May 9th, 2011 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Monday, April 25th, 2011 
| Vulnerable: Both
Dealer: South |
North
♠ 7 6 3
♥ Q 10 9
♦ A 8 7 2
♣ K 7 2 |
|
| West
♠ Q J 10 9 2
♥ 7 6
♦ J 10 4
♣ 8 5 3 |
 |
East
♠ 8 5
♥ 5 4 3
♦ K Q 9 6 3
♣ 10 9 4 |
| |
South
♠ A K 4
♥ A K J 8 2
♦ 5
♣ A Q J 6 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 2 ♣ |
Pass |
2 NT |
Pass |
| 3 ♥ |
Pass |
4 ♦ |
Pass |
| 4 NT |
Pass |
5 ♦ |
Pass |
| 5 ♠* |
Pass |
6 ♣** |
Pass |
| 7 ♣ |
Pass |
7 ♥ |
All pass |
*Do you have the trump queen?
**Yes, and the club king
Opening Lead: Spade queen
“All too long
Seems the unjust to prosper and be strong,
Till the dark Furies come,
And smite with stern reversal all his home.”
— Aeschylus
Today’s heart grand slam has 12 easy tricks but no obvious route to the 13th. Instead of blaming partner for his aggressive bidding (it was really more your fault than his), focus on trying to find a way to keep destiny at bay.
One possibility is to win the spade lead, draw two rounds of trump, then play your clubs, discarding a spade from dummy. If all this passed off peacefully, you could then ruff a spade in the dummy. However, this needs clubs to be 4-2, and the long clubs to be with the long trump. Your chances of success are slim indeed.
Much better is to play on a dummy reversal. This esoteric-sounding technique is hard to spot because the approach is somewhat counterintuitive, but it is easy to execute. Dummy reversal means that you draw trump with the short trump hand, having used up the long trumps earlier by taking ruffs with them. Here, with a 5-3 trump fit, you take three ruffs with the five-card suit and draw trumps with the tripleton.
Let’s see how that works in practice: Win the opening lead, play a diamond to the ace, and ruff a diamond high. Now play a heart to the nine, ruff a diamond high, play a heart to the 10, and ruff your last diamond high. Finally, lead a club to dummy, draw the last trump, discarding your small spade, and your hand is high.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
K 10 6 3 |
| ♥ |
8 4 |
| ♦ |
Q 6 |
| ♣ |
J 8 5 3 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
1 ♣ |
Pass |
1 ♥ |
| Pass |
2 ♣ |
Pass |
2 ♠ |
| Pass |
3 ♥ |
Pass |
4 ♥ |
| All pass |
|
|
|
ANSWER: It feels natural to attack the unbid suit, so lead the diamond queen. This may not work, but it is surely your side’s best chance to generate tricks. My second choice would be a trump. This might be right if declarer cannot establish dummy’s 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].
May 8th, 2011 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, April 24th, 2011
| Dear Mr Wolff:
A recent Aces bidding problem saw opener bid and rebid hearts while responder bid one spade, then three clubs. I guess that the three-club bid promises extras, but what if opener supports spades and responder had only four spades? And what would a bid of three diamonds by opener at his third turn mean?
— Tied Up, Bay City, Mich.
ANSWER: The three-club call is almost game-forcing — though responder may be allowed to pass opener’s three-heart bid. Note that with only four spades, responder either has a five-card minor (when he would have bid it initially) or has heart tolerance or length in diamonds, when he can go back to hearts or bid no-trump. A bid of three diamonds over three clubs by opener acts as fourth suit forcing, looking for a partial diamond guard or delayed heart support.
Dear Mr Wolff:
After three passes, my partner also passed, holding SPADES A-10-5-3-2, HEARTS K-9-3-2, DIAMONDS 4, CLUBS A-8-7. With my 11 points and three spades, we could have made a comfortable spade partscore. We got a bottom because everyone else had opened and made a partial in spades. Is it correct to use the rule of 15 in cases like this? And is Drury a valid option after a fourth-position major-suit opening?
— Bump on a Log, Janesville, Wis.
ANSWER: My view on opening here is: think of a number bigger than 100 percent, then double it. There is absolutely no choice: open first, think later. Almost everyone who plays Drury also plays it over fourth-hand opening bids. You don’t use it to regulate psyches, but to avoid the three-level facing an ordinary opening, as here.
