June 10th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 8 Comments 
| Vulnerable: Neither
Dealer: West |
North
♠ A K Q 8
♥ 8 7
♦ A J 10 8
♣ K 9 5 |
|
| West
♠ 7 3
♥ A K 9 3 2
♦ 6
♣ A 10 7 6 2 |
 |
East
♠ 10 5 4
♥ Q J 10 4
♦ 7 5 3 2
♣ J 4 |
| |
South
♠ J 9 6 2
♥ 6 5
♦ K Q 9 4
♣ Q 8 3 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
1 ♥ |
Dbl. |
3 ♥* |
| 3 ♠ |
4 ♥ |
4 ♠ |
All pass |
*Pre-emptive
Opening Lead: Heart king
“He is an expeditious man who likes to hurry his patients along; and when you have to die, he sees to that quickest in all the world.”
— Moliere
Today’s deal saw one player at the table lulled into a false sense of security. Before I spell out the details, you might care to look at all 52 cards and listen to an analysis of the play, before determining whether you might have made the same mistake.
Defending four hearts, West led a top heart, and despite his partner’s play of the queen, indicating possession of the jack in case West wanted to underlead to his partner, West simply cashed a second top heart and shifted to a trump.
Declarer took the trump king and led a spade to his jack, then led a club to the king, and drew the last trump. Now came four rounds of diamonds, ending in hand, and South exited with a low club. East won the jack and now had nothing but hearts left. That gave declarer the ruff-sluff he needed, to discard his club loser from one hand and ruff in the other.
So who did well, and who did badly? First of all, declarer deserves credit for giving both defenders a chance to err. He led clubs early enough to tempt West into flying up with the ace and losing his side’s second club trick. But he also picked his spot to persuade East to lose focus. On the first round of clubs, East needed to unblock his jack. Had he done so, West would have been able to cash his two club winners, whatever declarer did.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
J 9 6 2 |
| ♥ |
6 5 |
| ♦ |
K Q 9 4 |
| ♣ |
Q 8 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 ♣ |
1 ♥ |
| Dbl. |
Pass |
2 ♦ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Some questions of bidding are more about partnership agreement than right or wrong. Here I believe North has shown both minors, but has almost denied extras. He could have jumped to three diamonds with modest extras, or cuebid, then bid diamonds, with a game-forcing hand. This sequence is natural but shows a minimum hand, so pass while the going is good.
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].
June 9th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 4 Comments
| Vulnerable: Both
Dealer: East |
North
♠ K J 9 8 6
♥ A 9 6 4
♦ 7 3
♣ 7 2 |
|
| West
♠ 10
♥ K Q 8 3
♦ A Q 9 8
♣ J 6 5 3 |
|
East
♠ Q 5 2
♥ 5 2
♦ 10 6 5 4 2
♣ Q 10 9 |
| |
South
♠ A 7 4 3
♥ J 10 7
♦ K J
♣ A K 8 4 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
|
Pass |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
2 ♣ |
Pass |
| 2 ♠ |
Pass |
4 ♠ |
All pass |
Opening Lead: Heart king
“Some old crone let us seek,
To spit on us for luck and keep unlovely things afar.”
— Theocritus
Luck comes in all shapes and sizes. At the Dyspeptics Club, South is the big winner — though all the other players in his foursome would swear this was simply because of the rock-crushers that he picks up. He would tell you that the cards never lie well for him; judge for yourself, given today’s deal, who had the best of the argument.
West not unnaturally led a top heart against four spades; declarer won and cashed the top trumps, discovering the loser there, then reverted to hearts. West won his heart queen and after much thought played a club. Declarer could win and lead hearts, but when East ruffed in and played a diamond through declarer, the contract was one down. South pointed to the combination of bad breaks as conclusive proof that he was born under a black cloud. Do you agree?
South failed to understand the need to keep East off play for the duration of the hand in case the diamond honors were offside. While it is normal to play for the drop when there are four trumps out missing the queen, this is the exception that proves the rule.
