September 8th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 4 Comments 
| Vulnerable: Both
Dealer: East |
North
♠ 10 4
♥ 9 6 5
♦ K 8 6 5
♣ 10 9 3 2 |
|
| West
♠ 8 3
♥ Q 10 3 2
♦ J 7 4 2
♣ Q 8 7 |
 |
East
♠ J 6
♥ A K J 7 4
♦ A Q 10
♣ 6 5 4 |
| |
South
♠ A K Q 9 7 5 2
♥ 8
♦ 9 3
♣ A K J |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
|
1 ♥ |
| Dbl. |
3 ♥ |
Pass |
Pass |
| 4 ♠ |
All pass |
|
|
Opening Lead: Spade three
“And now the matchless deed’s achieved,
Determined, dared, and done.”
— Christopher Smart
Today’s deal is from a match between England and Japan in the 2004 World Championships. When the English East opened a strong no-trump, the Japanese South settled for a conservative two-spade overcall because he did not have a penalty double in his arsenal. He duly collected nine tricks.
In the other room Justin Hackett drove to four spades — as might we all. West led a trump and declarer played the 10 from dummy, hoping that it would be an entry. When East covered, Justin ran off all but one of his trumps. East discarded two hearts and two clubs, while West discarded four hearts. This led Justin to conclude that West held the guarded club queen, so he gave up all thoughts of exiting with a red suit in the hope that an opponent would eventually lead a club, allowing him to finesse.
Instead, he boldly laid the club jack on the table! And West played low, assuming his partner would win with the king. In truth, West’s play may not stand up to analysis, but well done to Justin Hackett for making such a brave move. Brilliancies in bridge are often based on psychology, not on complicated lines of play. I’m sure that most of us would not have thought of Justin’s stratagem, but even if we had, we would have rejected it in favor of the legitimate line of cashing the club ace and king, hoping tp drop a doubleton queen.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
8 3 |
| ♥ |
Q 10 3 2 |
| ♦ |
J 7 4 2 |
| ♣ |
Q 8 7 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 ♣ |
Pass |
| 1 ♥ |
Pass |
1 ♠ |
Pass |
| 2 ♣ |
Pass |
2 ♠ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Your partner has shown at least 5-5 in the black suits and a good hand, but you have absolutely no interest in higher things. While passing would keep you a level lower, it must be right to play in clubs so that you can ruff spades in your hand if necessary. Simply revert to three clubs now.
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].
September 7th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 4 Comments
| Vulnerable: East-West
Dealer: North |
North
♠ J 8 2
♥ Q 6 3
♦ K J 7 6
♣ 9 5 3 |
|
| West
♠ A K 7 5 4
♥ J 7 2
♦ 2
♣ J 7 4 2 |
|
East
♠ Q 10 9 6
♥ A 9 5 4
♦ 10 4
♣ A 10 8 |
| |
South
♠ 3
♥ K 10 8
♦ A Q 9 8 5 3
♣ K Q 6 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
Pass |
Pass |
| 1 ♦ |
1 ♠ |
2 ♦ |
3 ♦ |
| 4 ♦ |
All pass |
|
|
Opening Lead: Spade king
“The most decisive actions of our life … are most often unconsidered actions.”
— Andre Gide
A partnership I’ve always had a lot of affection for is Bart Bramley and Sidney Lazard. Sidney has cut back on his bridge these days, but I believe he is presently one of the longest-lived U.S. Bridge Internationals, having played for USA in the 1959 Bermuda Bowl. Only Bill Rosen from the 1954 team can beat that record. (Incidentally, Pietro Forquet, from the 1951 Italian team, represented Italy in the Seniors a couple of years ago.)
When Bramley and Lazard played together in a recent Cavendish Pairs, Bart drew an interesting inference to bring home today’s delicate four-diamond contract.
On the spade-king lead and continuation, Bramley put up the jack to force the queen and to confirm the location of the spade honors. He ruffed this trick, then drew two rounds of trump and led a club to his king. Now came a third diamond to dummy and a second club.
