March 25th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 8 Comments 
| Dealer: West
Vul: Both |
North
♠ 8
♥ A J 8 7 2
♦ 8 7 6 3
♣ 10 9 7 |
|
| West
♠ A K 9 3 2
♥ K Q 10 5
♦ 9
♣ 8 5 4 |
 |
East
♠ 10 7 5
♥ 9 6 4
♦ Q 10 5 2
♣ 6 3 2 |
| |
South
♠ Q J 6 4
♥ 3
♦ A K J 4
♣ A K Q J |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
1 ♠ |
Pass |
Pass |
| Dbl. |
Pass |
2 ♥ |
Pass |
| 3 NT |
All Pass |
|
|
Opening Lead: ♥ Queen
“Men are made by nature unequal. It is vain, therefore, to treat them as if they were equal.”
— J.A. Froude
Every year the Young Chelsea Bridge Club hosts the Lederer Memorial Trophy. This invitational event allows you to watch great players up close, both at the table and on the Vugraph presentation, and even on the computer, since the tournament is frequently covered on Bridge Base Online.
Today’s deal was one of the best-defended hands from the 2006 event. Zia Mahmood is quite rightly well-known for his sparkling declarer play, but this time he made fewer tricks than anyone else in the field. The star of the show was Ireland’s Hugh McGann, who got his side off to a good start when he led the heart queen (in his methods, showing the king) rather than the spade three, which was the choice at other tables.
Zia won in dummy with the ace, and East, Tom Hanlon, played the four, showing an odd number. With the diamond queen likely to be offside, Zia chose to play diamonds from the top. When he found out the bad news, he continued with his four club tricks. West discarded two spades and East one.
Zia now got off play with the spade queen, East unblocking the 10. West won the king and found the only card to give him a chance: the heart 10! This created an entry to his partner’s hand with the nine. Zia won the jack, but there was nothing he could do. West had managed to avoid the endplay, and the defense could always come to five tricks.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
8 |
| ♥ |
A J 8 7 2 |
| ♦ |
8 7 6 3 |
| ♣ |
10 9 7 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
1 ♣ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| 1 ♥ |
Pass |
1 ♠ |
Pass |
| 2 ♦ |
Pass |
3 ♦ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Your partner rates to have five or more spades and four diamonds, with something like an 18 or 19 count. If your club 10 were the spade 10, you might have enough to look for higher things. As it is, the lack of club control is unattractive — as is the singleton in partner’s suit. All this suggests that passing is the most discreet action now.
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].
March 24th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 2 Comments
| Dealer: South
Vul: N-S |
North
♠ J 4 2
♥ J 9 4
♦ 8 5 3 2
♣ K 7 5 |
|
| West
♠ Q 9 5
♥ Q 8 7 6 5
♦ 7 6
♣ J 9 3 |
|
East
♠ 10 7 6 3
♥ A 2
♦ K 9 4
♣ Q 8 6 2 |
| |
South
♠ A K 8
♥ K 10 3
♦ A Q J 10
♣ A 10 4 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 2 NT |
Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
Opening Lead: ♥ six
“Dyspepsy is the ruin of most things: empires, expeditions, and everything else.”
— Thomas de Quincey
Both the defenders and declarers at the Dyspeptics Club are constantly under the scrutiny of their colleagues. The kibitzers tend to believe that it is better to comment and misanalyze than stay silent and be thought a fool.
On today’s deal the kibitzer commented afterwards that a good opportunity had gone begging. Was he right — and if so, what was the chance?
Against three no-trump West led his fourth-highest heart to East’s ace. South followed low, put in the heart 10 on the second round, and West took his queen and cleared the suit. South won in hand, crossed to the club king to take the diamond finesse, then took his extra chance of finding the spade queen doubleton to create an entry to dummy. When that didn’t work, declarer’s one remaining chance was to drop the diamond king. No luck — and declarer finished up with just seven tricks.
Let’s replay the deal on the lead of the heart six. When East follows with the ace, the rule of 11 shows South that West has all the top hearts. Whether hearts are 4-3 or 5-2, declarer cannot win more than one heart trick.
