. He knew his partner would cash an ace if he had one, and if West had the club king, declarer would be able to pitch a club loser on his spades.
West took his ruff and played a spade, and declarer was unable to avoid a further spade and diamond loser.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 10 |
| ♥ |
Q 10 7 5 |
| ♦ |
K J 10 5 3 |
| ♣ |
A 5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
1 ♣ |
| 1 ♦ |
1 ♠ |
Dbl. |
2 ♣ |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Your partner’s double of one spade is sometimes referred to as competitive or snapdragon, or just a plain fourth-suit double. It is NOT penalties; you cannot make a low-level penalty double of the opponents in a forcing auction. The sequence suggests four or five hearts and decent values, so you should jump to three hearts to invite game.
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 2011. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
December 12th, 2011 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Monday, November 28th, 2011
| Dealer: West
Vul: Both |
North
♠ A K 8 6
♥ J 7 6
♦ —
♣ A K 10 9 7 3 |
|
| West
♠ 10 5 2
♥ Q 10 5 4 3
♦ 9 6 5 2
♣ 5 |
|
East
♠ 9 3
♥ 9 2
♦ A Q 10 8 7
♣ Q J 6 4 |
| |
South
♠ Q J 7 4
♥ A K 8
♦ K J 4 3
♣ 8 2 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
Pass |
1 ♣ |
1 ♦ |
| 1 ♠ |
2 ♦ |
4 ♦ |
Pass |
| 4 ♥ |
Pass |
4 ♠ |
Pass |
| 5 ♥ |
Pass |
6 ♠ |
All Pass |
Opening Lead: Club Five
“Logic and sermons never convince,
The damp of the night drives deeper into my soul.”
— Walt Whitman
When a good player lets you score a cheap ruff, think twice about obliging him — it will not generally be in your interest to do what he wants.
In today’s deal West chose the lead of his singleton club against the spade slam, though a singleton in dummy’s long suit is less frequently the killing lead than you might think. Had he led a trump, declarer’s task would have been hopeless. Incidentally, on a diamond lead, declarer can make by discarding at trick one from dummy and subsequently ruffing a diamond low in dummy, then a heart high (not by any means an obvious line).
Declarer won the club lead in dummy, crossed to hand with a heart, and led another club. West now fell from grace when he ruffed this. Even though he shifted to a diamond to shorten dummy’s trumps, it was now easy for declarer to set up the clubs by ruffing just once more in his hand. With the remaining trumps now 2-2, he had a trump left in each hand so he could ultimately ruff dummy’s losing heart in his hand.
Suppose West refrains from ruffing the club at trick three. Declarer wins in dummy and ruffs a club high, crosses back to a trump and ruffs another club high. The trouble is that all this ruffing high has generated a trump loser. Although declarer can now draw two rounds of trump and run his clubs, the defense must come to a trump and a heart.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A J 5 2 |
| ♥ |
Q 10 3 2 |
| ♦ |
7 4 3 |
| ♣ |
9 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
1 NT |
| All Pass |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
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| |
|
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|
ANSWER: It looks natural to lead from a major suit rather than a minor. I have few strong prejudices about opening leads, but borrowing from the French, I do feel strongly that leading from a four-card suit headed by the ace against no-trump is almost always going to be close to my fourth choice. Here a small heart is available as a far more attractive option.
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 2011. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
December 11th, 2011 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, November 27th, 2011
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
Recently at duplicate (unfortunately not at rubber) I held SPADES A-K-Q-J-4, HEARTS —, DIAMONDS A-K-Q-J-7-2, CLUBS A-3. Would you have opened one diamond or two clubs, and what would you rebid if you went for the artificial call? Would you introduce the major first or bid diamonds?
— Heavy-Handed, Manhattan, N.Y.
ANSWER: You pays your money and you takes your choice! If they pass over two clubs, you may still find it hard to describe your hand. If they compete, you may well not get your hand across easily. If your clubs were the doubleton king or queen instead, opening one diamond might be right. As it is, though, I’d vote strongly for two clubs, planning to bid diamonds before spades. I don’t want partner responding with flat three-counts in case I have a hand like this.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
How hard is the Seniors’ game compared to the open? I notice you have been playing in the Seniors’ events recently and I wonder if there is a measurable difference.