East took the ace and played a third club. Bramley won and paused to count up the hand. Since East clearly had both rounded aces to justify his cue-bid and had also shown up with the spade queen, he was less likely to have the heart jack than his partner. Had he held that card, he might have opened the bidding since East-West were playing weak no-trumps. Backing his judgment, Bramley advanced the heart 10, and whether West covered or not, Bramley had his 10th trick.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
3 |
| ♥ |
K 10 8 |
| ♦ |
A Q 9 8 5 3 |
| ♣ |
K Q 6 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
|
1 ♥ |
| 2 ♦ |
Pass |
Pass |
Dbl. |
| Pass |
Pass |
Rdbl. |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Your partner’s redouble is for rescue, and your diamond spots are not good enough to override him. Your choice is to run to two hearts or to three clubs. Since your partner won’t expect you to hold real length in hearts, you can bid two hearts — for the time being. After all, a 4-3 heart fit might be your cheapest escape.
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].
September 6th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 3 Comments
| Vulnerable: North-South
Dealer: North |
North
♠ 5 4 2
♥ Q J 4
♦ 9 5 4
♣ 7 5 4 2 |
|
| West
♠ 9 3
♥ K 9 6 2
♦ A Q 10 7 2
♣ K 3 |
|
East
♠ K J 8 7 6
♥ 3
♦ K J 3
♣ Q J 10 9 |
| |
South
♠ A Q 10
♥ A 10 8 7 5
♦ 8 6
♣ A 8 6 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
Pass |
1 ♠ |
| 2 ♥ |
Pass |
Pass |
Dbl. |
| All pass |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: Spade nine
“I saw their starved lips in the gloam
With horrid warning gaped wide,
And I awoke and found me here
On the cold hill side. ”
— John Keats
In today’s deal from the 2004 Cavendish tournament, many East-West pairs were going down for large numbers after East had opened the bidding. Quite often South could double three no-trump, and Al Roth, the apostle of sound bidding, would have been able to say, “I told you so.” However, Billy Cohen as South was in a position to collect a different sort of large number. Having missed his winning play at the table, I can only applaud him on his subsequent analysis and his public-spirited masochism in then passing it on to the Daily Bulletin!
He declared two hearts doubled on the auction shown and won the lead of the spade nine cheaply in hand. The defense was threatening a spade ruff, so if declarer delays drawing trumps, East-West will obtain an easy sixth trick. Suppose you lead a low heart up toward dummy. North’s queen will hold the trick; now what? If you play a spade, the defense will surely arrange to get a ruff; if you lead a heart to the 10, that holds the trick too. The defense now doesn’t get a ruff, but you can never collect your third spade trick. The winning move is to lead the heart 10 at trick two! Whether a defender wins this trick or ducks it, this play gives you your entry to dummy when you need it. The defense gets only one heart trick now, and you get to repeat the spade finesse in peace and quiet.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
A Q 10 |
| ♥ |
A 10 8 7 5 |
| ♦ |
8 6 |
| ♣ |
A 8 6 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
|
1 ♣ |
| 1 ♥ |
Dbl. |
2 ♥ |
2 ♠ |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Your high cards might tempt you into competing further. But as a matter of principle you should only bid on with extra shape, not high cards, whether it is in the form of extra trumps or a side suit. Here, you are as balanced as you can be. Let partner bid on with a fourth trump — you cannot act again.
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].
September 5th, 2011 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Monday, August 22nd, 2011
| Vulnerable: Both
Dealer: South |
North
♠ Q 9 4
♥ A J 6
♦ 3
♣ K Q J 8 7 2 |
|
| West
♠ K 10
♥ 5 4 2
♦ J 10 8 7 4
♣ 3 |
|
East
♠ 7 5 2
♥ K 8
♦ Q 9 6 5
♣ A 9 6 5 |
| |
South
♠ A J 8
♥ Q 10 9 7 3
♦ A K 2
♣ 10 4 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 ♥ |
Pass |
2 ♣ |
Pass |
| 2 NT |
Pass |
4 ♥ |
All pass |
Opening Lead: Club three
“The reticent volcano keeps
His never slumbering plan;
Confided are his projects pink
To no precarious man.”
— Emily Dickinson
If you need four tricks to defeat a contract but can see only three, it may be vital to set up the fourth, even before securing the second.
Against four hearts, West led the club three to East’s ace. In spite of declarer’s attempt to muddy the waters by dropping the club 10, East knew that his partner’s lead was a singleton. The four was the missing spot-card, and West would have led his top card had he held a doubleton.
