The Aces on Bridge: Friday, August 5th, 2011

August 19th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  2 Comments 

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

 

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

Opening Lead: Spade six

“I created you while I was happy, while I was sad,

— Constantine Cavafy

Sometimes, even when you can envision the general thrust of the defense, the finer point of the play may escape you. In today’s deal from a team game, the defenders followed general principles at one table, but looked a little deeper at the other.

Both Souths declared four hearts on the lead of the fourth-highest spade six, each West wisely deciding that they should not go after club ruffs. Declarer put up dummy’s ace, led a club to his king, then advanced the diamond king. Both Easts won the diamond ace and cashed the spade king as West followed with the four, making it clear that no more spades would stand up.

In both rooms East could see that declarer planned to discard a diamond loser on the clubs. To prevent ruffs in dummy, one defender played a trump. Declarer won the ace, ruffed a diamond, and pitched his last diamond on the club ace. Although West could ruff in, the remaining trumps fell and declarer claimed the balance in due course.

In the other room East decided to play West for three decent trumps. By continuing with a third spade, he set the defense up for a trump promotion. Declarer ruffed the spade, ruffed a diamond in dummy, then threw a diamond on the club ace. The difference was that when West ruffed in and played a fourth round of spades, East ruffed with the jack. This promoted West’s heart queen to the setting trick.

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, August 4th, 2011

August 18th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  2 Comments 

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

 

South	West	North	East
1 ♦	Pass	1 ♥	Pass
3 ♦	Pass	3 ♠	Pass
5 ♦	All pass

Opening Lead: Club queen

“His thinking does not result in smoke after the flashing fire, but in light emerging from the smoke.”

— Horace

North-South did well to avoid three no-trump today, but East, the venerable comedian George Burns, playing with me as his partner, could have spoiled his opponents’ good work. Can you see how?

At the table East won his club ace at the first trick, and when the king appeared, he played a forcing game by continuing the attack on clubs. Not surprisingly, this line of defense was doomed to failure. Declarer drove out the trump ace, ruffed the next club, drew the rest of the trumps, ran the hearts, and did not even need to take the spade finesse for his contract.

At the end of the first trick, East can tell from the auction that declarer rates to have a singleton club and either five or six cards in the majors, together with almost every missing high card. A spade return can hardly help; instead, East should try to disrupt declarer’s communications in case South has his actual hand-pattern.

At trick two, Easts shifts to a heart, hoping that declarer only has a doubleton heart. Declarer wins the heart king and plays the diamond queen. East wins the ace and plays a second heart, leaving declarer unable to run the hearts because there are still trumps out.

The best chance he has for his contract is to try to cash a third heart, then take the spade finesse. But East can ruff in at once, and there is an inevitable spade loser 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].

The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011

August 17th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  4 Comments 

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

 

South	West	North	East
			1 ♣
1 ♦	1 ♠	Dbl.	Pass
3 ♥	Pass	4 ♣	Pass
4 ♥	All pass

Opening Lead: Spade three

“If only a single rose is left,

— George Barlow

Unless there is no other obvious choice, I am not a big fan of singleton opening leads, although plenty of players swear by them. It seems to me that all too often they set up tricks for declarer, or else partner cannot get the lead to give me my ruff. Sometimes, even when they should work, something else goes wrong.

Today’s deal comes from a recent world championship in Portugal. North’s double of one spade showed at least four hearts along with some measure of diamond support. When his partner jumped to three hearts, he had hopes of a slam, but South was not interested.

At one table West, not unreasonably, led his singleton diamond. Declarer won in the dummy and played a heart. East, who could read the lead as a singleton and knew from the bidding that his partner held only two trumps, went in with the ace to give his partner a diamond ruff. Good idea, but wrong hand!

At another table West began with a spade to East’s ace, and a spade was returned. The defense might seem worse placed now, but appearances are deceptive. Declarer won the spade king, and crossed to dummy with a diamond to discard a spade on the club ace. He now played a trump. West won the king and played a low spade for East to ruff with the heart ace. A diamond back allowed West to score his ruff after all, so four hearts went one down.

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, August 2nd, 2011

August 16th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011 

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

 

South	West	North	East
4 ♠	All pass

Opening Lead: Club jack

“There is nothing so well known as that we should not expect something for nothing — but we all do and call it Hope.”

