May 31st, 2011 ~ admin ~ 3 Comments 
| Vulnerable: Both
Dealer: East |
North
♠ 6 2
♥ K Q J 8 3
♦ 10 9 8
♣ K J 6 |
|
| West
♠ 10 7 3
♥ 9 7 5 2
♦ Q 3
♣ 10 9 8 5 |
 |
East
♠ A Q J 5 4
♥ A 6
♦ 7 6 5 4 2
♣ 2 |
| |
South
♠ K 9 8
♥ 10 4
♦ A K J
♣ A Q 7 4 3 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
|
1 ♠ |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
2 ♦* |
Pass |
| 2 ♥ |
Pass |
3 NT |
All pass |
*Transfer to hearts
Opening Lead: Spade three
“I celebrate myself; and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume;
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.”
— Walt Whitman
When you have reached game after a defender has opened the bidding, it still may not be right to play the opener for all the outstanding points. Today’s deal is from the European 2002 Mixed Teams Championship.
In most matches, East opened the bidding with one spade, but South ended in three no-trump. West led the spade three, East inserted the jack — good technique for the defenders to retain communication in the spade suit — and South took the king.
Five clubs, one spade, plus the ace and king of diamonds bring the trick total to eight. Knocking out the heart ace allows the defenders to cash four more spades, so that was not an option.
Many declarers saw matters in a simple light. With only 13 points outstanding, East was favored to hold them all. Therefore, they entered dummy with a top club and took the diamond finesse. That was two down, and no doubt South would consider himself unlucky, but he had missed the point of the deal.
Other more thoughtful declarers appreciated that East would come under pressure on the run of the club suit if he held the missing honors. As it transpired, East needed to find four discards. If these included a spade, then a heart could have been set up in safety.
At the table, East discarded three diamonds plus a heart. Now South cashed both top diamonds and was gratified to find the queen dropping doubleton, though not from East as expected, but from West.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
6 2 |
| ♥ |
K Q J 8 3 |
| ♦ |
10 9 8 |
| ♣ |
K J 6 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 ♣ |
Pass |
| 1 ♥ |
Pass |
2 ♠ |
Pass |
| 3 ♣ |
Pass |
3 NT |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Although it may look obvious to pass now, you have really not shown any values yet, and in a slam your hearts might prove useful as discards for partner’s slow diamond losers. Given that your partner is almost sure to have five clubs and four spades, the logical call is to bid four clubs, showing real support and some slam interest. Let partner take over now, if he can.
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].
May 30th, 2011 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Monday, May 16th, 2011
| Vulnerable: Both
Dealer: South |
North
♠ 10 8 5 4 2
♥ 4
♦ A Q 10 6
♣ A 7 5 |
|
| West
♠ J
♥ K 9 7 5 2
♦ K 9 5 4
♣ K 9 6 |
|
East
♠ 7 6
♥ 8 6
♦ 8 7 3 2
♣ Q J 10 8 4 |
| |
South
♠ A K Q 9 3
♥ A Q J 10 3
♦ J
♣ 3 2 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 ♠ |
Pass |
4 ♥* |
Pass |
| 4 NT |
Pass |
5 ♥ |
Pass |
| 7 ♠ |
All pass |
|
|
*A game-forcing spade raise with short hearts
Opening Lead: Spade jack
“Cut your coat according to your cloth.”
— Anonymous
In today’s deal the level of the slam dictates the line of play, whether it is the small or the grand slam that is reached. The hand came along during the four-session Swiss Teams Championship, the main event of the second weekend of the 2007 10-day Brighton Summer Congress in England.
When six spades was the contract, declarer rose with dummy’s ace on the club lead, then drew trumps. The 2-1 trump break leads to a 100 percent line for the slam: Cash the diamond ace, then lead the diamond queen. If East covers with the king, ruff. Then comes the heart ace, followed by a heart ruff in dummy, to allow South’s losing club to be jettisoned on the diamond 10. And if East does not contribute the diamond king, declarer discards the losing club. West may take the diamond king, but that is all. The diamond 10 takes care of one heart loser, and the other three are trumped in dummy.
However, when it is the heady heights of seven spades that has been reached, following an excess of zeal by South, it is to the heart suit that declarer turns for the extra tricks. As it is dummy’s and not declarer’s club losers that must be disposed of, the straightforward heart finesse will not suffice.
