February 14th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 2 Comments 
| Dealer: West
Vul: Both |
North
♠ J 3
♥ 5 4
♦ A J 7 6 4
♣ A 10 4 3 |
|
| West
♠ Q 8 6 5 2
♥ Q 10 9 8
♦ K 9 8 3
♣ — |
 |
East
♠ K 10
♥ J 7 6 3
♦ Q 10 2
♣ K 7 6 2 |
| |
South
♠ A 9 7 4
♥ A K 2
♦ 5
♣ Q J 9 8 5 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
Pass |
Pass |
Pass |
| 1 ♣ |
Pass |
1 ♦ |
Pass |
| 1 ♠ |
Pass |
3 ♣ |
Pass |
| 3 ♥ |
Pass |
5 ♣ |
All Pass |
Opening Lead: ♥ ten
“Success is simple. Do what’s right, the right way, at the right time.”
— Arnold H. Glasgow
With North bidding correctly, South should not end up in an inferior contract of three no-trump. He can foresee that there might be only eight tricks at no-trump — four clubs, two hearts, a spade and a diamond. The no-trump game may be right if the North hand is balanced. But if North holds the diamond ace and the club ace or king, together with nine cards in the two suits, there should be a good play for five clubs. South’s major top cards cover three of the four plain-suit losers, leaving only one loser there — the rest can be ruffed out. The only other loser is a high trump.
This picture foreshadows the actual play. The right approach is to ruff out South’s two spade losers after giving up one spade trick. South must be careful, however, on a heart lead. He ruffs two diamonds in hand while ruffing a heart in dummy, then takes the spade ace and a second spade. East wins to return a trump.
South wins in hand and discovers the bad break. This should not disrupt declarer’s ability to make his game, though. To insure his 11 tricks, South must now ruff the third round of spades with the ace. To let East overruff the third spade and lead another trump would be fatal, but this way North saves the trump 10 for the fourth round of spades and makes the game.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q 7 5 4 |
| ♥ |
8 5 |
| ♦ |
A 3 |
| ♣ |
J 9 5 4 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
|
1 ♦ |
| Pass |
1 ♥ |
Pass |
2 ♦ |
| Pass |
2 ♠ |
Pass |
3 NT |
| All Pass |
|
|
|
ANSWER: It is generally right, when in doubt, to lead from a five-card suit, not a four-carder. Here, although you can lead through dummy’s spades, your own spots are so weak that you need partner to have a very good spade suit, in which case he might have been able to double the spade bid. A club lead needs less from your partner, so it would be my choice.
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 13th, 2011 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, January 30th, 2011
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
I heard that there is a Hall of Fame for bridge. Where is it, and who is included?
— Star-Struck, Albany, Ga.
ANSWER: The ACBL has an American Hall of Fame. In its newly constructed headquarters you can find out all about the giants of the game. See http://www.acbl.org/about/hall-of-fame/ for more details.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
I was playing Chicago rubber bridge, and on the fourth deal, when we had a partscore of 40 points, I picked up SPADES Q-J-9-3, HEARTS A-Q-7-3, DIAMONDS K-10-3-2, CLUBS A. I opened one diamond and my partner responded one heart. I bid two hearts and he bid two spades. What would you suggest doing now?
— Up the Line, San Antonio, Texas
ANSWER: I’m a simple soul. If my partner moves over two hearts when that would have given us game, he must have some slam interest. I have an ace more than I’ve shown, so I’ll bid six hearts and be confident he will have play for the slam. In fact, I might be missing a grand slam, but at rubber bridge I’ll settle for simplicity.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Last week I doubled a weak-two in hearts on my right, and when this was raised to three hearts, my partner doubled. I assumed my partner would bid a spade suit if he had one, so this double should be either optional or penalties, and since I had a completely balanced hand with the trump ace, I passed. We did set the contract by a trick, but my partner said his double was for takeout. Was he right?
— Double Your Fun, Sacramento, Calif.
| |
ANSWER: Most people agree that whenever the opponents bid and raise a suit around a double, then a second double (from either side) is indeed takeout. In the sequence you had, the double is often referred to as a responsive double, but it would tend to be oriented toward the minors, because — as you inferred — your partner would have bid a spade suit if he had one.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
My LHO opened four hearts, and I passed, holding SPADES Q-9-4, HEARTS 2, DIAMONDS K-10-8-6, CLUBS K-Q-7-4-3. My partner reopened with a double, which we play as essentially for takeout, though you are allowed to pass with a balanced hand. Here it seemed clear to me to bid, but would you think I was worth more than a simple bid of five clubs?
