February 24th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 2 Comments 
| Dealer: South
Vul: Neither |
North
♠ Q 9 7 3
♥ Q 8 5 4 2
♦ Q 8 4
♣ A |
|
| West
♠ A K
♥ J 9 7
♦ A J 3
♣ J 10 8 6 4 |
 |
East
♠ J 6 4 2
♥ 10 6 3
♦ 10 7 5
♣ 5 3 2 |
| |
South
♠ 10 8 5
♥ A K
♦ K 9 6 2
♣ K Q 9 7 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
2 ♦ |
Pass |
| 2 ♥ |
Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
Opening Lead: ♣ Jack
“The sunbeams are my shafts, with which I kill
Deceit….”
— Percy Bysshe Shelley
Today’s hand, from the 2006 Bonn teams tournament, illuminates a brilliant and imaginative defense by Tom Townsend, a regular on the English team.
At one table Colin Simpson received a club lead and had no difficulty in bringing home his three-no-trump contract, given the kindly lie of the opponents’ major-suit cards. He unblocked hearts, then led a spade toward the dummy. When West won his king and returned a low club, that allowed declarer an easy route to nine tricks.
Townsend, at the other table, also led a club against the no-trump game. Declarer unblocked the hearts, then led a spade toward dummy. Winning perforce, Townsend appreciated that declarer held most, if not all, of the hidden high-card points. So he switched to the diamond jack. This ruse needed his partner, David Gold, to hold the 10, but without that card, there would have been no defense.
Declarer, reading West for the diamond J-10 and East for the ace, was not inclined to smell a rat. He won in hand with the king, then played another spade toward dummy. Back on lead, Townsend saw his plan through by leading the diamond three. The eight from dummy lost to Gold’s 10, and Gold returned a diamond to Townsend’s ace.
West now fixed declarer firmly in dummy by returning his last heart, and Gold took the setting trick with the spade jack — from a hand that at the outset looked unlikely to take even one trick, let alone two.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q 9 7 3 |
| ♥ |
Q 8 5 4 2 |
| ♦ |
Q 8 4 |
| ♣ |
A |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 ♣ |
Pass |
| 1 ♥ |
Pass |
1 ♠ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: The simple answer is to raise to three spades, with invitational values and four trumps. Not unreasonable, but in my view your scattered queens and singleton in partner’s first suit are not worth more than a raise to two spades. Conversely, had my partner opened one diamond instead of one club, I would jump to three spades, expecting to have a more useful hand for my partner.
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].
February 23rd, 2011 ~ admin ~ 8 Comments
| Dealer: North
Vul: Both |
North
♠ J 8 6 5
♥ 8 7 5
♦ Q 2
♣ A K J 9 |
|
| West
♠ 9
♥ A Q 10 3
♦ A J 8 7 3
♣ 6 3 2 |
|
East
♠ 7
♥ J 9 2
♦ K 10 9 6 5 4
♣ Q 5 4 |
| |
South
♠ A K Q 10 4 3 2
♥ K 6 4
♦ —
♣ 10 8 7 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
Pass |
Pass |
| 4 ♠ |
All Pass |
|
|
Opening Lead: ♦ Ace
“When people will not weed their own minds, they are apt to be overrun with nettles.”
— Horace Walpole
Some readers have claimed that column deals must be the product of a fevered imagination, rather than the humdrum affairs that come up at the club or the rubber bridge table.
Possibly true, but the deals in this column, whether from real life or not, try to convey a message. Sometimes that message is brought home by the striking nature of the route to success, as in today’s deal. As South, you opened four spades in third seat. Plan the play on the lead of the diamond ace.
At the table most players would probably ruff and draw trumps, then take the losing club finesse. Now comes the second critical moment in the deal. If East thoughtlessly shifts to a low heart, declarer can duck, and the danger in hearts has passed. If East switches to either the heart jack or nine, the defenders take their three heart tricks and set the contract.
