The Aces on Bridge: Monday, June 6th, 2011

June 20th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Monday, June 6th, 2011 

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

 

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

Opening Lead: Club four

“Wish me good speed,

— John Webster

One of the best tournaments in England is a double-elimination event, the Spring Foursomes. In the 2005 event David Price’s squad was undefeated in the double-elimination phase. At the end of their allotted boards in their next match, Price was down by 48 IMPs, but they exercised their option, as an undefeated team, to play a further eight deals. They garnered an incredible 52 IMPs to win the match and reach the final. The fairy tale ended there, however, since they lost in the finals.

In this deal from the tournament West led the club four against Price’s contract of three no-trump, suggesting that he had led from a four-card suit. Dummy’s ace won, but as the bidding had cried out for a major-suit lead, Price placed West with no five-card suit, relatively short holdings in both majors, and inferentially, three cards in diamonds. Therefore at trick two he led a low diamond to his ace. Seeing East’s 10 drop, he continued with the jack. When this held, the nine to dummy’s queen allowed the suit to be run.

There are eight tricks, but any attempt to try for a ninth in hearts would see East take his ace, and an avalanche of clubs would follow. As it was, though, East was squeezed on the last diamond. To protect the heart ace and spade queen, he had to let a club go. Now declarer could afford to play a heart, as all that the defense could then cash were three club tricks. 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: Sunday, June 5th, 2011

June 19th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, June 5th, 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, June 4th, 2011

June 18th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  8 Comments 

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

 

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

Opening Lead: Heart jack

“So spake the Fiend, and with necessity,

— John Milton

Tim Seres, Australia’s greatest bridge player ever, was born in Austria in 1925 and migrated down under after World War II. Seres represented Australia in 24 world and zonal championships and won bronze medals in the most prestigious of the world championships, the Bermuda Bowls of 1971 and 1979. He died five years ago, but his brilliance as declarer means that he left behind a treasure trove of great plays.

Today’s deal is from the Australian Interstate Teams of 1975. Seres, seated South, brought home his four-spade contract via a variant of the Devil’s Coup.

Declarer won the heart lead in hand, then immediately finessed the diamond queen to see how many losers he might be facing overall. The queen lost to the king; there were two further club losers; and unless there was a favorable trump position, a loser in that department could also be expected.

East returned a club, which ran to West’s jack, and Seres captured the club king at the next trick. He cashed dummy’s red-suit winners, ruffed a heart in hand, then ruffed a diamond in dummy and the fourth heart in hand as East discarded a diamond. The scene was now set in the four-card ending as Seres exited with his club to East’s bare queen.

East was forced to return a trump, and the five went to the nine, queen and king. Seres now successfully finessed against East’s spade jack, and his trump loser had vanished without a trace!

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, June 3rd, 2011

June 17th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Friday, June 3rd, 2011 

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

 

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

Opening Lead: Spade jack

“I know a trick worth two of that.”

— William Shakespeare

The success or failure of today’s contract was determined by declarer’s play to trick one. Be aware, the maneuver required was somewhat artificial, and the game reached by North and South was not the optimum one. Indeed, six clubs (played by North) is surely the place to be, though getting there might be beyond us all!

Fortunately for declarer, though, West led the spade jack and not a heart against five diamonds. Clubs are blocked, and if diamonds are 3-1 and the hand with the doubleton club has three diamonds, three rounds of clubs will not stand up before dummy’s sole entry — the diamond 10 — can be utilized.

What can declarer do? Having been lucky enough to escape the damaging heart lead, the card to play from dummy at trick one is the spade queen, taking West off lead and avoiding the fatal heart shift. East covers, and South completes his sterling work by resisting the urge to trump. Instead, he discards the club ace on this trick.

Now, with clubs breaking 3-2, the 3-1 trump break is no longer an insurmountable barrier. No return by East at trick two can harm declarer. On, say, another spade, South ruffs, draws two rounds of trumps with high diamonds in hand, then cashes the club king and queen. A diamond to the 10 extracts West’s last trump, after which three hearts from hand can be deposited on dummy’s clubs. South’s only other loser is a heart.

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, June 2, 2011

June 16th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, June 2, 2011 

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

 

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

* Hearts

Opening Lead: Diamond two

“The Comic Muse, long sick, is now a-dying!

— Oliver Goldsmith

In today’s deal North-South were playing transfer responses to their one-club openings. This allowed South to become declarer in six hearts, despite East’s pre-emptive maneuvers.

In fact the final contract was a good one, but maybe the duplication in values in diamonds (which should have been obvious when North moved forward at his second turn) might have indicated that South should have pulled in his horns at his third turn to speak. There was no possibility of diamond ruffs in either hand, and the risk of inevitable club losers had become more substantial. Had North’s black-suit queen been in clubs, not spades, the slam would have been far less promising.

On West’s diamond lead South could see that if spades behaved, he would be home. It would have been easy to settle for that chance, but declarer identified another significant chance — namely, that one hand (presumably West) would hold at least four cards in both spades and clubs and would consequently be squeezed.

Therefore, after drawing trumps, South ducked a club to rectify the count (meaning that by ducking the trick, South now needed all the rest of the tricks rather than the rest but one, making it easier to play for a squeeze). East won the first club with the 10 and returned the king.

