October 5th, 2011 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, September 21st, 2011 
| Dealer: East
Vul: Neither |
North
♠ Q 6 4
♥ A K 10 7 5
♦ A
♣ 10 8 4 3 |
|
| West
♠ 10 8 2
♥ Q 8 2
♦ K J 10 6 4
♣ 9 7 |
 |
East
♠ K 9 7 3
♥ J 9 6
♦ 8 3
♣ A Q J 6 |
| |
South
♠ A J 5
♥ 4 3
♦ Q 9 7 5 2
♣ K 5 2 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
Pass |
| Pass |
2 ♦ |
2 ♥ |
Pass |
| 3 NT |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: Spade 8
“Oh mighty love! Man is one world, and hath
Another to attend him.”
— George Herbert
Every two years the World Junior Pairs is held in Europe. Today’s deal from this event 15 years ago features Boye Brogeland, now generally regarded as one of the world’s top players.
After a typically aggressive junior-style pre-empt by West, North-South were goaded into three no-trump, when they would probably have stopped in two hearts if left to their own devices.
Brogeland would have been very poorly placed on a diamond lead, but who leads his own suit nowadays? The spade eight traveled around to the jack, and Boye led a heart to dummy’s 10 and East’s jack. Back came the club queen, and when it held the trick, this was the defense’s last chance to play a diamond through. Alas for the defenders, East cleared the clubs by leading ace and another club, and now an avalanche of hearts finished the defense off. In the four-card ending, East had to keep one club and two spades, and thus only one diamond, so he was squeezed out of his second diamond, which was the only suit in which the defense had any communications.
Brogeland now cashed the diamond ace and exited with a club, throwing East on lead for a spade play away from the king for declarer’s ninth trick. (Notice that Brogeland cannot make the contract if he takes the first club. The same squeeze does not work if East has retained two club guards, since he can pitch a club and keep both his diamonds in the ending.)
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A J 5 |
| ♥ |
4 3 |
| ♦ |
Q 9 7 5 2 |
| ♣ |
K 5 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1 ♣ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| 2 ♦ |
Pass |
3 ♣ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: The cue-bid should initially be construed as asking for a club stopper for no-trump. Your partner may have a stronger hand with slam interest, but you do not have to read his mind. Simply answer his query by bidding three no-trump; your partner will let you know his intentions soon enough.
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].
October 4th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 15 Comments
| Dealer: South
Vul: Both |
North
♠ Q
♥ J 7 4
♦ K Q J 7 3 2
♣ K 6 5 |
|
| West
♠ K 7 5
♥ 10 9 5
♦ A 8 6 4
♣ 9 7 3 |
|
East
♠ J 9 6 4
♥ A Q 6 3
♦ 10
♣ 10 8 4 2 |
| |
South
♠ A 10 8 3 2
♥ K 8 2
♦ 9 5
♣ A Q J |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 ♠ |
Pass |
2 ♦ |
Pass |
| 2 NT |
Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: Heart 10
“Little drops of water
Little grains of sand,
Make the mighty ocean
And the pleasant land.”
— Julia Carney
Over the last two decades the junior camps have been one of the best ways for young players to learn the game and to meet other like-minded juniors. Today’s deal was played by Eugene Hung at an early U.S. junior camp.
Against three no-trump Hung received the lead of the heart 10 (top of a sequence or from J-10 with a higher nontouching honor) and decided to duck the trick in both hands, in case the lead was from a doubleton.
Declarer won the second heart, West having led the heart nine covered by the jack and queen. He could now infer that East was likely to have begun with four hearts. West’s lead from shortage, and not from a long club suit, suggested that it was West, if anyone, who might be long in diamonds.
South therefore played the diamond nine from hand to dummy’s jack. When East’s 10 appeared, declarer crossed back to hand in clubs and led a second diamond, but now had to guess what to play from dummy. In a sense this play is not so much about the percentages but more about your guess as to how easy East would find it to play the diamond 10 on the first round of the suit from A-10-8 or 10-8. If you deem him capable of such a play, then maybe you should play for the drop, but Eugene took the finesse of the diamond seven and was rewarded with a game swing.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 9 6 4 |
| ♥ |
A Q 6 3 |
| ♦ |
10 |
| ♣ |
10 8 4 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
2 ♦ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: You are not worth a cue-bid and a drive to game, but would want to compete to the three-level if the opponents raise diamonds. Maybe the best way to be sure to get your suits in is to respond two spades, planning to bid three hearts if the opponents compete to 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].
