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.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
5 4 3 |
| ♥ |
A 10 |
| ♦ |
A Q 6 4 |
| ♣ |
10 7 6 5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| Pass |
Pass |
2 ♠ |
Dbl. |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: You have enough to try to obstruct your opponents by raising to three spades — even facing a third-in-hand pre-empt. But wouldn’t you like a diamond lead against an eventual four-heart game? Best is to use three diamonds here as lead-directing with at least spade tolerance — a gadget known as McCabe. All new suits at the three-level here are lead directing, even by an unpassed 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].
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;
Do noble things, not dream them, all day long.”
— 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!
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
A 5 |
| ♥ |
A K 10 8 7 |
| ♦ |
J 7 6 2 |
| ♣ |
A 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 ♥ |
Pass |
2 ♣ |
Pass |
| 2 ♦ |
Pass |
3 ♦ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Despite your weak diamonds, you have real slam interest, so should not sign off in three no-trump. Make a call of three spades — initially, a probe for no-trump. If your partner bids three no-trump, you probably have to pass, but facing any other action, you can cue-bid and hope partner can take control.
For details of Bobby Wolff’s autobiography, The Lone Wolff, contact [email protected]. If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, please leave a comment at this blog. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2011. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
July 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,
From foul to fair, from better hap to worse.”
— 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!
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
K J 7 6 4 |
| ♥ |
Q J 7 2 |
| ♦ |
K 4 |
| ♣ |
K 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
Pass |
Pass |
| 1 ♠ |
2 ♣ |
Pass |
2 NT |
| All pass |
|
|
|
ANSWER: It must surely be correct to lead a heart, not a spade, on this auction. With the live possibility that dummy may have a singleton heart honor (or that partner may have a blocking doubleton heart king or 10), the lead of a small heart rather than an honor looks like the best shot to get the suit going for the defenders.
For details of Bobby Wolff’s autobiography, The Lone Wolff, contact [email protected]. If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, please leave a comment at this blog. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2011. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
July 24th, 2011 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, July 10th, 2011
| Dear Mr Wolff:
Is it ever right to bid a new suit with only thre cards th as responder or at your second turn as opener? When might that be right?
— Thinking Small, Wichita Falls, Texas
ANSWER: As responder you rarely bid a three-card suit at your first turn (occasionally a two-club response on 4-3-3-3 shape may seem best). Opener at his second turn with a powerhouse may feel obliged to jump in a three-card suit just to set up a force, but my advice would be when in doubt, don’t! Of course, when exploring for no-trump at later points in the auction, such calls are not uncommon.
Dear Mr Wolff:
I held SPADES K-Q-5-4, HEARTS A-J-10-7-6, DIAMONDS Q-8-5, CLUBS and doubled a three-club pre-empt. My partner responded three diamonds and we played there, scrambling nine tricks facing a hand with four diamonds and three cards in every other suit. Alas, at the other table, where our teammates didn’t open three clubs, the opponents bid and made four hearts. What should I have done differently?
— All Shook Up, Bellevue, Wash.
ANSWER: Maybe find different teammates? Seriously, though, you took the normal action with your cards, since doubling gets you to the right major whenever your partner has four or more cards in that suit, and also gets you to diamonds whenever that is right. You were unlucky to run into the one downside of doubling as opposed to overcalling.
Dear Mr Wolff:
Over the last few months you have been discussing support doubles. As I understand it, these apply only to opener, when responder has shown a four-card or longer major suit at the one-level. Are they compulsory?
— Needing Support, Trenton, N.J.
ANSWER: Support doubles apply even if partner has guaranteed a five-carder (by bidding one spade over intervention of one heart). Third hand openers do not have to make the double if subminimum. More controversially, I would pass rather than double with a good holding in the opponents’ suit and three small trumps if I held a balanced minimum opening. Also note that they only apply to intervention below two of partner’s suit. Higher doubles just show good hands.
| |
Dear Mr Wolff:
As responder to a one-diamond opening with:SPADES J-10-5, HEARTS Q-10-7-4-2, DIAMONDS A-J-9, CLUBS J-2 you would bid one heart I assume, but would you bid when your partner now says one spade? I tried a raise to two spades, but my partner claimed that one no-trump described the hand much better.
— Quarterback, Raleigh, N.C.
ANSWER: I don’t agree with either of you. Without a decent club stop, I think you have an easy preference to two diamonds. Obviously, you have close to a maximum in high cards, but that is not yet an indictable offense.
Dear Mr Wolff:
I have just started to learn the Michaels cuebid and want to know what values are typical for the action and whether continuations over the cuebid are natural or artificial.
— Major Major, Cartersville, Ga.