— Young at Heart, West Palm Beach, Fla.
ANSWER: I have qualified for the senior world championships on a couple of occasions recently, including the current year. In doing so, we had to beat plenty of former world champions within the U.S.A. to make the team. Equally, in the world events most players had previously represented their country at the open level, so I feel quite comfortable in saying that there is no appreciable decline in standards in these events.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
When you have a hand such as: SPADES J-7-4, HEARTS K-6, DIAMONDS Q-10-9-7-3-2, CLUBS A-9 and hear a suit bid opened to your right, how do you feel about making a jump overcall as opposed to a two-level overcall? Would the vulnerability matter?
— Raising Arizona, Phoenix, Ariz.
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|
ANSWER: Yes. When I am vulnerable, my jump overcalls are closer to intermediate than weak (which means on the sample hand I’d need the diamond king instead of the two). Nonvulnerable I’d also rate the hand as holding too much defense for a pre-emptive jump, so I would settle for a simple overcall at any vulnerability.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
My LHO opened one club and my partner doubled. My RHO bid two clubs. I passed as did my LHO. My partner doubled again. The question is, was this second double a takeout double? The ‘A’ players in our duplicate bridge club say yes — what say you?
— Advise and Consent, Vancouver, British Columbia
ANSWER: The ‘A’ players have it right and the reason is that once you start by showing one sort of hand you really can’t change at will. Such second-round actions are simply “more of the same.” All low-level doubles facing a partner who can’t act rate to be takeout. The point is that if you have a balanced 15-17, you’d have bid no-trump already; with 18-20 you know you are facing weakness, so your choice is to bid two no-trump or to pass and try to beat them. Hence, double is takeout plus extras.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
My partner, who held SPADES Q-9-3-2, HEARTS 9-4, DIAMONDS Q-J-3, CLUBS A-Q-7-4, heard me overcall three spades over a three heart pre-empt. How would you judge his hand – what else can he do but bid four spades?
— Worried Walter, Riverside, Calif.
ANSWER: You ask a very sensible question and one to which the answer would appear to be what you suggest — namely, all he can do is bid four spades because any other action would take you past your safety-level. But in the expert community many would say that a four-heart bid here is NOT a cue-bid, but simply a slam-try in support of spades. Don’t try this at home without agreement. |
If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, e-mail him at [email protected]. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2011.
December 10th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 6 Comments
| Dealer: North
Vul: Both |
North
♠ K 8 5 2
♥ 7 3 2
♦ A Q 9 6
♣ K 10 |
|
| West
♠ J 10 7 4
♥ K Q 10 4
♦ K 5
♣ Q 9 5 |
|
East
♠ Q 6
♥ 9 8 6
♦ J 8 7 4
♣ J 8 6 2 |
| |
South
♠ A 9 3
♥ A J 5
♦ 10 3 2
♣ A 7 4 3 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1 ♦ |
Pass |
| 3 NT |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
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| |
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Opening Lead: Heart Queen
“The question is.’ said Humpty Dumpty ‘which is to be master — that’s all.'”
— Lewis Carroll
On this deal from last fall’s Blue Ribbon Pairs, Marty Fleisher and Mike Kamil found a sensational defense against Gail Greenberg’s three no-trump.
Fleisher led the heart queen, asking for an unblock of the jack, ducked all around as Kamil (East) gave count with the six. Now the deceptive spade 10 went to dummy’s king, followed by a spade to the ace. The spade nine put Fleisher back on lead (Kamil pitching the heart nine), and he exited with his fourth spade, taken in dummy with the eight as Kamil discarded the heart eight.
Greenberg played a diamond from dummy now, putting in the 10 when Kamil followed with the four. Fleisher won the king and exited with the diamond five. Greenberg took dummy’s ace, played the club king, then the club 10 to her ace — and Fleisher unblocked his queen to avoid being thrown in to lead hearts. Now Greenberg could not simply exit with a club — East could overtake West’s nine with the jack to cash the club eight.
