The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, March 26th, 2011

April 9th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  5 Comments 

Vulnerable: Both Dealer: North	North ♠ A J 10 9 ♥ A ♦ 7 4 3 2 ♣ J 8 6 5
West ♠ 8 7 4 ♥ K 5 4 3 ♦ J 8 6 5 ♣ A 7		East ♠ 6 5 2 ♥ J 10 9 7 2 ♦ 9 ♣ K 9 4 2
	South ♠ K Q 3 ♥ Q 8 6 ♦ A K Q 10 ♣ Q 10 3

 

South	West	North	East
		Pass	Pass
1 ♦	Pass	1 ♠	Pass
2 NT	Pass	3 NT	All pass

Opening Lead: Heart three

“Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.”

— Benjamin Franklin

It usually pays for declarer to have the more powerful hand so that the high cards are hidden. It makes the defense that much more difficult. Today’s deal comes from the final qualifying session of the Women’s Teams at the 2007 European Open Championships.

Against three no-trump the lead was the heart three. The opponents were using standard leads, and count rather than attitude signals, so when East played the deuce on the ace, declarer knew exactly how the hearts were divided between the defenders. South cashed two diamonds, getting the bad news, so now knew she needed to establish a club trick.

Wishing to keep East off lead, she led the spade queen, overtook it with the ace, and led a low club toward the closed hand. It was not obvious to East in second seat to rise with her king, so she followed low, as South had hoped she would. West took the queen with the ace and returned a spade. Smith now cashed out her spades, and on the last one, West had an awkward discard.

She chose to let go of the heart four, and Smith could now envisage the blockage in the heart suit. The club 10 went to East’s king, and on the heart-jack return, South played low. A third heart went to the queen and king, setting up the hearts for the defenders but endplaying West, who had to lead from the diamond J-8 into South’s Q-10 : nine tricks made.

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].

The Aces on Bridge: Friday, March 25th, 2011

April 8th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  4 Comments 

Dealer: East Vul: Both	North ♠ K 4 ♥ J 9 8 ♦ 7 5 4 2 ♣ A Q 7 3
West ♠ A J 9 5 3 ♥ K 10 2 ♦ 8 3 ♣ J 6 4		East ♠ Q 10 8 6 ♥ 7 6 4 ♦ Q 10 9 6 ♣ 9 5
	South ♠ 7 2 ♥ A Q 5 3 ♦ A K J ♣ K 10 8 2

 

South	West	North	East
			Pass
1 NT	Pass	3 NT	All Pass

Opening Lead: ♠ five

“But I apply the term unstrung to a man when he is rather under the pressure of feelings than under the pressure of conceptions.”

— Friedrich von Schiller

The second Commonwealth Nations Bridge Championships were held in Melbourne a couple of years ago. The English team of Michelle Brunner and John Holland, with John Hassett and Bill Hirst, took the silver medal, aided by deals like today’s.

You may care to cover up the East and West hands before choosing your line of play in three no-trump. There has been no opposition bidding and West leads the spade five. You have no choice but to play the king from the dummy, and there would be no story if it had lost. What now, when it holds the trick?

The best technical line is to cash the ace and king of diamonds to see if the queen drops, then run off the clubs, and finally take the heart finesse. This turns a 50 percent contract into a 60 percent one — a significant additional chance. The Australian declarer duly elected to cash the top diamonds, take the heart finesse, and go down.

By contrast, John Holland went for the psychological line. At trick two he led dummy’s heart jack. When East did not play the king, John rose with the ace, cashed his clubs, and later took the diamond finesse to make his contract.

From the 1970s through the early 1990s BOLS Royal Distilleries sponsored a series of bridge-tip competitions. Zia Mahmood’s 1989 winning tip was “When they don’t cover, they don’t have it.” It is excellent advice and worked well for John Holland 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].

The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, March 24th, 2011

April 7th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  4 Comments 

Dealer: South Vul: N-S	North ♠ K 10 5 2 ♥ 10 4 3 2 ♦ A K 2 ♣ J 7
West ♠ 8 ♥ Q 9 8 6 5 ♦ Q 9 8 4 ♣ Q 10 4		East ♠ J 9 7 6 ♥ K J 7 ♦ 5 3 ♣ K 9 6 2
	South ♠ A Q 4 3 ♥ A ♦ J 10 7 6 ♣ A 8 5 3

 

South	West	North	East
1 ♦	Pass	1 ♥	Pass
1 ♠	Pass	4 ♠	All Pass

Opening Lead: ♠ eight

“…All the words of wise men who are skilled

— Edwin Arlington Robinson

The standard of card play in today’s deal from an international competition may help explain why the two countries involved finished at the bottom of the heap.