But that is not the full story. To create an extra entry to dummy, declarer drops his heart king under the ace! Now South can reach the North hand one more time by making best use of dummy’s heart jack to repeat the diamond finesse and bring home his game.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
10 7 6 3 |
| ♥ |
A 2 |
| ♦ |
K 9 4 |
| ♣ |
Q 8 6 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 ♣ |
2 ♥ |
| Dbl. |
2 ♠ |
3 ♦ |
3 ♠ |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: This auction suggests five clubs, four diamonds and some extras (though not so much as a classic reverse) since your partner has forced you to give preference at an inconvenient level. Because the opponents have not bid and raised hearts, your partner looks to be short in spades and thus your two hands fit very well. So bid what you think you can make — five clubs.
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].
March 23rd, 2011 ~ admin ~ 2 Comments
| Dealer: West
Vul: E-W |
North
♠ J 4
♥ 10 8 3
♦ A J 10 9 8
♣ J 6 5 |
|
| West
♠ K 9 5
♥ A 9 7 6 5 4 2
♦ —
♣ K Q 7 |
|
East
♠ 10 8 7 3
♥ J
♦ K 7 6 5 4 3
♣ 10 2 |
| |
South
♠ A Q 6 2
♥ K Q
♦ Q 2
♣ A 9 8 4 3 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
1 ♥ |
Pass |
Pass |
| Dbl |
2 ♥ |
3 ♦ |
Pass |
| 3 NT |
All Pass |
|
|
Opening Lead: ♥ six
“Books will speak plain when counselors blanch.”
— Francis Bacon
Every so often a play comes up that you see only in books. Cover up the East-West hands and we’ll find out what you’ve been reading these days.
In three no-trump on a heart lead, you play low from dummy and capture East’s jack. At trick two you run the diamond queen, West discarding a low spade and East ducking. How do you continue?
With no dummy entry to the diamonds and all the missing black-suit honors marked with West, it looks bad. But there is a way out: Play a second diamond to the ace, then a third diamond, discarding your last heart! What you have done is created a heart stopper in dummy. If the opponents want to play hearts, dummy is going to take a trick in the suit.
In practice East won the diamond king and shifted to a club ducked to West’s queen. West didn’t have much choice, so he did his best by playing the ace and a heart, putting dummy on play. Dummy’s two remaining diamonds were cashed, and now everyone was down to four cards. Dummy had the jack-doubleton of both black suits; West, the guarded king of both black suits; and South, the ace-doubleton in clubs and the A-Q of spades. South now played the ace and a second club, giving up a trick to West’s king, but took his eighth and ninth tricks with the A-Q of spades.
So, did you prove yourself to be a bookworm?
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
10 8 7 3 |
| ♥ |
J |
| ♦ |
K 7 6 5 4 3 |
| ♣ |
10 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
1 ♥ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: The most likely game for your side is four spades, but you have no reason to assume this is not a partscore deal. To maximize your chances of getting to the best contract and bid your suits in the right order, respond two diamonds and plan to bid spades at your next turn. Bear in mind that with your singleton heart, someone is pretty sure to reintroduce 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].
March 22nd, 2011 ~ admin ~ 3 Comments
| Dealer: North
Vul: Both |
North
♠ J 8
♥ Q 9 7
♦ K Q J 7 6
♣ K 7 2 |
|
| West
♠ Q 7 3
♥ 10 8 6
♦ 9 4 2
♣ 9 8 5 3 |
|
East
♠ K 10 9 4 2
♥ 5
♦ A 8 5 3
♣ A Q J |
| |
South
♠ A 6 5
♥ A K J 4 3 2
♦ 10
♣ 10 6 4 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 ♦ |
1 ♠ |
| 2 ♥ |
Pass |
3 ♥ |
Pass |
| 4 ♥ |
All Pass |
|
|
Opening Lead: ♠ three
“All the habits and rules of his life that had seemed so firm, had turned out suddenly false and inapplicable.”
— Leo Tolstoy
The following deal falls under the heading of a technical play, but it also has the elements of an optical illusion. The right play sometimes can be disguised because we are all hedged around with a framework of do’s and dont’s so that we cannot see the forest for the trees.