Win the heart ace, cash the spade king, then play a small spade to your seven. If this loses to West, he can do you no harm. You can win his return and knock out the heart queen, establishing a winner on which to discard a diamond.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
K J 9 8 6 |
| ♥ |
A 9 6 4 |
| ♦ |
7 3 |
| ♣ |
7 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
1 ♦ |
Pass |
1 ♥ |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: This sort of hand will get players worked up, some claiming that an overcall of one spade is absurd, others telling you that it is automatic. I am closer to the second camp. You bid with this hand, not because you expect to make a spade partscore or game, but to help partner in the bidding and play. When you don’t overcall in spades, you don’t got ’em!
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].
June 8th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 2 Comments
| Vulnerable: Both
Dealer: North |
North
♠ A Q 10 8 6
♥ Q 6 3
♦ K Q 7
♣ A J |
|
| West
♠ J 3
♥ J 10 5
♦ J 8 5 3
♣ Q 8 7 6 |
|
East
♠ K 9 7 2
♥ A 9 8 2
♦ 9
♣ K 9 5 2 |
| |
South
♠ 5 4
♥ K 7 4
♦ A 10 6 4 2
♣ 10 4 3 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 ♠ |
Pass |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
2 NT |
Pass |
| 3 NT |
All pass |
|
|
Opening Lead: Heart jack
“The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.”
— Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Declarer in three no-trump wins the heart jack with his king in hand as you signal with the nine (always signal with the highest card you can afford). He then plays a spade to dummy’s 10, which you should duck. The point is that you are not costing yourself a trick in the suit if you do. (You know that if declarer has a doubleton spade, you will still collect two tricks in the suit, but you are happy for declarer to waste his entries to hand to play on spades. If you win the first spade trick, you make declarer’s life easier in the spade suit, AND you do not know which minor to play!)
Now South plays the king and queen of diamonds and a diamond to his ace before playing another spade to the jack, queen and your king. What do you do now?
A spade or a heart would clearly be disastrous, so it has to be a club. Because you need to put partner in so that he can play another heart through dummy’s queen, you must switch to the club KING. Whether declarer wins or ducks, you have forced an entry to your partner’s hand.
This play does have a name — the Deschappelles Coup, named after the famous 18th-century whist and chess player. By shifting to an honor, you save partner from having to put up his potentially vulnerable high card and insure that you can put him on play sooner or later.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
5 4 |
| ♥ |
K 7 4 |
| ♦ |
A 10 6 4 2 |
| ♣ |
10 4 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
3 ♣ |
Dbl. |
4 ♣ |
| 4 ♦ |
Pass |
5 ♣ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: In this sequence the five-club call is a cuebid for diamonds. (With both majors, your partner would have started with a cuebid of four clubs at his first turn.) With nothing to be ashamed of here, you should bid five hearts in case your partner is looking for a grand slam. You are certainly too good to sign off in five 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].
June 7th, 2011 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, May 24th, 2011
| Vulnerable: East-West
Dealer: North |
North
♠ K 8
♥ K J 9 7 6 5 4
♦ K
♣ J 10 3 |
|
| West
♠ 10 9 7 2
♥ A 3
♦ 9 8 7 6 5 2
♣ 2 |
|
East
♠ —
♥ Q 10 8 2
♦ J 4 3
♣ A K Q 9 8 7 |
| |
South
♠ A Q J 6 5 4 3
♥ —
♦ A Q 10
♣ 6 5 4 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 ♥ |
2 ♣ |
| 2 ♠ |
Pass |
3 ♥ |
Pass |
| 4 ♠ |
All pass |
|
|
Opening Lead: Club two
“Once I built a railroad, now it’s done.
Brother, can you spare a dime.”
— Yip Harburg
When this deal originally appeared in a par contest, the title of the hand was “Don’t be mean.” The message — one that has been repeated many times in this column — is that when as a defender you know what the partnership should do, it is your duty to send that message as clearly as possible to your partner. If you send an ambiguous message and he does not understand you, then it is your fault, not his.
The bidding could go in many different ways, but North-South should have no difficulty in reaching four spades. West might consider taking a flyer and doubling, but, as the cards lie, it calls for very farsighted defense to defeat the contract.