On a 3-2 trump break there are many ways to make four spades, but trumps break 3-2 less than 68 percent of the time. Both declarers made the mistake of drawing two rounds of trump early in the play, an error from which they could not recover when they let East in with a diamond ruff and he played a third trump.

A simple count of winners should lead to the successful line: With four plain-suit winners, declarer needs to make six trump tricks. Therefore, two ruffs in hand are necessary. Whatever the opening lead (say a trump), declarer should first duck a club. He wins the return (say a heart) and now cashes the spade ace. When the trumps fail to break, South crosses to a diamond, ruffs a heart, plays the club ace, ruffs a club, then ruffs another heart. The diamond king and spade king bring the trick total to 10 (two trump tricks, four plain-suit winners and four ruffs).

Interestingly, both declarers in the match effectively took the diamond finesse. (One played the hand from North on a diamond lead; the other voluntarily took the finesse at trick two after a trump lead.) The extra trick generated from the diamonds does not compensate for the trick lost by allowing a third round of trumps to be drawn.

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].

The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, March 23rd

April 6th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  3 Comments 

Vulnerable: Both Dealer: South	North ♠ A Q 10 3 ♥ 10 ♦ K Q 9 ♣ A Q J 10 7
West ♠ 9 7 4 2 ♥ ♦ A J 10 3 2 ♣ K 6 2		East ♠ J 6 ♥ A Q 7 4 ♦ 8 5 4 ♣ 9 5 4 3
	South ♠ K 8 5 ♥ K J 9 6 5 3 2 ♦ 7 6 ♣ 8

 

South	West	North	East
3 ♥	Pass	4 ♥	All pass

Opening Lead: Spade seven

“It is a consolation to the wretched to have companions in misery.”

— Publilius Syrus

Four hearts made more often than not on this deal from a national pair game, but the fate of the game bounced from side to side at one table.

West led the spade seven, which declarer won in dummy. Dummy’s heart 10 held, and declarer continued with the ace and another club, ruffed in hand. The heart nine lost to East’s queen, and South took the spade-jack return with his king. The heart jack came next. East captured it with the ace, then played a diamond to West’s ace. Now East could ruff the spade return for down one.

Had declarer given proper thought to the possibility of a spade ruff, then after the heart 10 held, the play of a top diamond (or if this is ducked, a second diamond) cuts the communication between the defenders’ hands before a second spade is played.

Equally, East could have set the contract by force by rising with the heart ace at trick two, then returning his last spade. Now when East regains the lead, he can cross to West’s diamond ace for the spade ruff.

To bring home 10 tricks against any defense on the actual layout of the cards, South must win the spade lead in hand and play on diamonds before touching trumps. Then, with the defensive communications cut (and declarer able to pitch his third spade on the good diamond), only the three obvious tricks are lost: the ace and queen of trumps together with the diamond ace.

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].

The Aces On Bridge: Tuesday, March 22nd

April 5th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  8 Comments 

Vulnerable: East-West Dealer: South	North ♠ 7 ♥ A J 8 5 3 ♦ A K 6 5 ♣ 6 4 2
West ♠ K J 5 3 ♥ 4 ♦ Q J 10 4 2 ♣ K 8 3		East ♠ 10 8 6 4 2 ♥ 10 7 ♦ 8 7 ♣ J 10 9 7
	South ♠ A Q 9 ♥ K Q 9 6 2 ♦ 9 3 ♣ A Q 5

 

South	West	North	East
1 ♥	Pass	3 ♠*	Pass
4 ♣	Pass	4 ♦	Pass
4 NT	Pass	5 ♥	Pass
6 ♥	All pass

*Forcing heart raise with a singleton spade,

Opening Lead: Diamond queen

“In skating over thin ice, our safety is in our speed.”

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

At the rubber bridge table, South was the sort of player who considered it beneath his dignity to take more than a few seconds to play any deal, regardless of the degree of difficulty or the money at stake.

Declaring six hearts today on a top diamond lead, he won in dummy and drew two rounds of trumps. He took an immediate spade finesse, and when it lost and a diamond came back, he won dummy’s ace and took a second club finesse. When that lost, he threw his hand in disgustedly, conceding one down. He also made the mistake of saying there was nothing he could have done about it, giving North the chance to ask him if he wanted to bet on the outcome on proper declarer play. The bet was taken, the hand reconstructed, and North took over the reins.

