August 9th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 9 Comments 
| Vulnerable: North-South
Dealer: East |
North
♠ A K 7
♥ J 4 3
♦ K Q J 5
♣ J 4 2 |
|
| West
♠ 9 8 6 4
♥ 9 2
♦ A 3 2
♣ 10 8 5 3 |
 |
East
♠ 3
♥ A K Q 7 6
♦ 9 8 7 6
♣ Q 7 6 |
| |
South
♠ Q J 10 5 2
♥ 10 8 5
♦ 10 4
♣ A K 9 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
|
1 ♥ |
| 1 ♠ |
Pass |
2 ♥ |
Pass |
| 2 ♠ |
Pass |
3 ♠ |
All pass |
Opening Lead: Heart nine
“Readers, be ruled by me; and make
Here a well-placed and wise mistake.
You must transpose the picture quite,
And spell it wrong to read it right.”
— Richard Crashaw
Everyone knows that bridge is an easy game (at least on paper). In real life, it’s not so easy. Consider this deal from the second qualifying session of last summer’s Von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs.
North had already earned his side a good score by stopping in three spades. Let’s go through the play — you can add your comments.
West led the heart nine to East’s king. East cashed the heart queen, then the ace, suggesting mild suit-preference for clubs. West pitched an encouraging diamond, so East shifted to a diamond to the ace. West returned a club, and declarer claimed. Who goofed?
West “knew” declarer had five spades, two club winners and two diamonds. How to keep declarer from scoring the diamonds? West must win the diamond and return the suit. Now declarer has no entries to diamonds outside the trump suit when spades turn out to be 4-1. A double finesse in clubs doesn’t work, so declarer is down.
Note that at trick four if East avoids the fatal club shift, but plays a trump instead, declarer can succeed by force. Declarer plays three rounds of trump, ending in dummy after getting the bad news. Next he plays the club jack, covered by the queen and ace, then pulls West’s last trump and leads a diamond. West must duck, but is endplayed on the second round of diamonds, forced to lead a diamond, or a club into declarer’s K-9.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
A K 7 |
| ♥ |
J 4 3 |
| ♦ |
K Q J 5 |
| ♣ |
J 4 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
Pass |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: There is a case to be made for opening one diamond,in third seat to get your partner off to the right lead and to avoid setting yourself up for a penalty. Then again, you may miss a game if you treat your hand as a balanced minimum, and equally you let the opponents into the auction far more comfortably. I could take either side of this argument!
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 8th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 4 Comments
| Vulnerable: North-South
Dealer: North |
North
♠ 9 7
♥ K Q 10 2
♦ 10 9 8 7
♣ 10 5 3 |
|
| West
♠ 5 2
♥ 9 6 5 4
♦ A K J 5 3
♣ J 2 |
|
East
♠ Q 10 3
♥ A J 8
♦ Q 6 2
♣ Q 9 7 6 |
| |
South
♠ A K J 8 6 4
♥ 7 3
♦ 4
♣ A K 8 4 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
Pass |
Pass |
| 4 ♠ |
All pass |
|
|
Opening Lead: Diamond king
“There is a pleasure in poetic pains
Which only poets know.”
— William Cowper
With the U.S. Nationals being played all week in Toronto, all this week’s deals come from last year’s championships in New Orleans.
Two highly capable declarers, one a former world champion, missed the extra chance that would have brought the four-spade contract home. When West led two top diamonds, both declarers simply ruffed, forced a dummy entry in hearts, then took the spade finesse. After drawing trump without loss, they played three rounds of clubs, but when East turned up with four clubs to the Q-9, they were one down.
The extra chance is to find East with the spade 10 as well as the queen. Play three rounds of clubs before touching trump. When you regain the lead, you can ruff the fourth club in dummy and take the spade finesse.
Could this play cost your contract? Well, not if clubs are 3-3, but if West has the spade 10 and either player has a doubleton consisting of two of the top three missing clubs, the defense may get a trump promotion when you would have succeeded with the more straightforward line.
The answer is to cash one top club at trick three. If the queen, jack or nine appears, revert to Plan A, leading a heart to dummy to take the spade finesse. If only low clubs appear, continue with a second and third round of clubs. And if a defender has played the club nine from a doubleton nine, good luck to him!