West leads his singleton club, East winning the queen and continuing the suit by leading the ace. To West, the contract appears to be on the way to defeat unless — by some unfortunate chance — South is void in hearts. But a thoughtful defender can guard even against that. On the second club West throws the heart three, and when South follows to the third club, West makes the sensational discard of the heart ace. Now, on a heart play by East, the defense is guaranteed a trump trick, since if declarer ruffs high, West has insured himself a trump trick from his remaining spots. As the cards lie, this is the only way to defeat the contract.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
10 9 7 2 |
| ♥ |
A 3 |
| ♦ |
9 8 7 6 5 2 |
| ♣ |
2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
|
1 ♦ |
| Pass |
1 ♥ |
2 ♣ |
2 ♥ |
| Pass |
Pass |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: This is a takeout double by definition; all low-level doubles by a player facing a partner who has not had the chance to bid or who has done nothing but pass, is best played as takeout. Your partner rates to have four spades and six clubs, so simply bid two spades.
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].
June 6th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 5 Comments
| Vulnerable: Both
Dealer: North |
North
♠ 6 4 3
♥ K 10 9 7 6 2
♦ K Q
♣ A 5 |
|
| West
♠ 10
♥ A J 8 4
♦ J 7 6
♣ K 10 8 4 2 |
|
East
♠ J 7 5 2
♥ Q 3
♦ A 2
♣ Q 9 7 6 3 |
| |
South
♠ A K Q 9 8
♥ 5
♦ 10 9 8 5 4 3
♣ J |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 ♥ |
Pass |
| 2 ♦ |
Pass |
2 ♥ |
Pass |
| 2 ♠ |
Pass |
2 NT |
Pass |
| 3 ♠ |
Pass |
4 ♠ |
All pass |
Opening Lead: Club four
“It is not enough to succeed. Others must fail.”
— Gore Vidal
In four spades declarer won the opening club lead in dummy, entered his hand with a trump, and led a diamond to the king and ace. East returned a club, which was ruffed.
At this point both East and South have three trumps. Declarer crossed to the diamond queen, returned to his hand with a trump, and ruffed a diamond in dummy. East overruffed dummy and forced declarer with another club, but declarer was in charge. He ruffed, drew East’s last trump with his own last trump, ran the diamonds, and conceded a heart to make his game.
Had East not overruffed the third diamond, South would have had no way back to his hand without reducing his trumps again, and that would have been fatal. The defensive point is to be wary of overruffing dummy when holding the same trump length as declarer, particularly if declarer cannot get back to his hand without subjecting himself to a force. The trump trick will come back with dividends — declarer won’t be able to use his established side suit.
And what about declarer: did he do anything wrong? Yes, indeed. He erred at trick two when he led a trump to his hand rather than a diamond from dummy. Start the long suit before drawing trumps! Because he didn’t, he would have been in serious trouble if East had not overruffed the third diamond. However, if South plays diamonds before spades, he will prevail whether East overruffs or not.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
Q 9 7 3 |
| ♥ |
K 5 2 |
| ♦ |
J 6 2 |
| ♣ |
Q J 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
1 ♠ |
Pass |
1 NT |
| Pass |
2 ♣ |
Pass |
2 ♥ |
| All pass |
|
|
|
ANSWER: In situations of this sort, where declarer has no obvious source of tricks on the side, I tend to lead from sequences, rather than the unbid suit. While a club could be fatal if partner has no high honor, any other lead could be equally expensive. When in doubt, look for the safest lead.
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].
June 5th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 1 Comment
| Dear Mr Wolff:
What is the minimum suit requirement for doubling the opponents for takeout, then bidding a suit? Does this action guarantee a six-card suit, or is a very good five-carder sufficient?
— Bare Minimum, Newark, N.J.
ANSWER: Don’t be too firm in insisting on specifics with regard to suit quality or length. It looks better to me to think of the auction as showing about an ace more than an opening bid in an unbalanced hand. You’d expect either a six-card suit or a decent five-carder.
