December 6th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Monday, November 22, 2010 
| Dealer: South
Vul: E/W |
North
♠ A 6
♥ K 5 3 2
♦ 6
♣ 10 9 8 7 4 3 |
|
| West
♠ K Q 8 7 5 4
♥ J 9
♦ Q J 8 7
♣ 2 |
 |
East
♠ J 3 2
♥ Q 8
♦ K 10 9 5 3
♣ A K J |
| |
South
♠ 10 9
♥ A 10 7 6 4
♦ A 4 2
♣ Q 6 5 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| Pass |
Pass |
Pass |
1♦ |
| 1♥ |
1♠ |
4♥ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♠ K
“The real business of a ball is either to look out for a wife, to look after a wife, or to look after somebody else’s wife.”
— R.S. Surtees
Today’s deal comes from the Life Master Women’s Pairs held in San Diego in 2009 — the tournament from which all this week’s deals come. You’d expect West to open a weak two spades at almost every table. If East invites game, West rates to reach four spades, down two on a diamond ruff. But how does four hearts by South fare?
On either a diamond or a spade lead, declarer can draw trumps and build a club trick for herself. What about a club lead? The defenders take their two top clubs and a ruff, and declarer claims the balance.
However, the defenders can do better if East ignores the “red herring” of the club jack. East wins the club king at trick one and gives partner the immediate ruff without cashing the second winner. Now the spade shift builds their third trick, and they have the club ace to come. This defense was found by Doug Doub, at the table.
The winner of the women’s event, Shawn Quinn, playing with Sue Picus, declared four hearts on the auction shown. Quinn won the spade lead and had to decide whether to draw trumps (risking two down if the clubs did not split) or go all out for the contract. Because West ostensibly could not hold a low singleton club or she would have led it, Quinn quite reasonably played a club. East won and led a low spade to her partner. Now the club ruff was no longer available, and declarer was back to plus 420.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q 6 5 4 3 |
| ♥ |
K 4 |
| ♦ |
J 9 7 3 2 |
| ♣ |
7 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♣ |
Pass |
1♥ |
| Pass |
2♣ |
Pass |
3♥ |
| Pass |
4♥ |
All Pass |
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: You would normally avoid a short-suit lead if you had a natural trump trick. Here, though, you have excellent chances on a club lead of getting two ruffs if you can put your partner in with the club ace and a second fast entry. Even if partner does not have the club ace, you may win the heart king and get a ruff with your small trump. However, either a spade or a diamond lead might also work.
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 2010. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
December 5th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, November 21, 2010
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
Where do you stand on using Blackwood when you have two losers in a side suit? Do you wait till you know that all suits are stopped before launching into Blackwood?
— Risk Manager, Ketchikan, Alaska
ANSWER: Occasionally, you might use Blackwood when your side has more than enough HCP for slam, but one suit may be unguarded. If you can’t be scientific, realize that your opponents don’t always find the right lead. And they will frequently assume that there is no ace or king to cash — at least the first few times.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Holding ♠ K-9, ♥ A-K-7-2, ♦ A-K-Q-9-6-3, ♣ 2, I assume you would open two clubs and rebid three diamonds over two diamonds, but what if partner now bids three spades? When faced with this problem, my partner tried five diamonds, down in the 6-0 fit, but with a 4-4 heart fit available.
— Not a Girl’s Best Friend, Huntington, W.Va.
ANSWER: I would bid four hearts over three spades to let partner decide where he wants to play. He knows better than I do what his hand looks like! Note that some fancy bidders use a direct jump by opener to three hearts or three spades over the two-diamond response to show a 4-6 pattern with longer diamonds. That would make finding the heart fit rather easy today.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
I dealt and passed, holding ♠ Q-J-10-3, ♥ A-Q-3-2, ♦ 9-7-5-4-2, ♣ —, and my partner opened one club. What response should I make to ensure we do not miss our best fit? And what rebid strategy do you recommend?
— Triple Jeopardy, Bellingham, Wash.
|
|
ANSWER: There is no good answer here to make sure you find your fit if partner might conceal a major over a one-diamond response, and rebid one no-trump with a balanced hand and only three clubs. However, since I want to find a major-suit fit if we have game on, a one-heart response maximizes our chances of doing that. If partner rebids one no-trump, I will give up, passing reluctantly.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Please explain the Lebensohl convention. In which sequences is it commonly played?