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
A 7 2 |
| ♥ |
K J 9 7 5 3 |
| ♦ |
J 4 2 |
| ♣ |
4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 2 ♥ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
3 NT |
| All pass |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Despite the fact that you have a sure side-entry, this hand looks wrong for a heart lead. Your partner had a chance to raise and did not do so, and your RHO’s jump to the no-trump game argues for discretion. The choice is between the spades and diamonds. The fact that the opponents have not looked to play spades persuades me to lead that suit; I’d lead the two, of course.
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 7th, 2011 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday July 24th, 2011
| Dear Mr Wolff:
You’ve mentioned McCabe in a recent answer as a gadget available after the opponents intervene over your partner’s weak-two bid. Can you run through this in greater detail please?
— Detail-Oriented, Honolulu, Hawaii
ANSWER: McCabe only applies after a weak-two is doubled by the next hand. Responder can pass, bid a new suit at the two-level, or raise naturally. Redouble shows a good hand, a new suit at the three-level shows tolerance for partner and is lead-directing, jumps are fit-showing with a real side-suit. To sign off in a minor, bid two no-trump to puppet three clubs from your partner. This method lets you help partner in the auction and on lead.
Dear Mr Wolff:
Is there a penalty when a player who is not the dealer reaches into the bidding box for a call, but is corrected before the bid hits the table? Her partner did not see the precise bid, but knew she was going to open.
— Jumping the Gun, Macon, Ga.
ANSWER: I take a very relaxed view here. Yes, there is some unauthorized information to the bidder’s partner, but not enough to influence the likely course of events. As an opponent I’d tell the partner to ignore what she’d seen, and just make her normal call.
Dear Mr Wolff:
I have a problem in carding as a defender on the second round of a suit partner has led. Should I signal attitude, count, or suit preference?
— Semaphore, White Plains, N.Y.
ANSWER: You never ever give attitude on the second round of a suit. Sometimes — perhaps half the time, or even more — your signal on the second round will show count, but only when that might be relevant to your partner. In the other cases in the early play there may be some suit preference signaling — a high card for the higher of the other side-suits and a low card for the lower suit.
| |
Dear Mr Wolff:
In a recent problem, you held SPADES K-8-4, HEARTS Q-5-4-2, DIAMONDS A-3-2, CLUBS 10-7-6. What are the merits of raising a one-heart opening to two, as opposed to making a limit raise to three hearts?
— Level-Headed, Kenosha, Wis.
ANSWER: Before we start, let’s agree that this hand is on the cusp of those two actions. It is indeed for that reason that Bergen raises (which differentiate between pre-emptive, mixed and limit raises) have become popular. But in the absence of such methods, I have three key-cards for partner, so will stretch to a limit bid of three hearts. Switch the location of my queen and king, and two hearts is enough, since the queen might be nearly worthless.
Dear Mr Wolff:
What qualifications should a suit satisfy for a pre-empt on opening bid as opposed to the qualifications for a pre-emptive overcall?
— Feeling Jumpy, Huntington, W.Va.
ANSWER: My position may not be entirely logical, but I tend to open pre-empts only with decent suits or with extra playing strength when vulnerable or in second seat. At favorable vulnerability I’m less disciplined than when both sides are nonvulnerable. When vulnerable, my jump overcalls might be closer to intermediate strength, but nonvulnerable I might yield to temptation and act to get in the opponents’ way with a less appetizing holding.
|
If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, e-mail him at [email protected]. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2011.
August 6th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 2 Comments
| Vulnerable: East-West
Dealer: South |
North
♠ A 7
♥ J 6 3
♦ J 5
♣ Q J 9 6 4 2 |
|
| West
♠ Q J 9 3
♥ A 4
♦ K 9 8 7 3 2
♣ K |
|
East
♠ 8 4 2
♥ Q 10 2
♦ Q 6
♣ A 10 8 7 3 |
| |
South
♠ K 10 6 5
♥ K 9 8 7 5
♦ A 10 4
♣ 5 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 ♥ |
2 ♦ |
2 ♥ |
Pass |
| Pass |
2 ♠ |
3 ♣ |
Dbl. |
| 3 ♥ |
All pass |
|
|
Opening Lead: Heart ace
“To give an accurate and exhaustive account of that period would need a far less brilliant pen than mine.”
— Max Beerbohm
Jeff Meckstroth produces breathtaking coups with remarkable regularity — put yourself in his shoes as declarer in the following deal from the Cavendish pairs.