— Edgar Howe

As South you make a slightly heavy pre-empt of four spades. (Many would bid this without a club honor.) So when dummy comes down with trump support and a near opening bid, your partner will feel very disappointed if you cannot find a way to 10 tricks. Of course, if the red aces are poorly placed, you may be doomed — but you should focus on the circumstances you can control, not the ones you can’t.

You win West’s club lead in hand and play a top trump, discovering the 3-0 break. You now realize that you no longer have a sure entry to dummy in the trump suit. What should you do next?

It looks logical to play a heart, and West starts an echo to show an even number, allowing East to take the trick. Back comes the club king, and the natural play is to ruff and try the spade nine. If East wins, you can use the spade 10 as an entry to dummy. But a sly East will duck, and now you will find that you need the diamond ace onside — unlucky!

Maybe a better plan is to duck the club king, pitching a diamond. Unless East started with a singleton diamond, whatever he returns will let you reach dummy to discard two of your diamonds on dummy’s hearts.

The diamond finesse is a 50-50 shot; the chance of a bad diamond break is far smaller, even given the bad trump break.

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, August 1st, 2011

August 15th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  6 Comments 

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

 

South	West	North	East
		1 ♣	Pass
1 ♥	1 ♠	Dbl.*	2 ♠
4 ♥	All pass

* Three-card heart support

Opening Lead: Diamond seven

“In war, whichever side may call itself the victor, there are no winners, but all are losers.”

— Neville Chamberlain

Until now, it has not been easy to use the Internet to discuss bridge at a high level. You can follow my column and other bridge blogs at bridgeblogging.com. But two new sites, bridgetopicscom for news and bridgewinners.com for problems and discussions, now give everyone more opportunities to learn about the game. Here is a problem deal posed by Steve Weinstein on bridgewinners; focus solely on the East and North hands.

Against four hearts, partner leads the diamond seven. You play the 10, and declarer wins with the queen. Declarer then leads a heart to dummy’s eight, which you win. What next?

If you played a spade or a diamond back, you missed the point of the deal! There are two basic hand-types your partner could hold where your play is critical. He could have the spade ace and a doubleton diamond (as in today’s deal, when the spade loser could go away on dummy’s clubs unless he cashes the ace) or he could have a singleton diamond and no spade ace — when the diamond ruff might get away unless you play a diamond.

Both of these hands might be consistent with the bidding. But you can cover both bases, as long as you win the heart with the king at trick two and play back a diamond.Although your partner cannot ruff this trick, declarer will surely just play a second heart rather than fool around with the club finesse, so you get your second bite at the apple.

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, July 31st, 2011

August 14th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  4 Comments 

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 July 30th, 2011

August 13th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Saturday July 30th, 2011 

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

 

South	West	North	East
			Pass
1 ♦	Pass	1 ♠	Pass
2 ♣	2 ♥	3 ♥	4 ♥
5 ♣	Dbl.	All pass

Opening Lead: Heart 10

“All good things which exist are the fruit of originality.”

— John Stuart

Billy Eisenberg provided the details for this outstanding deal played by Steve Garner in the first qualifying session of the Von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs.

Steve was playing with his regular partner, Howard Weinstein, against Tor Helness and Connie Goldberg. When a good player does not overcall but backs in to a live auction, he tends to have real length in the suit you opened. Garner knew his left-hand opponent was a great player, so he played accordingly.

On a heart lead against five clubs doubled, Garner ruffed, ran the club seven successfully, ruffed a diamond, and played the club queen to Helness’s ace. Back came a heart, and Garner ruffed again, then ran his trumps.

In the ending he had reduced to four spades and the ace-queen of hearts in dummy, with East also down to four spades and the guarded heart king. Garner now ran his spades, throwing East in with the fourth spade to lead into dummy’s heart tenace. Beautifully done!

For the sake of completeness, let me say that declarer had a very slight technical improvement to his line. Had he played the spade ace at trick two, he could not have been defeated. The defenders get two trump tricks but declarer can eventually establish the spades. Garner’s line had the minute flaw that if West covers the club seven with the jack at trick two, he can subsequently ruff the first spade, cash his club ace, and play the diamond ace, leaving declarer a trick short.