October 3rd, 2011 ~ admin ~ 2 Comments
| Dealer: South
Vul: North-South |
North
♠ 9
♥ Q J 8 7
♦ K 10 4
♣ Q J 9 8 6 |
|
| West
♠ J 10 8 4 2
♥ 6 5
♦ J 6
♣ A 7 4 3 |
|
East
♠ A 7 5
♥ 10 9 3 2
♦ A Q 9 3 2
♣ 2 |
| |
South
♠ K Q 6 3
♥ A K 4
♦ 8 7 5
♣ K 10 5 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
2 ♣ |
Pass |
| 2 ♠ |
Pass |
2 NT |
Pass |
| 3 NT |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: Spade Jack
“Skill comes so slow, and life so fast doth fly,
We learn so little and forget so much.”
— Sir John Davies
This week’s deals are all from relatively recent junior championships, showcasing the talents of players from all around the world. The 3rd World University Bridge Championships took place in Tianjin, China, and 27 teams from 22 countries participated. Today’s deal is from the Round Robin match between China A and Sweden. China A (the eventual tournament winners) had double home advantage, as five of its six players attended Tianjin Normal University.
Against South’s delicate three-no-trump game, Liu for the Chinese squad led the spade jack, which promised no higher honor, and East, Jin, won with the ace, then paused to consider.
She could see the danger posed by the club suit in dummy, and appreciated that if South held both top club honors, that added up to seven black-suit tricks. Declarer had to have a top heart for his opening bid, and even if West came on lead and switched to a diamond, dummy’s 10 would halt the run of that suit.
Jin worked out that the only chance for the defense lay with West holding a club honor, plus at least two diamonds. So she returned a low diamond, to the jack and king, and when East came on lead with a club, the diamond return saw the contract down.
The key to the defense was that one diamond trick was unlikely to make the difference between success and failure for declarer, while the defenders needed to get diamonds going to have any chance to set the game.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K 9 4 |
| ♥ |
7 6 4 |
| ♦ |
Q 8 4 3 2 |
| ♣ |
K 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1 ♣ |
Pass |
1 ♥ |
| Pass |
1 ♠ |
Pass |
2 ♥ |
| All Pass |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Leading from the long weak diamond suit may be the default position, since it is the unbid suit, but it is not especially attractive, and I cannot see any reason to lead a trump or a spade. I suppose this argues that the lead of the club king may be the best way to generate tricks fast for the defense.
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].
October 2nd, 2011 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, September 18th, 2011
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
What advice do you have on third-in-hand openings? Does your strategy vary depending on the form of scoring?
— Holly Golightly, Atlanta, Ga.
ANSWER: I may open light at any form of scoring, but I much prefer a decent suit or a decent hand, no matter what the vulnerability. Give me four spades to the K-Q-10 and I might, if feeling frisky, open the hand with nothing else but a four-leaf clover. Conversely, not only is opening a balanced 11-count with four clubs to the jack less pre-emptive, but it often gets partner off to the wrong lead.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Do you agree with my partner’s biding? Holding SPADES Q-J-9, HEARTS A-Q-7-3-2, DIAMONDS K-10-3-2, CLUBS Q, he opened one heart and rebid two diamonds over my two-club response. I bid three clubs, natural and nonforcing, and he tried three no-trump – – down four when clubs were 4-1! I had seven clubs to the ace-jack and the spade ace.
— Over the Top, Bellevue, Wash.
ANSWER: First of all, I agree with your actions — just. You obviously had nothing to spare for your bidding. But your partner had a minimum, an ill-fitting, hand with no source of tricks, and he could foresee the club blockage, even if you had six or seven decent clubs. Clearly, he should have passed three clubs.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
What simple system can you recommend if the opponents double my partner’s Stayman inquiry over either a one- or two-no-trump opening bid?