Against three hearts, Tim Cope led ace and another trump after Meckstroth had opened systemically on very light values. Meckstroth could now infer that West held four spades and six diamonds, with a probable singleton club honor (no club lead) and with the diamond honors split (no top diamond lead).
At trick three he led his singleton club, won the return of the spade queen in dummy, and advanced the club queen, covered and ruffed. What next?
Playing on diamonds lets East win and draw a third round of trump. Similarly, ruffing a spade in dummy will bring declarer to eight tricks, but not to nine. Meckstroth found the spectacular coup of leading the spade 10 from hand — be honest, would you have thought of it? If West takes the trick and leads a spade back (a diamond is no better), declarer wins, pitching a diamond from dummy. He plays the diamond ace, ruffs a diamond, ruffs a club, and leads his losing heart to endplay East, who has to lead a club into dummy’s tenace.
At the table West ducked the spade 10, hoping his partner had the king. That simply let Meckstroth cash the spade king to pitch a diamond, then take the diamond ace and a diamond ruff and cash the top club in dummy with a heart trick to come, for nine tricks.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
K 10 6 5 |
| ♥ |
K 9 8 7 5 |
| ♦ |
A 10 4 |
| ♣ |
5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 ♦ |
Pass |
| 1 ♥ |
Pass |
2 ♣ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: With your decent diamond support and useful ruffing values, the chances for making game look fractionally too good to me to suggest simple preference to two diamonds, and you are somewhat short of trumps for a limit raise to three diamonds. The middle position is to invite with a call of two no-trump. You can still get to either red suit if it is right to do so.
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 5th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 4 Comments
| Vulnerable: Both
Dealer: North |
North
♠ K
♥ A Q 10 8
♦ Q 8 6 4 3
♣ A 4 3 |
|
| West
♠ 10 7 6 5
♥ J 7 3 2
♦ K 10 9 5
♣ 9 |
|
East
♠ 9 3 2
♥ K 5
♦ A J
♣ Q J 10 8 7 6 |
| |
South
♠ A Q J 8 4
♥ 9 6 4
♦ 7 2
♣ K 5 2 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 ♦ |
2 ♣ |
| 2 ♠ |
Pass |
3 ♥ |
Pass |
| 3 NT |
All pass |
|
|
Opening Lead: Club nine
“Hopes, what are they? — Beads of morning
Strung on slender blades of grass;
Or a spider’s web adorning
In a strait and treacherous pass.”
— William Wordsworth
Appreciating that he could not afford a wrong guess in hearts, the successful declarer in today’s deal remembered the bidding and came to the right conclusion.
Defending against three no-trump, West obediently led his singleton club in response to his partner’s bid. Declarer won with dummy’s ace to preserve the club king as an entry to the blocked spades, then cashed the spade king and considered his next move carefully. Declarer expected that the missing heart honors would be split and, in light of the vulnerable overcall, East was more likely to hold the king than the jack.
If this was indeed the case, declarer could not afford to use his last club stopper to run the spades before broaching hearts. Although East might come under pressure on the run of the spades, the position would be hard to read.
So South made the key play of exiting from dummy with the heart queen at trick three. East took his king and returned a top club. South won, ran the spades, then successfully finessed against West’s heart jack for his contact. In the end declarer emerged with seven black-suit winners and three heart tricks for a somewhat improbable overtrick.
(Incidentally, had the spades broken poorly, with West being 5-4 in the majors, declarer would have been able to run the heart nine and remain in hand to repeat the heart finesse to generate three tricks from the suit.)
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
K |
| ♥ |
A Q 10 8 |
| ♦ |
Q 8 6 4 3 |
| ♣ |
A 4 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 ♦ |
Pass |
1 ♠ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: If you are allowed opener to rebid one no-trump with a singleton in your partner’s suit (and if you are not, why aren’t you?), you have no problem here. Yes, this call technically shows 12-14 points, not 15 — but this hand equates to a minimum, with the singleton king not pulling its weight. Consolation award goes to a two-club call, NOT to a reverse to two hearts or a rebid of two diamonds!