Dear Mr Wolff:
My partner opened one heart, and I raised him to two hearts after a two-club overcall. The next hand bid three clubs, and my partner tried for game with a three-diamond bid. I held SPADES Q-6-3-2, HEARTS 9-6-4, DIAMONDS A-J-7-3, CLUBS J-7 and thought my side-suit shape and bad trumps suggested caution. Game our way was on when hearts split. Did I not do enough?
— Fading in the Stretch, Fredericksburg, Va.
ANSWER: Missing a game that needs a trump break is not a major crime. It seems to me you evaluated your hand well. However, give me as little as the trump 10 instead of the four and I might have moved on. It is your weak trumps and the wrong doubleton that turn me off.
| |
Dear Mr Wolff:
I have been playing bridge for some time using bidding boxes. However, I need more information about the “alert” and “stop” cards. When are they used? Are they legal in duplicate?
— Marking Time, Wichita Falls, Texas
ANSWER: When you make a call that constitutes a jump, put the stop card down with the bid. The idea is that the next player rates to have a problem if the auction is competitive and he has values. Because he is forced to pause, you stop him from conveying unauthorized information over your pre-empt, whether he has a 5-count or a 15-count. Any time your partner makes a conventional call, say “alert” and put the alert card on the table. The opponents can ask if interested. This applies to anything not considered standard — so no for Stayman or negative doubles but yes for your defense to a no-trump opening (Landy, e.g.).
Dear Mr Wolff:
After you passed your partner’s no-trump opening with SPADES 7-6-4-2, HEARTS 9-3, DIAMONDS K-8-7-3, CLUBS K-10-9, your LHO balanced with a two-heart bid. You recommended reopening with a takeout double, rather than selling out to the opponents at the two-level. If we do not have a spade fit, might we not turn a plus score into a minus?
— Negative Thinking, Jackson, Miss.
ANSWER: If the board belongs to us, do we get a good score by letting two hearts make or by collecting one undertrick? I think not. If we can’t make a partscore, we surely were going to make one no-trump, so we are already heading for a bad score because of the opponents’ bidding instead of passing. The only time doubling works badly is if partner turns a plus into a minus by bidding, while defending two hearts was going to be good for us.
|
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 7th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 7 Comments
| Vulnerable: East- West
Dealer: South |
North
♠ 7 4
♥ K J 10 3 2
♦ A K 5 2
♣ A 6 |
|
| West
♠ —
♥ 8 6 5 4
♦ 10 8 4 3
♣ K J 10 4 3 |
|
East
♠ A K J 10 3
♥ 9 7
♦ 9 6
♣ Q 8 5 2 |
| |
South
♠ Q 9 8 6 5 2
♥ A Q
♦ Q J 7
♣ 9 7 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 2 ♠ |
Pass |
4 ♠ |
All pass |
Opening Lead: Club jack
“Grown-ups never understand anything for themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.”
— Antoine de Saint-Exupery
At last year’s Gold Coast Tournament the field reached four spades in today’s deal, generally on an attacking club lead. Declarer wins and immediately plays three rounds of hearts. What should East do?
At one table East pitched a diamond; Steven Burgess threw his club and advanced dummy’s spade four. When East played low, so did declarer! Contract made, but the defenders could have prevailed by playing either a high or medium trump.
At another table the winning defense of ruffing with the spade jack was found. Declarer could overruff and go to dummy with a diamond to play a top heart. But East could pitch his diamond and retain control. The position transposes into the same variations as at Burgess’ table.
What if East had ruffed trick three low? Declarer overruffs, crosses to a top diamond, and leads a master heart. If East ruffs with the 10, declarer overruffs and crosses to a diamond to lead the fifth heart and pitch his club. If East ruffs high, declarer pitches a club, losing just three trumps total. Best is for East to pitch a diamond on the heart. Declarer throws his club away and leads a trump from dummy, which East wins to return a club. Declarer must ruff with the eight or nine, then lead a diamond.
Now when East ruffs and returns a club, declarer ruffs low in hand and overruffs in dummy. The lead of the master heart lets South discard his last diamond for a trump coup at trick 12.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
7 4 |
| ♥ |
K J 10 3 2 |
| ♦ |
A K 5 2 |
| ♣ |
A 6 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
|
1 ♣ |
| 1 ♥ |
1 NT |
Pass |
2 ♣ |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Although West may hold diamonds, he might equally well have club support, and your side might be able to compete in either red suit. As basketball coach Jimmy Valvano said, “Don’t give up, don’t ever give up!” Compete with two diamonds and keep the auction going. You’ll be surprised at how many good things can happen.