— Simple Simon, White Plains, N.Y.
ANSWER: Simple, and also maybe best, is to play redouble as a suggestion to play there, pass to deny a club stop, and all other responses normal but showing a club stop. Responder redoubles to use Stayman again, while all other continuations are as they would have been over a (hypothetical) two-diamond response, with two diamonds by responder being natural and nonforcing. |
|
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Should I raise spades at once facing a one-spade opening and holding SPADES J-9-6-4, HEARTS Q-3-2, DIAMONDS A-K-Q-3-2, CLUBS 9? If so, do I make a limit raise, a game-bid, a splinter bid or a Jacoby two-no-trump response?
— Explorer, Kenosha, Wis.
ANSWER: First things first: you are always going to game here even if you don’t always make it, and a jump to four spades is out, since that shows a weak hand. I normally don’t use Jacoby with a source of tricks, and the same logic applies to a splinter bid. But here I’d like partner to take charge so I think the splinter is fine. With the same hand but slightly better spades (maybe Q-J-6-4), I would bid two diamonds, then make the club splinter.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Say you hold a 5-4-2-2 pattern with a five-card minor with 17-19 HCP. If you open your long suit and your partner responds at the one-level, would you bid your second suit at a minimum level, or jump in it? And if you had the choice with five clubs and four diamonds, would you reverse to two diamonds or rebid two no-trump?
— Showing the Range, Seneca, S.C.
ANSWER: With the choice of bidding my major at the one-level, or at the two-level to show 17-18 points, I’d almost always opt for the one-level rebid. My hand has not really been improved by my partner’s bidding my doubleton. With more, the game-forcing jump makes sense. I tend to rebid two no-trump (so long as I have the fourth suit stopped) on the second hand you describe, but with 5-4-3-1 pattern I’d reverse. This hand-pattern is essentially unbalanced. |
If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, e-mail him at [email protected]. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2011.
October 1st, 2011 ~ admin ~ 2 Comments
| Dealer: West
Vul: Both |
North
♠ A 8 7 3
♥ 8 7 3
♦ J 7 6 3
♣ A 9 |
|
| West
♠ K Q 6
♥ A K 10
♦ 10 8 2
♣ 10 5 3 2 |
|
East
♠ 10 4
♥ J 9 5 4 2
♦ 9 5 4
♣ 8 6 4 |
| |
South
♠ J 9 5 2
♥ Q 6
♦ A K Q
♣ K Q J 7 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1 NT* |
Pass |
2 ♦ |
| Dbl.** |
2 ♥ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| 2 ♠ |
Pass |
3 ♠ |
Pass |
| 4 ♠ |
All Pass |
|
|
Opening Lead: Heart King
“Man is only a reed, the weakest thing in nature; but he is a thinking reed.”
— Blaise Pascal
Declarer took all available inferences from the bidding to bring home his four-spade contract, in spite of the tenuous trump holding. West cashed the top two hearts, then continued with the 10, which South ruffed. Declarer could safely assume that West had both the spade king and queen, but as there was no hope for the game if West also held the 10, he placed this card with East.
Declarer entered dummy with the club ace to play a spade to the nine, which drew the queen from West. So far, so good. A diamond was returned — and now came the moment of truth.
Had West started with the bare K-Q of spades? If that were the case, a low spade from hand would net the contract. Or had he begun with K-Q-x in spades? Then the right card to play next would be the jack to smother East’s spade 10.
South assembled the clues. West, had opened one no-trump vulnerable on a 12-count. Conceivably he might not have done so with bare spade honors. Equally, had he held five diamonds, might he have switched to diamonds at trick three, in the hope that East held a singleton and could be given a ruff? Also, the fact that East had five hearts and West only three meant that any side-suit length rated to be with West, not East.
Concluding that West was likelier to have started with three spades, declarer continued with the spade jack — with gratifying results.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 9 5 2 |
| ♥ |
Q 6 |
| ♦ |
A K Q |
| ♣ |
K Q J 7 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 ♣ |
Pass |
1 ♥ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Despite the fact that you have four spades, there is no need to bid the suit yet. The most accurate way to describe your hand is with the jump-rebid of two no-trump, showing 18-19 points. Partner can explore for major-suit fits at his next turn to speak, if he feels so inclined.
