The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, July 16th, 2011

July 30th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  8 Comments 

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

 

South	West	North	East
1 NT	Pass	2 ♥	Pass
2 ♠	Pass	4 ♦*	Dbl.
4 ♥	Pass	4 ♠	Pass
5 ♣	Pass	6 ♠	All pass

*Slam-try with short diamonds

Opening Lead: Diamond jack

“It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers.”

— James Thurber

With the North cards facing a strong no-trump, one would normally transfer to spades, then bid and rebid hearts to show 6-5 or 5-5 and slam interest. Here, however, the quality of the spades compared to the hearts persuaded North to treat his hand as a single-suited slam-try with spades and short diamonds, essentially ignoring hearts altogether. This slightly unconventional approach worked perfectly, when a subsequent exchange of cuebids got South to what appeared to be a laydown slam, but one that was threatened by the hostile breaks in both majors.

West predictably kicked off with the diamond jack. Declarer ruffed, then drew trump in four rounds, as East came under severe pressure. If he had discarded a heart, it would have been easy to set up and cash out that suit, so he discarded all three of his diamonds, then a low club. Now South led a heart to the queen, prepared to claim 12 tricks. He had to reassess the position when the 5-0 break came to light, but found an elegant solution when he cashed the heart ace and 10.

East had to duck this trick or dummy would effectively be high. But declarer next played the club ace, a diamond ruff to dummy, and the heart jack, discarding the master club! East could win this trick, but now had to give the lead to dummy at trick 12.

Had East pitched his clubs on the trumps, cashing the ace and king of clubs would have created a very similar position.

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 15th, 2011

July 29th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  7 Comments 

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

 

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

Opening Lead: Club queen

“Still here I carry my old delicious burdens;

— Walt Whitman

Today’s deal is from the 2007 Round Robin encounter between regular Bermuda Bowl finals protagonists, Italy and USA2. The American South had achieved a coup in the auction, keeping his opponents out of their makable four-spade game. Could he do even better by bringing home 10 tricks himself in the heart game?

When West led the club queen, South won in dummy, and with endplay possibilities in mind, cashed the diamond ace, collecting the king from East. Declarer drew trump with the ace and king, then exited with a diamond. West won, cashed two diamonds, then played a spade. That was a tame one-off.

By contrast, Steen Moller, playing for Denmark in the Seniors Bowl, showed how to make the game. He too received the lead of the club queen. Moller won with the ace, cashed the heart ace, then also continued with the diamond ace. Now Moller drew the last trump with dummy’s jack, then, reading both the club queen and diamond king as singletons, followed with a low club, discarding a spade from hand and leaving East endplayed.

East could think of nothing better to do than take his spade ace and return a spade. Moller won in dummy, discarding a diamond from hand, then ruffed a club.

Re-entering dummy with a heart, Moller now played dummy’s last club, the jack. East covered, and South threw his penultimate diamond. Endplayed yet again, East was forced to give Moller a ruff and discard — and away went declarer’s final diamond. Contract made!

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 14th, 2011

July 28th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  11 Comments 

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

 

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

Opening Lead: A low club

“Eye Nature’s walks, shoot folly as it flies,

— Alexander Pope

At the Dyspeptics Club the player shown in today’s West seat is regarded as something of a loose cannon. You never know in which direction he is going to be shooting, and as East will tell you, quite often he has been the victim of “friendly fire.” However, in today’s deal it was South who took something of a mortal wound, and despite repeated and loaded questions, was never able to discover if he was the victim of malice or a lucky accident.

Before I tell you precisely what happened, consider the play in three no-trump when West leads a fourth-highest club six.

Declarer takes East’s jack with his king and infers from the spot led that West has four clubs ready to cash as soon as the defenders get on lead. The best chance for the contract will therefore be to run the spades with the aid of a finesse. (This line succeeds whenever West has the spade queen in a two- or three-card suit. Playing for that layout, South would emerge with nine tricks.)