Alert readers will note that I said the second critical moment had been reached; can you see what the first was? At trick one declarer can almost insure the contract by discarding a club from hand! He wins the continuation, draws trumps, and cashes the club ace and king. If the queen has not dropped, he plays the club jack from dummy, discarding a heart unless East plays the queen. This gives him seven spade tricks and three club tricks.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 8 6 5 |
| ♥ |
8 7 5 |
| ♦ |
Q 2 |
| ♣ |
A K J 9 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
|
1 ♣ |
| Pass |
1 ♥ |
2 ♦ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: You have a surprisingly good hand but no obvious prospects of game. I suppose you might raise two diamonds to three, your high cards perhaps making up for your lack of trumps. However, at the table I would simply pass two diamonds. While a bid of three clubs would show a club stopper and ask partner to bid three no-trump with a heart guard, this looks like a big overbid to me.
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].
February 22nd, 2011 ~ admin ~ 2 Comments
| Dealer: West
Vul: Both |
North
♠ A K 4 2
♥ Q J 10 9 2
♦ A Q 3 2
♣ — |
|
| West
♠ —
♥ K 5 4
♦ 8 7
♣ Q J 9 8 7 5 3 2 |
|
East
♠ Q J 10 7 3
♥ A 7 6 3
♦ 10
♣ A K 10 |
| |
South
♠ 9 8 6 5
♥ 8
♦ K J 9 6 5 4
♣ 6 4 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
3 ♣ |
Dbl. |
5 ♣ |
| 5 ♦ |
Pass |
6 ♦ |
All Pass |
Opening Lead: ♣ Queen
“There could be no honor in a sure success, but much might be wrested from a sure defeat.”
— T.E. Lawrence
After a club lead, careful play might have landed South his diamond slam today. He should ruff the lead, draw trumps, and play a heart toward his eight. If East plays low, the eight loses to West’s king, and it is now a simple matter to take a ruffing finesse against East’s ace. Better defense would be for East to go in with the heart ace at once. Now declarer needs to guess which defender has the king. Should he try to ruff it out or play for the drop? In the event, declarer played a heart before drawing trumps, and now a spade ruff beat the slam.
At the other table East decided to bide his time and passed North’s takeout double of three clubs. South bid three diamonds, and North showed his five-card suit and extra values by bidding three hearts. Now when East bid five clubs, North and South were in a forcing auction, so a pass by South would have been more encouraging than bidding. South, with a singleton in his partner’s suit, decided to discourage by doubling, and North saw no reason to argue with that decision, perhaps hoping that his partner had a club trick.
North led a top spade, which declarer ruffed. Later in the play North was squeezed in the majors and West made an overtrick.
Think of how the South player from the first room must have felt. He went down in a slam he might have made — and so gained only 13 IMPs!
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q J 10 7 3 |
| ♥ |
A 7 6 3 |
| ♦ |
10 |
| ♣ |
A K 10 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 ♠ |
2 ♦ |
Pass |
Pass |
| Dbl. |
Pass |
Pass |
2 ♥ |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: When your partner passed your takeout double of two diamonds, it suggested that your side should not let the opponents play undoubled. With four trumps it looks logical to double two hearts, without worrying about the quality of your hearts. You have nothing to be ashamed of here, with quick tricks and trump length.
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].
February 21st, 2011 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Monday, February 7th, 2011
| Dealer: North
Vul: Neither |
North
♠ 10 6
♥ K J 9 4
♦ 7 4 2
♣ 10 9 4 3 |
|
| West
♠ J 7 5
♥ Q 10 8 6 3
♦ J 9 8 3
♣ 2 |
|
East
♠ A K Q 9 8 42
♥ 7
♦ K Q 10 5
♣ 6 |
| |
South
♠ 3
♥ A 5 2
♦ A 6
♣ A K Q J 8 7 5 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
Pass |
1 ♠ |
| Dbl. |
Pass |
2 ♥ |
4 ♠ |
| 5 ♣ |
5 ♠ |
6 ♣ |
Pass |
| Pass |
Dbl. |
All Pass |
|
Opening Lead: ♠ five
“Children, you are very little,
And your bones are very brittle;
If you would grow great and stately,
You must try to walk sedately.”
— Robert Louis Stevenson
One of my main concerns with the administration of bridge is that proper care and attention be taken to foster the development of the game in schools and universities.