So Greenberg cashed the heart ace, and East had to pitch a club to keep two diamonds. Seeing what was coming, he pitched the club jack!
Declarer could have settled for eight tricks, but she could have made her game if East’s remaining club was the nine. So she exited with her low club, hoping that Kamil would have to win and lead into dummy’s diamond tenace. When it was West who produced the club nine, he could cash his hearts for down two.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A 9 3 |
| ♥ |
A J 5 |
| ♦ |
10 3 2 |
| ♣ |
A 7 4 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
1 ♣ |
| Pass |
Pass |
1 ♠ |
Pass |
| 2 ♣ |
Pass |
2 ♠ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: The lower range for a balancing call of one spade is considerably less than an opening bid, and your partner has shown that he has no extras. If you were going to make one more try for game, the best call is probably a bid of two no-trump, but my view is that you should protect your plus score by passing.
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 2011. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
December 9th, 2011 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Friday, November 25th, 2011
| Dealer: West
Vul: East-West |
North
♠ J 3
♥ A J 6 3 2
♦ Q 7 4
♣ K 8 3 |
|
| West
♠ 6 4
♥ Q 10 4
♦ A 10 9 6 2
♣ 10 6 5 |
|
East
♠ Q 8
♥ K 9 8 7 5
♦ J 8 5
♣ Q J 9 |
| |
South
♠ A K 10 9 7 5 2
♥ —
♦ K 3
♣ A 7 4 2 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
Pass |
Pass |
Pass |
| 1 ♠ |
Pass |
2 ♥ |
Pass |
| 4 ♠ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
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Opening Lead: Club Five
“I was looking a long while for a clue to the history of the past for myself…”
— Walt Whitman
This board from last fall’s Mitchell Open Board-a-Match Teams qualifying in Orlando did not give the defenders much grounds for optimism. West, looking at a very vulnerable heart holding, decided it was time to cash out. The lead of the diamond ace against four spades did not paralyze declarer, and that was an easy plus 480 for North-South.
Fortunately, his teammate was Linda Gordon, who received a low heart lead against the same contract. Linda (playing with her husband, Robb), ruffed the lead, drew trump in two rounds, and led the diamond three from hand. This is a classic Morton’s Fork Coup. (For those who don’t remember Henry VII’s grasping cardinal, go back to the history books.)
If West ducks the diamond ace, declarer can discard the diamond king on the heart ace and take 12 tricks thanks to the 3-3 split in clubs. If declarer takes the diamond ace, declarer will have two discards on the diamond queen and heart ace for her losing clubs.
There is a defense that will hold declarer to 11 tricks, but when the deal was first published, it was with the comment that no one was expected to find it. However, when Jason and Justin Hackett defended four spades, Justin led a club, and declarer won the lead in hand. He drew trumps in two rounds, then led a small diamond up. Justin flew up with the ace and played a second club, holding declarer to 11 tricks and winning the board for his team.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 3 |
| ♥ |
A J 6 3 2 |
| ♦ |
Q 7 4 |
| ♣ |
K 8 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
1 ♣ |
| 1 ♥ |
1 ♠ |
Pass |
2 ♣ |
| Pass |
Pass |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: This is a takeout double (doubles under the trumps rate to be takeout or optional), so it sounds as if your partner has scattered values, with two clubs, two hearts and nine cards in the other suits. You have no reason to think it is right to defend, and no extra heart length, all of which argues for bidding two diamonds.
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 2011. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
December 8th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 3 Comments
| Dealer: South
Vul: East-West |
North
♠ J 8 2
♥ K Q 3
♦ K Q J 2
♣ 8 5 3 |
|
| West
♠ 6 4 3
♥ A 10 7 5
♦ 9 6 4
♣ K 9 6 |
|
East
♠ Q 10
♥ J 8 6 2
♦ A 10 8 7
♣ J 7 4 |
| |
South
♠ A K 9 7 5
♥ 9 4
♦ 5 3
♣ A Q 10 2 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 ♠ |
Pass |
2 ♦ |
Pass |
| 3 ♣ |
Pass |
4 ♠ |
All Pass |
| |
|
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| |
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Opening Lead: Heart Ace
“Opinion is ultimately determined by the feelings, and not by the intellect.”