After drawing trumps, play out the heart ace, then the queen for a ruffing finesse. So long as West has the heart king, two heart tricks can be established in hand for club discards from dummy.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
K 5 3 |
| ♥ |
A 9 7 3 2 |
| ♦ |
Q 6 |
| ♣ |
A 10 6 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
|
Pass |
| 1 ♥ |
Pass |
Pass |
1 ♠ |
| Pass |
2 ♣ |
Pass |
2 ♠ |
| All pass |
|
|
|
ANSWER: My best guess would be to lead the heart ace, playing partner for heart shortage. East appears to have passed initially with six spades, so may well have four hearts on the side, making your decision to play for heart ruffs more appealing. You also have trump control, often important when playing for ruffs.
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].
May 29th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 1 Comment
| Dear Mr Wolff:
Recently you ran a problem where responder to a one-diamond opening bid held a 3-4-3-3 pattern with four small hearts, three spades to the jack, and nine points. You advocated without comment a response of one heart, but would you consider bidding one no-trump instead?
— In Plain Sight, Fredericksburg, Va.
ANSWER: I might consider a one-no-trump bid here, and I’d be even more likely to make that call as a passed hand (where partner might pass my major-suit response) or in replying to one club, where partner is more often balanced than he’d be with a one-diamond opening. For the example hand, my lack of a proper stopper in spades made the difference. The hand in question held three clubs to the king-queen. If the club queen were in spades, I would have bid one no-trump.
Dear Mr Wolff:
At pairs our opponents bid up to six clubs. I had two aces including the trump ace, and seriously thought about doubling, but changed my mind. My partner’s opening lead was the ace of spades — it turned out that he too held two aces! Our opponents eventually went down three, vulnerable, so we scored a top, but were we both wrong not to double, or were our concerns about someone holding a void a valid one? And have you come across such an unusual situation?
— Aceless Wonder, Wilmington, N.C.
ANSWER: In a world championship 40 years ago an unfamiliar partnership had a mix-up about whether an auction was forcing or invitational. One player next bid Blackwood and got a five-club response, then bid the grand slam … off all four aces! It sounds as if you were both right not to double, especially the hand not on lead, since that double might call for a conventional lead such as dummy’s first-bid suit, and now one of your aces might go away.
Dear Mr Wolff:
You recently shocked me by suggesting that a bid of four spades in response to an opening of either one or two no-trump might be for the minors. What would you do with a spade suit, then?
— Major Problem, Corpus Christi, Texas
ANSWER: My regular agreements — as I suspect is true even with some rubber bridge players — are to use transfers into spades, including Texas transfers at the four-level — these sequences showing either a slam-going hand or a sign-off. If so, a transfer at the three-level and a raise to game is a mild slam-try. In this context an immediate jump to four no-trump is quantitative, suggesting a 4-3-3-3 pattern, and a jump to four spades is free. We can use that for the slam-try with both minors, since if we had a major, we would start with Stayman.
| |
Dear Mr Wolff:
My partner and I had an unopposed auction that went one heart – one spade – three diamonds – four diamonds – five hearts. I intended the last call to mean “pick a slam,” but it was not taken that way. My partner had the doubleton ace of hearts and four diamonds to the king-queen. I had seven good hearts, five diamonds to the ace, and a singleton spade ace.
— Goliath, Canton, Ga.
ANSWER: I’d guess a five-heart bid would show a hand with club losers but no heart losers — maybe seven solid hearts and four good diamonds, with two losing clubs? But with your partner’s hand I’d know that was not the case, of course; I’d bid the grand slam with his hand — if partner can invite a small slam and I have three known working cards, this must be enough.
Dear Mr Wolff:
My bridge group has divergent opinions. My partner opened the bidding one club, and my RHO overcalled one heart. I was sitting with 19 points, four clubs, and the ace-queen doubleton of hearts. What is my bid now?
— Ready for Action, Doylestown, Pa.
ANSWER: Start with a cuebid of two hearts, which just announces you have a good hand. Your group may play that as showing game-forcing values, or even guaranteeing a heart control, but even then you would still be well-placed, since you have both. At your next turn, a new suit will be natural and game-forcing. I’d recommend taking it slowly; you can always use Blackwood later!
|
If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, e-mail him at [email protected]. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2011.