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 30th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 4 Comments
| Dealer: East
Vul: Both |
North
♠ 10 9 6 5
♥ K 2
♦ A K Q 5 3
♣ 9 7 |
|
| West
♠ A 8 4 3
♥ 10 8
♦ J 6 4 2
♣ J 6 3 |
|
East
♠ K Q 2
♥ A J 7 5
♦ 10 8 7
♣ 8 5 4 |
| |
South
♠ J 7
♥ Q 9 6 4 3
♦ 9
♣ A K Q 10 2 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
Pass |
| 1 ♥ |
Pass |
2 ♦ |
Pass |
| 3 ♣ |
Pass |
3 ♠ |
Pass |
| 3 NT |
All Pass |
|
|
Opening Lead: Spade 3
“It is not enough to do good; one must do it the right way.”
— Viscount Morley
Do you enjoy measuring your performance against that of the world’s experts? If so, take the East seat and cover up the South and West hands. You will be defending against three no-trump.
Partner leads the spade three (fourth-highest leads) and your queen holds. Where do you go for honey? It can do no harm to cash the spade king, for if South had held the ace, he would have played it on your queen, trying to guarantee a second trick in the suit for his side. Your concern is the whereabouts of the spade jack. If your partner has that card, life should be easy for the defense.
Irritatingly, South produces the jack under your king. South must have most of the outstanding honors, apart from the spade ace, for his bidding. How do you set up an extra trick for your side?
The bottom line is that nothing you do really matters if declarer has a doubleton diamond, but what if he has a singleton diamond? Maybe you can disrupt his communications.
So reasoned Italian World Champion Alfredo Versace, who returned a low diamond to the nine, jack and ace. See the effect of this. Declarer is forced to take dummy’s three diamond tricks before he is ready to do so — which would have been after he had set up a heart trick and not before. Now declarer could not come to nine tricks before the defenders came to five, the fifth being West’s diamond six.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A 8 4 3 |
| ♥ |
10 8 |
| ♦ |
J 6 4 2 |
| ♣ |
J 6 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1 ♣ |
Pass |
| 1 ♠ |
2 ♦ |
2 ♥ |
Pass |
| 3 ♣ |
Pass |
3 ♠ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Your partner has shown significant extras with three spades, four hearts and five clubs. Your three-club call was nonforcing, but even so you do not seem to have anything to spare. You should simply revert to four clubs and let partner move on if he still has something in 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].
September 29th, 2011 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, September 15th, 2011
| Dealer: South
Vul: East-West |
North
♠ K 10 7 5 3
♥ J 6 3
♦ 10 4
♣ Q 5 3 |
|
| West
♠ J 2
♥ Q 10 7 5 2
♦ 9 8 2
♣ 10 9 8 |
|
East
♠ 9 8 4
♥ 8 4
♦ A J 6 5
♣ A J 4 2 |
| |
South
♠ A Q 6
♥ A K 9
♦ K Q 7 3
♣ K 7 6 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 2 NT |
Pass |
3 ♥ |
Pass |
| 3 ♠ |
Pass |
3 NT |
Pass |
| 4 ♠ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: Club 10
“Time is the feathered thing,
And, whilst I praise
The sparklings of thy looks and call them rays,
Takes wing.”
— Jasper Mayne
Sally Brock of England reported this deal, in which she had declared four spades rather than the somewhat easier three no-trump. Brock was not sure she would be buying a balanced hand opposite, but did know of the 5-3 spade fit.
Against four spades, West led the club 10. Brock won in hand and played the spade queen, then the ace, followed by a third trump to dummy. Next, she played a diamond to her king, then exited with a second diamond, which ran to East’s jack.
East now switched accurately to a heart. Brock won with the ace and ruffed a diamond, hoping the ace would fall. When it didn’t, she crossed to her heart king and played the diamond queen, discarding dummy’s heart jack. With nothing left but clubs now, East had to lead around to the club queen.