ANSWER: The simplest scheme over the cuebid when the opponents open a minor (and thus you have specifically shown both majors) is to play two no-trump in response as natural, with jumps invitational. You can, instead, use jumps as pre-emptive, and utilize the two-no-trump response as a relay to start all good hands. The latter scheme also works well when the opponents open a major. Thus your cuebid has shown the other major and an unspecified minor.
|
If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, e-mail him at [email protected]. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 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.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
Q J 6 |
| ♥ |
3 |
| ♦ |
Q 9 7 5 4 |
| ♣ |
Q 10 9 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| Pass |
1 ♥ |
2 ♣ |
2 ♠ |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: You are too short of quick tricks to drive this hand to five clubs. The choice is to cue-bid to show a good hand and club support, or to jump to four clubs, which tends to be based on shape, not high cards. Since you suspect that the opponents are about to bid four of one major or the other and your hand suggests sacrificing, the jump to four clubs feels most descriptive.
For details of Bobby Wolff’s autobiography, The Lone Wolff, contact [email protected]. If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, please leave a comment at this blog. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2011. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
July 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
This Work, I now have gazed on it so long
I see its truth with unreluctant eyes;”
— 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.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
A 8 4 3 |
| ♥ |
6 |
| ♦ |
Q 10 2 |
| ♣ |
Q J 9 4 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
1 ♥ |
1 NT |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: You have enough values to drive to game here, but you may have a 4-4 spade fit, which you would surely want to play in if it is available. To investigate, you can bid two clubs as Stayman if you play “system on,” meaning that you use the same methods over a one-no-trump overcall as you do in response to a one-no-trump opening bid.
For details of Bobby Wolff’s autobiography, The Lone Wolff, contact [email protected]. If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, please leave a comment at this blog. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2011. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
July 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.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
K 8 7 3 2 |
| ♥ |
Q J |
| ♦ |
A 5 |
| ♣ |
K Q J 10 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
1 ♣ |
Pass |
1 ♥ |
| 1 ♠ |
Pass |
2 ♦ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: There is no hand with diamonds and values that could be bid at its second turn but not over one club. If you trust your partner, this auction suggests spade tolerance and diamond values. But you don’t have to commit yourself yet. Bid three clubs to show where you live, and wait to find out where your partner wants to go.
For details of Bobby Wolff’s autobiography, The Lone Wolff, contact [email protected]. If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, please leave a comment at this blog. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2011. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
July 20th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 4 Comments
| Vulnerable: North-South
Dealer: West |
North
♠ A 3
♥ Q 7 5 3
♦ Q 8 6 4
♣ K 9 2 |
|
| West
♠ 10 9 6 5 4 2
♥ J 4
♦ J 10
♣ J 8 6 |
|
East
♠ Q 8 7
♥ A 10 9
♦ 7 5 3 2
♣ A 7 5 |
| |
South
♠ K J
♥ K 8 6 2
♦ A K 9
♣ Q 10 4 3 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
Pass |
Pass |
Pass |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
2 ♣ |
Pass |
| 2 ♥ |
Pass |
4 ♥ |
All pass |
Opening Lead: Spade 10
“Macavity, Macavity, there’s no one like Macavity,
He’s broken every human law, he breaks the law of gravity.”
— T.S. Eliot
Today’s deal comes from the USA’s qualifying match in the 2007 Bermuda Bowl against India; the American team went on to win the silver medal.
The contract in both rooms was four hearts. In the first room Steve Garner declared his game as North on a diamond lead. Winning in the South hand, he entered dummy with the spade ace and played a heart to his king, which held. Now he played a second heart and ducked West’s jack, hoping to drop the ace. Though he was out of luck there, he could win the diamond return, cash his winners in spades and diamonds, then exit with a trump. East was now endplayed into either giving a ruff and discard or opening up the clubs, so declarer could hold his club losers to one..
At the second table the Indian declarer played the hand from the South seat. He won the spade lead in dummy and also played a low heart to the king, under which Ralph Katz, West, made the fine play (a remarkably difficult one to find at the table) of unblocking his jack. Now, when South played a second heart, East, George Jacobs, could win with the 10, cash the heart ace, and exit with a diamond.
Katz’s resourceful unblock meant that declarer had no endplay available. So South had to locate the club jack on his own. When he failed to do so, the game ended one light — a swing I believe Katz had earned.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
K J |
| ♥ |
K 8 6 2 |
| ♦ |
A K 9 |
| ♣ |
Q 10 4 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 ♦ |
Pass |
| 1 ♥ |
Pass |
1 ♠ |
Pass |
| 2 ♣ |
Pass |
2 NT |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Your partner’s rebid of two no-trump (as opposed to a call of two diamonds) suggests either that he has only four diamonds, or that if he has five, they are in a very minimum balanced hand. Thus, even if you have an eight-card diamond fit, slam rates to be extremely unlikely. So simply raise to three no-trump and don’t bother to introduce your diamond support.