May 28th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 1 Comment
| Vulnerable: Both
Dealer: East |
North
♠ K 3
♥ K 10 2
♦ J 6 5 2
♣ Q 10 8 6 |
|
| West
♠ Q 10 7
♥ A Q J 4
♦ Q 9 7 3
♣ 5 3 |
|
East
♠ A 6 5 4 2
♥ 9 8 6 3
♦ —
♣ J 7 4 2 |
| |
South
♠ J 9 8
♥ 7 5
♦ A K 10 8 4
♣ A K 9 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
|
Pass |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
3 NT |
All pass |
Opening Lead: Diamond three
“Fortune is full of fresh variety:
Constant in nothing but inconstancy.”
— Richard Barnfield
In today’s deal from the Cavendish, the field reached three no-trump from the South seat, setting West an awkward lead problem. Two of the declarers who were lucky enough to receive a low diamond lead were Jan van Cleeff and Christian Mari. Both saw East pitch a low heart and they won the trick cheaply.
Van Cleeff went for the pressure line: he played four rounds of diamonds at once, on which East (understandably) threw three hearts and a spade. When West shifted to the heart queen, van Cleeff covered, ran his minor-suit winners, and threw East in with the fourth club to lead spades to dummy. This line required East to hold the spade ace, but by this point in the hand, declarer felt very confident that this was the case.
By contrast, Mari played a low diamond from his hand at trick two. When West won the diamond queen and shifted to the heart queen, Mari took this with the king in dummy. What do you think he did next? Logically enough, declarer led a club to the nine and had nine winners.
Mari’s play was based on the sensible assumption that East would surely have discarded a small club at trick one or trick two from an original holding of two or three small, on the grounds that without the club nine, he could not easily foresee the problem that declarer might have. Thus East’s discards marked him with the club jack.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
K 3 |
| ♥ |
K 10 2 |
| ♦ |
J 6 5 2 |
| ♣ |
Q 10 8 6 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
1 ♣ |
Dbl. |
1 ♥ |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
2 ♥ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: There are very few positions where you can bid your opponent’s suit naturally, but this must surely be one of them. Even if East has four hearts, your partner might quite sensibly be bidding the suit with five or six cards in that suit. In any event, it is safe to raise to three hearts now and let your partner out in three no-trump if he does not agree with your interpretation.
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].
May 27th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 3 Comments
| Vulnerable: North-South
Dealer: South |
North
♠ K Q 7 4 3
♥ 10
♦ K J 6 5
♣ Q J 6 |
|
| West
♠ 10 9 8
♥ 8 4 3
♦ A 8 4 2
♣ 10 7 2 |
|
East
♠ A J 6 2
♥ A J
♦ 9 7
♣ 9 8 5 4 3 |
| |
South
♠ 5
♥ K Q 9 7 6 5 2
♦ Q 10 3
♣ A K |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 ♥ |
Pass |
1 ♠ |
Pass |
| 2 ♥ |
Pass |
2 NT |
Pass |
| 4 ♥ |
All pass |
|
|
Opening Lead: Club two
“Secure, whate’er he gives, he gives the best.”
— Samuel Johnson
In the following deal from the Cavendish Teams, Gunnar Hallberg and his partner, Brian Glubok, produced a sparkling defensive coup.
The contract of four hearts is not a thing of beauty. Off three aces with a delicate trump holding, declarer’s cards seem to lie so well that only an initial diamond lead beats the hand by getting a ruff for East.
That is not quite so. Consider the effect of the lead of the club two (fourth-highest), which was found by Hallberg. Declarer won in hand to play on spades. Glubok took his ace and played a second club — nice, but by no means obvious, defense. Declarer won and played a diamond, and West also did well when he hopped up with the ace (drawing the inference that declarer had the diamond queen or he would have unblocked the clubs before playing the spade). Had West not taken his ace, declarer would have cashed the black queens to discard both of his remaining diamonds. Hallberg now played a third club. Declarer won in dummy and ran the heart 10, covered by the jack and queen.
At this point declarer had to read the precise heart and club positions and exit with a low heart to have any chance to make his contract. When he made the more natural play of the heart king, Glubok won and led a fourth club, promoting the heart eight to the setting trick.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
K Q 7 4 3 |
| ♥ |
10 |
| ♦ |
K J 6 5 |
| ♣ |
Q J 6 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 ♠ |
Pass |
2 ♥ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Whether the response is forcing to game or not, I like the economical rebid of two spades here. Though your diamonds are good enough to bid, that call suggests extras in high cards or shape. You can still find the fit later, while the minimum action gives partner room to describe his hand. The suit rebid doesn’t promise six; it is the default action on a hand unsuitable for bidding no-trump.
