The Aces on Bridge: Friday, November 12, 2010

November 26th, 2010  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Friday, November 12, 2010 

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

 

South	West	North	East
		1♠	2♣
2♠	3 NT	Pass	Pass
4♥	Dbl.	All Pass

Opening Lead: ♣ 9

“Life without industry is guilt, and industry without art is brutality.”

— John Ruskin

Today’s deal, from the final of the United States Bridge Championships to select a team for the 2007 World Championships, features a superb defense by Zia Mahmood and Michael Rosenberg. Their team went on to win the silver medal, behind Norway.

In the other room Zia and Michael’s counterparts as East-West had scored plus 430 in three no-trump. But here, an enterprising South elected to sacrifice in four hearts, and North did well to let his partner stew in his own juice rather than rescuing in four spades. It appears that two down, for plus 500, is the limit — two hearts, two diamonds and a spade trick — but Zia’s reasoning led to a third undertrick.

His club lead was won by dummy’s ace, Rosenberg playing the three. Declarer then played the heart queen, putting Zia back on lead. Because East’s simple overcall showed values, Zia accurately placed him with the red kings and a singleton spade. (Rosenberg’s club three was suit preference, suggesting the diamond king.)

So Zia shifted to a low diamond, which went to Rosenberg’s king, and the spade return was taken by South’s ace. East won the ensuing trump lead with the king and played a diamond to West’s ace. Then the spade king and a spade ruff produced plus 800.

Note that had Zia played the diamond ace and a second diamond, the defenders’ communications would have been cut for the spade ruff.

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].

The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, November 11, 2010

November 25th, 2010  ~  admin  ~  4 Comments 

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

 

South	West	North	East
1♠	Pass	3♠	Pass
4♠	All Pass

Opening Lead: ♥ Q

“Life is a foreign language — all men mispronounce it.”

— Christopher Morley

Sometimes the secret of when not to finesse is based on tempos, rather than endplays. In four spades today you might make 12 tricks with only a modicum of luck. However, as you might expect, you will not be receiving much in the way of good breaks today!

Declarer won the heart lead and played the trump king, discovering the 4-0 break. South was still optimistic that all would be well and that an overtrick would roll in as long as West held the diamond queen. But when declarer played a diamond to dummy’s jack, East won with the queen and switched to clubs, dislodging the ace. Declarer drew two more rounds of trump, then played on diamonds, hoping that West would follow two more times. However, as so often happens when a hand has been misplayed, there was no reprieve. West ruffed the third round of diamonds, and the defenders took a heart and a club to put the contract one down.

Did you spot declarer’s mistake? He needed to establish the diamond suit in such a way that he could enjoy a discard before the defenders could cash out on him. Suppose he takes the diamond king and plays a second diamond, rising with dummy’s ace. He can now concede a diamond trick to East, who will no doubt clear the club suit. No problem! Declarer draws two more rounds of trump with the queen and ace, then plays a good diamond, throwing a club. West can ruff this trick, but the defenders can score only three tricks.

For details of Bobby Wolff’s autobiography, The Lone Wolff, contact [email protected]. If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, please leave a comment at this blog. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2010. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].

The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, November 10, 2010

November 24th, 2010  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, November 10, 2010 

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

 

South	West	North	East
		Pass	Pass
1 NT	Pass	2♣	Pass
2♠	Pass	4♠	All Pass

Opening Lead: ♣ Q

“So they speak,

In net of black delusion.”

— The Bhagavad-Gita

When it becomes clear to a defender that the cards lie well for declarer, it may be right to take a trick with an unnecessarily high card to tempt declarer to abandon a winning strategy.

That was the policy adopted — with devastating effect — by Malcolm Harris (East), defending against the normal contract of four spades. Before you condemn declarer too quickly, consider how you would have played the deal.

East led the club queen, and South could see four possible losers — three hearts and a diamond. Declarer won with dummy’s ace, drew trumps in two rounds, then eliminated clubs by cashing the king and ruffing the last club in dummy.

Next came the heart two toward the closed hand, to the four, jack and ace. West returned the heart eight to dummy’s nine — and the king from Harris. He had appreciated that if South held both the queen and ace of diamonds as was almost guaranteed by the auction, then if he captured the heart nine with the 10 to return a diamond, declarer would have no alternative but to run this to dummy’s queen — successfully.