— How High Is Up? Harrisburg, Pa.
ANSWER: I would surely bid here, but my choice would be to bid four no-trump to suggest both minors. This does not guarantee values, but it might get my partner to bid strongly if he can envisage a slam facing some extra shape.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Could you summarize how responder develops his hand after transferring into a major over his partner’s one-no-trump opening bid?
— Major Developer, Trenton, N.J.
ANSWER: Responder passes the transfer with a weak hand. He invites game by reraising the suit, or he shows a balanced hand with a two-no-trump bid. A new suit is natural and game-forcing; a jump in a new suit is a slam-try, self-agreeing the transfer suit, showing shortage. A jump to three no-trump offers a choice of games, and a jump to four of the agreed major is either natural and to play (or if a Texas transfer was available, it is a mild slam-try with a six-card major). |
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 12th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 4 Comments
| Dealer: North
Vul: E-W |
North
♠ A 7 4
♥ Q J 3
♦ A K 8 5
♣ A 7 4 |
|
| West
♠ 2
♥ K 9 8 4
♦ Q 4 3
♣ Q J 9 5 3 |
|
East
♠ 10 6 5 3
♥ 10
♦ J 10 9 7 6
♣ 8 6 2 |
| |
South
♠ K Q J 9 8
♥ A 7 6 5 2
♦ 2
♣ K 10 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 ♦ |
Pass |
| 1 ♠ |
Pass |
2 NT |
Pass |
| 3 ♥ |
Pass |
3 ♠ |
Pass |
| 4 NT |
Pass |
5 ♣ |
Pass |
| 6 ♠ |
All Pass |
|
|
Opening Lead: ♣ Queen
“Dreamer of dreams, born out of my due time,
Why should I strive to set the crooked straight?”
— William Morris
Today’s deal is a particularly hard one because to succeed in your slam, you have to abandon the most straightforward route to 12 tricks and rely on your card-reading skills. So fasten your seatbelts!
You play six spades on the lead of the club queen and win in hand. Your plan would be to draw trumps and lead up to the heart Q-J as many times as necessary, but when trumps split 4-1 with West having a singleton, the red flags for danger are clearly visible.
You draw four rounds of trumps ending in hand (West discarding two small clubs and a diamond, while dummy pitches a diamond), then lead a heart to the queen. The sight of East’s 10 is a second danger signal. The simple line would be to continue playing on hearts, but if you believe East to have started with a singleton heart, you can see this line will fail.
To succeed, you must play the diamond ace and king and ruff a diamond back to hand. In the four-card ending, West must discard from his remaining three hearts and the J-9 of clubs. If he discards the club jack, you cash your club 10 and lead a low heart to the jack. If he discards a heart, you simply duck a heart, and your hand is high. And if he pitches his club nine, you lead your club 10 and duck West’s jack! That player must lead a heart to dummy, and you have the rest.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
2 |
| ♥ |
K 9 8 4 |
| ♦ |
Q 4 3 |
| ♣ |
Q J 9 5 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 ♣ |
Pass |
| 1 ♥ |
Pass |
1 ♠ |
Pass |
| 3 ♣ |
Pass |
3 ♦ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Your partner has shown real extras and suggested length in diamonds and therefore a singleton heart. With a minimum hand, and what appears to be a wasted heart king, apply the brakes with a call of four clubs, suggesting nothing to spare. This sequence is nonforcing — but of course your partner can bid on with as yet unshown extras.
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 11th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 2 Comments
| Dealer: West
Vul: E-W |
North
♠ A 4
♥ A J 8 6 2
♦ K Q 5
♣ K Q 2 |
|
| West
♠ 10 9 7 6 3
♥ 10 7
♦ A J 10 8
♣ 9 8 |
|
East
♠ J 8 2
♥ K 9 4 3
♦ 7 6 2
♣ J 6 3 |
| |
South
♠ K Q 5
♥ Q 5
♦ 9 4 3
♣ A 10 7 5 4 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
Pass |
1 ♥ |
Pass |
| 2 NT |
Pass |
6 NT |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♠ ten
“The craftiest trickery is too short and ragged a cloak to cover a bad heart.”