For details of Bobby Wolff’s autobiography, The Lone Wolff, contact [email protected]. If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, please leave a comment at this blog. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2011. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
May 26th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 3 Comments
| Vulnerable: East-West
Dealer: East |
North
♠ J 5 3
♥ A J 8 7
♦ 10 9 7
♣ Q 7 5 |
|
| West
♠ —
♥ K 9 3 2
♦ K Q J 6 4 3 2
♣ K 9 |
|
East
♠ Q 10 9 8 7 6 2
♥ 5 4
♦ 8
♣ J 10 6 |
| |
South
♠ A K 4
♥ Q 10 6
♦ A 5
♣ A 8 4 3 2 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
|
2 ♠ |
| 2 NT |
Pass |
3 NT |
All pass |
Opening Lead: Diamond king
“Be not deceived, for every deed you do
I could match — outmatch …”
— Claude McKay
Consider this awkward deal from a recent Cavendish Teams. North-South look destined to reach three no-trump, whether or not East pre-empts — unless they can stop off to double an overly aggressive pair who have gone overboard in diamonds. However, when West clears the diamonds at once, nine tricks seem a long way off.
Nonetheless, in the match between Wayne Chu and Gerald Sosler, both tables found a way to nine tricks in three no-trump. When Craig Gower was declarer, Kay Schulle led a top diamond. (Incidentally, do you approve of East’s decision to pre-empt? I do not. At favorable vulnerability, a three-level pre-empt is not absurd, but at unfavorable vulnerability, bidding with this hand looks like a way to go for a large penalty.)
Gower took the second diamond, led the heart queen, covered by the king and ace, and then played off the top spades. When Schulle pitched two diamonds, Gower worked out why and so led the heart 10. He then successfully finessed against the heart nine. Now he cashed out the hearts, reducing to a five-card ending with West holding three diamonds and two clubs. At this point he threw Schulle in with a diamond to cash out her suit, but she then had to lead clubs for his ninth trick. Remarkably, this was for a four-IMP loss, since Schulle’s teammate, David Berkowitz, had made exactly the same play, but in three no-trump doubled, to land nine tricks.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
J 5 3 |
| ♥ |
A J 8 7 |
| ♦ |
10 9 7 |
| ♣ |
Q 7 5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 NT |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Whether it is at rubber, teams, or pairs, it is bad tactics to invite game on a balanced eight-count. The right action is to pass, unless you have both majors, or a five-card suit, or exceptional intermediates. This hand has none of those features, so it is sensible to pass and try to go plus.
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].
May 25th, 2011 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, May 11th, 2011
| Vulnerable: East-West
Dealer: West |
North
♠ Q 9 4
♥ Q 8
♦ Q J 10 7 6
♣ K 4 2 |
|
| West
♠ K J 3
♥ 7 3
♦ K 5
♣ A J 8 7 6 3 |
|
East
♠ 10 8 7 2
♥ 9 5 4 2
♦ A 8 3 2
♣ 5 |
| |
South
♠ A 6 5
♥ A K J 10 6
♦ 9 4
♣ Q 10 9 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
2 ♣* |
Pass |
Pass |
| 2 ♥ |
All pass |
|
|
*Natural, 11-15 points
Opening Lead: Club ace
“He ventured neck or nothing — heaven’s success
Found, or earth’s failure.”
— Robert Browning
In today’s deal from the 1999 Cavendish, from which all this week’s deals are taken, the defenders added insult to injury.
It is bad enough to stay low and miss a cold game, but when your opponents beat you in the “safe” partscore you have reached, it rubs salt into the wound. After Peter Weichsel’s natural but limited opening of two clubs, Paul Chemla (North) did not have enough to overcall in diamonds. When Christian Mari (South) reopened with two hearts rather than a double, Chemla decided not to explore for the no-trump game. a contract where nine tricks would have been straightforward. Instead, he settled for what he thought was a safe partscore in hearts.
Weichsel led the club ace, an incisive shot, then carefully played the club seven for Alan Sontag to ruff. In situations of this sort, the size of the spot-card West leads should tell East what to play next. Sontag now found the fine move of underleading the diamond ace. (Weichsel’s middle club clearly indicated that he had no preference between the pointed suits; hence, he was likely to have both kings.)
Weichsel won his diamond king, then led a high club, giving Sontag a second ruff. At this point, Sontag led the spade two to ensure one down, setting up the defense’s spade trick before declarer could establish the diamonds for discards.