For details of Bobby Wolff’s autobiography, The Lone Wolff, contact [email protected]. If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, please leave a comment at this blog. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2011. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
August 4th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 5 Comments
| Vulnerable: North-South
Dealer: South |
North
♠ Q 9 8 7 4
♥ A 9 2
♦ 10 4
♣ K 8 2 |
|
| West
♠ 6
♥ K Q 10 6
♦ K Q 7 2
♣ J 7 5 4 |
|
East
♠ K 10 5 3 2
♥ J 7 5 4
♦ J 9 3
♣ 3 |
| |
South
♠ A J
♥ 8 3
♦ A 8 6 5
♣ A Q 10 9 6 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
2 ♥ |
Pass |
| 2 ♠ |
Pass |
3 NT |
All pass |
Opening Lead: Heart queen
“And none can read the text, not even I;
And none can read the comment but myself.”
— Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Try to familiarize yourself with your opponents’ carding methods. Nevena Senior did so to her advantage on this deal.
The popular contract was three no-trump declared by South, most commonly on the lead of a top heart and continuation. Most declarers correctly won the third heart, then took the spade finesse. Next, they played the club ace and a club to the king, but when it turned out that West had the guarded club jack, eight tricks was the limit.
Senior, too, ducked the first two hearts and won the third, reading the suit to be 4-4 when East encouraged at the first trick but had not produced the jack. She continued with the spade finesse, and next cashed the ace, in case East had started with the doubleton king. When West discarded a diamond on the second spade, declarer paused to regroup.
Had West held five diamonds, she felt that it was at least possible that he would have preferred that attack initially, so she placed him with four of these as well. That left four spaces in West’s hand, which had to be filled by clubs.
So, Senior cashed a top club in hand to cater for a singleton jack with East, then successfully finessed dummy’s club eight. After cashing the king, she returned to her hand with the diamond ace and ran the clubs for nine tricks and her contract, as well as most of the matchpoints.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
A J |
| ♥ |
8 3 |
| ♦ |
A 8 6 5 |
| ♣ |
A Q 10 9 6 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 ♠ |
Pass |
| 2 ♣ |
Pass |
2 ♠ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Partner’s rebid does not guarantee six spades, but the more space he has to introduce a second suit at the two-level or bid two no-trump, the more likely it is that a rebid shows six, not a good five-carder. However, you do not really care either way. A simple forcing raise to three spades describes this hand well enough. If you play that sequence as nonforcing, bid three diamonds to create a force.
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 3rd, 2011 ~ admin ~ 11 Comments
| Vulnerable: Neither
Dealer: East |
North
♠ A J 3
♥ 9 7 4
♦ K J 7 4
♣ J 7 4 |
|
| West
♠ 9 2
♥ A K Q 10 8
♦ 10 5 2
♣ Q 10 6 |
|
East
♠ Q 10 8 7 5
♥ J 6 3 2
♦ —
♣ 9 5 3 2 |
| |
South
♠ K 6 4
♥ 5
♦ A Q 9 8 6 3
♣ A K 8 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
|
Pass |
| 1 ♦ |
1 ♥ |
2 ♥ |
4 ♥ |
| 5 ♦ |
All pass |
|
|
Opening Lead: Heart king
“Rationalism is an adventure in the clarification of thought.”
— Alfred Whitehead
Heather Dhondy of the English ladies’ team has the most extraordinary record in the Grandmasters Pairs over the past five years, having finished second, third, first, second and second. For the last four years Heather has played with Rob Cliffe, who read this deal from last year’s event very well.
One note about the auction: North’s two-heart cue-bid showed a limit raise to three diamonds, a fairly standard treatment these days in the tournament world. A raise to three diamonds would have been pre-emptive, not limit.
West, Brian Senior, led the heart king, on which East, Sandra Penfold, played the two, showing an even number (reverse count). West continued with another top heart, ruffed by declarer, who crossed to dummy with a trump, ruffed the last heart, and drew the rest of West’s trumps.
East, who had had to find three discards, had thrown a spade followed by two clubs. It seemed to declarer that she had probably started with a 5-4-0-4 distribution without the club queen. Consequently, declarer cashed the ace and king of clubs followed by the two top spades and exited with a spade to endplay East.
At this point West complained, saying, “I’m not too familiar with these positions, but I think it’s etiquette to endplay the gentleman.”