— Johann Kaspar Lavater
David Price is a British International who won the Senior Teams at Sao Paulo in 2009. He was sitting South, playing rubber bridge, when he found himself in a delicate slam.
In six no-trump he needed to attack both red suits from his own hand. Your shortage of entries presented a problem unless the diamond ace is doubleton with West. Even the desperate move of leading a club to the 10 might be frustrated by an alert East rising with the jack.
Price saw that if the heart king and diamond ace were in different hands, he might succeed by winning the opening spade lead in hand and leading the heart queen. If this lost to East and the heart suit split 3-3, that player might find the wrong minor-suit switch. Of course, if West had the heart king and covered the queen, the best play would be to duck; but now East might be able to give a suit-preference signal.
After considering all of this, Price took dummy’s spade ace at once and at trick two led a low heart from dummy! He hoped East might duck the heart king, or that West would have no suit-preference message to help him if he won the trick.
In practice East quite reasonably ducked the heart king, and that was fatal. Since this marked West with the diamond ace, Price established the two diamond tricks he needed for his contract and finished up with two tricks in each red suit, three spades and five club tricks.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K Q 5 |
| ♥ |
Q 5 |
| ♦ |
9 4 3 |
| ♣ |
A 10 7 5 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
2 ♦ |
2 ♥ |
3 ♦ |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Doubling three diamonds would suggest spade length and might prompt an embarrassing action from your partner, so it looks better to raise hearts. Because the auction suggested that your partner does not have too much wasted in diamonds, it looks reasonable to take a slight gamble and jump to four hearts. You would bid three hearts without one of your spade honors.
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 10th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 4 Comments
| Dealer: South
Vul: E-W |
North
♠ K 7 3
♥ 6 3
♦ 9 7 5 3
♣ 8 5 3 2 |
|
| West
♠ 10
♥ 9 7 5 2
♦ Q 10 8 4 2
♣ J 10 6 |
|
East
♠ J 9 8 6 5 2
♥ 10 8
♦ K J 6
♣ Q 4 |
| |
South
♠ A Q 4
♥ A K Q J 4
♦ A
♣ A K 9 7 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 2 ♣ |
Pass |
2 ♦ |
Pass |
| 2 ♥ |
Pass |
2 NT |
Pass |
| 3 ♣ |
Pass |
4 ♣ |
Pass |
| 4 ♦ |
Pass |
5 ♣ |
Pass |
| 6 ♣ |
All Pass |
|
|
Opening Lead: ♠ ten
“Nature made him and then broke the mold.”
— Ludovico Ariosto
At the Dyspeptics Club, West is thought to be capable of anything. But normally this involves finding unusual ways to lose tricks rather than win them. However, every dog has its day, and today was unquestionably West’s.
During the auction North had shown just a few points with his call of two no-trump since a bid of three clubs at his second turn would have shown values. He declined to cuebid his spade king after raising clubs, but South had enough to advance to the club slam.
On the lead of the spade 10, declarer could not tell who, if anyone, was short in spades. He elected to win in hand and was all set to cash the ace and king of clubs when West brought him up short by dropping the club 10 under the ace.
Now declarer had to consider the chance that West had a singleton club. He realized that he could protect against that eventuality by leading a low trump from hand at trick three, and using the spade king in dummy as an entry for a later finesse if necessary against East’s remaining honor. What he could not protect against was East winning the second club and giving West a spade ruff.
East’s praise for West’s defense was muted by the subsequent realization that West had sorted his hand with the club six in with his spades, and was simply following suit with his smallest card on the first round of trumps, rather than producing a brilliant false-card!
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 9 8 6 5 2 |
| ♥ |
10 8 |
| ♦ |
K J 6 |
| ♣ |
Q 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 ♥ |
Pass |
| 1 ♠ |
Pass |
2 ♦ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: There are two tempting wrong trees to bark up. Some will feel inclined to rebid the weak spade suit; others will pass while the going is good, hoping to go plus. But with a respectable doubleton heart, I would prefer to give false preference to two hearts. If partner has a decent hand with short spades, we might make four hearts. If he has extras and three spades, we might make 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].