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 6th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 4 Comments
| Vulnerable: Neither
Dealer: South |
North
♠ 9 5 3 2
♥ K 6 5 4
♦ A K 9 7 6
♣ — |
|
| West
♠ Q J 10
♥ 8 2
♦ Q 10 5
♣ A Q J 4 2 |
|
East
♠ 6
♥ Q J 9 7
♦ J 8 4 3
♣ K 9 7 5 |
| |
South
♠ A K 8 7 4
♥ A 10 3
♦ 2
♣ 10 8 6 3 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 ♠ |
Pass |
2 ♦ |
Pass |
| 2 ♠ |
Pass |
4 ♣ |
Pass |
| 4 ♥ |
Pass |
6 ♠ |
All pass |
Opening Lead: Spade queen
“That fellow seems to me to possess but one idea, and that is a wrong one.”
— Samuel Johnson
Today’s Gold Coast deal saw both North and South doing a great deal of bidding. In response to the splinter-jump to four clubs, South felt that his controls required him to make one slam-try below game, while North decided that his fourth trump and void must give 12 tricks some play. Thus an exceedingly delicate spade slam was reached. What is the best plan after a trump lead?
Best is to win the trump lead and crossruff, planning to ruff three clubs in dummy while cashing the diamond ace, then ruffing two diamonds in hand. After setting up the diamonds, declarer reaches a six-card ending with the lead in dummy.
Correct technique at this point (particularly because you believe from the opening lead that trumps rate to be 3-1) is to leave two trumps outstanding and to cash the diamond king, pitching your last club loser.
After West ruffs in, South can regain the lead whatever he does, draws the last trump, then crosses to dummy with the heart king to pitch his losing heart on dummy’s fifth diamond.
Declarer will go down only if West started with precisely 2-4-4-3 shape; in that case East would ruff the fourth diamond and lead a club for the trump promotion. This line survives against all other 4-3 diamond breaks, whether or not trumps break.
After the slam made, it was either humorous or disconcerting for South to discover that his teammates had conceded 12 tricks as well — but they were defending three spades.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
6 |
| ♥ |
Q J 9 7 |
| ♦ |
J 8 4 3 |
| ♣ |
K 9 7 5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 ♦ |
1 ♠ |
| Dbl. |
Pass |
2 ♣ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: It may look tempting to raise to three clubs now, but that should be a real game-try, not a pre-emptive attempt to keep the opponents out. If West competes to two spades, you can always reraise clubs later. But the opponents’ silence suggests partner may well have four spades. So I’d pass and await developments.
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 5th, 2011 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, April 21st, 2011
| Vulnerable: Neither
Dealer: West |
North
♠ A J 8 6 4
♥ A Q J
♦ 7 5
♣ K Q 2 |
|
| West
♠ 7 2
♥ 10 3 2
♦ Q 10 6
♣ J 10 6 5 3 |
|
East
♠ K Q 9 5 3
♥ K 9 7 6 4
♦ 8 4 2
♣ — |
| |
South
♠ 10
♥ 8 5
♦ A K J 9 3
♣ A 9 8 7 4 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
Pass |
1 ♠ |
Pass |
| 2 ♦ |
Pass |
2 NT |
Pass |
| 3 ♣ |
Pass |
3 ♥ |
Pass |
| 4 ♣ |
Pass |
4 ♥ |
Dbl. |
| Pass |
Pass |
5 ♣ |
All pass |
Opening Lead: Heart two
“All men are equal — all men, that is to say, who possess umbrellas.”
— E.M. Forster
At the Gold Coast Tournament in Australia last year, the quarterfinal teams match between a Polish squad and the Australian Juniors squad led by Barry Goren of the United States was dead level with one deal to go.
At one table the Poles played in four no-trump, while the Goren team played in five clubs. You would not fancy the Goren team’s equity here, would you? If the no-trump game made, the Polish team would gain at least an IMP and win the match. In four no-trump the Polish declarer (North) won the heart lead and tested clubs. Then he followed the perfectly sensible but disastrous line of taking two diamond finesses against the 10 and queen. Since West had shifted to spades rather than continuing hearts at trick three, the defenders beat the game by only one trick.
Thus the fate of five clubs would determine the need for overtime. Andy Hung finessed the heart at trick one, won the heart return, and played three rounds of diamonds at once, ruffing low when the queen appeared.