Subsequently, Brock noted that had she started drawing trumps with the spade ace first and the queen second, then when West’s jack appeared, she could have overtaken her queen with dummy’s king and played a diamond. Another trump to dummy would have allowed her to play a second diamond and come to 10 tricks more easily.
But Brock later considered what might have happened in this variation if West had started with a spade holding of J-9-8-2. Wouldn’t dropping the spade jack on the second round be a terrific falsecard, tempting declarer to overtake — and create a spade loser where none had existed before?
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
9 8 4 |
| ♥ |
8 4 |
| ♦ |
A J 6 5 |
| ♣ |
A J 4 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1 ♣ |
1 ♥ |
Pass |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
2 ♦ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Your hand is certainly good enough for you to raise to three diamonds, rather than tamely passing. The only question is if you have enough to do more than produce the courtesy raise. Calls of both three clubs and two spades would sound like cue-bids in support of diamonds. I think you would need a fifth diamond, or maybe the diamond queen instead of the jack, to be worth either of those actions.
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 28th, 2011 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, September 14th, 2011
| Dealer: South
Vul: East-West |
North
♠ K 10 4
♥ K
♦ A Q J 9 8
♣ A 10 7 5 |
|
| West
♠ Q 7
♥ A Q 4 2
♦ 5 4 3
♣ K J 9 3 |
|
East
♠ 6 2
♥ J 9 8 7 6 5
♦ K 7 6
♣ Q 4 |
| |
South
♠ A J 9 8 5 3
♥ 10 3
♦ 10 2
♣ 8 6 2 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 2 ♠ |
Pass |
4 ♠ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: Club 3
“I accept refreshment at any hands, however lowly.”
— W.S. Gilbert
You might care to plan the play in four spades by South, since at the table some experts found it harder than they should have.
Any West who led the heart ace at trick one gave declarer an easy task. West then switched to a club, but declarer ducked the first club, won the continuation, drew trumps, then took the diamond finesse, losing just one club, one diamond and one heart.
An opening club leads makes it much harder. Superficially, four spades seems to depend (after getting trumps right) on the diamond finesse. Because it was wrong, declarer had to go down.
South was in too much of a hurry to take that diamond finesse. Once declarer has avoided a trump loser, he will have no problems if the diamond finesse is right. The correct line is to duck the first club, win the club continuation, and cash the two top spades. If the spade queen is still outstanding, then declarer must take the diamond finesse; if it is right, he rates to be able to discard all his losers on the diamonds.
However, if trumps are 2-2, South does not need the diamond finesse. He simply plays another club. He knows that clubs are either 3-3 or that they lie as they do. (West would have led the jack from an original jack-doubleton.) West can go in with the king and switch to a diamond, but declarer rises with dummy’s ace and discards his losing diamond on dummy’s club 10.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K 10 4 |
| ♥ |
K |
| ♦ |
A Q J 9 8 |
| ♣ |
A 10 7 5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 ♦ |
Pass |
1 ♥ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: There are three promising candidates. You might jump to two no-trump, force to game with a jump to three clubs, or go low with a bid of two clubs. If your partner had responded in your three-card suit, you might force to game, but here your hand has gotten worse, not better. A simple two clubs is surely enough for the time being. Give me the spade jack instead of the 10 and I’d bid two 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].
September 27th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 5 Comments
| Dealer: East
Vul: Both |
North
♠ K Q 7 6 4
♥ Q 10 3
♦ K 6 3
♣ K 2 |
|
| West
♠ A 9 8
♥ A K 7 6 2
♦ 9 8 5
♣ 7 4 |
|
East
♠ J 5
♥ J 9 4
♦ 7 2
♣ Q J 9 6 5 3 |
| |
South
♠ 10 3 2
♥ 8 5
♦ A Q J 10 4
♣ A 10 8 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
Pass |
| 1 ♦ |
1 ♥ |
2 ♦* |
Pass |
| 2 ♠ |
Pass |
3 NT |
Pass |
| 4 ♠ |
All Pass |
|
|
Opening Lead: Heart King
“If you give to a thief he cannot steal from you, and he is then no longer a thief.”