Four hearts is a difficult contract both to declare and defend. When Piet Jansen reached it in the Cap Gemini Invitation Pairs in 1999, Justin Hackett led a spade in response to his partner’s overcall. Jansen put in dummy’s spade eight, and when Jason Hackett covered with the nine, Jansen ducked.
Had South won the trick, Jason would subsequently have put his partner in with the spade queen to lead a club through dummy’s king, so declarer had kept himself in the hunt nicely.
However, when the spade nine held the first trick, Jason found the essential switch to the club ace and another club, setting up his side’s fourth trick before declarer could establish the diamonds to discard his club losers.
This may seem simple, but less than half the field set the game here. The point is that the rule to break exerted such a sway that even some of the best defenders in the world could not bring themselves to do it. Yes, you are not supposed to lead a potentially well-placed ace and set up a king in dummy. But if you know that there are discards to come for declarer, you may have to bite the bullet.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 8 |
| ♥ |
Q 9 7 |
| ♦ |
K Q J 7 6 |
| ♣ |
K 7 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
|
1 ♣ |
| 1 ♦ |
Pass |
2 ♠ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Some play a jump by an unpassed hand as strong, others weak, still others as artificial. By a passed hand it can’t be a pre-emptive one-suiter — with a good suit you’d have bid already; with a bad suit, one spade here would surely be enough. It does make sense to play this call as spades with diamond fit; if so, with a minimum hand and no real spade fit you should retreat from two spades to three 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].
March 21st, 2011 ~ admin ~ 8 Comments
| Dealer: South
Vul: Both |
North
♠ 7 6 5
♥ K Q 9 8 7
♦ K 6 5
♣ Q 3 |
|
| West
♠ J 8 4 3
♥ 3 2
♦ Q J 10 9
♣ K 8 7 |
|
East
♠ 9 2
♥ 4
♦ A 8 7 4 2
♣ J 9 6 5 4 |
| |
South
♠ A K Q 10
♥ A J 10 6 5
♦ 3
♣ A 10 2 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 ♥ |
Pass |
3 ♥ |
Pass |
| 6 ♥ |
All Pass |
|
|
Opening Lead: ♦ Queen
“Let us give Nature a chance; she knows her business better than we do.”
— Michel de Montaigne
If the recommended bidding today seems startling, it is because we have all become so scientific that the good old-fashioned, purely quantitative way of bidding slams has been allowed to sink into oblivion. But scientific bidding is designed to assist difficult hands — not to distort easy ones. This deal calls for judgment rather than science. There are very few hands that North can hold that will not offer play for a small slam, while it is unlikely that he holds the exact cards needed for a grand slam. The direct jump to slam has the advantage of giving nothing away — and indeed might mislead defenders who expect declarer to have a void, or some other freakish hand.
Against the heart slam, West leads the diamond queen and continues with a second round, which South trumps. The contract is safe provided the spades break 3-3 or the jack comes down. There is an extra chance, that the hand with four spades to the jack also holds the club king. As this may be West, the club ace is played off, a Vienna Coup, then the heart jack is overtaken in dummy for the second diamond ruff, followed by the heart ace and two of the top spades.
Finally all the trumps are run off, reducing to a two-card ending. On the last trump declarer has a spade and the club queen on the board, the Q-10 of spades in hand, and West is squeezed in the black suits.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
9 6 4 2 |
| ♥ |
8 7 2 |
| ♦ |
K 6 4 |
| ♣ |
9 5 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
1 ♣ |
Pass |
1 ♥ |
| Pass |
1 ♠ |
Pass |
2 NT |
| Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
|
ANSWER: Before you lead, it is worth finding out if West has promised “real” clubs or could have just three clubs. If West could be balanced, I’d guess to lead clubs, but if West has guaranteed a real club suit, I’d try my luck with a spade. When East has values and has jumped to two no-trump, diamonds don’t look like an attractive option. Also note that partner did not overcall in that suit.
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].
March 20th, 2011 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, March 6th, 2011
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
I know that in sandwich seat, after both opponents have bid, you prefer to play a strong no-trump overcall by an unpassed hand, but a passed hand uses the call to show a two-suiter. Given that, how weak or strong should the two-suiter be?