North won the diamond lead, took the diamond king to ruff a diamond high, then crossed to the heart jack to ruff another diamond high, drew a second trump and led a spade to the nine. All that declarer had needed to find was a normal break in both red suits, and he could endplay West to lead either a spade or a club into declarer’s tenaces and concede the 12th trick. If East had played the spade jack or 10 on the first round of the suit, declarer would have been able to cover, creating a different but equally effective tenace in the spade 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].

The Aces on Bridge: Monday, March 21st, 2011

April 4th, 2011  ~  admin  ~  5 Comments 

Vulnerable: Both Dealer: South	North ♠ 6 5 ♥ A K 4 ♦ 10 9 3 ♣ A 10 5 4 3
West ♠ Q 10 8 3 2 ♥ 7 5 3 2 ♦ K 7 6 ♣ 8		East ♠ K 9 7 ♥ 10 8 6 ♦ J 5 4 ♣ Q J 9 7
	South ♠ A J 4 ♥ Q J 9 ♦ A Q 8 2 ♣ K 6 2

 

South	West	North	East
1 NT	Pass	3 NT	All pass

Opening Lead: Spade three

“The lucky moment to improve,

— Robert Burns

South opens a strong no-trump, and North has essentially a balanced hand and no interest in a slam, no matter what his partner has. North shouldn’t worry about the small doubleton spade, but simply bid three no-trump and hope his partner can make it. Against three no-trump, West leads the spade three and East plays the king. Plan the play.

There are two sensible options: the first of them is to duck the spade king as well as the next spade. Then you win the third spade and lead the club king and a second club. If you can set up the clubs for four tricks without letting West on lead, you will make your game. And you may also survive if clubs are 4-1 and East has both diamond honors, with the spades originally 5-3. I rate this line at something less than 60 percent. Not bad — but can you do better?

Yes, you can. There is a far surer route to nine tricks. The best approach is to win the spade ace at the first trick, cross to dummy with a heart, and run the diamond 10.

If West wins the diamond with the jack and does not play back a spade, you will be able to repeat the diamond finesse in comfort. If West clears the spades, you will get to test the clubs before repeating the diamond finesse. This line succeeds at least three times out of four.

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].

The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, March 20th, 2011

April 3rd, 2011  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, March 20th, 2011 

If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, e-mail him at [email protected]. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2011.

The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, March 19th, 2011

April 2nd, 2011  ~  admin  ~  4 Comments 

Dealer: East Vul: Both	North ♠ K 6 5 3 ♥ A K J 7 2 ♦ K ♣ A 6 4
West ♠ J 10 8 ♥ — ♦ 9 7 2 ♣ K Q 10 8 7 5 3		East ♠ 7 ♥ Q 10 9 3 ♦ Q 10 8 6 4 3 ♣ J 2
	South ♠ A Q 9 4 2 ♥ 8 6 5 4 ♦ A J 5 ♣ 9

 

South	West	North	East
			Pass
1 ♠	3 ♣	3 ♥	Pass
4 ♥	Pass	6 ♠	All Pass

Opening Lead: ♣ King

“Like all weak men he laid an exaggerated stress on not changing one’s mind.”

— Somerset Maugham

Today’s deal was a missed opportunity for both declarers from the Vanderbilt Trophy in Reno last spring. In one room the bidding ended in a hopeless seven heart contract. In the other room the bidding was much better, reaching a playable six spades.

Against this slam West led a low diamond to dummy’s king. Declarer made the mistake of playing a heart toward the ace early on, and West ruffed in, leaving declarer with a heart loser at the end.

Instead, declarer should simply draw all the trumps as East pitches two diamonds. In case hearts are 4-0, declarer must ruff a diamond, cash the club ace, ruff a club, then play a heart to dummy’s ace, noting West’s discard. It is time for him to change plans and search for an endplay.

Declarer has reduced to a five-card ending in which dummy has four hearts and a losing club left, while declarer has a trump, the diamond ace and three hearts.

On the lead of the club six from dummy, East is caught in a nonmaterial squeeze. Which four cards can he keep?

If he pitches a heart, holding two diamonds and two hearts, declarer easily sets up the heart suit by ducking a trick. If East instead pitches a diamond and comes down to one diamond and three hearts, declarer ruffs the club, cashes the diamond ace, and ducks a heart to East for the endplay. East can win this trick but must lead into dummy’s heart K-J at trick 12.