Now came the top trump from dummy, but it was plain sailing from here on. Two rounds of hearts stood up, then came the spade ace and a spade ruff, followed by the fourth diamond ruffed by West and overruffed by dummy. In the three-card ending, declarer led a plain card from dummy and ruffed it low. West could overruff, but then had to lead into the trump tenace at trick 12 to concede the contract.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
K Q 9 5 3 |
| ♥ |
K 9 7 6 4 |
| ♦ |
8 4 2 |
| ♣ |
— |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
3 ♣ |
Pass |
| Pass |
Dbl. |
Pass |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: When the opponents double you for penalties at a low level, unless you know they’ve done the wrong thing, you tend to assume they have a trump stack. Here, when East passes West’s takeout double, you KNOW you’re in trouble. Redouble for rescue. You have a fair chance to find an eight-card fit — maybe one not splitting so badly.
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 4th, 2011 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, April 20th, 2011
| Vulnerable: Neither
Dealer: South |
North
♠ Q 10 9 4 2
♥ 10 7
♦ Q 10 4
♣ Q 10 8 |
|
| West
♠ 8 6
♥ 8 6 5 2
♦ A K 9 6 3
♣ J 6 |
|
East
♠ K J 7 3
♥ J 3
♦ 8 7 5
♣ A 9 7 2 |
| |
South
♠ A 5
♥ A K Q 9 4
♦ J 2
♣ K 5 4 3 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
2 ♥ |
Pass |
| 2 ♠ |
All pass |
|
|
Opening Lead: Diamond king
“The extremists’ oversimplifications and their baseless generalizations reflect the softness of those who cannot bear to face the burdens of a continuing struggle against a powerful and resourceful enemy.”
— William Fulbright
Today’s deal from the Gold Coast Congress — set in sunny Brisbane, Australia — features a delicate point or two on defense.
Whatever you think of South’s strong no-trump opening (and my opinion would not be suitable for tender ears), it got North-South to a reasonable two-spade contract.
When West led a top diamond, how should East signal? At the table East encouraged the lead to prevent an unwelcome shift. Continuing diamonds would not do anything for declarer that he could not do himself. Accordingly, the defenders played three rounds of diamonds, declarer pitching a club. Then South led ace and a second spade to the 10 and jack, and East had his second problem.
The obvious answer is that if partner has a high club or heart, the contract is going down; if not, there seems little hope for the defense. But if East is going to shift to a heart, he should play the low one, not the jack. This was what happened at the table where Pablo Lambardi and Barry Rigal were defending. Not being blessed with second sight, declarer quite reasonably tried to cash three top hearts to pitch a club loser from dummy; this would be safe as long as East had three or four hearts. Alas for declarer, East could score his trump seven for down one.
Note that if West could have shifted to the heart jack, declarer could have used the heart 10 as an extra entry to assist in the process of drawing trump.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
A 5 |
| ♥ |
A K Q 9 4 |
| ♦ |
J 2 |
| ♣ |
K 5 4 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 ♥ |
Pass |
1 NT |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Although you have an attractive hand, you do not have enough to force to game, so a jump to three clubs would be a wild overbid. Best is either to bid two clubs and convert a minimum response to two no-trump, or simply to raise to two no-trump directly. With such weak clubs, I prefer the no-trump call. On a hand with the same shape, but the spade ace in the clubs, I’d certainly go the other way.
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 3rd, 2011 ~ admin ~ 17 Comments
| Vulnerable: East-West
Dealer: North |
North
♠ A 10 9 4 3
♥ A K 10 6
♦ 10 8
♣ 10 2 |
|
| West
♠ K 8 7 2
♥ 5
♦ A Q 2
♣ A Q 9 7 4 |
|
East
♠ Q 5
♥ 3 2
♦ 9 7 6 4 3
♣ J 6 5 3 |
| |
South
♠ J 6
♥ Q J 9 8 7 4
♦ K J 5
♣ K 8 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 ♠ |
Pass |
| 2 ♥ |
Pass |
4 ♥ |
All pass |
Opening Lead: Club ace
“For her own breakfast she’ll project a scheme,
Nor take her tea without a stratagem.”
— Edward Young
In today’s deal from last year’s Gold Coast Tournament in Queensland, Steve Hamaoui declared four hearts. West kicked off with the club ace, then continued the suit.
Declarer inferred that West’s decision to lead a club marked the diamond ace offside, and the spade honors were surely split. It seemed likely that West had been reluctant to lead a spade from three or four to an honor. If East had the spade king, there was no way to keep him off lead, but just in case he had the spade queen, declarer crossed to a top heart at trick three and led a low spade from dummy to his jack! Can we all honestly put our hands on our hearts and say we would have risen with the queen?
