The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, November 19th, 2011

December 3rd, 2011  ~  admin  ~  5 Comments 

Dealer: North Vul: North-South	North ♠ 9 7 5 4 ♥ A Q 10 7 ♦ K 5 ♣ 10 8 2
West ♠ 3 ♥ K J 9 4 ♦ A 10 8 6 2 ♣ 9 7 4		East ♠ Q 10 6 2 ♥ 3 2 ♦ Q 9 4 3 ♣ A K 3
	South ♠ A K J 8 ♥ 8 6 5 ♦ J 7 ♣ Q J 6 5

 

South	West	North	East
		Pass	Pass
1 ♠	Pass	2 ♠	Pass
Pass	Dbl.	Rdbl.	3 ♣
Pass	Pass	3 ♠	All Pass

Opening Lead: Club Four

“The essence of lying is in deception, not in words.”

— John Ruskin

In today’s deal from a recent Invitational Teams event, John Mohan protected in the West seat after the opponents’ bidding had died in two spades. The three-club call found by his partner Zia Mahmood might not have been the majority choice, but it created a bit of excitement.

Looking at a dead minimum hand, Victor Silverstone as South elected, perhaps unwisely, not to double, so Zia never got to demonstrate that his three clubs had been merely lead-directional.

Mohan obediently led a club against three spades. Left to his own devices, Silverstone would almost certainly have made the contract, playing East for the spade queen and West for the outstanding red honors. Indeed, there is little else he can do, and both Vladimir Isporski and David Horton made nine tricks in spades on just that line of play. However, Zia won with the king and switched to the heart two. From Silverstone’s point of view, this was clearly a singleton, so he rejected the spade finesse and cashed the ace and king, getting the bad news. He exited with a club to the ace and Zia played the heart three, a real singleton this time!

Silverstone won in dummy and led a spade. Zia went up with the queen, played a diamond to his partner’s ace, and Mohan had no difficulty giving Zia his heart ruff. Thus three spades went down a trick — a small swing to Zia’s team but also a big psychological victory for East-West.

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].

The Aces on Bridge: Friday, November 18th, 2011

December 2nd, 2011  ~  admin  ~  2 Comments 

Dealer: South Vul: Both	North ♠ A K 7 ♥ 10 9 8 2 ♦ 5 ♣ A 9 7 6 2
West ♠ 10 6 5 4 2 ♥ K ♦ K 10 8 3 ♣ 8 5 3		East ♠ Q J 9 ♥ 6 5 3 ♦ J 9 7 6 4 2 ♣ K
	South ♠ 8 3 ♥ A Q J 7 4 ♦ A Q ♣ Q J 10 4

 

South	West	North	East
1 ♥	Pass	2 ♣	Pass
3 ♣	Pass	3 ♥	Pass
4 ♦	Pass	6 ♥	All Pass

Opening Lead: Club Three

“In thy breast are the stars of thy fate.”

— Johann von Schiller

As the story goes, the famous French player Roger Trezel was sitting South, playing in a tournament against an exceedingly pretty lady in the West seat who was wearing a very low-cut dress. This was the first of the two boards.

Trezel, who had reached a delicate slam, was treated to a low club lead. Fearing it was a singleton, he went up with the club ace, intending to rely on the heart finesse to make the slam. Lo and behold, when he played the ace, the singleton club king fell from East! So Trezel had gotten it right, up to a point. Somebody did indeed have a singleton club.

But now Trezel realized there was no need to risk the heart finesse, since there was a great danger that if the finesse lost, the lady would give her partner a club ruff. But there was no need to take any risk here. Trezel simply played the heart ace, expecting to knock out the heart king and surrender just one trick in due course. Much to his surprise, and certainly his pleasure, the singleton heart king fell from West!

So Trezel wrapped up 13 tricks, losing to neither singleton king! Later, however, he overheard his right-hand opponent, shaken from losing both kings, discussing the hand. “From the moment we sat down at the table, that young man was craning his neck, looking unashamedly into my partner’s cards. No wonder we didn’t make either king.”

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].