On winning, declarer ran all the trumps, throwing clubs from hand. West, unable to withstand the pressure, threw his clubs, so dummy’s club six became South’s 12th 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, June 1, 2011

June 15th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  2 Comments 

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

 

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

Opening Lead: Spade king

“Of all the icy blasts that blow on love, a request for money is the most chilling and havoc-wreaking.”

— Gustave Flaubert [BFQ 496.10]

In today’s four-heart game, had West led his singleton diamond, South would have won the king, drawn trump, and ducked a diamond. East wins this trick, but declarer’s club losers can now be discarded on diamonds.

However, after the spade lead, the defenders were still in the game. East, realizing the potential danger of dummy’s diamonds and knowing South had only one spade, overtook and shifted to the club jack. South covered with the queen, but West won and returned a club, establishing a second trick for East. South was sunk — he still had to lose one more trick in each minor. Down one. It was nice defense by East, but a major error by South.

When the club jack is led, South should have tried to freeze the club suit by playing the ace. If East has the king, the queen will take a trick later, but if West has it and East has the 10 — as seems likely — the club suit is frozen.

A frozen suit is one that neither side can lead without giving up a trick. Say South wins the club ace, draws trumps, discarding spades from the table, and plays the king and a diamond. When West shows out, the diamond is ducked to East, who must attack clubs now to have any chance.

However, if East leads the 10, South covers, West wins, but dummy’s nine is the master. If East leads the eight, South ducks, West wins the king, and South’s queen is high.

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, May 31st, 2011

June 14th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  6 Comments 

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

 

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

Opening Lead: Diamond three

“Frightened? Child, you’re talking to a man who’s laughed in the face of death, sneered at doom, and chuckled at catastrophe…. I was petrified.”

— Noel Langley and Florence Ryerson

Over the past 20 years or so, some of the chief executive officers of the ACBL have tried to play bridge, and as Samuel Johnson once commented, it was not done well, but you were surprised that it was done at all.

By contrast, Jay Baum, who has just announced his retirement from the ACBL after nearly 10 years of service as the CEO, was a keen and regular player. He and his wife, Kathy, were a good enough partnership to finish second in a National Mixed Pairs. Here is a deal Jay enjoyed.

Imagine that you were in a pairs game, playing four spades after an uncontested auction, facing repeated club leads. You would surely ruff the second club, then try to crossruff the minors. You might even be able to try the heart finesse for 12 tricks.

As you can see, however, Baum was faced with an entirely different scenario. The combination of the pre-empt and the choice of opening lead suggested that the lead was most likely a singleton.

If so, trying to cash both high diamonds and ruffing diamonds would fail if West returned a trump after ruffing. So Baum made the neat play of a low diamond at trick two in order to ruff one diamond in dummy and hold his losers in diamonds to one. The play after that was easy for 10 tricks.

Any bridge players with prior CEO experience interested in the job should send their resumes to [email protected]

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, May 30th, 2011

June 13th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Monday, May 30th, 2011 

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

 

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

Opening Lead: Heart seven

“Never do today what you can put off till tomorrow.”

— Punch

One reason for ducking a trick in a suit contract is to try to break the defenders’ communications. The difference between conceding an inevitable loser when you want and when the defenders want, is that you can choose which defender has the lead. In today’s deal, South focused on the problem too late.

Defending against four spades, West dutifully led a low heart to the queen and ace. South now drew trumps and led the club nine around to East. That player realized that declarer’s line of play suggested he did not have four clubs. He also realized that declarer might conceivably work out from the bidding to cash one top club, then run all the trumps, baring dummy’s diamond king, to catch him in a strip-squeeze. So East thoughtfully underled his hearts, and West took the jack, then switched to a diamond to set the hand.

Nicely defended; but all South had to do was duck the first trick. He can then win the next heart, draw trumps, ruff the last heart, then pass the club nine to East. That player can either concede a ruff and discard, or lead up to one of the minor-suit tenaces.

Note that if South focuses immediately on keeping West off lead for the entire deal, he must cover the opening lead with dummy’s heart 10, or East may cross him up by ducking trick one altogether.

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, May 29th, 2011

June 12th, 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, May 28th, 2011

June 11th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  4 Comments 

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

 

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

Opening Lead: Diamond king

“What, comrade of a night,

— Alice Brown

When the editors of two rival bridge magazines cross swords in an important tournament, you might expect some fireworks — and you would be right.

South was Jean-Paul Meyer, then editor of Le Bridgeur; East was Pierre Schemeil, editor of Bridge de France, who died in 2006. The venue was the Trials to determine the French team for the World Championships.

In six spades,Meyer won the opening diamond lead in dummy and led a spade. His plan was to draw trumps and take the heart finesse for the contract. Schemeil would have done better to duck the trump, but he feared South might have no outside losers and would let the eight run as a safety play. He covered.

Meyer won the trick, and saw he would need a miracle to avoid two spade losers. He led the heart queen, which was covered and taken by the ace, and a second trump from dummy was covered and won by declarer. A heart to the nine and jack provided a parking place for declarer’s losing diamond. Now a diamond was ruffed in the closed hand and three rounds of clubs followed, with the lead ending in dummy. With North to play, South had the A-5-3 of trumps left; East had the J-6-4.

When a diamond was led from dummy, East was forced to ruff with the six. Meyer underruffed with the three, and now when East exited with the four, South took the last two tricks with the ace and the five. Bien joue!

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].