— William Saroyan
Today’s deal comes from this year’s trials to select the Australian team for the Asia-Pacific Bridge Championships. Both teams declared four spades, but at one table it was played by North. Despite his partner’s overcall, East thought it might be a good idea to lead from his club sequence. He knows better now!
Declarer simply won in dummy and led a spade to his hand, then crossed back to dummy with a diamond to play a second spade. He made 10 tricks with the minimum of fuss.
Where the auction was as shown, North-South were playing transfers after intervention, so had an artificial way to show spades after the one-heart overcall. That put West, Bruce Neill, on lead, and when he saw dummy hit with a full opening bid, he decided his best chance to set the game was to find his partner with the spade jack. He pressed on with two more rounds of hearts, letting South win dummy’s heart queen and lead a club to hand to play a spade up. Neill hopped up with the ace and played a fourth heart, leaving declarer to guess whether to ruff high and try to drop the spade jack, or whether to discard from dummy in the hope that West had the spade jack. He guessed wrong — and regardless of whether he followed the percentage line or not, I think West deserved to set the game because he had at least given declarer the chance to go wrong.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
10 3 2 |
| ♥ |
8 5 |
| ♦ |
A Q J 10 4 |
| ♣ |
A 10 8 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1 ♣ |
Pass |
| 1 ♦ |
Pass |
1 ♠ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: You have no easy way to show your invitational values and no guaranteed fit. You are too good for a simple club preference, so the choice is to rebid three diamonds (promising a six-card suit) or to jump to three clubs. The latter would be my choice, since my partner’s one-spade rebid over one diamond strongly suggested an unbalanced hand. He would have rebid one no-trump if 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].
September 26th, 2011 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Monday, September 12th, 2011
| Dealer: South
Vul: North-South |
North
♠ Q 6
♥ A J 3 2
♦ K J 10 4
♣ 10 5 4 |
|
| West
♠ 7 5
♥ K 10 6
♦ A Q 9 8 2
♣ K Q J |
|
East
♠ J 9 2
♥ 8
♦ 7 6 5
♣ 9 8 7 6 3 2 |
| |
South
♠ A K 10 8 4 3
♥ Q 9 7 5 4
♦ 3
♣ A |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 ♠ |
Dbl. |
Rdbl. |
3 ♣* |
| 3 ♥ |
Pass |
4 ♥ |
Pass |
| 4 NT |
Pass |
5 ♦ |
Pass |
| 6 ♥ |
All Pass |
|
|
Opening Lead: Club King
“Dear hope! Earth’s dowry, and heaven’s debt!
The entity of those that are not yet.”
— Richard Crashaw
You might have avoided playing an anti-percentage heart slam today if you had been using Keycard Blackwood, when the trump king counts as an ace. But once you are there, you’d better make your slam!
The play of this hand revolves around the trump suit. Had there been no bidding, the normal play in hearts would be low to the jack. If both follow low, the ace is played, and on a good day the suit will be 2-2. If East plays the 10 under the jack, the closed hand can be re-entered for a lead of the queen through West’s king.
However, West’ takeout double of one major pretty much guaranteed support for the other. So you should play West for at least three hearts. If he has four hearts or the K-10-8, you are a dead man walking. However, if West has the heart K-10-6 or the K-8-6, you are alive and well.
Lead the heart queen at trick two, which will surely be covered. If East plays the heart six, you have no recourse. However, if East produces the heart eight or 10, re-enter the closed hand to lead the heart nine, repeating the finesse and almost certainly picking up the suit for no losers. As an added bonus, after drawing trumps, you will make an overtrick if spades break 3-2 or the jack is singleton. You can pitch four diamonds from dummy on four spades, eventually ruffing your singleton diamond in dummy!
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K J 7 |
| ♥ |
6 4 3 2 |
| ♦ |
J 10 2 |
| ♣ |
A 10 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
Pass |
1 ♦ |
| Pass |
2 ♦ |
Dbl. |
3 ♦ |
| All Pass |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: A trump lead looks sensible, in case declarer wants to try to ruff a major in dummy. If you lead a trump, you should choose a small one, in case your partner has a singleton king or queen. That way you avoid crashing his honor and setting up a finesse against your remaining honor.
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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