— Continuing Ed, Wilmington, N.C.
ANSWER: When your partner opens one no-trump and the next hand intervenes, it is very helpful to use two-level calls as weak, three-level bids as strong and the bid of two no-trump as a puppet to three clubs, based on a weak hand with its own suit. Responder passes the forced three-club call when weak with clubs, or bids his own suit. This principle can also be extended to responses to the double of a weak two-bid. The difference is that direct actions are now invitational, not forcing.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
You are in fourth seat, holding ♠ K-J-4, ♥ 9-6-5-2, ♦ Q-10-3, ♣ A-3-2. Partner opens one heart and the next hand overcalls two spades, weak. Would you consider bidding no-trump instead of raising hearts? If you do support partner, to what level would you bid?
— Action Figure, Detroit, Mich.
ANSWER: This is very awkward. I can see a case for a natural and invitational two-no-trump call, or for a simple or jump raise in hearts. Since three hearts might be bid with a king less, this is the least attractive option. Even a negative double might work out well by giving partner a chance to show extras. Put me down for a bid of four hearts (but hide my answer from my regular partner, Dan Morse). |
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 2010. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
December 4th, 2010 ~ admin ~ 3 Comments
| Dealer: South
Vul: E/W |
North
♠ A Q 10 5
♥ Q J 10 5
♦ J 7
♣ A Q 5 |
|
| West
♠ K 8 6 2
♥ —
♦ K Q 10 9
♣ 9 8 6 3 2 |
|
East
♠ 7 3
♥ 9 7 6 3
♦ 8 5 3 2
♣ K 7 4 |
| |
South
♠ J 9 4
♥ A K 8 4 2
♦ A 6 4
♣ J 10 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
2 NT* |
Pass |
| 4♥ |
Pass |
4♠ |
Pass |
| 5♦ |
Pass |
5♥ |
Pass |
| 6♥ |
All Pass |
|
|
| *Game forcing with heart support |
Opening Lead: ♦ K
“It was the limit of my dream,
The focus of my prayer,
A perfect, paralyzing bliss
Contented as despair.”
— Emily Dickinson
West leads the diamond king. How do you plan to bring home your delicate heart slam?
In seven hearts you would play for both black-suit finesses to work. But given that you can bring home 12 tricks by taking only one of the two finesses, which should it be?
The answer is that taking the club finesse allows you to pitch a spade but leaves you with a spade loser, while taking the spade finesse allows you to pitch your only club loser.
Accordingly, you should duck the opening lead to set up communication for ruffing a diamond in dummy. West should shift to a club at trick two. Since you need the spade finesse, you should rise with the club ace and play the trump queen, finding the bad break, then the diamond jack to your ace so you can ruff your remaining diamond high. After cashing dummy’s trump 10, you will draw East’s remaining trumps with your ace and king.
Finally, you have to manage the spade suit correctly. If you lead the jack first, West will play low. After a second spade finesse, you will be locked in dummy, unable to repeat the spade finesse, and East will score his club king eventually.
You can avoid this problem by first running the spade nine. When that is successful, you continue with the spade jack. Eventually, you score four spade tricks, five trumps, the diamond ace, a diamond ruff and the club ace, for a total of 12 tricks.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 9 4 |
| ♥ |
A K 8 4 2 |
| ♦ |
A 6 4 |
| ♣ |
J 10 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♣ |
Pass |
| 1♥ |
1♠ |
2♣ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: You plan to head toward three no-trump, but there is no harm in investigating other contracts such as a club or a heart game. Start by bidding two diamonds, a forcing change of suit, hoping to hear heart support from your partner. You plan to cuebid spades to look for a stopper if a heart contract seems impractical, while keeping a club game in reserve if all else fails.
