February 28th, 2011 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Monday, February 14th, 2011 
| Dealer: East
Vul: N-S |
North
♠ J 8 7 6
♥ K 10 9 7
♦ 10 7 3 2
♣ J |
|
| West
♠ 9 5 3
♥ A J 6
♦ K Q J 6
♣ 10 9 5 |
 |
East
♠ 2
♥ Q 8 4 3
♦ A 9 8 5
♣ A Q 8 6 |
| |
South
♠ A K Q 10 4
♥ 5 2
♦ 4
♣ K 7 4 3 2 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
1 ♣ |
| 1 ♠ |
2 ♦ |
3 ♠ |
4 ♦ |
| 4 ♠ |
Dbl. |
All Pass |
|
Opening Lead: ♦ King
“But sequence ravelled out of reach
Like balls upon a floor.”
— Emily Dickinson
The NEC tournament in Yokohama takes place over Valentine’s Day every year. To mark this year’s event, I am using deals from the excellent 2010 bulletin, which can be found online at The NEC Bridge Festival Home Page.
Peter Gill contributed a nice play by Brian Senior in today’s deal, where he declared four spades doubled. West led a diamond and accurately shifted to a trump. It looks natural to win this cheaply in dummy and lead a club, but the defenders have the upper hand if they win and lead a second diamond. Declarer can crossruff the minor suits to set up the clubs, but will run out of trumps in the process. At the very end, West can keep a master diamond and the heart ace.
Senior figured out that he needed the heart ace onside, come what may. So he took the trump shift in hand and led a heart up. West ducked, and now declarer could win dummy’s heart king and lead a club. The defenders could take the club ace and cross to the West hand with a heart for the second trump play, but now declarer was in control and could establish clubs.
Had the defenders played to force declarer at trick five, the fact that the heart trick was in the bag would have made the critical difference. Even though the defenders could in fact have prevailed by winning the heart ace and playing a second trump, that does not detract from Senior’s play.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
10 7 4 |
| ♥ |
K 9 5 3 |
| ♦ |
9 7 4 |
| ♣ |
9 5 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
1 ♦ |
Pass |
1 ♥ |
| Pass |
2 ♣ |
Pass |
3 NT |
| All Pass |
|
|
|
ANSWER: To have a shot to beat this contract, you will need to find partner with close to an opening bid. If he does have that hand, maybe he has stayed silent in this auction because he has some length in dummy’s first-bid suit, so lead the diamond nine. At matchpoints a spade might be less “do or die.”
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 27th, 2011 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, February 13th, 2011
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
I can’t find an answer in any of my books to the following scoring problem. Say you play in two spades doubled and make it. Do you get the 300 bonus for making game or just the 50 for the insult? My reputation rests upon your answer!
— Stumped, Walnut Creek, Calif.
ANSWER: The simple answer is yes, you do get the bonus. To clarify the source: Law 77 refers to the score for all possible contracts (bid and made), undoubled, doubled and redoubled, and says that a trick score of 100 or more constitutes game. Overtricks are dealt with separately. So in two spades doubled the trick score of 60 per trick times two is 120. That constitutes game, since it exceeds 100.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Recently you discussed how to bid this hand: SPADES 10-6, HEARTS K-J-9-4, DIAMONDS 7-4-2, CLUBS 10-9-4-3. Your partner opened an artificial two clubs and rebid three clubs over your response of two diamonds. You recommended a club raise — a decision you marginally preferred to showing the heart values. Two questions: Does three clubs guarantee an unbalanced hand, and would three hearts from you promise a five-carder?
— Power Point, Sioux Falls, S.D.
ANSWER: The three-club bid shows an unbalanced hand; it might be only five, but would then be in an unbalanced hand with a four-card major. Even a 2-4-2-5 hand might elect to rebid two no-trump, for example. Your three-heart bid might be a good four-card suit, but partner tends to expect five and might even raise with just three trumps.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Your articles occasionally refer to an endplay. In simple terms, what constitutes an endplay?
— Stuck on Lead, New York, N.Y.
| |
ANSWER: The short and sweet answer to this is that you put an opponent on lead to force him to open up a suit to your advantage or do something equally unpalatable such as give you a ruff-sluff. Generally, he has to lead away from an honor, or locate a card for you that you would otherwise have to find for yourself.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
In a pairs game at unfavorable vulnerability, my partner held SPADES Q-9-3, HEARTS A-Q-2, DIAMONDS K-9-4, CLUBS K-J-4-2. My RHO bid three diamonds and I doubled. Partner bid three no-trump now on the grounds that one has to try to ensure the plus score when possible. But what would should I have done when the next hand bid four diamonds, which was passed back to me?
— Middle Ground, Bristol, Va.
ANSWER: It seems clear to bid four no-trump now. Declarer rates to have an eight-carder and thus seven tricks in diamonds, so doubling four diamonds won’t score enough for our side. Even if my RHO gets the lead early on, I might still survive if my partner has a singleton diamond, or if the diamond spot-cards work out to my advantage.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
When the opponents double my partner’s opening bid, do you play a redouble as the only bid to show hands of 10-plus HCP or are there exceptions? And how strong is a response of one no-trump?