The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, November 17th, 2011

December 1st, 2011  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, November 17th, 2011 

Dealer: East Vul: Both	North ♠ A Q 10 ♥ J 7 ♦ J 5 4 ♣ K J 10 7 3
West ♠ 9 8 7 2 ♥ A 4 ♦ A K 9 8 3 ♣ Q 4		East ♠ K J 6 4 ♥ 8 5 2 ♦ 6 2 ♣ 9 6 5 2
	South ♠ 5 3 ♥ K Q 10 9 6 3 ♦ Q 10 7 ♣ A 8

 

South	West	North	East
			Pass
1 ♥	Dbl.	Rdbl.	1 ♠
2 ♥	Pass	3 ♥	All Pass

Opening Lead: Diamond King

“There’s nothing of so infinite vexation

— John Webster

Most defenders in today’s deal would unthinkingly lead out three rounds of diamonds to get their ruff, then sit back and collect their trump ace, but nothing else. Three hearts would make nine tricks, and I suspect most pairs who had conceded the contract would move on without realizing that they could have done better.

West’s defense was entirely rational (partner wants a ruff, so I will give it to him), but he should realize that circumstances alter cases. On this deal there was certain to be no urgency to take the ruff; East was sure to have two or more hearts, and West had the trump ace. So a spade shift before giving partner the ruff would give the defenders their best chance of collecting a spade trick before declarer’s spade losers vanished on dummy’s clubs.

Note that there are two issues West has to bear in mind; the first is Will declarer discard any losers on the clubs before tackling trump? The answer is no. If declarer rises with the spade ace and plays three rounds of clubs, discarding a spade, West ruffs with the heart four, gives East a diamond ruff, and later makes the heart ace. Secondly, might declarer have the doubleton spade king instead of the club ace? If so, he could indeed discard a diamond on the spades and then guess clubs for his contract. This hand is less likely than his actual hand, though. He might well have opened a weak two-bid if he had that hand.

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].

The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, November 16th, 2011

November 30th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  4 Comments 

Dealer: South Vul: Neither	North ♠ Q 9 8 7 6 3 ♥ K 3 ♦ K 8 2 ♣ A 2
West ♠ 4 2 ♥ 9 8 6 2 ♦ 6 5 4 ♣ 10 6 4 3		East ♠ — ♥ 10 7 5 4 ♦ Q J 7 3 ♣ K Q 8 7 5
	South ♠ A K J 10 5 ♥ A Q J ♦ A 10 9 ♣ J 9

 

South	West	North	East
1 ♠	Pass	2 NT*	Pass
3 NT	Pass	4 ♣	Pass
4 ♦	Pass	4 NT	Pass
5 ♦**	Pass	5 NT	Pass
6 ♠	All Pass

*Game-forcing raise of spades

**One or four aces, counting the spade king as an ace

Opening Lead: Heart Nine

“Again I took the intellectual eye

— William Wordsworth

In today’s deal you reach a comfortable small slam, and if playing teams or rubber bridge, you would probably claim 12 tricks and move on to the next deal. However, since you are playing matchpointed pairs, the overtrick might turn out to be of critical importance.

At pairs what matters is whether you beat the other pairs on any deal, not by how much you beat them. So if you play six spades and make it with an overtrick, you score a matchpoint at the expense of everyone who failed to make that overtrick and, equally, one matchpoint from everyone who missed slam or went down in a grand slam — no more, no less. The quantum of difference is irrelevant.

Here you have 12 top winners. You can arrange to ruff a club in dummy, but that is with the long trump, which does not generate an extra trick; so you must try something else.

Win the heart lead with the king and run six rounds of trump at once, pitching the diamond nine on the last. Then take the two heart winners, pitching a club from dummy, and cash the club ace. If the club jack is high, cash it. If not, lead to your diamond ace, cash the diamond king, and hope the diamond eight will be high.

If you look at the full deal, you will see that after the major-suit winners were cashed, East had to unguard one of the minors, so your squeeze would work.

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].

The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, November 15th, 2011

November 29th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  4 Comments 

Dealer: East Vul: North-South	North ♠ Q J 7 3 ♥ 6 4 3 ♦ 9 6 5 ♣ A Q 10
West ♠ 6 4 ♥ J ♦ Q 8 7 4 ♣ J 9 8 6 5 3		East ♠ K 8 ♥ A K Q 10 9 8 7 ♦ 3 2 ♣ 7 2
	South ♠ A 10 9 5 2 ♥ 5 2 ♦ A K J 10 ♣ K 4

 

South	West	North	East
			4 ♣*
Pass	4 ♥	Pass	Pass
4 ♠	All Pass

*Better than a four-heart opener

Opening Lead: Heart Jack

“Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion.”