Accordingly, declarer had to lose three clubs tricks, two diamonds and one spade, for down one.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
Q 9 4 |
| ♥ |
Q 8 |
| ♦ |
Q J 10 7 6 |
| ♣ |
K 4 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
1 ♥ |
Dbl. |
1 ♠ |
| 2 ♦ |
Pass |
2 ♠ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Your partner had a forcing cue-bid available (a two–heart bid). Two spades was therefore natural, showing a good hand. You now have more than enough to jump to four spades. If your partner foolishly meant the spade bid as artificial, no doubt he will have diamond support and can revert to 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].
May 24th, 2011 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, May 10th, 2011
| Vulnerable: Both
Dealer: West |
North
♠ 8 4 2
♥ 10 9 5
♦ J 6
♣ K Q J 6 3 |
|
| West
♠ K Q 9 5
♥ 6
♦ A K 10 9 7 2
♣ 10 9 |
|
East
♠ A J 10 7 6 3
♥ J
♦ 8
♣ A 8 7 4 2 |
| |
South
♠ —
♥ A K Q 8 7 4 3 2
♦ Q 5 4 3
♣ 5 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
1 ♦ |
Pass |
1 ♠ |
| 4 ♥ |
4 ♠ |
5 ♣ |
5 ♥ |
| 6 ♥ |
Pass |
Pass |
6 ♠ |
| Pass |
Pass |
7 ♥ |
Dbl. |
| All pass |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: Diamond king
“They say everything in the world is good for something.”
— John Dryden
All the deals this week come from the Cavendish Pairs and Teams from 10 years ago to celebrate this year’s event currently taking place in Henderson, Nev.
The Cavendish Teams in Las Vegas is the precursor to the main event, the auction pairs. Ten years ago this was the deal from the final match that decided the eventual winner.
As you can see, six spades goes down when diamonds refuse to behave, but that was not obvious to anyone at the table. The auction generally began with South pre-empting in hearts and North bidding clubs to promise a heart fit and club values.
When the eventual winners of the event were doubled in six hearts with the East-West card, Zia Mahmood as West led a top diamond and shifted to a spade, letting South escape for minus 500. But in the other room the auction went as shown. For the winners, Lew Stansby led two top diamonds and Chip Martel threw a discouraging spade. Eventually Stansby worked out to play a third diamond, promoting the heart jack to a trick for down 1100 and a 12-IMP swing to the winners.
Was this the clearest way to get West to continue with a third diamond? Perhaps not, as demonstrated somewhat flamboyantly by Fred Gitelman, who was sitting East, partnering Brad Moss. They were defending six hearts doubled on an auction almost identical to the one shown, and when Moss cashed two rounds of diamonds, Gitelman discarded his spade ace! Now Moss knew what was necessary.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
K Q 9 5 |
| ♥ |
6 |
| ♦ |
A K 10 9 7 2 |
| ♣ |
10 9 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 ♣ |
1 ♥ |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: The simplistic answer is to double for takeout, showing four spades. But that would ignore the main feature of your hand, the diamond suit. There will be plenty of time to bid spades later, but for the time being bid two diamonds, which is natural and forcing.
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].
May 22nd, 2011 ~ admin ~ 3 Comments
| Vulnerable: North-South
Dealer: South |
North
♠ Q 10 6
♥ A Q 6 4
♦ J 10 9 3
♣ 9 2 |
|
| West
♠ —
♥ K J 9 8 5
♦ Q 5 2
♣ K Q J 10 7 |
|
East
♠ A J 8 7 4
♥ 7 3
♦ K 8 6
♣ 6 5 3 |
| |
South
♠ K 9 5 3 2
♥ 10 2
♦ A 7 4
♣ A 8 4 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 ♠ |
2 ♠* |
Dbl. |
2 NT |
| Pass |
3 ♣ |
3 ♠ |
All pass |
*Hearts and a minor
Opening Lead: Club king
“I long ago came to the conclusion that life is six-to-five against.”
— Damon Runyon
To celebrate the Cavendish Pairs tournament being played all this week in Henderson, Nev., this week’s deals all come from the event held 10 years ago.
After West had shown a two-suiter, Adam Zakrzewski (South) landed in three spades. On a top-club lead, Adam ducked and won the heart-jack shift with dummy’s queen.
He ran the diamond jack to West’s queen, took the top-heart return in dummy, and repeated the diamond finesse. Then he played a club to the ace and a spade to the queen and ace. Once the 5-0 trump break came to light, declarer knew he had three top losers, so must try to restrict East to just one more trump trick. That looks unlikely, doesn’t it?