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 July 29th, 2011

August 12th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  3 Comments 

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

 

South	West	North	East
1 ♥	Pass	1 ♠	Pass
2 ♦	Pass	3 NT	All pass

Opening Lead: Spade two

“It was strange

— Wilfrid Gibson

In this deal from the second round of the Spingold tournament held in New Orleans last summer, Nick L’Ecuyer found an extra chance in a difficult three-no-trump contract.

The defenders lead a fourth-highest spade two and continue the suit. You pitch a heart from dummy, and the defenders erroneously lead a third spade. What do you discard from dummy, and how do you plan the play?

You have excellent chances in either minor, but it’s tough to get any additional chances from the hearts because you have to discard twice from dummy. If you pitch two hearts from the board, you can’t exploit a 3-3 split. If you pitch a club from dummy and cross to the club king to lead a heart up, the defenders will win the heart king and play back a club to kill the dummy.

At one table, declarer simply tested diamonds from the top. He took the king and ace from hand, then led a third diamond, falling back on the club split or a squeeze. This line gave him an excellent mathematical chance — by my calculations about four chances in five, but today was not his lucky day.

L’Ecuyer found an extra chance after pitching a heart from the board. He tested clubs first, West discarding a spade, then cashed the long spade to extract a heart from West. Next he played three rounds of diamonds. West could cash his long diamond but was endplayed at trick 12 to concede two hearts by leading away from his 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 July 28th, 2011

August 11th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Thursday July 28th, 2011 

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

 

South	West	North	East
1 ♥	Pass	2 ♣	2 ♠
Pass	3 ♠	4 ♥	All pass

Opening Lead: Spade two

“To the victor belong the spoils of the enemy.”

— William Marcy

During the Spingold tournament, at last summer’s Nationals in New Orleans, Milan Macura of the Czech Republic generously volunteered this deal, where he had missed a small extra chance.

Macura declared four hearts, and a spade lead and continuation saw declarer ruff and take two rounds of trump. He next took the two top clubs. The 4-1 club split appeared to force declarer to rely on the diamond finesse, but Macura could tell from the discarding that the diamond finesse was unlikely to succeed. Accordingly, he now played ace, king and a third diamond, hoping to endplay East for a ruff and discard. Alas for him, Rose Meltzer as West alertly ruffed her partner’s diamond winner to cash her side’s club tricks for down one.

As Macura pointed out, a better line would have been to ruff the spade continuation at trick two, draw two rounds of trump ending in dummy, and ruff a third spade. Then declarer can lead a low club from hand, planning to duck the trick altogether.

If East wins the trick and has a club left, declarer is in no danger. If not, the defenders must concede a ruff and discard or lead diamonds into the tenace, unless East has the third trump. If West puts up a high club on the first round of the suit to avoid an endplay on his partner, declarer wins in dummy, and the club spots are now good enough to hold the losers to one trick.

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 July 27th, 2011

August 10th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  8 Comments 

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

 

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

Opening Lead: Diamond queen

“Vicissitudes of fortune, which spares neither man nor the proudest of his works, which buries empires and cities in a common grave.”

— Edward Gibbon

During the first day of the Swiss Teams last summer in New Orleans,, JoAnna Stansby found herself in a delicate heart game, but read the position nicely to bring home a big swing for her side.

JoAnna won the diamond ace and led a low trump to the queen and East’s nine, a revealing spot card, since it alerted declarer to the possibility of bad trump breaks. She next led a spade to the 10, king and ace, ruffed the diamond return, then cashed the club ace and crossed to the spade queen to ruff another diamond and extract West’s exit card.

She had now reached a position where she needed four of the last six tricks, but was down to two trumps in each hand while West had king-third of trump left. However, when she next led the spade jack from her hand, West was in a quandary. He chose to ruff (nothing else was any better, since if he discards a diamond, declarer ruffs his spade loser in dummy and plays clubs from the top). West was now on lead and endplayed in three suits. A trump or club would give up his natural trick in those suits, so he elected to play a fourth diamond, but the ruff and discard let declarer ruff in dummy and pitch her club loser.

She could cash the club king, ruff her fourth spade in dummy, and concede just one more trump trick, losing one trump and two spades in total.

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].