— Sandwich Shop, Laredo, Texas
ANSWER: As a passed hand you will generally come in with 5-5 and a top honor in each of your suits. At unfavorable vulnerability you’d need some protection in the form of decent intermediates. While bidding with five to the Q-10 and five to the K-J looks fine to me, beware of tipping off the opponents to possible bad breaks just for the sheer pleasure of hearing the sound of your own voice.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Do you encourage your readers to play third-and-fifth leads against suits? If so, what would you lead from interior sequences such as K-J-10 or Q-10-9?
— Running Bear, Bay City, Mich.
ANSWER: I believe you get more out of third-and-fifth leads by treating your whole holding as a single unit and leading third from the top, so you should lead the 10 from the first holding and the nine from the second. And as a further thought, even if you do not do this at the first trick, you may find it helpful to make these plays in midhand. The disadvantage of these leads at trick one before dummy comes down is that you may be helping declarer.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
What would you bid with SPADES J-9-8-4, HEARTS A-3-2, DIAMONDS K-10-3-2, CLUBS A-4 when your LHO opens one diamond and your partner overcalls one heart? Would you bid no-trump, or raise hearts — and would you let your partner out below game?
— Third-Hand Dilemma, Walnut Creek, Calif.
|
|
ANSWER: I would raise hearts rather than bid no-trump, but I would start with a cue-bid of two diamonds to show a limit raise or better, prepared to give up in two hearts facing a minimum hand. This is not worth driving to game with or even to the three-level facing, for example, a five-card suit in a 10-count.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
In asking for aces, is it permitted to declare “I am asking”? We have been told that is no longer allowed.
— 20 Questions, Janesville, Wis.
ANSWER: You alert ( by rapping the table or using the alert card) your partner’s bids, not your own, if conventional. The alert lets the opponents ask if they are interested. The only bids of your partner that you should announce are your no-trump range and the fact that a call is a transfer, or that a no-trump response is forcing or semiforcing. But no other explanations should be made unless the opponents request it. For two reasons don’t alert your own ace-asking call. First, your partner does it, not you; second, you don’t alert any calls higher than three no-trump, whatever they mean!
Dear Mr. Wolff:
My RHO opened two spades. I held SPADES J-9-6, HEARTS Q-7, DIAMONDS K-J-2, CLUBS A-Q-10-4-2 and passed. When my partner balanced with a double, how should I have advanced — and do you agree with my initial pass?
— Stop and Go, Union City, Tenn.
ANSWER: Yes, passing is correct (with a sixth club you might act but not otherwise). I would cuebid three spades at my second turn and pass a three-no-trump bid, but bid five clubs over a red-suit action by my partner. It is not perfect — but nothing is! |
If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, e-mail him at [email protected]. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2011.
March 19th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 2 Comments
| Dealer: North
Vul: E-W |
North
♠ A K 10 3
♥ 5 4 2
♦ J 10 5 4 3
♣ 8 |
|
| West
♠ 8 6 5
♥ Q J 10 8 6
♦ 7 2
♣ J 6 5 |
|
East
♠ Q J 9 2
♥ K 7
♦ A K 6
♣ 10 9 7 3 |
| |
South
♠ 7 4
♥ A 9 3
♦ Q 9 8
♣ A K Q 4 2 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
Pass |
Pass |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
2 ♣ |
Pass |
| 2 ♦ |
Pass |
2 NT |
Pass |
| 3 NT |
All Pass |
|
|
Opening Lead: ♥ Queen
“The most positive men are the most credulous.”
— Alexander Pope
From the last European Open Championships, Ismail Kandemir and Suleyman Kolata found an elegant way to beat three no-trump.
When Kademir led a top heart, instead of overtaking to unblock the suit, East deliberately ducked, persuading declarer to duck once, and then again on his partner’s low heart continuation to the king. Kolata now found the killing shift to a top spade, won in dummy. He ducked the diamond play and won the second diamond to play a second top spade, surrendering a trick to cut declarer’s communications.
The best declarer could do now was cash the spade 10, pitching a diamond from hand, then take the heart ace, but South could keep his clubs and take the last two tricks.