At trick eight East returned the spade jack so that dummy would have to ruff declarer’s club loser with a significant trump. A less imaginative club return would have worked better.
Adam took the spade jack in hand, cashed the diamond ace, then ruffed his club loser in dummy with the spade 10. He had reduced to a three-card ending where both East and South were left only with spades. Adam led a red-suit winner from dummy, and when East ruffed in with the spade seven, he underruffed with the three. That left him with the trump 9-5 over East’s 8-4 for the last two tricks.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
10 8 |
| ♥ |
9 6 4 2 |
| ♦ |
A 8 4 |
| ♣ |
Q 8 5 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
1 ♣ |
Pass |
1 ♥ |
| Pass |
1 ♠ |
Pass |
1 NT |
| Pass |
2 NT |
Pass |
3 NT |
| All pass |
|
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ANSWER: West has shown clubs and spades and about 17 points. Since neither of those suits seems to be behaving well for declarer, you should aim to find as passive a lead as possible. The choice is between the heart six (second from a bad suit) and the spade 10. I prefer the spade 10 partly because partner should find it easier to read.
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].
May 22nd, 2011 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, May 9th, 2011
| Dear Mr Wolff:
You once wrote that you are not a huge fan of weak-jump responses. Can you suggest a better use for jump bids in competition?
— Jamming the Works, Augusta, Ga.
ANSWER: Weak-jump responses to openings in competitive auctions are sensible if made by an unpassed hand. I disapprove of weak-jump responses either to an opening bid in an uncompetitive auction, or to an overcall. Also, a jump by a passed hand makes no sense as weak. Since you did not open the hand, how can you need to show a decent long suit in a weak hand? I like strong-jump responses to opening bids in noncompetitive auctions, and fit-jumps (showing a decent side suit, values, and fit for partner) in the other sequences I mentioned.
Dear Mr Wolff:
After a pre-empt of three clubs on your left and a double from partner, what should you bid with SPADES 10-9, HEARTS K-J-9-5, DIAMONDS Q-J-8-7-4, CLUBS Q-7 if your RHO passes? And what action should you take if your RHO raises to four clubs ? Would doubling be appropriate?
— Russian Steppes, Holland, Mich.
ANSWER: I would bid four hearts in both instances. Minor suits are for the birds, and you have real extras in high cards and shape that suggest you should contract for game, taking the pressure off partner. In the second instance, double would be takeout, so you need more than two spades to make that call.
Dear Mr Wolff:
My partner and I disagree on how to bid a hand that qualifies for a strong one-no-trump opening bid and also contains a five-card major suit. My preference is to open one no-trump, while he feels it is imperative to show the five-card major first. What do you advise, and does any factor such as position or quality of the suit affect the decision?
— Partners at Odds, Houston, Texas
ANSWER: Briefly, upgrade any 17-count with a five-card major into an 18-19 count, adding one for the long-suit. With 15 and no small doubleton, open 1 NT unless all your honors are effectively in two suits, when you can if you want consider opening the suit, downgrading the hand to 14 points. With 16 always open one no-trump unless your honor structure suggests you should treat the hand as a two-suiter: With regard to position (as opposed to suit quality), you might open your long suit at pairs if vulnerable with 15 HCP slightly more often than when nonvulnerable — particularly in third seat.
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Dear Mr Wolff:
Does this hand qualify for an opening bid: SPADES Q, HEARTS A-Q-9-7-3-2, DIAMONDS 10-3-2, CLUBS K-7-4? If so, what would you bid?
— Open for Business, Bellingham, Wash.
ANSWER: Let’s start from a Wolffian precept. No hand with a good six-card major should be passed. Open it one heart or two, since there is no gap between those two. This hand has a good six-card major, so open it two hearts if vulnerable, or perhaps in second seat if nonvulnerable. Otherwise, open it one heart.
Dear Mr Wolff:
When you are playing in a major-suit contract and have eight trumps, is it better to have a 5-3 split or a 4-4 split?
— Small Bore, Pottsville, Pa.
ANSWER: Errors and omissions excepting (and there are far too many such for me to make the following statement with anything more than 90 percent confidence), a 4-4 trump fit is NORMALLY preferable. You can generate discards and extra ruffing tricks from a 4-4 fit far more easily than from a 5-3 fit. The only exceptions tend to come when you do not need discards — never easy to identify in advance.
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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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