February 9th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 5 Comments
| Dealer: South
Vul: E-W |
North
♠ A 7 4
♥ 7 5 4
♦ K 6
♣ A J 10 6 5 |
|
| West
♠ Q 3
♥ Q J 10 8 6
♦ A J 4
♣ K 7 3 |
|
East
♠ J 10 9 5 2
♥ 9 3 2
♦ 10 7 2
♣ Q 4 |
| |
South
♠ K 8 6
♥ A K
♦ Q 9 8 5 3
♣ 9 8 2 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
1 ♥ |
2 ♣ |
Pass |
| 3 NT |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♥ Queen
“There is not enough time to do all the nothing we want to do.”
— Bill Watterson
At no-trump, declarer normally attacks his longest suit, because that is where he rates to establish more tricks than anywhere else. One reason for not doing so might be because he doesn’t have time to do everything he needs to do. One such example was submitted by Pedro Paulo Assumpcao of Brazil as an entry to the BOLS bridge prize competition.
Playing three no-trump, you must develop five tricks in the minors, but you only have one heart stopper left, so you can let the defenders in just once. If you attack clubs and lose the lead to East, a heart will come back. Even though you can now establish the clubs, you only have eight tricks. You don’t have enough tempos to establish your ninth trick in diamonds, because West will step up with the ace and cash the setting tricks in hearts.
What you must do is lead a low diamond at trick two. Now if West ducks, you win the king, cross to the spade king, and run the club nine, which loses to the queen. Back comes a heart, which you win, and now you run the club eight. When that holds, you have your nine tricks: four clubs, two hearts, two spades and one diamond.
If West rises with the diamond ace at trick two and clears hearts, you can take four diamond tricks so long as the suit breaks 3-3 or the J-10 is doubleton. In either case you will need only one club trick for the contract.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A 7 4 |
| ♥ |
7 5 4 |
| ♦ |
K 6 |
| ♣ |
A J 10 6 5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 ♣ |
1 ♥ |
1 ♠ |
Pass |
| 2 ♠ |
Pass |
3 ♣ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: The three-club call is a try for game, not an attempt to improve the part-score, and is forcing. The one-spade bid promised five (with four he would have doubled instead), so the fact that you have only three trumps is not critical. Rather than signing off or jumping to game, you might bid three diamonds, suggesting an in-between hand for your partner, with a diamond feature, to let him decide what to do.
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 8th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 2 Comments
| Dealer: South
Vul: E-W |
North
♠ A Q J 3
♥ K J 6 2
♦ A J
♣ 9 6 4 |
|
| West
♠ 8 7
♥ A 9 7
♦ Q 10 7 4 3
♣ Q 8 2 |
|
East
♠ 9 6 5 4 2
♥ 10 8 4 3
♦ K 6
♣ 10 5 |
| |
South
♠ K 10
♥ Q 5
♦ 9 8 5 2
♣ A K J 7 3 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 ♣ |
Pass |
1 ♥ |
Pass |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♦ four
“No animal should ever jump up on the dining-room furniture unless absolutely certain that he can hold his own in the conversation.”
— Fran Lebowitz
When West leads his fourth-best diamond against three no-trump, declarer’s success depends on his play to the first trick. He should reason that West would not have been likely to lead low from a suit headed by king, queen and 10, so that one of those three top honors is marked with East.
Three no-trump is in no danger if the diamonds divide 4-3, so declarer must assume that the suit is not breaking and must strive to overcome the possibility of losing four diamonds and the heart ace.
If the diamonds divide 5-2, declarer must focus on trying to block the run of the suit. South’s correct play, therefore, is to go up with the ace in dummy. This play does not lose even if West has led from K-Q, for the 10 in East’s hand will prevent the run of four tricks. The hearts should be attacked at once, for two tricks in this suit will be enough for game. When West wins with the spade ace, he cannot make more than two diamond tricks, even if East has unblocked his king at the first trick.