— Herbert Spencer
Sometimes you just have a feeling, as Fredrik Nystrom did on this deal from the second qualifying session of the Nail Life Master Open Pairs from Orlando last fall. But it is hard to avoid following the percentages.
Before we start to analyze the deal, what do you think would happen to North-South in their game contract here? The room was split between the North-South pairs playing three no-trump and those playing four spades. At no-trump North rates to take nine or 10 tricks on the likely defense of repeated heart leads. In the major-suit game, the defenders should collect one trick in each side suit. Can they do better?
Although they are not really entitled to more than three tricks, the defenders can give themselves a fighting chance of more if East works out to follow with the spade queen on the first round of the suit! Could you blame South for then leading a spade to dummy’s eight, expecting the queen to be singleton?
Ron Smith of San Francisco found this play against Nystrom and, despite declarer’s suspicions, followed the percentage play of finessing on the grounds, perhaps, that if he was wrong, at least he would make the newspaper, albeit as the victim, not the hero!
For the record, David Caprera and Brian Glubok made the same play with the same result at another table. The play is not entirely without risk, but then again, you can’t make an omelet without breaking the odd egg or two.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 8 2 |
| ♥ |
K Q 3 |
| ♦ |
K Q J 2 |
| ♣ |
8 5 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1 ♠ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
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|
ANSWER: You could cuebid and force to game, a slight overbid, but there is no need to complicate matters. With your balanced pattern you do not have enough to force to game; best is to jump to three diamonds to show an invitational hand. Your partner can bid on with extra shape or high cards, and if he has neither, you will surely be high enough already.
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 2011. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
December 7th, 2011 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011
| Dealer: South
Vul: North-South |
North
♠ 5 3
♥ K 9 2
♦ A Q 10 6
♣ J 9 8 6 |
|
| West
♠ 8
♥ Q J 10
♦ K 9 4
♣ A Q 7 4 3 2 |
|
East
♠ J 6 4 2
♥ A 6 4
♦ 8 5 2
♣ K 10 5 |
| |
South
♠ A K Q 10 9 7
♥ 8 7 5 3
♦ J 7 3
♣ — |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 ♠ |
2 ♣ |
Pass |
Pass |
| 2 ♠ |
Pass |
3 ♣ |
Pass |
| 3 ♥ |
Pass |
3 ♠ |
Pass |
| 4 ♠ |
All Pass |
|
|
Opening Lead: Heart Queen
“Everything must be like something, so what is this like?”
— E.M. Forster
In this spade game from a pairs contest at the Orlando Nationals, Jeff Aker demonstrated that he could cope with his partner’s overbidding. The deal features a trump coup, a way to take a finesse in the trump suit, even though one of the hands has no trump left. Does that sound illogical? Read on.
One point about the auction is worth noting: South did not reopen with a negative double at his second turn to speak. With such limited defense, he would have pulled a penalty double from his partner, so he did not want to give his partner a chance to defend.
Perhaps North should simply have raised two spades to three, but he thought his lack of club honors facing likely shortage would mean that his honors would come in useful.
The defenders led three rounds of hearts and shifted to a club. Aker ruffed, cashed the spade ace and king to find the bad news, then led a diamond to the 10, ruffed a second club, and went back to the diamond queen.
At this point in the deal, declarer was all set up for the trump coup. He was down to two trumps and one card in each red suit, with dummy having the doubleton diamond ace and two small clubs. Aker cashed the diamond ace, then the diamond six to pitch his good heart, and remained in dummy for the trump coup at trick 12.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
5 3 |
| ♥ |
K 9 2 |
| ♦ |
A Q 10 6 |
| ♣ |
J 9 8 6 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1 ♣ |
Pass |
| 1 ♦ |
Pass |
1 ♠ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: You could settle for a slightly cautious call of one no-trump. If not, you are somewhere between a simple preference to two clubs or an invitational jump to three clubs. I prefer the more aggressive position because of the possibility of spade ruffs in your hand. Your partner’s rebid of one spade should show at least 4-4 in the black suits; with a balanced hand, he should rebid one no-trump.