East returned a club and his partner duly scored a ruff, but apart from the king of trumps, that was the end of the defense, as South’s losers in spades and diamonds could later be discarded on dummy’s clubs.
Could the defense have done better? Yes. The club ruff can wait, as East knows that he will come in again with the heart king to deliver it. On the bidding, West is marked with a high card. If that card is the spade king, it needs to be speedily set up as a winner before South’s losing spades disappear. A spade return at trick two will set the contact since East will score his trump king in due course and administer the club ruff.
East knows that declarer has a completely balanced hand with five hearts, so there is no way for declarer to dispose of his club on dummy’s spades. Moreover, even if declarer has great diamonds, the clubs in dummy will not all evaporate.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
K 8 7 5 |
| ♥ |
K 3 |
| ♦ |
Q 9 6 |
| ♣ |
J 6 3 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
1 ♥ |
Pass |
2 ♦ |
| Pass |
2 ♥ |
Pass |
2 ♠ |
| Pass |
3 ♦ |
Pass |
3 NT |
| All pass |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Although you need less from your partner in spades than in clubs to set up a suit for your side, declarer’s bidding suggests he is more worried about clubs. So perhaps a low club is best. However, if you suspect East of being a trickster, maybe the spade lead might be better, since East could be trying to fake club weakness.
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].
September 4th, 2011 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, August 21st, 2011
| Dear Mr Wolff:
When the opponents open a weak two-bid in a major and partner overcalls two no-trump, what responses do you recommend? Are regular systems on, so three clubs would be Stayman? What would it mean to transfer to their major, or to cuebid their major?
— Fired Up, Little Rock, Ark.
ANSWER: Simplest is to play “system on”: three clubs remains Stayman, and transferring to their suit shows both minors. An alternative is to play Stayman, and transferring to their suit is weak or strong in the other major, while bidding the other major directly is natural and invitational.
Dear Mr Wolff:
A couple of weeks ago I was defending against a four-spade contract. The dummy put down the cards with hearts in the position where trumps should have been. The lead was the diamond ace, a suit where dummy was void. The declarer asked dummy to ruff, and dummy ruffed it with a heart. What should be the ruling here?
— Mixed-Up Kid, Hamilton, Ontario
ANSWER: Dummy can’t disobey declarer’s instructions, so a spade must be substituted for the heart play. If this was not spotted till the next trick, it gets complicated — but if both opponents agree with my explanation, I think you should unravel the play to get equity restored.
Dear Mr Wolff:
You are dealer and vulnerable, holding SPADES A-9-8-7-2, HEARTS 10, DIAMONDS 10-2, CLUBS K-Q-8-6-4. Would you pass or open? If the latter, which suit would you bid? How would your answer change if not vulnerable in the third seat after two passes? And what if you were in fourth seat after three passes?
— Around the World, Hartford, Conn.
ANSWER: I’d pass in first or second seat (not because opening will fail to work out, but more to preserve partnership harmony). It’s not really an opening bid — though switch the spades and clubs and I might open. (If playing a strong club, I’d be inclined to open, though.) In third or fourth seat I’d open one spade at any vulnerability. I can see why one club might work (asking for a club lead), but in practice one spade is so much more pre-emptive.
| |
Dear Mr Wolff:
I was declarer in three no-trump. When I led a club, my RHO showed out, then subsequently followed with the club queen. A trick or two later we established this, and I asked her to restore the reneged card where it belonged. When the director came to the table, the offender explained what had happened and the director said “No penalty.” My RHO knew that by changing her earlier card, she would avoid the renege penalty. Was that ethical?
— Demanding Justice, Jackson, Tenn.
ANSWER: You learned – expensively — that the first thing you should always do as declarer, defender (or dummy!) is that when an infraction has been established, is to call the director. This does not come across as rude; it is his job, not yours, to enforce the rules. As to your opponent: I would not behave like that myself. I want to be able to face myself in the morning.
Dear Mr Wolff:
When my LHO opens one club, my partner overcalls one heart, and the next hand responds one spade, how should my two potential cue-bids by me (two clubs and two spades) be differentiated?