In Europe, school championships and girls’ championships run at the same time as the Junior European championships. This means talented players in their teens get a chance to meet their peers and develop faster. Over the years I have seen some of the more successful players move through the ranks, representing their countries both at junior level and later in the open events.
In Romania in 2009 the bulletins discussed a nice play produced by Turkey’s Ozge Tekin against Italy in the girls’ championships.
A spirited auction saw Tekin declaring six clubs doubled on the lead of the spade five. Italy’s Giorgia Botta won the ace and switched to the diamond king. Tekin won the ace, drew trumps, and now needed to negotiate the heart suit for four tricks to bring home her slam.
Because East had bid to four spades on her own and seemed to have diamond strength if not length also, Tekin judged her to be short in hearts. So she cashed the heart ace and finessed the nine on the second round of the suit.
She came back to hand with a trump and finessed the heart jack, making12 tricks for a magnificent score of 1090.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q 2 |
| ♥ |
10 7 6 3 2 |
| ♦ |
A 4 2 |
| ♣ |
8 7 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
1 ♦ |
Pass |
1 ♥ |
| Pass |
2 ♦ |
Pass |
3 ♥ |
| Pass |
4 ♥ |
All Pass |
|
ANSWER: If the opponents had bid confidently to game and if the cards appear to be lying well for them, I would understand the lead of the spade queen. However, the opponents have no values to spare, trumps are not breaking, and partner did not overcall in spades. This all points to a passive club lead — whether you lead the eight or three is up to you.
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].
February 20th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 1 Comment
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
Recently you discussed an auction where opener started with one club, heard a one-heart response, and jumped to two spades. Over his partner’s preference to three clubs, he now jumped to four hearts. Would this sequence show a balanced hand with both majors? If not, what sort of hand should he have?
— Supporting Goods, Holland, Mich.
ANSWER: The jump to two spades shows an unbalanced hand, normally with five clubs and four spades without four hearts. (In this example a JUMP to four hearts does show four trumps. Preference to three hearts would show 4-3-1-5 pattern.) With a balanced hand and four hearts, opener raises hearts, ignoring the spades. With four spades and three hearts in a balanced hand, he rebids two no-trump.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
On the third deal of a Chicago, I held SPADES Q-9-7-2, HEARTS A-J-2, DIAMONDS 7-4, CLUBS K-J-4-2; our opponents were vulnerable with 40 on. After my LHO opened two diamonds and my RHO raised to three, should I double for takeout? I did so and found my partner with a flat four-count. We went down 1100!
— Doghouse, Albuquerque, N.M.
ANSWER: Oh dear! Defending partscores in this position is a very hard thing to do. I might well have duplicated your action in this scenario, although the call is technically rather too aggressive, given partner’s initial failure to act. But let him who is without sin cast the first stone.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Can you comment on the minimum distribution required for opening one diamond, then bidding two clubs over either a one-spade or one-heart response? If 4-4 is acceptable, what high-card range would your hand fall into?
— Minor Key, Elkhart, Ind.
| |
ANSWER: Over a one-heart response (and in theory also over a one-spade response), a two-club call guarantees 5-4 in the minors, generally with longer diamonds. So with 12-14 and 1-4-4-4, I tend to open one club and rebid one no-trump. (Incidentally, with 15-16, one can open one no-trump here with a singleton spade honor, thus avoiding the whole rebid problem.)
Dear Mr. Wolff:
I recently read your advice on how you would develop two tricks from a holding of A-10-7 facing three cards to the queen. Would you take the same approach if you had the nine instead of the 10?
— Taking Chances, Willoughby, Ohio
ANSWER: In your first example, best is to lead to the queen, then back to the 10 if the queen loses to the king. In the second example cashing the ace then leading low to the queen is fractionally better than low to the queen at once. Possession of the 10 is critical, since in the first example, if low to the queen loses, you still have a 50 percent chance that the jack is under the A-10. By contrast, with the nine instead of the 10, you would be left with an inevitable loser.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
In one of your bidding problems, South held SPADES 7 4, HEARTS K-8-4-3, DIAMONDS K-5, CLUBS A-7-4-3-2. North opened one diamond and rebid one spade over South’s one-heart response. You proposed a rebid of one no-trump because prospects for game facing a minimum 12-14 HCP were poor. Would you have considered an invitational bid of two no-trump if the responding hand had better spot cards?