The same sort of defense was found by Thomas and Michel Bessis. A top-heart lead was overtaken by East and ducked by declarer, for a high-spade shift by East. Declarer won and continued with a diamond to the nine. When this held, he continued with the diamond queen. South won this and continued with the spade jack, taken in dummy with the king.
Declarer did not succeed from this point, but in fact South did have a resource, as demonstrated at yet a third table, by French international Pierre Zimmermann, He cashed his three clubs and his heart ace, then exited with a diamond. East now had a club to cash but only two spades left, and dummy had a spade and diamond winner.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q J 9 2 |
| ♥ |
K 7 |
| ♦ |
A K 6 |
| ♣ |
10 9 7 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 ♣ |
Dbl. |
1 ♥ |
1 ♠ |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
2 ♦ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Even if your partnership plays New Minor Forcing after a no-trump rebid, that does not apply in competition. In this sequence the call of two diamonds simply asks you to pick between the suits at the two-level, and since you have a marked preference for diamonds, you should simply pass.
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].
March 18th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 6 Comments
| Dealer: South
Vul: E-W |
North
♠ Q 5 3
♥ A J
♦ Q 6
♣ 10 7 6 5 4 2 |
|
| West
♠ 9 8 7 2
♥ Q 10 9
♦ J 10 9 8 5
♣ J |
|
East
♠ K 6
♥ 8 7 6 5 3
♦ K 7 3 2
♣ K Q |
| |
South
♠ A J 10 4
♥ K 4 2
♦ A 4
♣ A 9 8 3 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
Opening Lead: ♦ Jack
“An active, ardent mind;
A fancy pregnant with resource and scheme
To cheat the sadness of a rainy day.”
— William Wordsworth
When you cannot use your major source of tricks, it may be a case of any port in a storm. However, you may need to husband your resources carefully.
West led the diamond jack against three no-trump, and South correctly tried dummy’s queen. (If dummy had held three diamonds, it would have been right to duck and preserve the tenace, but not here.)
As South had feared, East covered the queen with the king. South withheld the ace, but was forced to take the next round. Clubs were a broken reed now, for to take five club tricks, declarer would have to surrender the lead, and the defenders would surely have five tricks before declarer could run nine.
The remaining possibility was that hearts would supply three tricks, and spades, four. So at trick three, declarer finessed dummy’s heart jack, which held. One hurdle was overcome — but would spades be equally obliging?
About to call for dummy’s queen, South paused. If spades broke 3-3 with the king onside, it did not matter which spade was led. But what if East had a doubleton spade king? He would cover the queen, and there would be a fourth-round spade loser.
Changing tack, South led a low spade to the 10, which held, then re-entered dummy with the heart ace and led another low spade, on which East’s king was a welcome sight. It only remained to cash dummy’s spade queen, then re-enter hand with the club ace to take the remaining two winners.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A J 10 4 |
| ♥ |
K 4 2 |
| ♦ |
A 4 |
| ♣ |
A 9 8 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 ♣ |
Pass |
| 1 ♠ |
Pass |
2 ♠ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: There are a few minimum hands where slam will make, but even if your partner provides you with a maximum hand with both black suits, you may need a split, or the right doubleton, opposite. If you want to try for slam, you can bid three clubs — a help-suit game try, ostensibly for game. But my instincts tell me it is right just to bid four 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].
March 17th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 6 Comments
| Dealer: East
Vul: Both |
North
♠ 3
♥ 10 9 8 5 3
♦ K 10 8 3
♣ Q 6 4 |
|
| West
♠ Q 9 8 6 5
♥ J 7 6 4
♦ J 6
♣ J 10 |
|
East
♠ A K 10 7 4
♥ Q 2
♦ 7 4
♣ A 9 8 7 |
| |
South
♠ J 2
♥ A K
♦ A Q 9 5 2
♣ K 5 3 2 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
|
1 ♠ |
| 2 ♦ |
3 ♠ |
5 ♦ |
All Pass |
Opening Lead: ♠ Queen
“Hypocrite reader — my double — my brother!”