Indeed, declarer could equally well have endplayed West by exiting with a club, and that endplay would have been obligatory had East kept three clubs.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
K 6 4 |
| ♥ |
5 |
| ♦ |
A Q 9 8 6 3 |
| ♣ |
A K 8 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 ♦ |
Pass |
1 ♠ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: There are two schools of thought here among those who (correctly) consider this hand too good for a simple two-diamond rebid. The super-scientists prefer to invent a two-club call, generating complexity where none is required. The naturalists simply jump to three diamonds to get their values across. Put me in their camp!
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 2nd, 2011 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, July 19th, 2011
| Vulnerable: Both
Dealer: East |
North
♠ A K J 10
♥ 10 8
♦ Q J 4 3 2
♣ K Q |
|
| West
♠ 9 7 6 4
♥ 5
♦ K 9 7 6
♣ J 9 6 3 |
|
East
♠ 5 2
♥ Q J 6 2
♦ A 10
♣ 10 8 7 5 2 |
| |
South
♠ Q 8 3
♥ A K 9 7 4 3
♦ 8 5
♣ A 4 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
|
Pass |
| 1 ♥ |
Pass |
1 ♠ |
Pass |
| 2 ♥ |
Pass |
4 ♥ |
All pass |
Opening Lead: Diamond six
“On gods or fools the high risk falls — on you —
The clean clear bitter-sweet that’s not for me.”
— Rupert Brooke
As opening leader when you want to protect a vulnerable trump holding against a finesse, you might try to steer declarer off course by leading a card he may think is a singleton. Now he might reject the finesse for fear of allowing the defensive ruff. Sometimes the distraction can be even more blatant.
As East, defending four hearts, you win the diamond lead and should assume that partner has the diamond king, or he would have led a higher spot-card. There is no room for any high card in his hand but that one, so the key to the defense will be to try to take two trump tricks. Your best shot to do that may be to shift to the spade two at trick two. Declarer will win the trick and surely assume that the spades are 5-1.
A likely line for him might be to cash the heart ace and then cross to dummy in clubs to lead the heart 10. When you follow low imperturbably, will he finesse, playing you for a genius, or will he fear that if West wins the second trump, he can give you a spade ruff to set the hand? It may depend on whether you have managed to put one over on him before.
The same maneuver is available if you hold K-Q-x of trump. Simulating a singleton may prevent declarer from taking a first-round finesse with a combined 9- or 10-card trump holding, for fear of running into a ruff.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
A K J 10 |
| ♥ |
10 8 |
| ♦ |
Q J 4 3 2 |
| ♣ |
K Q |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 ♦ |
Pass |
1 ♥ |
Pass |
| 1 ♠ |
Pass |
2 ♦ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: You have a little extra in hand here, but your doubleton club honors and weak diamond spots argue for caution. If you were going to bid on, I prefer a bid of two no-trump to a reraise to three diamonds, but given that partner did not invite game, I’d pass reluctantly.
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 1st, 2011 ~ admin ~ 6 Comments
| Vulnerable: East-West
Dealer: North |
North
♠ A 5
♥ A 7 4
♦ A Q 8 6 2
♣ 6 3 2 |
|
| West
♠ K Q 4
♥ 9
♦ 9 5 3
♣ A Q J 10 8 4 |
|
East
♠ J 10 9 7 3 2
♥ Q 5 2
♦ 10 4
♣ 9 5 |
| |
South
♠ 8 6
♥ K J 10 8 6 3
♦ K J 7
♣ K 7 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 ♦ |
Pass |
| 1 ♥ |
2 ♣ |
Dbl.* |
Pass |
| 4 ♥ |
All pass |
|
|
*Support double, showing three hearts
Opening Lead: Spade king
“I hope our young men will not grow into such dodgers as these old men are. I believe everything a young man says to me.”
— William Jowett
Bridge is full of technical jargon, but some terms are more abstruse than others. For example, does the Devil’s Coup evoke a mental image of the play involved? I thought not.
However, there are some strategies whose names do conjure up the play that needs to be found, such as “avoidance play.” Consider today’s deal in four hearts on the lead of the spade king, where proper technique will see declarer producing two avoidance plays.
As declarer you can see that there is a risk of four losers (one in each major and two in clubs), but that you can almost insure your contract by keeping East off lead for the unwelcome club shift. Hence the need for the avoidance strategy.