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 2011. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
December 6th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 4 Comments
| Dealer: West
Vul: Both |
North
♠ K 9 5
♥ 8 7 5 3
♦ K 6 5
♣ A Q J |
|
| West
♠ Q J 4
♥ A J 6
♦ Q J 10 7
♣ 7 6 5 |
|
East
♠ 10 8 7 6 3
♥ Q 9 4
♦ 3
♣ 9 8 3 2 |
| |
South
♠ A 2
♥ K 10 2
♦ A 9 8 4 2
♣ K 10 4 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
Pass |
1 ♦* |
Pass |
| 2 ♦** |
Pass |
2 ♠ |
Pass |
| 3 NT |
All Pass |
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Opening Lead: Spade Queen
“Nothing, I am sure, calls forth the faculties so much as the being obliged to struggle with the world.”
— Mary Wollstonecraft
In their Senior Teams semifinal match in Orlando last fall, Kyle Larsen of the Rose Meltzer team made a fine play in a losing cause.
Larsen, West, started with the spade queen, hitting his partner’s suit. Declarer took the spade ace in hand and played a low diamond to dummy’s king, followed by a low diamond from the board. He ducked the trick to West when Meltzer pitched a low club.
Larsen continued with the spade jack, ducked by declarer, and then made the killing play — the heart jack! Now the defenders had to score five tricks. Larsen could continue diamonds if the heart jack held the trick, or take two hearts if declarer won and continued diamonds himself.
The heart switch is necessary, but on a low heart play, declarer covers with the 10 and can then set up a heart with impunity because East can’t successfully attack spades and has no diamond.
Dan Gerstman as West at another table found himself in the same position. He too shifted to the heart jack after declarer had ducked the spade jack, and his declarer put up the king and played back a heart. Gerstman overtook his partner’s nine to play a third spade, each of these plays being the only card in his hand to set the contract.
Just for the record, declarer should have ducked the first diamond. That puts him a tempo ahead, since the defenders cannot get the diamonds going, and if they switch to hearts, declarer can build a second heart trick.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
10 8 7 6 3 |
| ♥ |
Q 9 4 |
| ♦ |
3 |
| ♣ |
9 8 3 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1 ♦ |
1 ♥ |
1 ♠ |
| Pass |
2 ♦ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| ? |
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ANSWER: Does this sound like a penalty double? It isn’t, despite your short diamonds. When your partner overcalls and doubles, he is simply showing extras ([perhaps a minimum of a 15-count and 5-4 in hearts and clubs). You should simply bid three hearts; the only issue is whether to compete to three hearts over three diamonds.
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 2011. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
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Bridge-related
One of my heroes, Edgar Kaplan, often remarked that takeout doubles were meant to be taken out. Today's deal demonstrates that his advice is still as true today as it was when he uttered it 40 years ago.
North-South here, Nick Nickell and Dick Freeman, were part of the most successful U.S. team ever in world championships. After a sequence in which almost every action except North’s pass might be questioned, Freeman played one diamond doubled. He won the top-heart lead in dummy, played a club to the ace, and led another club. West mistakenly shifted to a trump now, and East won his diamond ace to force declarer with a heart. South pitched his spade, ruffed the next top heart, and led a winning club. East ruffed to lead a spade, again trumped by declarer.
Freeman now led another winning club (pitching a spade from dummy) and East ruffed to lead a spade. When Freeman trumped and led yet another winning club to pitch the last spade from dummy, East had to ruff again. In the two-card ending, East was on lead with one trump and one spade left, dummy had a lower trump and a heart, and declarer held the master trump and a winning club. East could lead a trump and let declarer claim in hand, or he could lead a spade to let declarer crossruff. Making one diamond doubled in one room and four hearts in the other room represented a huge pick-up for the Nickell team.