Once West won the spade king, the hand was over. In fact, West had to cash the diamond ace to prevent Hamaoui from making overtricks on a deal where almost everyone else in four hearts went down at least a trick.
By contrast, at the table where the winners of the Senior event were defending, West led a low spade. Declarer went up with the ace, drew trumps ending in dummy, and ran the diamond 10, hoping for a miracle. It was not to be; West won and led a low spade to his partner’s queen for the club shift. That set up five defensive winners and gave East-West a great result.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
J 6 |
| ♥ |
Q J 9 8 7 4 |
| ♦ |
K J 5 |
| ♣ |
K 8 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
Pass |
1 ♣ |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Many players would add up their 11 points and make a simple overcall in hearts. A better way to look at this hand is that facing a passed partner, you have a six-card suit and a hand with very few controls. This argues for pre-emption, not a simple overcall, so bid two hearts. The action makes it far harder for your opponents to bid accurately, while not putting your side at significant risk.
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 2nd, 2011 ~ admin ~ 2 Comments
| Vulnerable: Neither
Dealer: East |
North
♠ K Q J 10 7 2
♥ 4
♦ A 8 5
♣ K 3 2 |
|
| West
♠ 8
♥ 8 5
♦ Q 9 7 3
♣ A 10 9 7 5 4 |
|
East
♠ 9
♥ A K 10 7 6
♦ K 6 4 2
♣ J 8 6 |
| |
South
♠ A 6 5 4 3
♥ Q J 9 3 2
♦ J 10
♣ Q |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
|
1 ♥ |
| 1 ♠ |
Dbl. |
4 ♠ |
All pass |
Opening Lead: Heart eight
“You know my methods. Apply them.”
— Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Gold Coast Congress in Australia has just celebrated its 50th anniversary, so to mark that occasion all the deals this week come from last year’s tournament. Today’s deal is from a pairs event, where undertricks and overtricks play an important role.
Consider today’s deal as a defensive problem, looking just at the North and East cards. At every table but two, East failed to focus properly on the defense against four spades. As Sherlock Holmes said caustically, “You see, Watson, but you do not observe.” If the heart eight is a true card, it must be a doubleton. In theory, West could have three hearts such as J-9-8, but would then have raised hearts rather than have made a negative double with such limited values. Accordingly, you can infer that declarer has at most three minor-suit cards.
A heart continuation is worse than useless, and a spade is clearly passive. So if you want to get active, you need to play a minor suit. You have no hope for an extra trick if declarer has two clubs and one diamond, or three clubs. But if he has two diamonds and one club, you had better shift to a diamond immediately before South disposes of his slow diamond loser by setting up a discard from the clubs. At the table Kieran Dyke duly shifted to a diamond for a near top.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
J 5 |
| ♥ |
Q 2 |
| ♦ |
9 7 6 4 3 |
| ♣ |
J 6 5 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 ♣ |
1 ♥ |
| Pass |
1 NT |
Pass |
2 ♥ |
| All pass |
|
|
|
ANSWER: There is a temptation to get active by leading the spade jack, but not only is this a dangerous lead in the suit, but also you may have a natural trump trick and thus do not need to get a ruff. I’d settle for the mundane low club lead and let declarer open up spades for himself. With two small hearts, I might be more inclined to lead 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].
May 1st, 2011 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, April 17th, 2011
| Dear Mr Wolff:
I noticed that the Americans dominated the recent world championships. Was this just because they were on home soil or is there more to it than that?
— Chauvinist, Fayetteville, N.C.
ANSWER: Although the Chinese women won the women’s world title, beating the Dutch in the final, most of the other major awards went to U.S. players, so it was indeed a successful event from the home country’s perspective. I’m not sure it was more than a quirk of the location of the event though. We’ll get a better perspective when the event is held in Europe in four years.
Dear Mr Wolff:
What would you bid with SPADES 7-6, HEARTS A-K-9-4-3, DIAMONDS Q-7, CLUBS A-9-4-2 after opening one heart and hearing a weak two-spade call on your left, passed back to you? What are the ethical implications if you divined a slight break in tempo from your partner after the skip-bid?
— Johnny on the Spot, Saint John, New Brunswick
ANSWER: This is a real teaser. Neither acting nor passing is “safe” — each could work out disastrously. I’m sure the expert community would balance with a double here, but switch the spades and diamonds and passing might well be the favored action — it’s that close. As an ethical player, if you think partner broke tempo, you should pass so that you can sleep at night.