— Mighty Mouse, Fayetteville, N.C.
ANSWER: To answer your question better, consider a typical suitable minimum opposite this hand, with five diamonds to the A-J and four spades to the A-K. Even if the diamonds behave very well, you may need a finesse for your ninth trick. Change our example hand to include the diamond 10 and some club spots, and you might just tempt me to invite game, but, frankly, it is still a stretch. |
If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, e-mail him at [email protected]. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2011.
February 19th, 2011 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, February 5th, 2011
| Dealer: South
Vul: Both |
North
♠ A K 4
♥ K J 9 2
♦ A K
♣ 8 6 5 2 |
|
| West
♠ Q J 10 8 5
♥ 8 5
♦ Q 10 8 5 2
♣ J |
|
East
♠ 9 6 2
♥ 7 3
♦ J 9 6 4
♣ K 10 9 7 |
| |
South
♠ 7 3
♥ A Q 10 6 4
♦ 7 3
♣ A Q 4 3 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 ♥ |
Pass |
2 NT* |
Pass |
| 4 ♥ |
Pass |
4 ♠ |
Pass |
| 5 ♣ |
Pass |
5 ♦ |
Pass |
| 6 ♥ |
All Pass |
|
|
* Game-forcing heart raise
Opening Lead: ♠ Queen
“Superiority to fate
Is difficult to learn.”
— Emily Dickinson
In today’s auction, South suggests a minimum opening with no shortage via his second-round jump to game. North keeps the auction alive by cue-bidding, and finally South upgrades his trump honors and his honors in the long suits to take a shot at slam.
From declarer’s point of view, when there are losers in only one suit (clubs) and the side-suits can be stripped out, clubs should be the last suit attacked. Declarer draws trumps, ruffs out the spades, then plays the diamond ace-king before leading a low club from dummy.
If East follows low, South can afford to play low as well, intending to take the finesse later. West wins the jack and has to give South a ruff and a sluff with a diamond or a spade play. South ruffs in dummy, discarding a club, then can take the club finesse to bag the slam.
So is the contract always makable? Not so fast! When declarer does not try to ruff a diamond in dummy, East can count out South’s hand precisely. He knows his partner had a singleton club. If it is a small singleton, the defense has no hope, But if the singleton is the jack or the queen, East has to try to circumvent the looming endplay.
Look what happens if East plays the club king and swallows his partner’s jack! After this diabolical defense, there is no way for South to avoid losing two club tricks.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
7 3 |
| ♥ |
A Q 10 6 4 |
| ♦ |
7 3 |
| ♣ |
A Q 4 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 ♥ |
Pass |
2 ♦ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Whether or not you play the two-diamond response as game-forcing, it must be right to emphasize your good suit by rebidding two hearts now. Even in a game-forcing auction, the three-club call here should deliver extra shape or high cards. Meanwhile, another advantage of the two-heart bid is that it lets partner develop his hand more economically.
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].
February 18th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 8 Comments
| Dealer: South
Vul: Neither |
North
♠ Q 9 4 3 2
♥ J 9 8 3
♦ K 8 3
♣ Q |
|
| West
♠ K 10 7 6 5
♥ Q
♦ 9 6 5
♣ 10 8 7 2 |
|
East
♠ J 8
♥ K 10 7 6 5 4
♦ Q 10
♣ 9 5 4 |
| |
South
♠ A
♥ A 2
♦ A J 7 4 2
♣ A K J 6 3 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 ♦ |
Pass |
1 ♠ |
Pass |
| 3 ♣ |
Pass |
3 ♦ |
Pass |
| 4 ♣ |
Pass |
4 ♦ |
Pass |
| 4 ♥ |
Pass |
6 ♦ |
All Pass |
Opening Lead: ♥ Queen
“In a bargain, no prospect of advantage is so dear to the merchant, as the thought of being tricked is mortifying.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
Jeff Meckstroth and Eric Rodwell were one of the few partnerships to reach six diamonds at the 2009 Bermuda Bowl after an artificial auction. I’ve substituted a more natural sequence.