You might note that if declarer does rise with dummy’s diamond ace at the first trick, but then makes the mistake of going after clubs by finessing the jack, he should be defeated. West can take his club queen and unblock diamonds, with the heart as a re-entry to get back on lead and cash out for down two.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
8 7 |
| ♥ |
A 9 7 |
| ♦ |
Q 10 7 4 3 |
| ♣ |
Q 8 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 ♠ |
Pass |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
2 ♣ |
Pass |
| 2 ♠ |
Pass |
2 NT |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Your partner’s sequence suggests about a 17-count with five spades and four clubs. With less, he would simply pass two spades, and with a completely balanced hand he would have raised one no-trump to two. You have a useful potential source of tricks and aren’t ashamed of your values, so bid three no-trump.
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 7th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 2 Comments
| Dealer: South
Vul: Both |
North
♠ Q 10 8 5
♥ A J 5 2
♦ A 5
♣ J 7 6 |
|
| West
♠ 2
♥ K Q 9
♦ Q J 3
♣ K Q 10 9 4 3 |
|
East
♠ J 7 6 4
♥ 10 7 6 4
♦ 6 4 2
♣ A 5 |
| |
South
♠ A K 9 3
♥ 8 3
♦ K 10 9 8 7
♣ 8 2 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| Pass |
1 ♣ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| 2 ♣ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
Pass |
| 2 ♦ |
Pass |
2 ♥ |
Pass |
| 2 ♠ |
Pass |
3 ♠ |
Pass |
| 4 ♠ |
All Pass |
|
|
Opening Lead: ♣ King
“Be careful what you water your dreams with. Water them with worry and fear and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream.”
— Lao Tzu
In today’s deal from last year’s Bermuda Congress, a visiting Austrian team showed off their talents. An efficient and controlled auction allowed Andreas Babsch to reach four spades from the South seat. Rather fortuitously, the defense could not attack clubs quite so easily from the West position. West led the club king and a club to the ace. East shifted to a heart, letting Babsch win in dummy and play the diamond ace, then the diamond king, followed by a thoughtful diamond ruff with the spade 10.
A low spade to the ace and a spade back to the king exposed the 4-1 break. Declarer finessed against the spade jack and drew trumps before cashing out the diamonds. Ten tricks were made, but a glance at the full deal will show you that declarer had to be careful in the trump suit.
South needed to ruff the third diamond with the spade 10, or to lead that card to a top honor in his hand on the first round of drawing trumps. Additionally, the first round of trumps had to feature a high-card from the South hand and not the spade queen from dummy. Otherwise, when the 4-1 trump break comes to light, there are no entries to dummy to take the trump finesse.
Just for the record: If East had been on lead, three rounds of clubs would have allowed East to pitch a diamond, and declarer would have had no way home after that start.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 7 6 4 |
| ♥ |
10 7 6 4 |
| ♦ |
6 4 2 |
| ♣ |
A 5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
|
1 ♣ |
| Pass |
1 ♥ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| 1 ♠ |
2 ♣ |
Pass |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: You may not have a great hand, and your partner has denied real extras by not competing to two spades himself, but you are supposed to look at your own hand and realize that when you hold four trumps, and thus a known fit, it is your responsibility to compete once more. Given your minimum action the first time, partner won’t assume you have any extras.
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 6th, 2011 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, January 23rd, 2011
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
Is the two-club response to a one-diamond opening an exception to the possible set of two-over-one responses? I understand that this response may of necessity be somewhat weaker than the other possibilities, and there might be other things to say about this particular sequence. Also, how does opener advance with diamonds (four or five cards) and a major?
— Bargain Hunter, Orlando, Fla.
ANSWER: Let’s go with two clubs as game-forcing, since one can play a jump to three clubs over one diamond as invitational … unless you want to play that sequence as a diamond raise. After the two-club response I like to play bids in the majors as reversing, with a nonminimum hand. I’d rebid two diamonds with a dead minimum and 5-4 pattern, or just diamonds, and rebid either two no-trump or three clubs with a balanced hand.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
If you pick up as dealer SPADES J-9, HEARTS A-Q-9-7-3-2, DIAMONDS 10-3-2, CLUBS Q-7, I assume you would open two hearts at any vulnerability. I was vulnerable against not, and my partner asked for a feature with a two-no-trump bid. The next hand doubled; what should I have done next?
— Jumbo Shrimp, Wichita Falls, Texas
ANSWER: The two-heart opening is just fine by me. I believe any bid now should show a feature, with pass suggesting a balanced minimum and a three-heart bid suggesting good trumps. Redouble would show balanced extras — but at this vulnerability I do not think you have anything to spare, so I would pass.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Recently you wrote that in all sequences after a two-over-one where responder’s simple raise of opener’s second suit would be forcing, a jump in a new suit should conventionally be played as a splinter. How does this work when opener has bid two suits in a sequence such as one heart – two clubs – two diamonds? When responder jumps in a new suit, which suit does this agree?
