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].
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 |
|
|
| |
|
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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].
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