Dear Mr Wolff:
In a recent Bid With the Aces you posed a problem when holding SPADES K-9-2, HEARTS K-J-2, DIAMONDS J-7-2, CLUBS 9-8-5-4, a hand with which you had raised one spade to two, after which your partner had jumped to four diamonds to show shortage. You recommended a bid of four hearts as a control-showing bid below game, a cooperative forward-going move toward slam in spades. Is not the consensus that this would show a first-round control of that suit?
— Control Freak, Eau Claire, Wis.
ANSWER: No, that is not the case. When you have shown a weak hand, you should certainly be allowed to cooperate by cuebidding a second-round control, be it a king or a singleton. These days partner can always use Blackwood following the start of the cuebids to check up on what sort of controls you have
Dear Mr Wolff:
We have wanted to learn bridge for many years but cannot find any local teachers or players. Stafford County tried to offer bridge in its seniors’ activities, but could not find anyone to teach it. Where can we learn?
— Bridge to Nowhere, Stafford, Va.
ANSWER: I personally don’t know the answer, but call the ACBL at 1-800-467-1623 and ask for teaching. They should help you — but if you can’t get anywhere, write me back and I’ll try to help.
| |
Dear Mr Wolff:
As opener, if I hold four clubs and four spades (or four diamonds and four spades), should I open the minor and rebid one no-trump instead of introducing the spades when partner bids one heart? Which is more critical, the stopper in the fourth suit or the quality of the spades?
— Fork in the Road, Charleston, S.C.
ANSWER: One spade isn’t obligatory with 4-4 pattern (it does indeed depend on the quality of your spade suit and stoppers in the unbid minor suit). Remember that after you open one club, if your partner responds one diamond, you will rebid one no-trump even with 4-4 pattern — unless you have a small doubleton in the fourth suit. Don’t cater to a 4-4 fit in a major, since partner almost surely won’t hold a fit for you (or he is strong and will be about to bid the major himself).
Dear Mr Wolff:
With both sides vulnerable, you are on lead with the opponents bidding one heart – two no-trump – four hearts. I held SPADES K-9-4-2, HEARTS 8-2, DIAMONDS 9-7-2, CLUBS K-J-10-4, and ascertained the two-no-trump bid was a game-forcing heart raise. I led the club jack, which did not work out, but I reasoned that partner needed at least a few values to set the contract, and hoped for a club honor. Was my reasoning sound? Would your view change if my opponents had not advertised a nine-card trump fit?
— On Lead and Lost, Memphis, Tenn.
ANSWER: My view is that a club stands out in either scenario. It is aggressive but there is no guarantee that going passive with a trump or diamond won’t be a disaster either.
|
If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, e-mail him at [email protected]. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2011.
June 4th, 2011 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, May 21th, 2011
| Vulnerable: Both
Dealer: East |
North
♠ K Q 5 2
♥ A K J 10 4
♦ 4 2
♣ A 4 |
|
| West
♠ J 10 6
♥ Q 7
♦ J 10 8 7 5 3
♣ J 6 |
|
East
♠ A
♥ 9 8 6 3
♦ A 9 6
♣ K Q 9 8 3 |
| |
South
♠ 9 8 7 4 3
♥ 5 2
♦ K Q
♣ 10 7 5 2 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
|
1 ♣ |
| Pass |
1 ♦ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| 1 ♠ |
Pass |
3 ♠ |
Pass |
| 4 ♠ |
All pass |
|
|
Opening Lead: Club jack
“Necessity has no law.”
— Saint Augustine
Sometimes one has to project the complete distribution and work out that bad splits can be more productive than a favorable break. That is especially true of deals like this one, though the underlying idea may be rather hard to spot.
After fairly aggressive bidding by North, Augustin Santamaria of Argentina reached a delicate four-spade contract, made even more challenging because the auction had indicated the danger of bad splits. On the lead of the club jack, Santamaria took dummy’s ace and played a low diamond. East won his ace, cashed the club queen, and exited with a diamond.