But compare what happened at the table when West kicked off with a deceptive club two. Now declarer believed clubs were breaking 4-3, so it was safe for him to knock out the diamond ace rather than rely on the spades. West won his diamond ace and impassively cashed out the clubs.

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 13th, 2011

July 27th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, July 13th, 2011 

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

 

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

Opening Lead: Diamond jack

“The difficult we do immediately. The impossible takes a little longer.”

— Slogan of U.S. Army Service Forces

Eddie Kantar recently showed me a deal where everyone told him he couldn’t have made his slam, only for him to discover a day later that the hand was cold. When Eddie reminded me of the deal (I was on the Dallas Aces, and one of his opponents), I thought I’d give you the challenge too. Cover up the East-West hands.

Kantar believes in opening one club with really strong hands that have 5-5 in the black suits. As it happened, this helped him wind up in six clubs, a great contract, but how would you have played it? West started with jack-third of trumps, East a singleton.

Kantar simply drew trump and took two spade finesses, and went down. But afterwards he decided he should have won the opening lead in dummy with the queen, played the heart ace, discarding a spade, and ruffed a heart, stripping that suit. Next would come the three top clubs followed by overtaking the diamond king with dummy’s ace, leaving the diamond 10 as a return entry to his hand.

With West stripped of safe-red suit exits, the stage is set to lead a spade to the jack. As it happens, West has both spade honors, so the best he can do is win and exit with a heart, yielding a ruff-sluff. Kantar could have ruffed with his last trump, discarding a spade from dummy. The spade ace and a spade ruff set up the spades, with the diamond 10 a re-entry to the South hand.

For details of Bobby Wolff’s autobiography, The Lone Wolff, contact [email protected]. If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, please leave a comment at this blog. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2011. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].

The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, July 12th, 2011

July 26th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  5 Comments 

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

 

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

Opening Lead: Diamond king

“Be good, sweet maid, and let who will be clever;

— Charles Kingsley

Bridge has an internal logic that not everyone embraces and that is not purely a matter of intelligence. After a certain length of time, either you get it or you don’t. On the upcoming deal, West was one of those player who got it.

West’s second double was for takeout, showing extras — usually at least a king more than an opening bid. East properly responded in his four-card major at the two-level rather than the five-card minor at the three-level. West is supposed to have spades when he makes a takeout double of hearts.

Against three hearts, West started smartly with three rounds of diamonds, East ruffing. East exited with the club jack, which went to declarer’s ace. Now comes the crux of the deal: West knows that South is about to draw trump and discard a club on the diamond 10. West also knows that South has the spade ace from the bidding. If East had four spades to the ace along with five clubs, he would have bid two spades over two hearts. So what does it all mean?

It means that if West plays a low club under the ace, declarer will draw trump, discard a club from dummy on the diamond 10, and exit with a club, which West must win. Now West has to lead away from the spade king. Result: misery! However, if West has unblocked his club king under the ace, he can allow East to win the club exit and return a spade. Result: happiness!

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, July 11th, 2011

July 25th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  2 Comments 

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

 

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

Opening Lead: Club six

“Times go by turns, and chances change by course,

— Robert Southwell

Today’s South considered himself unlucky to have gone down in four spades, but received little sympathy from his partner. Can you do better? Plan the play in four spades after the defenders play three rounds of clubs.

This looks like a very simple hand, but declarer must be careful. If he draws trumps straightaway, he will go down when spades break 4-2, for he will never make the heart trick he needs for his contract. When a defender wins the heart ace, he is likely to have a club to cash, since you will be out of trumps altogether. This was what happened to our unlucky declarer, who drew trumps first, then thought about the hand later.

Once you see the problem, the solution is simple. All declarer must do is play a heart at trick four, before touching any trump. If the defenders play a fourth round of clubs, he can take the ruff in the dummy.

This line is not absolutely foolproof. If the clubs split 5-3 and one hand is long in both black suits, that opponent may be able to win the heart ace and lead a fourth club for his partner to ruff, trying to promote a trump trick for his side. But this requires a combination of three relatively unlikely eventualities, and if the cards lie this way and the defenders get it right, good luck to them!