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 2010. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
December 3rd, 2010 ~ admin ~ 2 Comments
| Dealer: West
Vul: None |
North
♠ A K 5 4
♥ A 10 9 6 4
♦ 9 3
♣ J 7 |
|
| West
♠ 10 9 3
♥ 8 5
♦ A Q
♣ K Q 10 6 3 2 |
|
East
♠ 7
♥ K Q J 3 2
♦ J 8 7 6 4 2
♣ 5 |
| |
South
♠ Q J 8 6 2
♥ 7
♦ K 10 5
♣ A 9 8 4 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♣ |
Dbl. |
1♥ |
| 4♠ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♥ 8
“Among other evils which being unarmed brings you, it causes you to be despised.”
— Niccolo Macchiavelli
Today’s deal, from a tournament in England, saw declarer playing well against challenging defense.
South’s four-spade bid was slightly aggressive, but he was hoping to find four-card trump support opposite, plus club shortage. Quite often you do not need many more than half the points in the deck to have some play for 10 tricks, especially when you have a nine-card fit and when the bidding has given you some clues you can use in the play.
West led the heart eight, won with dummy’s ace. This was revealing, since it marked East with all the missing heart honors, thus placing the diamond ace with West. So at trick two declarer ran the diamond nine to West’s queen.
West now found the best switch to a trump, and declarer drew three rounds ending in the dummy. He then played a diamond to his 10 and West’s ace. West got off play with a heart, ruffed by declarer, who cashed his diamond king to make sure he had extracted all of West’s exit cards. In the five-card ending, a low club toward the jack finished West off. He had to go in with the queen and was left with nothing but clubs. He was forced to exit with the club king, to South’s ace. Now, since South had the 9-8 of clubs left, he could take a marked ruffing finesse against West’s 10 to set up his 10th winner for himself.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q J 8 6 2 |
| ♥ |
7 |
| ♦ |
K 10 5 |
| ♣ |
A 9 8 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♣ |
1♦ |
Pass |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
2♦ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: A raise to three diamonds (sometimes described as a courtesy raise) will achieve two things. It will make it harder for the opponents to venture into your auction and will keep the bidding open in case all your partner needed to know about was your trump support. You would perhaps like to do more, but you have no convenient way to invite without going past the safety 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 2010. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
December 2nd, 2010 ~ admin ~ 3 Comments
| Dealer: West
Vul: E/W |
North
♠ 9 6
♥ K 6
♦ A 9 2
♣ A K J 9 7 5 |
|
| West
♠ J 10 8 4 3
♥ Q 7
♦ 10 8
♣ 6 4 3 2 |
|
East
♠ A K 7
♥ J 9 8 2
♦ 7 6 5 3
♣ Q 10 |
| |
South
♠ Q 5 2
♥ A 10 5 4 3
♦ K Q J 4
♣ 8 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
Pass |
1♣ |
Pass |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
3♣ |
Pass |
| 3♦ |
Pass |
3♥ |
Pass |
| 3♠ |
Pass |
4♣ |
Pass |
| 4♥ |
All Pass |
|
|
Opening Lead: ♠ 4
“Give me a look, give me a face
That makes simplicity a grace.”
— Ben Jonson
The Principle of Restricted Choice (which, like Occam’s Razor, says “Always take the simplest path”) applies when an opponent plays an honor and you need to find a touching honor by either playing for the drop or finessing. It says that the missing honor is more likely to be in the other hand because with both honors a defender had a choice of which to play.
Say you are missing four cards including the queen and jack. When you play the ace, one opponent plays an honor. Do you play him for Q-J-doubleton or a singleton honor? With Q-J-doubleton, the defender might have played either honor at his first turn; with a singleton honor, the player had no choice. The odds heavily favor finessing on the next round, playing him for a singleton honor.
The same theory can be applied to situations like the one in today’s deal, where North-South bid to their best game — four hearts. The defenders started with three rounds of spades. Declarer won and cashed the heart king and ace. When West played the queen, declarer, using the Principle of Restricted Choice, correctly decided that an original holding of honor-doubleton was more likely than Q-J-7.
Accordingly, declarer played a club to the ace, ruffed a club, took the diamond king, crossed to dummy’s diamond ace, and played winning clubs through East. Whenever East ruffed in, whether high or low, declarer would lose just one trick more.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 10 8 4 3 |
| ♥ |
Q 7 |
| ♦ |
10 8 |
| ♣ |
6 4 3 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♣ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
1 NT |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Your partner has shown a balanced 18-20 hand and not promised any spade length at all. But the odds strongly favor his having two or three spades, in which case spades will probably play better than no-trump. So bid two spades and apologize if partner has a small doubleton spade. But even then, your decision might still be right.