— Suzie Cue, Levittown, Pa.
ANSWER: With a choice of cue-bids, the higher one tends to be a better hand. Here, the lower cue-bid might just be a sound raise to the two-level (say9-11), while a two-spade call shows a sound raise to three hearts. For the record: many people give up a natural two-no-trump bid in competition to distinguish between three- and four-card support.
|
If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, e-mail him at [email protected]. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2011.
September 3rd, 2011 ~ admin ~ 1 Comment
| Vulnerable: North-South
Dealer: West |
North
♠ 5
♥ K J 7 5
♦ A 6 5 4
♣ A K 10 8 |
|
| West
♠ A Q J 8 7 2
♥ 9 4
♦ Q 10 7
♣ Q 3 |
|
East
♠ 6 3
♥ 10 6 2
♦ K 9 3 2
♣ J 9 7 6 |
| |
South
♠ K 10 9 4
♥ A Q 8 3
♦ J 8
♣ 5 4 2 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
1 ♠ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| 3 ♥ |
Pass |
4 ♥ |
All pass |
Opening Lead: Heart four
“There is no mistake; there has been no mistake; and there shall be no mistake.”
— Duke of Wellington
In the 2007 Invitation Lederer Memorial Trophy, held in London and sponsored by Bernard Teltscher and the Young Chelsea Bridge Club, Norman Selway, of the Young Chelsea Champions team, took the “Best-Played Hand” award.
A club or low diamond lead would have defeated Selway’s heart game, but West, naturally enough, chose the trump four, to the five, 10 and queen. Now there was no possibility of playing a crossruff to take seven tricks from the trump suit, so Selway started on the right track in an attempt to cut the defenders’ communications when he advanced a diamond from hand. He chose the jack, and when West covered with the queen, correctly allowed it to hold. The trump return was won in dummy; then came the diamond ace and a diamond ruff. A club to the ace allowed North’s last diamond to be trumped, and a club to the king permitted the outstanding trump to be drawn. At that point declarer had eight of the first nine tricks.
Next came a spade to the 10, and West’s jack was the second trick for the defense. Selway’s final move was his refusal to ruff West’s spade ace, discarding a club loser. West was now endplayed into giving declarer access to his orphaned spade king in hand, and dummy’s last trump was Selway’s 10th trick.
Of all the declarers to reach four hearts, Selway was the only one to make it.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
K 10 9 4 |
| ♥ |
A Q 8 3 |
| ♦ |
J 8 |
| ♣ |
5 4 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 ♣ |
Pass |
| 1 ♥ |
1 ♠ |
Pass |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: It would be nice if you could double, fold up your cards, and end the auction. Alas, a double here would show cards — more takeout than penalties. On that basis, maybe your best bet is to give up on the penalty and simply bid one no-trump, which gets your side into a sensible contract.
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].
September 2nd, 2011 ~ admin ~ 4 Comments
| Vulnerable: Both
Dealer: North |
North
♠ K J 8 5
♥ 2
♦ A Q J 10 7 6 5 4
♣ — |
|
| West
♠ 6
♥ K Q 10 8 4 3
♦ 9 8
♣ A J 3 2 |
|
East
♠ 10 4 3 2
♥ A J 7
♦ K 3
♣ K Q 7 6 |
| |
South
♠ A Q 9 7
♥ 9 6 5
♦ 2
♣ 10 9 8 5 4 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 ♦ |
Dbl. |
| 1 ♠ |
4 ♥ |
4 ♠ |
Pass |
| Pass |
5 ♥ |
5 ♠ |
Dbl. |
| All pass |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: Heart king
“Before you trust a man, eat a peck of salt with him.”
— Anonymous
As Eddie Kantar says (in “Kantar on Kontract”): “It’s not every partner who will trust you enough to put down in dummy an eight-card side suit headed by 100 honors.” If you have one of these partners, you’d better know how to handle your 4-4 trump fits.
Against five spades the defenders led and continued hearts. South ruffed in dummy and continued with the diamond ace, then the queen, ruffing out the king.
At this point both North and South each have three trumps and East has four. If declarer plays the spade ace, then a spade to dummy’s jack, he will take exactly two more tricks. When a diamond is led from dummy, East trumps, and the most South can do is take each of his trumps separately. Down four!