West, Pablo Lambardi, led his singleton heart, and Meckstroth won the ace. How would you play it from here? The natural and successful line is to unblock the club queen, then take the two top diamonds, planning to get dummy’s hearts away on the top clubs if the diamond queen does not fall. However, when Meckstroth led a diamond to the king, Luis Palazzo as East dropped the queen!
Declarer imagined that even if West had begun with 10-9-6-5 of diamonds, the slam could still be made, as long as declarer could throw all three hearts from dummy on his winning clubs, then ruff the heart two.
After cashing dummy’s club queen, Meckstroth crossed to hand with the spade ace (better than using a trump, in case West had only three clubs along with his four diamonds) and ran the clubs. His idea was that if West ruffed the fourth club and returned a trump, he might still be able to ruff a heart in dummy, as long as West had a second heart.
Dummy’s last heart duly went away on the fourth club, but East ruffed the trick with his “impossible” trump. Now he played a heart, and Lambardi could ruff in front of dummy with the diamond nine — down one and a rich reward for the falsecard!
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q 9 4 3 2 |
| ♥ |
J 9 8 3 |
| ♦ |
K 8 3 |
| ♣ |
Q |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
|
1 ♦ |
| Pass |
Pass |
Dbl. |
2 ♦ |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Opinions differ as to whether a double here should be responsive (suggesting both majors) or penalties, since the opponents have not found a fit. Regardless, it seems easier to develop this hand by bidding your five-card major, on the assumption that partner has either spades or extra values. So simply bid two spades 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].
February 17th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 6 Comments
| Dealer: South
Vul: E-W |
North
♠ J 3
♥ J 8 6 5
♦ K J 9 3
♣ K 7 5 |
|
| West
♠ 9 7 4
♥ K 9 7
♦ 8 5 2
♣ J 8 6 3 |
|
East
♠ A Q 10 8 6
♥ 2
♦ 10 7 6
♣ A Q 10 2 |
| |
South
♠ K 5 2
♥ A Q 10 4 3
♦ A Q 4
♣ 9 4 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
Pass |
1 ♠ |
| 2 ♥ |
Pass |
2 ♠ |
Pass |
| 2 NT |
Pass |
4 ♥ |
All Pass |
Opening Lead: ♠ four
“We that are true lovers run into strange capers.”
— William Shakespeare
A deceptive declarer tries not only to persuade a defender to take a trick when he shouldn’t, but also to duck at the wrong moment.
Sometimes the target is not specifically to gain a trick by this maneuver, but to gain a tempo or to keep an opponent off play. An example is today’s deal, where against four hearts the defense starts with a spade to the ace, followed by the spade queen.
You should take the spade king and decide on a plan. You may think everyone knows how to take a trump finesse — but the right play is actually to lead a low heart from hand at trick three! Why? Well, if the heart finesse is onside, you are only looking at an overtrick. The key distribution is when West has the heart king, in which case the club ace is clearly wrong. You want to sneak a heart trick through, after which you will cash the heart ace and run diamonds. When West has 3-3-3-4 shape, he will only be able to ruff the fourth diamond, by which time one of your club losers will have vanished.
Is it easy for West to rise with the heart king on the first trump? I do not think so, and I have seen all 52 cards. And note that if East has the heart king, you may surrender an unnecessary heart trick but the contract is now safe. The defense can get only one club trick for sure.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 3 |
| ♥ |
J 8 6 5 |
| ♦ |
K J 9 3 |
| ♣ |
K 7 5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 ♦ |
Pass |
| 1 H |
1 ♠ |
Pass |
2 ♠ |
| 3 ♦ |
Pass |
3 ♥ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Your partner has found an aggressive move toward game, perhaps with three hearts and five or six diamonds, presumably because finding diamond support has improved his hand. Since you barely had your raise to three diamonds and have only four hearts, retreat to four diamonds as quickly as decorum will permit.
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].