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 2010. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
December 1st, 2010 ~ admin ~ 4 Comments
| Dealer: South
Vul: None |
North
♠ A Q 5
♥ 3
♦ A Q J
♣ A K J 9 8 2 |
|
| West
♠ 7 4
♥ Q 10 5
♦ 8 4 3 2
♣ Q 10 5 4 |
|
East
♠ K J 10 9 8 6
♥ 9 7
♦ 7 6 5
♣ 6 3 |
| |
South
♠ 3 2
♥ A K J 8 6 4 2
♦ K 10 9
♣ 7 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
2♣ |
2♠ |
| 4♥ |
Pass |
4 NT |
Pass |
| 5♥ |
Pass |
6♥ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♠ 7
“Since we must admit that philosophy is at odds with common sense, let us make the most of it. What, then, IS common sense?”
— Ralph Perry
It is important to know the odds for some basic suit combinations. It is also important to know when to throw the textbook out the window. For example, when West leads the spade seven against your heart slam, how do you plan to make 12 tricks?
The original declarer facing this problem played the hand according to the percentage tables and so managed to find a way to go down. He took the first trick with dummy’s spade ace, then played the club ace and king, discarding his spade loser from hand. Next, declarer finessed the trump jack (theoretically the correct play to avoid two heart losers, but not the right play today).
West won with the heart queen and returned a third round of clubs. East brightly ruffed this with the trump nine, forcing South to overruff with the king. As a result, West’s trump 10 became the setting trick.
Declarer claimed that he had been unlucky. While there was some merit to this claim, the heart finesse was ambitious. It would be needed only if East had begun with four trumps headed by the queen. This was not likely, as he had advertised spade length in the bidding.
The best plan to make this contact was the simplest. South should have played the ace and king of trumps at tricks two and three, and only then have taken the club ace and king. This avoids any trump promotions and prevents embarrassment when East is very short of clubs, with or without the heart queen.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
7 4 |
| ♥ |
Q 10 5 |
| ♦ |
8 4 3 2 |
| ♣ |
Q 10 5 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♣ |
1♥ |
| Pass |
1♠ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| 2♣ |
2♠ |
Pass |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: When your partner doubled one spade, he suggested both a good hand and some shape since you had shown a bad hand by your first pass. In context, you have significant extras and trump support. You might even have bid three clubs at your second turn. You certainly have enough to bid three clubs now.
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 2010. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
November 30th, 2010 ~ admin ~ 4 Comments
| Dealer: North
Vul: None |
North
♠ K 7 5
♥ A 7 4
♦ Q J 6
♣ A 8 7 4 |
|
| West
♠ Q 6 4
♥ J 8 3 2
♦ K 10 8 4
♣ J 9 |
|
East
♠ 3
♥ Q 10 9
♦ A 9 7 3 2
♣ Q 10 3 2 |
| |
South
♠ A J 10 9 8 2
♥ K 6 5
♦ 5
♣ K 6 5 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♣ |
Pass |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
1 NT |
Pass |
| 2♦* |
Pass |
2♠ |
Pass |
| 4♠ |
All Pass |
|
|
| *New Minor, a forcing relay |
Opening Lead: ♦ 4
“Men talk of killing time, while time quietly kills them.”
— Dion de Boucicault
Sometimes you duck with the idea of saving your honors for later, when you can get the maximum use out of them.
For example, when West leads the diamond four against four spades, it looks normal to put up an honor from dummy. However, if East wins and does not return the suit (allowing South to discard, and then discard again on dummy’s established diamond honor), South will lose a trick in each side suit, making only nine tricks unless he takes an inspired view in trumps.
Now let’s see what happens if South plays low from dummy at trick one. It is going to take a pretty brave East player to insert the nine and run the risk of losing to a singleton 10 in declarer’s hand, or possibly even to a doubleton 10 if West’s lead was from K-8-4 originally.