For details of Bobby Wolff’s autobiography, The Lone Wolff, contact [email protected]. If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, please leave a comment at this blog. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2011. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
July 19th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 6 Comments
| Vulnerable: Neither
Dealer: East |
North
♠ 8 6 5
♥ 10 6
♦ 10 8 3
♣ Q J 10 5 4 |
|
| West
♠ A K
♥ K 9 8 7 3 2
♦ 9 5 2
♣ K 7 |
|
East
♠ Q J 9 2
♥ Q 4
♦ J 7 6 4
♣ 9 8 3 |
| |
South
♠ 10 7 4 3
♥ A J 5
♦ A K Q
♣ A 6 2 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
|
Pass |
| 1 ♦ |
1 ♥ |
Pass |
Pass |
| 1 NT |
2 ♥ |
2 NT |
All pass |
Opening Lead: Heart seven
“A gaudy dress and gentle air
May slightly touch the heart,
But it’s innocence and modesty
That polishes the dart.”
— Robert Burns
Here is a deal that does not show me in the best possible light. It comes from a Cavendish teams tournament about a decade ago and is something of a rarity since one seldom comes across a hand where game in no-trump is cold and two no-trump is a favorite to go down. However, this was just such a deal.
When our teammates played the deal, their opponents (North-South) overreached to play the no-trump game. On a heart lead there was little choice but to win, lead ace and another club, and cross one’s fingers. With the club king doubleton and the spade suit blocked for the defenders, East-West could not take more than four tricks.
A little lucky maybe, but in the other room, where two no-trump was the contract, I was declarer. I won the heart lead to try a low club from hand, needing only three club tricks, not four. Willie Whittaker of Scotland ducked smoothly, and when dummy’s club queen held the trick, I had to try to work out which defender had made a very nice play. Since I could not survive if West had king-third of clubs, whatever I did, I played East to have ducked the king from an original three-card suit. Accordingly, I decided to finesse in clubs on the second round. Whittaker won and cleared hearts, and now I had only seven tricks.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
Q J 9 2 |
| ♥ |
Q 4 |
| ♦ |
J 7 6 4 |
| ♣ |
9 8 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
1 ♥ |
1 NT |
2 ♥ |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: In sequences where the opponents intervene over our no-trump, I advocate playing takeout doubles. And since we play “system on” when we overcall one no-trump, meaning that we play the same methods as we would over an opening no-trump, double here retains its meaning of takeout and is thus the best way to get into the auction.
For details of Bobby Wolff’s autobiography, The Lone Wolff, contact [email protected]. If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, please leave a comment at this blog. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2011. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
July 18th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 9 Comments
| Vulnerable: Neither
Dealer: East |
North
♠ J 10
♥ A K Q 4 2
♦ K 10 8
♣ A J 2 |
|
| West
♠ A 4
♥ 7 5
♦ Q J 6 5 2
♣ K 8 5 3 |
|
East
♠ 9 6 2
♥ J 10 8
♦ A 9 4 3
♣ Q 10 6 |
| |
South
♠ K Q 8 7 5 3
♥ 9 6 3
♦ 7
♣ 9 7 4 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
|
Pass |
| 2 ♠ |
Pass |
4 ♠ |
All pass |
Opening Lead: Diamond queen
“A man that could look no way but downwards, with a muckrake in his hand.”
— John Bunyan
One of the things that separate the expert from the average bridge player is the ability to see beyond the horizon of the current trick. To see whether you have the capacity to be an expert, put yourself in East’s shoes here, and look only at your cards and those of dummy.
Defending four spades, you see partner lead the diamond queen, covered by the king and your ace. What is your plan to defeat the game?
Most defenders would return a diamond, hoping to cash the diamond winners for their side. They might even succeed in doing so; but the question is whether they can ever defeat the contract this way, assuming declarer has six spades plus two of the top three honors in that suit — surely the least you might expect him to hold from the auction.
If declarer has six spades, your side has probably one spade trick and one diamond trick so you need to find two more winners. The problem with playing a diamond back now is that you establish the diamond 10 for declarer, whether South has two diamonds and two clubs, or his actual hand (when he can discard a club, or ruff and play trump, then set up the hearts to pitch his club losers).
To defeat the contract, you must shift to a club, playing your partner for the club king and one of the two top trumps. If he does not have that hand, you surely won’t beat the game.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
8 7 5 |
| ♥ |
Q 4 |
| ♦ |
Q J 9 |
| ♣ |
Q J 9 7 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 ♥ |
2 ♣ |
| Pass |
Pass |
Dbl. |
All pass |
ANSWER: This does not look like a hand where you need to take ruffs (they rate to be with trump tricks). Instead, set up your winners, and the best way to do that is surely to lead your diamond sequence rather than the heart queen. I might lead a doubleton heart honor if my trump suit were king-queen-fifth, when the ruffs would not be coming with natural trump tricks.
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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