— Charlotte Bronte

Before you read the analysis of today’s deal, you might want to put yourself in the South seat in four spades. If the defenders lead three rounds of hearts, you will ruff with the spade 10. Assuming no overruff, you plan to cross to dummy with a club finesse and take the spade finesse, then rely on the minor suits behaving thereafter.

Let’s go back to the beginning. How would you play four spades on a heart lead followed by a second top heart and a club shift at trick three? If you win the club in dummy and take the spade finesse, West may give his partner a club ruff. Maybe it is better to play ace and another spade to avoid the club ruff. You will still survive if the diamond finesse works.

Was that what you decided to do? Well, time to look at the full hand. When the deal originally occurred in New Zealand, that was what Patrick Carter as East hoped declarer would think when he overtook the heart jack lead and cashed a second heart.

At trick three, he led the club two into dummy’s tenace. South had never seen a more obvious singleton and so elected to play the spade ace and a second spade, using the reasoning described above. Needless to say, Patrick had just turned 10 tricks into nine for the declarer. Most declarers found no difficulty on this hand once they had taken the trump finesse … but Patrick had not been at their table!

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].

The Aces on Bridge: Monday, November 14th, 2011

November 28th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  2 Comments 

Dealer: East Vul: East-West	North ♠ — ♥ Q J 5 3 ♦ K 9 6 4 ♣ J 10 9 6 4
West ♠ K J 10 7 ♥ 9 7 2 ♦ 10 7 5 3 ♣ Q 2		East ♠ A 3 2 ♥ A 10 6 4 ♦ A ♣ A K 7 5 3
	South ♠ Q 9 8 6 5 4 ♥ K 8 ♦ Q J 8 2 ♣ 8

 

South	West	North	East
			1 ♣
2 ♠	Pass	Pass	Dbl.
All Pass

Opening Lead: Club Queen

“Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much;

— William Cowper

Weak jump overcalls, especially when nonvulnerable, are all the rage these days. They gobble up vast tracts of bidding space, making detailed hand description difficult for opponents. But players, having developed weaponry with which to cope, are biting back.

Today’s hand arose in Canada, where internationals Eric Murray and John Carruthers show what can be done in defense, in spite of the adverse vulnerability.

East, Murray, opened one club, Darren Wolpert made a weak jump overcall of two spades, and since a double would have been negative, Carruthers passed. Murray reopened with a takeout double, which Carruthers turned into penalties by passing yet again.

In response to his partner’s opening bid, West led the club queen, on which Murray played the three, a request for a diamond switch, which he duly received.

On winning the diamond ace, Murray continued with the club ace, ruffed by South. Declarer’s heart king was allowed to hold, but East captured the heart continuation with the ace to return the club king, ruffed and overruffed. East ruffed West’s diamond switch, and South discarded a diamond on the club that came back. Carruthers ruffed, gave Murray another diamond ruff, trumped the fifth club, and that let East ruff West’s fourth diamond with the spade ace.

With the spade king still to come, East and West had made all seven of their trumps separately, as well as a trick in each other suit. Yes, 600 was available for East-West in three no-trump, but the 1100 gained on defense was surely far more satisfying.

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].

The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, November 13th, 2011

November 27th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, November 13th, 2011 

If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, e-mail him at [email protected]. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2011.

The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, November 12th, 2011

November 26th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  4 Comments 

Dealer: North Vul: East-West	North ♠ Q J 7 4 ♥ Q 9 8 ♦ A K 9 ♣ 9 6 4
West ♠ 10 9 8 3 2 ♥ — ♦ J 7 5 3 ♣ J 5 3 2		East ♠ A K 6 5 ♥ 7 6 3 ♦ Q 10 8 ♣ 10 8 7
	South ♠ — ♥ A K J 10 5 4 2 ♦ 6 4 2 ♣ A K Q

 

South	West	North	East
		1 ♣	Pass
2 ♥	Pass	3 ♥	Pass
3 ♠	Pass	4 ♥	Pass
5 ♣	Pass	5 ♦	Pass
5 ♠	Pass	6 ♦	Pass
7 ♥	All Pass

Opening Lead: Spade Ten

“A little local difficulty.”

— Harold Macmillan

Regular readers of this column will know that the deals tend to get harder as we work our way through the week. By the time we get to Saturday, you should be ready to have your mind stretched just a little — as might be the case today.

You have driven to a grand slam that appears to have very little chance after West leads the spade 10. How will you get rid of your diamond loser, since you seem to have little hope of establishing a spade trick?