February 16th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 3 Comments
| Dealer: South
Vul: Neither |
North
♠ K 5 4
♥ 3 2
♦ A Q J 6
♣ A Q 5 4 |
|
| West
♠ 10 7
♥ Q J 10 9 8 5
♦ 8
♣ J 9 8 6 |
|
East
♠ Q J 9 8
♥ 6 4
♦ 10 9 5 4
♣ 10 7 2 |
| |
South
♠ A 6 3 2
♥ A K 7
♦ K 7 3 2
♣ K 3 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
4 ♠* |
Pass |
| 6 ♦ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
* Balanced slam try with 4-4 in the minors
Opening Lead: ♥ Queen
“One father is more than a hundred schoolmasters.”
— George Herbert
Locating a 4-4 minor-suit fit after an opening bid of one or two no-trump is usually important only for slam-going hands. Some people play a two-spade response to one no-trump as Minor Suit Stayman, but if you play four-suit transfers, then a call of two spades shows clubs.
However, since North-South was playing transfers in the red-suits at the four-level, the so-called Texas Transfer, the bid of four spades was not natural. Instead, it differentiated between a balanced slam-try with both minors, and one with 4-3-3-3 pattern. This got South to the best slam in double-quick time. Incidentally, North-South has a combined 33 HCP, but there are only 11 tricks in no-trump. In diamonds, with careful play, a ruff in one hand or the other produces a 12th trick.
South won the heart opening lead and cashed the diamond ace-queen. Had diamonds divided 3-2, South would have drawn the last trump and ruffed a heart in dummy or a club in his hand for the 12th trick. When East showed up with four diamonds, it was too dangerous to try to ruff a heart in dummy.
It proved far easier to ruff a club in the closed hand instead. South cashed the club king and ace, then ruffed a low club with a low trump. The diamond king was cashed, dummy was entered with a spade, and the last trump was drawn. Declarer’s 12 tricks came from four trumps and a club ruff, three clubs, two spades and two hearts.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q J 9 8 |
| ♥ |
6 4 |
| ♦ |
10 9 5 4 |
| ♣ |
10 7 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
2 ♠ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Your action might to some extent depend on the vulnerability, but I believe the right tactical approach here is simply to bid three spades. This way you give your LHO enough room simply to bid a game, or double and hear his partner bid game. He may thus not be tempted to give up on a safe plus-score to look for slam, without the knowledge of values opposite.
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].
February 15th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 1 Comment
| Dealer: South
Vul: N-S |
North
♠ Q 6 3
♥ Q 8
♦ K 9 8 5 3
♣ K 9 4 |
|
| West
♠ J 9 7 5
♥ J 10 6 3
♦ A 7 4
♣ 8 3 |
|
East
♠ 10 4 2
♥ 9 7 5 2
♦ Q 6
♣ A Q J 5 |
| |
South
♠ A K 8
♥ A K 4
♦ J 10 2
♣ 10 7 6 2 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
Opening Lead: ♥ three
“He only does it to annoy
Because he knows it teases.”
— Lewis Carroll
There should be no difficulty in reaching three no-trump here, against which West should lead a low heart. From J-10 sequences, one should lead an honor only if the holding is supported by the nine or eight.
South wins the first heart trick and leads the diamond jack, losing the finesse to East. East should now assume that if his partner cannot obtain the lead, the game cannot be defeated whatever he does.
However, declarer’s first-round finesse in diamonds strongly suggests that he is missing the ace. If West does have an entry, clubs look like the most promising avenue of attack for the defenders.
So at the third trick East should return a low club, knowing that to put partner on lead to broach clubs initially from his side would not suffice to set the contract. It would of course be a mistake for East to attack clubs by leading the queen. This can never gain and would be fatal if (as here) South had started with four clubs to the 10.
After the return of the low club at trick three, South is helpless. He continues diamonds, and West holds off until the third round, waiting to see East’s discard. When East pitches the spade two on the diamond ace, it should be clear to West that East wants a club back, and so the defense can take two diamond and three club tricks.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q 6 3 |
| ♥ |
Q 8 |
| ♦ |
K 9 8 5 3 |
| ♣ |
K 9 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
|
1 ♣ |
| Pass |
1 ♥ |
1 ♠ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: South must raise spades. The only question is how high should he go? A raise to two spades is more obstructive than constructive, and as a passed hand South could hardly be better than he is. Accordingly, I would choose a two-heart cuebid for safety, just in case my partner thought two clubs ought to be natural here.
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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