Surely, most East players will put up the ace. This will enable South, sometime later in the deal, to make a routine loser-on-loser play in diamonds for his contract. (South runs the diamond queen while discarding a club and afterwards discards a heart on the jack.)
The recommended play also picks up a trick when East started with both the diamond ace and king, but not the 10. Would anybody insert an eight or nine from A-K-9-x or A-K-8-x when dummy played low? If they would, you should either stop playing against them, or hold your cards much farther back!
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K 7 5 |
| ♥ |
A 7 4 |
| ♦ |
Q J 6 |
| ♣ |
A 8 7 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♦ |
Pass |
| 3 NT |
Pass |
5♦ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Some auctions do not require excessive navel contemplation. You showed a balanced 13-15, and partner suggested that five diamonds might be better than no-trump. You may not agree with him, but you were not consulted, since you have described your hand already. So pass and respect his decision. (Maybe partner has seven diamonds to the king, the spade ace and club king, and a void in hearts.)
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 2010. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
November 29th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Monday, November 15, 2010
| Dealer: West
Vul: E/W |
North
♠ K 7 6 4
♥ 8
♦ A Q 3
♣ A Q J 7 6 |
|
| West
♠ Q 10 2
♥ J 7 6 3 2
♦ K 10 2
♣ 8 3 |
|
East
♠ 5
♥ A K Q 9 4
♦ J 7 6 4
♣ K 5 4 |
| |
South
♠ A J 9 8 3
♥ 10 5
♦ 9 8 5
♣ 10 9 2 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
Pass |
1♣ |
1♥ |
| 1♠ |
3♥ |
4♥ |
Pass |
| 4♠ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♥ 3
“It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.”
— Seneca
Today’s deal has points of interest in both the bidding and the play. After West’s pre-emptive jump to three hearts, North is too good simply to bid four spades. (Remember, facing an overcall, a jump-raise is weak and shapely. It is not a limit raise, which one would show with a cuebid.) Since he could make slam opposite as little as ace-queen-fifth of spades and the club king, North bids four hearts to emphasize a strong raise to four spades, suggesting short hearts. South signs off in four spades, and the focus shifts to the defenders.
After West’s dutiful opening lead of a heart, East should shift to diamonds as the only possible point of attack. It is conceivable that the defense might establish a third-round diamond trick for themselves before declarer can set up the clubs for the diamond discards he needs. True, for this to happen, West must furnish at least the diamond king and a trump trick — but East loses nothing by trying for this remote chance.
Actually, this play (correctly followed up) gives the defenders a trick in each suit. If West is allowed to win the spade queen early on, he can play a second diamond, and declarer must now lose both a club and a diamond for down one. It does declarer no good to cash both top trumps and shift to clubs — East wins the club king and leads a second diamond. West can ruff the third club and lead to his partner’s diamond winner.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
9 7 5 3 |
| ♥ |
4 2 |
| ♦ |
J 7 6 |
| ♣ |
Q 9 7 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
1♣ |
| Pass |
1♥ |
Dbl. |
Rdbl. |
| 1♠ |
3♣ |
All Pass |
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: The best suit in which we can hope to establish tricks looks like diamonds to me, so I would lead the diamond six. There is also a good case for leading hearts to build extra trump tricks for our side, but that might allow declarer to pitch his losers on dummy’s heart winners.
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 2010. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
November 28th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, November 14, 2010
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
How can I warn my partner discreetly to hold her cards back, or ask my opponents not to look?
— Show and Tell, Willoughby, Ohio
ANSWER: There are two practices you can follow. The first is to ask one opponent to hold HIS cards back and then extend the warning to your partner. The second is to say to your partner that you can see her cards. (If you can see them, the opponents must be even better placed.)
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Holding ♠ K-9, ♥ A-Q-J, ♦ A-10-4-3-2, ♣ J-6-4, I assume you would open one no-trump if given the chance. But what would you do if your RHO opened in a black suit? Would you still overcall one no-trump, or would you consider doubling one spade? Would you bid one diamond over one club?