— Charles Baudelaire
Stuart and Gerald Tredinnick are one of the pairs of twin brothers who have represented Great Britain successfully. Among other things they were part of the team that won the world junior championships 20 years ago.
Here is Gerald at work in five diamonds. Knowing that they had at most one spade trick to take on defense, West started off by leading the spade queen to try to retain the lead. Then, worried that declarer might be able to set up some hearts, West switched to the club jack, which ran around to declarer’s king.
Declarer now played the heart ace and king, then cashed the diamond ace and played a diamond to dummy’s king. He then ruffed a heart, ruffed a spade, ruffed a heart, and played a low club. When West played the 10, Gerald ducked. With nothing left but spades, West had to give declarer a ruff and discard. South ruffed in dummy, discarding one club from his hand, and then discarded his last club loser on dummy’s fifth heart.
Nicely played, but declarer would have needed to see through the backs of the cards if West had continued with a second spade at trick two. At trick three, declarer must play a club from dummy himself. Now come the heart ace and king, followed by a finesse against the diamond jack!
This enables him to ruff a heart, cross to the diamond king, and ruff another heart, before playing a low club to reach the same position as before.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q 9 8 6 5 |
| ♥ |
J 7 6 4 |
| ♦ |
J 6 |
| ♣ |
J 10 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 ♣ |
Pass |
| 1 ♠ |
Pass |
1 NT |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: It is a part of normal modern bidding style for responder to be able to find out more about opener’s hand here with a forcing bid of two diamonds — known as “New Minor.” This acts like Stayman, asking opener to show three-card support, or four cards in the unbid major. If you are playing this convention, two hearts by you is natural and weak, denying invitational values, and therefore ideal.
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].
March 16th, 2011 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011
| Dealer: East
Vul: Neither |
North
♠ K Q 10 5
♥ J 5
♦ 10 3
♣ A Q 10 7 2 |
|
| West
♠ J 8 7 3
♥ A K Q 10 9
♦ 2
♣ 8 6 4 |
|
East
♠ 9 6 4 2
♥ 8 7 2
♦ K 6 4
♣ 9 5 3 |
| |
South
♠ A
♥ 6 4 3
♦ A Q J 9 8 7 5
♣ K J |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
|
Pass |
| 1 ♦ |
1 ♥ |
2 ♣ |
Pass |
| 3 ♦ |
Pass |
3 ♠ |
Pass |
| 4 ♦ |
Pass |
5 ♦ |
All Pass |
Opening Lead: ♥ King
“Boldness, and again boldness, and always boldness!”
— Danton
During the auction North can build up a fair picture of his partner’s hand, once he has opened and made a jump rebid, Despite the clear absence of a heart stop, North’s high cards entitle him to proceed to five diamonds, which at worst will depend on a trump split or a successful finesse.
West’s opening lead is the heart king, and East has to be wide awake. He can see from the dummy and his own hand that the defense has no chance of making a trick in the black suits. Even if declarer is missing the club king, the finesse is working for declarer, so either the contract is down in top tricks, or the defenders must generate a trump trick.
As long as partner has both top hearts, which is probable, the contract can be set if dummy can be forced on the third round of hearts, so that East’s trump king cannot be picked up. Accordingly, East should echo in hearts to encourage his partner to play a third round, and once that is done, the contract cannot be made. Even if East is not sufficiently alive to make this play, it is probably the right defense for West to continue hearts unless East discourages hearts, then signals for spades on the second heart. West can see that prospects of making a club trick are poor (given the likely discards coming on the spades), and so the best hope of a third trick lies in trumps.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K Q 10 5 |
| ♥ |
J 5 |
| ♦ |
10 3 |
| ♣ |
A Q 10 7 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 ♣ |
Pass |
1 ♥ |
Pass |
| 1 ♠ |
Pass |
4 ♦ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: This auction shows a spade fit and a singleton diamond — a classic splinter bid, though not necessarily in a standard sequence. To cooperate in a slam venture, you need some extras, or a well-fitting minimum with extra shape. This hand does not quite qualify for a five-club cue-bid. Maybe with the club king instead of the queen I’d move on; here, it looks right to retreat to four 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].
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