— High Heels, Saint John, New Brunswick
ANSWER: Redouble only if you can cope with the opponents intervening at the two-level. With a one-suiter you can bid at the one-level, so do so at once no matter how strong it is. The range for one no-trump is approximately 7-10 HCP. |
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 26th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 3 Comments
| Dealer: South
Vul: Both |
North
♠ K 10 7 5
♥ 8 7 3
♦ A 10 9 3
♣ K 4 |
|
| West
♠ Q 8 3
♥ Q J
♦ 6 5
♣ A 8 7 6 5 2 |
|
East
♠ 2
♥ A 10 9 5 4 2
♦ Q 8 4
♣ 10 9 3 |
| |
South
♠ A J 9 6 4
♥ K 6
♦ K J 7 2
♣ Q J |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 ♠ |
Pass |
3 ♠ |
Pass |
| 4 ♠ |
All Pass |
|
|
Opening Lead: ♥ Queen
“Never fight fair with a stranger, boy. You’ll never get out of the jungle that way.”
— Arthur Miller
When South played four spades on the lead of the heart queen to the ace and a heart return, he won, cashed the spade ace and king, then played a club. West took the ace, cashed the spade queen, and exited with a club. When East turned up with six hearts, declarer played West for the diamond length and went one down.
Let’s revisit declarer’s play. At trick three it looks far better to lead the club jack. If West ducks, you win and take the top spades, East pitching a heart, planning to ruff a heart and then play a club. If West captures the club jack at trick three and exits with a club, you win and take the top spades, then ruff a heart and exit with a spade.
Either way, West will be on lead and has only minor-suit cards left. He should know that a club would give a ruff and discard, but since declarer has a 4-4 diamond fit, a ruff and discard will do him no good.
So West exits with a club, and declarer needs to guess diamonds himself. But now he has a better count of the East-West hands. While East might have started with 1-6-1-5 shape, his heart discards combined with his play of the club nine and 10 on the second and third round of the suit make it more likely that he had three clubs and thus began life with 1-6-3-3 pattern. If so, declarer should play East for the diamond queen.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K 10 7 5 |
| ♥ |
8 7 3 |
| ♦ |
A 10 9 3 |
| ♣ |
K 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
1 ♣ |
1 ♦ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Opinions differ as to whether it is acceptable to introduce a moderate four-card major here. I say no, when the alternative of showing a strong diamond raise exists via the cue-bid of two clubs. If partner has extras and a four-card major, he will bid it now. If he has a minimum, it looks better to stop low in diamonds than to shoot the moon in an optimistic spade game.
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 25th, 2011 ~ admin ~ 8 Comments
| Dealer: East
Vul: N-S |
North
♠ A J 8 5 2
♥ 10 6 3
♦ K 9
♣ J 10 4 |
|
| West
♠ K 10 3
♥ Q 9 5 2
♦ 10 8 5 2
♣ 9 6 |
|
East
♠ 9
♥ K 8 7 4
♦ A Q 7 6
♣ 8 7 3 2 |
| |
South
♠ Q 7 6 4
♥ A J
♦ J 4 3
♣ A K Q 5 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
|
Pass |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
2 ♥ |
Pass |
| 3 ♠ |
Pass |
4 ♠ |
Pass |
Opening Lead: ♥ two
“Dangers by being despised grow great.”
— Edmund Burke
Today’s deal exemplifies one of my favorite themes, which crops up here in two variations. No more clues — plan the play in four spades as South when West leads the heart two to East’s king.
The extra trick you could make by winning the ace and establishing the heart 10 is an illusion, because when West takes his heart queen, he will play a diamond through dummy’s king and put you back on what is at best a diamond guess. As the cards lie today, you cannot guess right.
However, you can in fact guarantee your game if you can keep West off lead. Duck the heart lead and win the continuation. That is necessary, but not sufficient. If you play the trump suit in mundane fashion (low to the jack, then the ace), West will regain the lead prematurely by ruffing the third club and can then deal you a mortal blow by shifting to diamonds to establish a fourth winner for his side.
The secret of the deal lies in making an avoidance play in both hearts and spades. Having ducked the first heart and won the second, you must run the spade queen from hand. West will cover, of course, and if either the nine or 10 falls from East, you cross back to hand with a heart ruff and play a spade to dummy’s eight, insuring you can keep West off lead for the duration of the hand.
Today this line yields an overtrick — a nice reward for your care and attention.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A J 8 5 2 |
| ♥ |
10 6 3 |
| ♦ |
K 9 |
| ♣ |
J 10 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1 ♣ |
1 ♦ |
| 1 ♠ |
3 ♦ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: The double of three diamonds suggests extras and no clear bid. (East rates to be strong and balanced without a good diamond stop, or to have long clubs.) Since you have a few extras and a diamond guard, it looks logical to bid three no-trump and take it from there. Partner can bid again if he has an unusual hand-type.
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 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].
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