Don’t despair! Your best chance is to hope that West began with the spade 10-9-8, and East with the ace and king, in which case, believe it or not, your contract is now undefeatable.

After covering the opening spade lead and ruffing in hand, you run all but one of your trumps, then cash the three top clubs, reducing dummy to the two top diamonds and the J-7 of spades. You have three diamonds and a trump in hand, and both defenders must retain two spades. If East bares his remaining spade honor, you can set up the jack with one ruff, while if West reduces to the bare nine or eight of spades, you will lead the jack from dummy and set up the seven. Since both defenders must keep two spades, neither can keep three diamonds. So cash the diamond ace and king, ruff a spade back to hand, and claim trick 13 with your remaining diamond.

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].

The Aces on Bridge: Friday, November 11th, 2011

November 25th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  3 Comments 

Dealer: West Vul: Both	North ♠ A K J 10 ♥ 10 5 ♦ 6 4 ♣ Q J 9 7 4
West ♠ 9 7 6 4 ♥ A 3 ♦ 10 9 8 7 3 ♣ K 2		East ♠ 8 3 2 ♥ K 7 6 4 2 ♦ A Q ♣ A 6 5
	South ♠ Q 5 ♥ Q J 9 8 ♦ K J 5 2 ♣ 10 8 3

 

South	West	North	East
	Pass	1 ♣	1 ♥
1 NT	All Pass

Opening Lead: Diamond Ten

“Small is beautiful.”

— E.F. Schumacher

Larry Cohen, famed for publicizing the “Law of Total Tricks,” has won many American titles, most in partnership with Dave Berkowitz, but is in temporary retirement – and working on his golf game.

It was Cohen, a professional bridge teacher, who originally picked up on this hand from the 2000 Olympiad, on which more than a few top players failed in their contract of one no-trump. Cover the East and West hands and try it for yourself.

West did not lead a heart, which would have life easy for declarer, but the diamond 10. East overtook with the ace and played back the queen. Plan the play after capturing this trick with the king. Which is the right suit to go after?

The answer is that it doesn’t matter — you have already gone down in your contract! You can count on six tricks, but whether you set about establishing clubs or hearts, the defenders will win the race to seven tricks. Say you play on hearts: West wins the first heart lead and continues diamonds, which will remove your last stopper. When East gets in with the heart king, he can cash the club ace and play a low club to West’s king, allowing the two established diamond tricks to be cashed.

However, by allowing East’s diamond queen to hold, you guarantee seven tricks for yourself. Even if East has a third diamond, the defenders can only come to two diamond tricks, for then the suit would be breaking 4-3.

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].

The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, November 10th, 2011

November 24th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  9 Comments 

Dealer: South Vul: Neither	North ♠ K 6 4 ♥ 10 9 8 5 ♦ A Q 7 2 ♣ 7 2
West ♠ J 8 3 ♥ K 4 2 ♦ J 10 6 4 3 ♣ 8 4		East ♠ Q 9 7 ♥ A 7 6 ♦ 9 ♣ K Q 10 9 5 3
	South ♠ A 10 5 2 ♥ Q J 3 ♦ K 8 5 ♣ A J 6

 

South	West	North	East
1 NT	Pass	2 ♣	Dbl.
2 ♠	Pass	3 ♣	Pass
3 NT	All Pass

Opening Lead: Club Eight

“I was enjoying the blessed privilege of thinking without being called on to stand and deliver what I thought to the small public who are good enough to take any interest therein.”

— James Lowell

In today’s deal the auction to three no-trump was informative to the defense. In response to his partner’s double, West led the club eight, and East naturally put up his queen. Reading West’s lead as top of a doubleton, declarer held off. Even if diamonds broke 3-3, South knew he would need a trick from the heart suit, and he had calculated that so long as East held no more than one of the missing top heart honors, he would succeed, since West would have no more clubs to play through.

At trick two, East continued with the club king, won by South’s ace. Declarer still had a club stopper, and when he tackled hearts, East gained the lead and dislodged the club jack, but with no further entries, he could not enjoy the suit he had worked so hard to establish.

See the difference if East plays the club nine on the opening lead. South must win with the jack, but now when he plays a heart, West wins with the king, and still has another club to push through. Whether South holds up the club ace or not, East will regain the lead with the heart ace to cash the clubs.

Third hand plays high, but there is a time and a place for everything. It is often easy to see that one should withhold the ace on the first round of a suit. It is less easy to see that this applies in positions like the one in today’s deal.

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].