Dear Mr Wolff:
You recently mentioned that a hand was played as a “dummy reversal,” and I did not understand the term. Please clarify.
— Lifting Fog, Pueblo, Colo.
ANSWER: In a trump contract the hand with the long trumps normally takes care of drawing the opponents’ trumps. In rare cases the long trumps are used immediately for ruffing, and subsequently the short hand draws trump. This is most typical in a 5-3 fit where you take three ruffs with the five-card suit, then draw trump with the three-card holding.
| |
Dear Mr Wolff:
In a recent deal you were in fourth chair and heard one spade on your left and two spades on your right, which was passed back to your partner, who doubled for takeout. You held SPADES 7-6, HEARTS 9-4-3, DIAMONDS Q-10-8-4, CLUBS A-10-9-2 and recommended a response of two no-trump, takeout for the minors. Suppose you held the same pattern but with four hearts and a minor. Would you have to bid three hearts now and hope for the best?
— Unsettled, Phoenix, Ariz.
ANSWER: Emphatically no. The two-no-trump call shows a two-suiter, not the minors. Partner will assume minors and bid appropriately. If he bids the suit you don’t have, you correct to the next suit up. This way you are almost sure to locate a playable fit if there is one.
Dear Mr Wolff:
My club’s cards are getting sticky. Recently, twice, I or my opponents have lost a card when one of us unwittingly played two at once. What are the implications of this faux pas?
— One Too Many, Rockford, Ill.
ANSWER: When made aware of the error, you should retrieve the card unwittingly played and add it back to your hand. The bad news is that any revoke committed will be enforced, according to the usual laws.
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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.
April 30th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 7 Comments
| Vulnerable: North-South
Dealer: North |
North
♠ 7 5
♥ A 6 4
♦ J 2
♣ A K J 9 6 3 |
|
| West
♠ J 10 9 2
♥ J 9 7
♦ Q 9 7 5
♣ 8 2 |
|
East
♠ K Q 8 6 4
♥ 8 5
♦ 10 6 4
♣ Q 7 4 |
| |
South
♠ A 3
♥ K Q 10 3 2
♦ A K 8 3
♣ 10 5 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 ♣ |
Pass |
| 1 ♥ |
Pass |
2 ♣ |
Pass |
| 2 ♦ |
Pass |
3 ♥ |
Pass |
| 4 NT |
Pass |
5 ♥ |
Pass |
| 6 ♥ |
All pass |
|
|
Opening Lead: Spade jack
“When Fortune means to men most good,
She looks upon them with a threatening eye.”
— William Shakespeare
Today’s heart slam is a somewhat delicate one after West finds the most testing lead of a spade. Now the defenders are in place to cash a spade winner as soon as they obtain the lead. How should declarer cope with the possible threats in hearts and clubs?
Ruffing diamonds in dummy seems needlessly risky. Declarer can guard against a bad trump break with East having the length by leading out the heart king and ace. But then he is reduced to needing the club finesse, a 50-50 shot.
An alternative line is to forget about 4-1 heart breaks (trumps split 3-2 over two thirds of the time) and play to ruff out the clubs, using the heart ace as a late entry to dummy. Alas, with the cards lying as they do, no matter how many rounds of trump South draws before trying to ruff the third club, West can overruff with his heart jack and can cash the spade winner. Back to the drawing board!
The winning solution is to take the spade lead, cash the club ace, heart king and queen, then lead a club to the king and play a third club from dummy. If East discards, you can ruff, and draw the last trump to make 13 tricks. If East either plays the club queen or ruffs in with the master trump, you pitch your spade loser instead of ruffing. This way you can ruff the next spade in hand, draw the trump, and run the clubs.
BID WITH THE ACES
South holds:
| ♠ |
7 5 |
| ♥ |
A 6 4 |
| ♦ |
J 2 |
| ♣ |
A K J 9 6 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 ♠ |
Pass |
| 2 ♣ |
Pass |
2 ♦ |
Pass |
| 2 NT |
Pass |
4 NT |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
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ANSWER: This is a quantitative sequence, not Blackwood, since no suit has been agreed upon. Your partner has suggested more than a strong no-trump, probably with a 5-2-4-2 pattern. Although you have no high-card extras, your quick tricks and powerful club intermediates suggest six clubs rates to be the best slam.
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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