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].

The Aces on Bridge: Friday, March 18th, 2011

April 1st, 2011  ~  admin  ~  4 Comments 

Dealer: East Vul: Both	North ♠ A Q 10 8 5 ♥ 9 5 ♦ K 10 6 ♣ 6 5 3
West ♠ J 7 6 4 2 ♥ 3 2 ♦ J 9 7 ♣ 10 8 4		East ♠ K 9 3 ♥ K 7 ♦ A Q 4 2 ♣ A J 7 2
	South ♠ — ♥ A Q J 10 8 6 4 ♦ 8 5 3 ♣ K Q 9

 

South	West	North	East
			1 NT
3 ♥	Pass	4 ♥	All Pass

Opening Lead: ♠ four

“It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.”

— Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

In this deal from the 2009 Lebhar IMP Pairs at the Reno spring nationals, Marty Hirschman’s partner, Frank Kasle, led a low spade against four hearts. Declarer put in dummy’s 10, forcing the king. Declarer ruffed and innocently put the heart queen on the table. If Hirschman had fallen for the bait and taken the trick, declarer could have made the contract. He’d win the trump return in dummy, pitch diamonds on dummy’s top spades, cross to a club, and run the trumps. In the three-card ending, dummy keeps the diamond K-10 and a club, declarer has the club Q-9 and the diamond eight, and East must come down to a singleton in one minor or the other, whereupon he will be endplayed in that suit.

Hirschman, however, ducked the heart queen! Declarer now had no trump losers, but the spades were dead and nine tricks were the limit.

At another table David Grainger declared four hearts from the North seat, and East elected to lead a low trump. Grainger won dummy’s heart nine at trick one, then went for his best legitimate choice of finding the doubleton heart king with East. He cashed the spade ace, pitching a diamond, led a club to the queen, ran the hearts, and squeezed East.

If East pitched from either minor, he would be endplayed with that ace and forced to concede a trick in the other minor. A spade discard would allow declarer to endplay him in either minor. Whatever East did, declarer had 10 tricks.

For details of Bobby Wolff’s autobiography, The Lone Wolff, contact [email protected]. If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, please leave a comment at this blog. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2011. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].

The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, March 17th, 2011

March 31st, 2011  ~  admin  ~  5 Comments 

Dealer: North Vul: Both	North ♠ 10 9 7 2 ♥ K Q 6 5 ♦ 10 7 ♣ 6 5 3
West ♠ K J 4 ♥ J 4 2 ♦ 9 8 3 2 ♣ Q J 7		East ♠ 8 6 3 ♥ 10 9 8 3 ♦ 6 5 ♣ 10 9 4 2
	South ♠ A Q 5 ♥ A 7 ♦ A K Q J 4 ♣ A K 8

 

South	West	North	East
		Pass	Pass
2 ♣	Pass	2 ♦	Pass
3 NT	All Pass

Opening Lead: ♦ nine

“I hear a knocking at the south entry.”

— William Shakespeare

This week’s deals all come from last year’s spring nationals at Reno, marking the current event taking place right now in Louisville.

On this deal from the first qualifying session of the North American Pairs-A, Allan Popkin of St. Louis earned a near-top. Popkin, playing with his wife, Nancy, stayed out of what appeared to be a very playable slam. However, with the spade honors offside, 11 tricks seem to be the limit on normal play.

Against four no-trump, West led the diamond nine, taken in dummy with the 10. Popkin played a spade to the queen and West’s king. He won the diamond continuation in hand and played three more rounds of the suit, pitching a spade and two clubs from dummy. East discarded two spades and a club; West, a heart.

This persuaded declarer not to repeat the spade finesse. Instead, Popkin cashed the spade ace, and now, to guard hearts, East had to unguard clubs. But next came three rounds of hearts, which squeezed West in the black suits in the three-card ending. The perfect nonsimultaneous double squeeze for 12 tricks earned the Popkins 23.5 out of 25 matchpoints.

Very nicely played – but was there anything the defenders could have done? Yes, indeed. When West won the first spade, he should have shifted to a top club. This disrupts the timing, since now dummy has to abandon one of the menaces in the majors, or to discard the club that is the entry to the South hand.

For details of Bobby Wolff’s autobiography, The Lone Wolff, contact [email protected]. If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, please leave a comment at this blog. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2011. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].