At this point Santamaria was in a very awkward position. He could see that if trumps were 2-2, then unless West specifically had the doubleton J-10 of trumps, the defenders could promote a trump winner for themselves by leading a third round of clubs after taking the trump ace. Therefore, when declarer led the spade seven from hand and West followed with a small trump, declarer went for his only legitimate chance to make the hand by ducking in dummy! When East produced the spade ace, there was no longer any chance for the defense to produce a second trump trick. Thus the contract made, for a 12-IMP pickup for Argentina on the way to an upset victory in a match from the 1986 Rosenblum Cup.
(Even if East had played a third club instead of a second diamond, declarer would have succeeded if he was able to read the position.)
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
K Q 5 2 |
| ♥ |
A K J 10 4 |
| ♦ |
4 2 |
| ♣ |
A 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 ♥ |
Pass |
1 NT |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: The obvious answer is to reverse with a call of two spades, showing this major-suit pattern and extra values. A viable and to my mind preferable alternative is to ignore the spades (partner won’t have length there, after all) and simply to invite game with a call of two no-trump, suggesting a good 17-19 points.
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].
June 3rd, 2011 ~ admin ~ 4 Comments
| Vulnerable: North-South
Dealer: South |
North
♠ 10 8 5 3 2
♥ K 10
♦ J 10 9
♣ A J 2 |
|
| West
♠ Q 7 4
♥ 9 8 7 6 4
♦ K 6 2
♣ Q 6 |
|
East
♠ 6
♥ J 5 3 2
♦ 8 7 5 4
♣ 10 7 5 3 |
| |
South
♠ A K J 9
♥ A Q
♦ A Q 3
♣ K 9 8 4 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 2 ♣ |
Pass |
2 ♦ |
Pass |
| 2 NT |
Pass |
3 ♥ |
Pass |
| 4 ♠ |
Pass |
6 ♠ |
All pass |
Opening Lead: Heart nine
“When you can’t have what you choose, you just choose what you have.”
— Owen Wister
An unusual example of a choice of endplays came up at Honors Bridge Club in New York. You play six spades on a heart lead, win in hand with the ace, and lay down the two top trumps. If both opponents follow, you take both minor-suit finesses in normal fashion, but either opponent may have the guarded trump queen. Your continuation will depend on which defender it is.
If West were to discard (so that East had trump length), you would cross to the heart king and try to run three rounds of diamonds. With the finesse in diamonds succeeding, you can next endplay East with the spade queen for a lead back into your club tenace.
The more challenging lie of the cards to overcome is the one shown here. Again you win the heart lead in hand with the ace, bash out the top spades, and now need to take a view as to what to do. Best is to take the club finesse, cash the heart king and club ace, and when the club queen appears, you have a guess about your next move.
Since East has a singleton spade, you should play him for club length, so finesse the club nine, cash the club king, and exit with a trump. This endplays West to lead a diamond or give you a ruff and discard. If West has false-carded in clubs on the second round of the suit from Q-10-6, maybe he deserves to beat you!
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
10 8 5 3 2 |
| ♥ |
K 10 |
| ♦ |
J 10 9 |
| ♣ |
A J 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 ♣ |
1 ♥ |
| 1 ♠ |
2 ♥ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: You have shown five spades already, and your partner’s double suggests extras with no easy call. Your intermediates are so good that it looks logical to take a shot at three no-trump. Even if partner has no heart guard, the chance of running the minor suits cannot be that bad.
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].
June 2nd, 2011 ~ admin ~ 4 Comments
| Vulnerable: Both
Dealer: South |
North
♠ A Q 5 2
♥ Q 10 7 5
♦ A 6 5
♣ Q 6 |
|
| West
♠
♥ A 4 3
♦ 8 2
♣ K 9 8 7 3 2 |
|
East
♠ 10 8 6 3
♥ K J 9 2
♦ J 10 3
♣ J 5 |
| |
South
♠ K J 7
♥ 8 6
♦ K Q 9 7 4
♣ A 10 4 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 ♦ |
Pass |
1 ♥ |
Pass |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
3 NT |
All pass |
Opening Lead: Club seven
“I do not mind lying, but I hate inaccuracy.”