You duck the top spade lead to prevent West from underleading his spade queen to East’s jack. You win the spade continuation and cash the heart ace. The play is simple in the extreme if either defender shows out or produces the trump queen. Assuming that does not happen, you must next lead a trump and cover East’s card. That might let West score a trick with his doubleton heart queen, whereupon he can hold you to 10 tricks by cashing the club ace. However, your contract is safe, and you have protected yourself against a layout like the one shown in the diagram, where playing a trump to the king would be fatal.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
10 6 3 |
| ♥ |
K 8 6 |
| ♦ |
K 7 |
| ♣ |
Q 9 7 5 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
1 ♥ |
Pass |
1 ♠ |
| Pass |
2 ♥ |
Pass |
3 ♠ |
| Pass |
4 ♠ |
All pass |
|
ANSWER: Which minor to attack? Given that both major suits seem to be lying well for declarer, I’d be prepared to go all out and lead the diamond king, hoping to hit a home run, but prepared to strike out. I’ve done it before! The club lead looks too slow: You might set up a trick but probably won’t be able to cash it.
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].
July 31st, 2011 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, July 17th, 2011
| Dear Mr Wolff:
If the opponents bid two suits, or imply two suits via a cue-bid or the equivalent, what does bidding the opponents’ suits mean?
— Echo Canyon, Elmira, N.Y.
ANSWER: This is a big topic. Let’s start with Unusual Over Unusual. If the opponents make a Michaels cue-bid or use the unusual no-trump, we have two suits we can cue-bid. Best (by no means entirely standard) is to use the highest available cue-bid below three of our suit as a limit raise. The other cue-bid shows the fourth (unbid) suit in a good hand, while bidding the fourth suit directly is natural and nonforcing. I’ll come back to this topic.
Dear Mr Wolff:
I held SPADES K-6-5, HEARTS A-Q-9-5-2, DIAMONDS Q-8, CLUBS A-6-3. Meanwhile my LHO opened a weak two diamonds, and my partner overcalled two no-trump to show a strong no-trump. I now wanted to get to slam but was not sure how. I actually chose Stayman, then bid six no-trump when no heart fit came to light. But six hearts was far and away our best spot.
— At Loose Ends, Kansas City, Mo.
ANSWER: Assuming you play the same methods responding to an overcall of two no-trump as you would for the opening bid, I think the best approach is to transfer to hearts, then jump to five no-trump to offer a choice of slams. I could easily imagine that our best slam was any of the four strains other than diamonds. Your partner can raise hearts, bid his own five-carder, or settle for six no-trump.
Dear Mr Wolff:
Do you approve of third hand taking time before playing to the first trick no matter what his holding? What if third hand wants to think about the hand but has a singleton in the suit led?
— Marking Time, Seattle, Wash.
ANSWER: This is a knotty problem. I like to plan my defense and will therefore pause at trick one, especially if declarer plays fast from the board. With a singleton I may comment that I’m thinking about the whole hand, or instead play in tempo but then pause at the end of trick one.
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Dear Mr Wolff:
In first seat I passed with SPADES Q-5-4, HEARTS A-J-7-3-2, DIAMONDS A-10-7, CLUBS 9-4 and heard my partner open one spade in third chair. We do play Drury in response, but would you take that action here? Would it be enough if your partner signs off in two spades over your two-club bid?
— Uphill Stall, Pittsburgh, Pa.
ANSWER: To recap: When you pass and partner opens a major, a two-club response shows a maximum pass and a fit. Opener (if you are using Reverse Drury, as most do these days) signs off in two of the major, or bids two diamonds artificially to show game interest, with all higher direct actions being slam tries. Using Drury with your hand is fine. You plan to pass the two-spade response; or you can jump to three hearts, which, by a passed hand, should be a spade fit and a good heart suit.
Dear Mr Wolff:
I did not know how to handle the following “powerhouse”: SPADES 4, HEARTS 10-2, DIAMONDS K-10-7-6, CLUBS Q-10-9-4-3-2. With both sides vulnerable I heard one spade on my right, two spades on my left, and double from my partner. After the opponents raised to three spades, I passed and my partner balanced with a second double. What does that mean? What should I have done?
— Stymied, Duluth, Minn.
ANSWER: The second double is extras, and still takesout. I’m torn between jumping to five clubs and bidding four no-trump (not Blackwood, but asking partner to pick a minor). The hand rates to play better partner’s way up, and in a 4-4 fit, rather than a 5-3 club fit. In context you have a GREAT hand.
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If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, e-mail him at [email protected]. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2011.
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