— Second-Hand Rose, Dodge City, Kansas
ANSWER: Two tough questions. I prefer the no-trump call over one club, since even if the opponents have clubs, they have not yet led the suit, and LHO may well opt for another suit at his first turn. Over one spade it is very close. I’d double if my partner was a passed hand, but otherwise I can live with the no-trump bid.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Holding ♠ K-6-4-3-2, ♥ Q-4-2, ♦ Q-10-8, ♣ A-7, would you ever open the bidding? If you passed and your LHO opened with a strong no-trump, would you balance over it when it was passed back to you?
— Second Chance, Corpus Christi, Texas
|
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ANSWER: This is a slightly unfair question because you did not specify vulnerability or position. It is a clear-cut opening bid in third seat, and perhaps in first seat nonvulnerable (particularly if the response of one no-trump was not forcing). If I passed, I’d only balance over one no-trump if nobody was vulnerable. At rubber, balancing makes sense on the first, second or third deal, if nobody had a partscore.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
What should you do when you discover, in the middle of the hand, that you have revoked? Must you tell your opponents? Are you permitted to revoke again without penalty?
— Five-Suiter, Mitchell, S.D.
ANSWER: You must not deliberately revoke again, so you must follow suit at the appropriate moment and take your penalty. Curiously, you are NOT obliged to say anything. I suppose if your opponents do not notice, they don’t deserve to get their free trick!
Dear Mr. Wolff:
I was astonished to read, in a recent column, the advice to responder to “start with a takeout double” in a sequence where partner has already bid. I thought a double was for takeout, and thus forcing, only when partner had not bid; in all other cases it would be for penalties.
— Doubly Confused, Tigard, Ore.
ANSWER: Let us not focus on your side having bid to determine the meaning of a double. The negative double in response to an opening bid means that all initial doubles of overcalls of four spades or lower are geared toward takeout. Additionally, when the opponents find a fit, all doubles by either player at their second turn tend to be takeout. Only at later levels do doubles become more penalty-oriented, and even then, they are often optional. |
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 2010. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
November 27th, 2010 ~ admin ~ 2 Comments
| Dealer: East
Vul: None |
North
♠ 8 7 4
♥ A Q 6 5
♦ 8 6 5
♣ 7 5 4 |
|
| West
♠ Q 3 2
♥ 8 3
♦ A K J 4 3
♣ K 9 3 |
|
East
♠ 5
♥ 10 9 7 4 2
♦ 10 9 2
♣ J 10 8 6 |
| |
South
♠ A K J 10 9 6
♥ K J
♦ Q 7
♣ A Q 2 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
Pass |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
2♠ |
Pass |
| 4♠ |
All Pass |
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| |
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Opening Lead: ♦ K
“My occupation in my solitary pilgrimages was to recall every yard of the old road as I went along it, and to haunt the old spots, of which I never tired.”
— Charles Dickens
How should you play four spades after West leads three rounds of diamonds?
A key play comes at the third trick. You must ruff the third diamond with the trump nine, retaining the six as a way to reach dummy. Now it looks natural to go after trumps by leading out the top winners. If the queen of trump falls under the ace and king, you will make an overtrick by unblocking the heart king and jack, crossing to dummy with the trump eight, and throwing your two clubs on the ace and queen of hearts.
However, if you play this way today, you will go down. You cannot take your four heart winners, because of the lack of entries to dummy, so the defenders will make a trump, two diamonds and a club. The safest way to overcome this layout is to lead the trump 10 at trick four. If West plays low, you will make six trumps, three hearts (overtaking the second round) and the club ace. If instead West takes the 10 with the queen, you will win his return, unblock your top hearts from hand, and draw trumps ending in dummy. You will make five trumps, four hearts and the club ace.
Incidentally, this plan would also work when trumps are 4-0, as long as East has the club king. You can overtake your heart jack at the appropriate moment and subsequently finesse in clubs.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
8 7 4 |
| ♥ |
A Q 6 5 |
| ♦ |
8 6 5 |
| ♣ |
7 5 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
2♦ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| 2♥ |
Pass |
4♦ |
Pass |
| ? |
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| |
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ANSWER: When you responded two hearts, you showed a hand in the range 0-8 HCP. Facing that, your partner made a strong slam-try. Now, in context, you do have pretty good trumps. You should jump to five hearts, suggesting decent hearts but not much else, and let partner make the final decision.
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 2010. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
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