— Samuel Butler
Today’s deal is from the Open Pairs at the third European Open Championships. Against three no-trump, you (West) lead a low club to the six, jack and ace, and declarer returns the club four. Over to you.
You know South has the club 10. If East had it, he would have played it, and without the 10, South would have tried the queen from dummy on your lead. Therefore, declarer is trying to sneak a second club trick, with the rest of his tricks coming from the pointed suits. All of this means that any further tricks for your side must come from hearts.
Partner is marked with the heart king. Otherwise, declarer would surely have broached hearts, where there is a chance of developing more than one trick, rather than clubs.
At the table, West took the club king, then switched to ace and another heart. Holding South to nine tricks was worth a reasonable score, but it was not the best shot. By releasing the heart ace, West lost his re-entry. An immediate low heart would have allowed East to cover dummy’s card, then return the two to the ace. Then another heart through would pick up four tricks.
You might argue that declarer should not have risked his contract in search of overtricks, but at matchpoint pairs, one has to speculate to accumulate. Also, the opponents do not always draw the right inferences, nor do the cards always lie in such hostile fashion.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
9 4 |
| ♥ |
A 4 3 |
| ♦ |
8 2 |
| ♣ |
K 9 8 7 3 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
1 ♦ |
Dbl. |
? |
| 9 4 |
|
|
|
ANSWER: This is an easy problem. Yes, partner will not always have as much club support as you would like, but you cannot afford to bid less than three clubs now. On this hand it is easy to envision game making your way, whether in clubs or no-trump, and even if your partner is unsuitable, your trump length should ensure that three clubs has decent play.
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].
June 1st, 2011 ~ admin ~ 6 Comments
| Vulnerable: Both
Dealer: South |
North
♠ 7
♥ K 8 3
♦ A J 10 6 4 3
♣ Q 6 3 |
|
| West
♠ K Q 10 8 3
♥ 6 4
♦ Q 8 7
♣ A J 5 |
|
East
♠ J 9 6 4 2
♥ 7
♦ K 9 5 2
♣ 8 7 2 |
| |
South
♠ A 5
♥ A Q J 10 9 5 2
♦ —
♣ K 10 9 4 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 2 ♥ |
Pass |
3 ♥ |
Pass |
| 3 ♠ |
Pass |
4 ♦ |
Pass |
| 6 ♥ |
All pass |
|
|
Opening Lead: Spade king
“It is a maxim that man and wife should never have it in their power to hang one another.”
— George Farquhar
The late Boris Schapiro was one of the dominant players of the postwar game. Helen Schapiro, his widow, is no mean player either. Here she is, in partnership with Evan Harris, a liberal democrat MP.
Strong Acol two-openings have gone out of fashion of late, but it made reaching slam easy here. But how would you play six hearts on a spade lead?
The best line is to win the spade ace, play the heart queen to dummy’s king, and ruff a diamond high. Then play the heart five to dummy’s eight, cash the diamond ace (pitching a club), and ruff another diamond. Now, assuming both red suits have broken, play a club to dummy’s queen.
If this holds, you can ruff another diamond, then cross back to dummy with a spade ruff to reach the established diamonds. However, if East has the club ace, you can cross to dummy with a spade ruff to finesse the club jack.
The trap is to ruff a spade in dummy too early. You would still be able to set up the diamonds, but would not know if you could reach them. If you played a club to the queen and East had the ace, he would play back a spade, and you would go down unless the club jack were to fall. Alternatively, you could run the club 10 from hand, but then you have put all your eggs in one basket — namely, that the club jack is with West.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
J 9 6 4 2 |
| ♥ |
7 |
| ♦ |
K 9 5 2 |
| ♣ |
8 7 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 ♣ |
Dbl. |
| Pass |
1 ♥ |
Dbl. |
2 ♥ |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Your partner’s double is for takeout, suggesting a good hand and short hearts. Having passed to start with, you are full value for a jump to three spades now, suggesting these values and five spades. Indeed, bidding game in spades would not be absurd, though it seems reasonable to give partner the chance to make the final decision.
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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