— Single Malt, North Bay, Ontario
| |
ANSWER: With a splinter-jump, the last suit is always the one agreed as trumps. In the given sequence, to set hearts as trumps, just raise the suit. In this auction three hearts might be played as stronger than four hearts. Or you can (my preference) play a jump to four hearts as a hand with fitting cards in a minimum hand, with no control of the fourth suit.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
I am in the dark as to how to proceed in responding to the fourth suit. I don’t even know what the priorities are in general. Please help.
— Ready and Waiting, Walnut Creek, Calif.
ANSWER: Over fourth suit forcing, opener can promise three-card support for partner, show extra length in his own suits, or bid no-trump with a stopper in the fourth suit. There is no set rule as to what to do if you have a choice among these options. The default actions are to raise partner with a doubleton honor or to repeat your original suit with a decent five-carder. Giving preference to responder after a fourth-suit bid is rather more likely to be a two-card raise than three if (as in my style) you might have raised partner’s major directly with a semibalanced hand and three trumps.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
I had an opening-lead problem, holding SPADES J-9-3, HEARTS 9-6-4-2, DIAMONDS J-8-3-2, CLUBS 9-5. My RHO bid one no-trump, my LHO raised to three no-trump, and my partner doubled. Is this normally played as conventional in any way? And what would you lead?
— Best Foot Forward, New Smyrna Beach, Fla.
ANSWER:The double by a hand not on lead suggests a good suit and an entry, or a solid suit. Here you have no idea which suit your partner has, but acting on the principle that the opponents probably aren’t over-long in the majors, I would cross my fingers and lead my shorter major — a low spade. |
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 5th, 2011 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, January 22nd, 2011
| Dealer: West
Vul: E-W |
North
♠ J 10 7
♥ A 6 5 4
♦ A 10 2
♣ K J 10 |
|
| West
♠ A 8 6
♥ 10 8 2
♦ K 7 6 3
♣ 4 3 2 |
|
East
♠ Q 9 4 3 2
♥ K 9 3
♦ 8
♣ A Q 8 6 |
| |
South
♠ K 5
♥ Q J 7
♦ Q J 9 5 4
♣ 9 7 5 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
Pass |
1 ♣ |
1 ♠ |
| 2 ♦ |
2 ♠ |
3 ♦ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♠ Ace
“The resources of civilization are not yet exhausted.”
— William Gladstone
It is said that the looker-on sees most of the game. After the missed opportunity in today’s deal from the Compact Knockouts at last year’s Bermuda Regional, the spectators were able to exchange knowing looks when the deal ended.
South had finished in the reasonable contract of three diamonds after East had bid spades. West began, sensibly enough, with the spade ace, and shifted equally sensibly to a club. When East played three rounds of the suit, declarer won in dummy and crossed to her heart queen, East ducking the trick. This is sometimes the right play, but here all it did was revive an apparently moribund contract.
Now came the trump finesse, and a repeated finesse to find the bad news. With the lead in the North hand and declarer needing five of the last six tricks, try the effect of cashing the spade king, leading a heart to the ace, ruffing a spade low, and giving up the third heart to East. That player has a choice of exiting with either a spade or a club, in either case giving a ruff and discard to all three players at the table. However, declarer is down to the diamond J-9, dummy has the diamond ace and a heart, and West holds the guarded diamond king. When South ruffs in, he gives West the choice of losing his trump king on this trick or the next. It is a perfect smother coup!
And at the table? South conceded one down when East discarded on the second trump.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K 5 |
| ♥ |
Q J 7 |
| ♦ |
Q J 9 5 4 |
| ♣ |
9 7 5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
1 ♣ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| 2 ♦ |
Pass |
3 ♣ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Your partner’s cue-bid after doubling asks you to define your hand more precisely — in particular, to identify if you have a club stop. It should be game-forcing. (With an invitational hand he would just raise to three diamonds now.) You have no club stop and no feature to emphasize, so put on the brakes, at least temporarily, with a bid of 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].
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