Far better is to cross to the spade jack and play a high diamond, intending to discard if East doesn’t ruff. Say East ruffs: South overruffs with the ace and overtakes the spade queen with dummy’s king. When South runs the winning diamonds, East can score no more than his spade 10. Contract made.
South’s line works even when West has a second spade, when he would trump the third round of diamonds and play a club, forcing dummy to ruff. Dummy would now have the blank spade king, South the ace-queen, and East the 10-4. But declarer simply runs the diamonds, and whenever East trumps in, South overtrumps with the ace, enters dummy with the spade king, and takes the balance.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
6 |
| ♥ |
K Q 10 8 4 3 |
| ♦ |
9 8 |
| ♣ |
A J 3 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 ♦ |
1 ♠ |
| 2 ♥ |
2 ♠ |
Pass |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Your partner’s pass indicates a minimum balanced hand without much heart support, suggesting you can reopen with a double for takeout, or compete either to three clubs or three hearts. All three calls make sense, but bidding three hearts gets you closest to your most likely game, so it would be my choice.
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].
September 1st, 2011 ~ admin ~ 4 Comments
| Vulnerable: North-South
Dealer: South |
North
♠ 5 3
♥ K 9 4
♦ J 6 5 3 2
♣ A 7 3 |
|
| West
♠ K Q J 9 6 4
♥ 10 5
♦ Q 4
♣ J 10 5 |
|
East
♠ 10 8
♥ J 8 3
♦ K 10 9 7
♣ Q 8 6 4 |
| |
South
♠ A 7 2
♥ A Q 7 6 2
♦ A 8
♣ K 9 2 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 ♥ |
1 ♠ |
2 ♥ |
Pass |
| 4 ♥ |
All pass |
|
|
Opening Lead: Spade king
“I am the spirit of the morning sea;
I am the awakening and the glad surprise;
I fill the skies
With laughter and with light.”
— Richard Gilder
At the Dyspeptics Club the members agree on very little. But three of today’s four players are convinced that South not only holds better cards than he deserves, but also generally makes less of them than he should.
However, in today’s deal South found a play that few would have managed — though whether he deserved to make his game, I shall let you decide.
The spade king was led against four hearts; South held off the first round and won the second. Now South could see that he needed either a ruff in dummy or the establishment of a long diamond. So he led out ace and another diamond, and West won and played a third top spade.
Had declarer ruffed in dummy, East would have overruffed and returned a club to leave South with an inevitable loser. But much to North’s surprise, South found the correct play: he discarded a club from dummy on West’s spade jack. Mind you, he rather spoiled the effect by then trying to ruff the spade in hand!
North wisely asked him if he had any spades left, so South corrected his revoke without penalty and made his game. He then added insult to injury by apologizing to his partner for failing to ruff the spade in dummy and make an overtrick!
(Incidentally, the best plan for South at trick three would have been to lead the third spade himself and throw one of dummy’s clubs away; this involves the least risk of all.)
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
A 7 2 |
| ♥ |
A Q 7 6 2 |
| ♦ |
A 8 |
| ♣ |
K 9 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 ♣ |
1 ♦ |
| 1 ♥ |
Pass |
1 NT |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Even though your partner has shown a minimum hand, a slam in clubs (or hearts) is still not out of the picture. Cuebid two diamonds and plan to raise to three clubs at your next turn, just in case partner has extra club length in a minimum hand. Note that in a competitive auction like this, your partner’s hand might not be balanced.
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].
August 31st, 2011 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, August 17th, 2011
| Vulnerable: Both
Dealer: East |
North
♠ K 8 5 3
♥ J 10 9 6
♦ A J 9
♣ 10 7 |
|
| West
♠ A 6 2
♥ Q 2
♦ K 7 4
♣ K J 9 8 4 |
|
East
♠ Q 10 9 7
♥ 7 5 4
♦ 8 6 3 2
♣ 5 2 |
| |
South
♠ J 4
♥ A K 8 3
♦ Q 10 5
♣ A Q 6 3 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
|
Pass |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
2 ♣ |
Pass |
| 2 ♥ |
Pass |
4 ♥ |
All pass |
Opening Lead: Diamond four
“I decline to buy repentance at the cost of ten thousand drachmas.”