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 10th, 2011

July 24th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, July 10th, 2011 

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

The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, July 9th, 2011

July 23rd, 2011  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, July 9th, 2011 

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

 

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

Opening Lead: Diamond two

“It is easier to resist at the beginning than at the end.”

— Leonardo da Vinci

The match between Russia and Netherlands from last summer’s European Championships threw up this challenging deal.

Against the Russian contract of four spades, the defenders led hearts at every turn, and East could put his partner in with the club ace for a second ruff to defeat the game.

In our room, the Dutch duly reached four hearts. A diamond went to the jack, queen and ace, and a spade was led, the king winning (the first essential element of the defense). The next spade went to the ace, but at this point West erred by cashing the club ace before continuing a diamond. This gave declarer an easy ride.

Best defense after winning the spade ace would have been to continue with the diamond 10. South wins and must ruff a diamond to dummy and a spade to hand.

West does best to discard on this trick, but declarer crosses to the heart ace and leads a club to the jack and ace. West can return a trump, but declarer scores four plain-suit winners and six trump tricks for 10 tricks in all.

Is there a defense? Yes; West must lead a top heart at trick one (which commits declarer to sacrificing an entry either to hand or to dummy) and duck the first spade. Then if declarer plays on spades, West goes after diamonds. If declarer tries to ruff clubs, West leads trumps again. Either way, declarer ends up 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 8th, 2011

July 22nd, 2011  ~  admin  ~  4 Comments 

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

 

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

Opening Lead: Spade jack

“Though I beheld at first with blank surprise

— William Wordsworth

At the table it would be easy to predict what would happen to most declarers in four hearts. They would cover the opening spade lead with dummy’s queen, and East would take his ace and shift to a club.

The defenders can cash their two club winners and would probably exit with a spade. Declarer’s only legitimate chance now would be to find a spade-diamond squeeze. However, West can guard spades while East controls the diamonds, so nine tricks will be the limit.

Curiously, though, the natural lead of the spade jack allows the contract to be made if South concludes that the spade ace is with East. Declarer must duck the first trick in dummy — a play far easier to find on paper than at the table. If East takes his spade ace to shift to clubs, declarer loses only two clubs and a spade since the two diamonds from hand can be discarded on dummy’s spade winners. If the spade jack holds the trick, that leaves West on lead, and he cannot sensibly attack clubs from his side of the table. Best is to exit passively with a trump, but declarer can take a ruffing finesse against the spade ace, then throw a club on a winning spade honor. South can later develop a diamond trick for his 10th winner. In all, he loses one trick in spades and one in each minor.

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 7th, 2011

July 21st, 2011  ~  admin  ~  9 Comments 

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

 

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

*Game-forcing with a spade fit

Opening Lead: Club nine

“Obtruding false rules, pranked in reason’s garb.”

— John Milton

In today’s deal from the Dyspeptics Club, South found himself at the helm of a respectable spade slam. Following his usual principle of not giving any deal much thought until he needed to defend himself in the post-mortem, he won the club lead, drew trump ending in dummy, then took the heart finesse. He won the heart return and crossed to hand with a club to try the Chinese finesse in diamonds by leading the queen. It was easy for West to cover this, and down went the contract.

South apologized to his partner, claiming that all the cards were poorly placed, but North unsympathetically remarked that the only wrong thing about the hand was South’s thinking. Can you see what South should have done?

South should have won the opening lead, drawn two rounds of trump, and cashed all the clubs. At this point, rather than just relying on the heart finesse, he plays the diamond ace followed by a low diamond to put the defenders on lead.

If it is West who has the diamond king, he will have no choice but to give a ruff-sluff or lead into the heart tenace. If East has the diamond king, he must lead a heart now, and declarer is no worse off than before since he can take the heart finesse for the contract.

This line of play turns a 50 percent contract into one that needs either red king properly positioned — in other words, a 75 percent chance.

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].