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.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
Q 9 |
| ♥ |
K J 4 |
| ♦ |
10 4 3 |
| ♣ |
J 10 9 8 6 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
1 ♣ |
1 ♥ |
Pass |
| 2 ♥ |
Pass |
2 ♠ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Your partner has made a long-suit game try, suggesting spade length and significant extra values or shape, or both. The fact that you have all your values in the majors suggests you should have what your partner needs, so despite your high-card minimum, you should jump to four hearts.
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 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!
And if she goes, my tears will never stop;
For as a player, I can’t squeeze out one drop.”
— 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.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
J 8 3 2 |
| ♥ |
7 5 |
| ♦ |
10 4 2 |
| ♣ |
Q J 7 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
1 ♦ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| 1 ♠ |
Pass |
3 ♠ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Your partner’s sequence suggests four or five spades and about a 20-count. In this sequence you should use any excuse to bid on to game — and here you don’t need an excuse. With four spades, a ruffing value, and some potentially useful clubs, bid game with confidence.
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 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.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
K Q J 8 6 |
| ♥ |
5 4 3 |
| ♦ |
9 |
| ♣ |
K 7 4 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
1 ♥ |
2 ♦ |
4 ♥ |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Are you a man or a mouse? With the opponents virtually sure to have at least nine hearts between them, your partner strongly rates to have spade tolerance and short hearts. This is the moment to bid four spades in your most confident tone of voice, rather than selling out to four hearts. Both contracts could easily be laydown!
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 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]
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
Q 9 |
| ♥ |
A Q 7 5 4 |
| ♦ |
10 6 |
| ♣ |
J 8 5 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 ♣ |
1 ♠ |
| Dbl. |
Pass |
1 NT |
2 ♠ |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: When your partner opens one club, he will have at least four clubs unless he has four hearts (impossible on this auction) or four spades — which your opponents’ action make less than likely. Your club length argues that you should compete to three clubs. It may not work, but bridge is a game of percentages, and here you are likely to have a club fit.
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 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.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
Q 3 |
| ♥ |
J 10 3 2 |
| ♦ |
A Q 3 |
| ♣ |
K 10 6 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 ♣ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
2 NT |
| All pass |
|
|
|
ANSWER: It feels right to lead a heart rather than a club. (East has implied a good club stop.) That being said, a low heart seems safer than a card from your sequence. If either North or East is short in hearts, you don’t want to waste one of your high hearts unnecessarily.
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 12th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 4 Comments
| Dear Mr Wolff:
I am familiar with the idea that after a suit-opening bid by my partner and a double by my RHO, then my jump to two no-trump is Jordan, suggesting four trumps and a limit raise or better. Does this also apply to a passed hand?
— Both Sides of Jordan, Springfield, Mass.
ANSWER: Yes, it works exactly the same: two no-trump by a passed hand is a limit raise (not a game force, so there is no contradiction). But bear in mind that neither call promises four trumps. It could be based on an unbalanced hand with three trumps. Incidentally, in this auction jumps in new suits by passed hands are fit-jumps, suggesting four trumps and a strong side-suit.
Dear Mr Wolff:
I held SPADES J-10-8-7-4-2, HEARTS 2, DIAMONDS 2, CLUBS Q-J-8-5-4. My partner opened one no-trump and I transferred into spades. My partner completed the transfer, and the next hand overcalled three hearts. Now I competed with three spades, and my partner bid three no-trump. Was I wrong to pass? My partner said she had no idea I had six spades, but I felt I had shown them by rebidding the suit.
— Suiting Up, Harrisburg, Pa.
ANSWER: When you have a weak hand and a long suit, you always want to play in the suit. The rare exceptions come when partner has a seven-carder of his own. Facing a no-trump bid, that happens only rarely! So here you were right to transfer and bid spades again, and your partner was probably wrong to bid three no-trump, but you should have overruled her and bid four spades.
Dear Mr Wolff:
Should the point-count range for an overcall of one no-trump in direct seat be 15-17 or 15-18? What does it promise about stoppers in the opponents’ bid suit?
— Risk Management, Ketchikan, Alaska
ANSWER: Stoppers are important — but not especially so when an opponent opens one club, since if I appear to be showing clubs, my LHO probably won’t lead the suit. So I may bid one no-trump over a club with any hand in the right range — regardless of club stoppers. As to the range, most people who say it is 16-18 bid it with 15 anyway. I say if it looks like a duck …
| |
Dear Mr Wolff:
As opener or responder, do you ever bid the higher of four- or five-card suits before a lower four- or five-card suit? In other words, if you have both majors, when do you bid hearts before spades?
— Priority Pete, Kingston, Ontario
ANSWER: The simple rule is when you have two five-carders, respond or open in the higher of touching suits. But when opening or responding, start with the lower of four-card suits — except that as responder with fewer than 10 HCP, respond in a major, not in diamonds. The other rule is that when responding, you will not bid a five-card minor suit at the two-level before a four-card major, unless you are worth a two-level response.
Dear Mr Wolff:
Last month you discussed support doubles, which I understand apply only to opener, and to bids at or below two of partner’s suit. What if the opponents’ intervention applies at the three-level, or if their call is at the two-level, above two of partner’s suit?
— Higher Math, Albany, Ga.
ANSWER: It is hard to generalize, but in principle all such doubles are between takeout and optional in nature and show real extras. If you have extra shape, you may well have a simple natural call, but typically you do not hold an entirely balanced hand (or you would have opened one no-trump or rebid two no-trump to show 18-19). However, I accept that you may be awkwardly placed if you do have a balanced hand without a stop, since you’d be forced to double here too.
|
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 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,
No sooner meet than fight?
Before the word, the blow?
Well, be it so.”
— 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!
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
A K Q 5 3 2 |
| ♥ |
Q 3 |
| ♦ |
6 3 |
| ♣ |
A Q 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
2 ♥ |
3 ♦ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: New suits in response to an overcall of a weak bid must be played as forcing by an unpassed hand, as here. There is no need to take control of the auction yet; simply make a natural and forcing call of three spades and try to find out what suit will play best as trumps.
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 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].
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