— Demosthenes
I do not want the readers of this column to think I publish deals that involve me just to show myself in a good light. On the contrary, I am aware that a neutral observer would probably find more howlers than brilliancies if they were to scrutinize the record carefully. As Bob Hamman said: “The best play lousy, the rest worse.”
At the Forbo tournament a decade ago there was an introductory four-way international match. When U.S.A. played Italy, the two teams failed to land a blow in the first eight boards — but then came the deluge in favor of Italy, and I started the flood.
Here I opened a strong no-trump and declared four hearts after a Stayman inquiry. Receiving a diamond lead, I won the jack and made what I thought was the natural play when I ran the heart jack at trick two. When Alfredo Versace won this and returned a heart, I took this in the dummy and found that I could no longer ruff two clubs in dummy because of the 5-2 club split, and so had to go down.
By contrast, Norberto Bocchi for Italy accurately took a club finesse at trick two and won the diamond return to play the club ace, then ruff a club high. When East discarded on this trick, Bocchi crossed back to hand in trumps to ruff a second club, then played off the second top heart to drop the queen offside. With the spade ace his only other loser, he made an overtrick for a gain of 13 IMPs.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
Q 10 9 7 |
| ♥ |
7 5 4 |
| ♦ |
8 6 3 2 |
| ♣ |
5 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
1 ♣ |
Dbl. |
1 ♦ |
| Pass |
1 ♥ |
Dbl. |
2 ♣ |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: With the opponents coming to a stop in two clubs, you have just enough to compete to two spades. Because you know your partner was eager for you to compete, your four-card spade suit should entitle you to bid now. That you did not bid one spade at your first turn limits you to at most a five-count.
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].
August 30th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 10 Comments
| Vulnerable: North-South
Dealer: West |
North
♠ K 5 2
♥ 9 6 4
♦ K Q 5 3
♣ 10 6 4 |
|
| West
♠ Q 7 6 3
♥ K Q 5
♦ 10
♣ A J 8 7 3 |
|
East
♠ J 9 8 4
♥ 10 7 3
♦ 9 2
♣ K 9 5 2 |
| |
South
♠ A 10
♥ A J 8 2
♦ A J 8 7 6 4
♣ Q |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
Pass |
Pass |
Pass |
| 1 ♦ |
2 ♣ |
2 ♦ |
3 ♣ |
| 3 ♥ |
Pass |
3 ♠ |
Pass |
| 5 ♦ |
All pass |
|
|
Opening Lead: Club ace
“One hundred and ninety two (of the species of apes) are covered with hair. The exception is a naked ape self-named Homo sapiens.”
— Desmond Morris
One of the idioms you occasionally hear at the bridge table is “stripping a hand.” This refers to a process of eliminating some of the suits from a hand to reduce the options for a defender when he gets the lead. It may sound complex, but in today’s deal, Roselyn Teukolsky demonstrated a route to success by employing the technique perfectly.
Incidentally, note North’s three-spade bid, suggesting spade values and a better-than-minimum hand.
Against five diamonds West elected to lead the club ace — a small slip that allowed Teukolsky to make the contract by force, despite the unfavorable heart distribution. She ruffed the club continuation, played off three rounds of spades, ruffing the third, then crossed to a top trump in dummy to eliminate the clubs. At this point she finally drew the last trump, ending up in dummy. Now she led the heart nine, covered by East with the 10. Roselyn put on the jack, leaving West on play. A heart return would give up the defense’s trick there, and either black suit would allow declarer to throw a heart from dummy and crossruff the rest of the tricks.
Notice that on a passive spade opening lead, declarer will probably take the spade ace and lead the club queen from hand. If East is allowed to take this trick and play a heart through declarer, all the tension of the ending is broken up.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
K 5 2 |
| ♥ |
9 6 4 |
| ♦ |
K Q 5 3 |
| ♣ |
10 6 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
2 ♣ |
Pass |
| 2 ♦ |
Pass |
2 ♥ |
Pass |
| 3 ♥ |
Pass |
4 ♥ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Although your values had suggested slam might have been in the offing, now, after the sign-off, passing discretely is best since you have no aces and no trump honors. If your partner cannot make a slam-try, you should respect his judgment.
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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