When East won the second heart with the king, South would almost certainly place West with the A-10-8-6 of hearts. If so, South could finesse dummy’s seven, then cash the queen, providing a diamond discard and an overtrick. Deceived, declarer rose with the diamond ace and led a heart to the seven and 10, and Harris cashed his diamond king for down one.

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].

The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, November 9, 2010

November 23rd, 2010  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, November 9, 2010 

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

 

South	West	North	East
1♠	Pass	2♠	Pass
4♠	All Pass

Opening Lead: ♥ 9

“None but the well-bred man knows how to confess a fault, or acknowledge himself in an error.”

— Benjamin Franklin

In today’s deal from the Dyspeptics Club, South picked up his rock-crusher with the air of a man who knew he deserved nothing less and drove to game as soon as he found the spade fit. The lead of the heart nine encouraged him to believe that the deal would be a pianola. (For those of you too young to remember, a pianola “plays itself.”)

He covered the heart nine with the 10, which held the trick. Then he drew trumps in two rounds and paused for reflection, realizing that there was a shortage of entries to dummy to set up the hearts. Finally, shrugging his shoulders, he cashed the heart ace, hoping for a minor miracle, then crossed to the spade ace and advanced the heart jack, covered by East. South ruffed and played the diamond ace and a second diamond. East overtook his partner’s jack to shift to a club, and down South went.

For once, North was temporarily silent, giving South the opportunity to complain about his bad luck. That triggered an outburst from North, in which “pinhead” was the most flattering epithet. Can you see what North was upset about?

Four spades is cold after the heart lead, as long as declarer wins the first trick with the heart ace. He then draws trump — in three rounds if necessary — preserving dummy’s entry. Next he knocks out the heart king and can claim at least 10 tricks: three hearts, six spades and the diamond ace.

For details of Bobby Wolff’s autobiography, The Lone Wolff, contact [email protected]. If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, please leave a comment at this blog. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2010. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].

The Aces on Bridge: Monday, November 8, 2010

November 22nd, 2010  ~  admin  ~  2 Comments 

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

 

South	West	North	East
			Pass
1 NT	Pass	2♣	Pass
2♠	Pass	4♠	All Pass

Opening Lead: ♥ K

“I think the necessity of being ready increases. Look to it.”

— Abraham Lincoln

Defending against four spades, how should you (East) signal when your partner leads the heart king? Should you encourage or discourage? The answer is that you should encourage violently, using the heart seven to make sure your partner does not shift. You do not expect your partner to have a side-winner, but a heart continuation cannot cost and, as you shall see, is actually the key to the defense.

Accordingly, your partner continues with ace and another heart. Declarer wins the third heart in dummy, plays a spade to his queen, and then guesses well by leading a spade back to dummy’s king (your partner discarding the diamond three). You have the choice of winning with the ace or ducking. Plan the defense.

The first step is to count the points. Your partner cannot hold more than a side jack, so you have no side winners to come. Can you manufacture any other trick?

Yes, you can. Ducking the spade will achieve nothing — declarer will simply continue to draw trumps and has 10 winners. Instead, take the second spade and play a fourth heart, giving declarer a useless ruff and discard. This promotes a trick for your trump 10, whichever hand declarer ruffs in. If he ruffs in dummy, you can cover dummy’s remaining spade spot; if he ruffs in hand, he can no longer finesse against the spade 10.

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].

The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, November 7, 2010

November 21st, 2010  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, November 7, 2010 

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].

The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, November 6, 2010

November 20th, 2010  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, November 6, 2010 

Dealer: South Vul: None	North ♠ 6 5 ♥ A J 10 8 5 2 ♦ A J 2 ♣ 6 3
West ♠ 10 3 2 ♥ 6 3 ♦ 10 8 4 ♣ J 9 7 5 2		East ♠ 9 8 7 ♥ Q 9 4 ♦ K Q 7 6 3 ♣ K 4
	South ♠ A K Q J 4 ♥ K 7 ♦ 9 5 ♣ A Q 10 8

 

South	West	North	East
1♠	Pass	2♥	Pass
3♣	Pass	3♦	Pass
3♥	Pass	4♦	Pass
4 NT	Pass	5♥	Pass
6♠	All Pass

Opening Lead: ♦ 4

“To squander away the objects which made the happiness of their fellows would be to them no sacrifice at all.”

— Edmund Burke

A Merrimac Coup is an attempt to disrupt declarer’s communications by the strategic shift to an unsupported honor. You normally cannot be sure with a Merrimac Coup that it will cost you a trick, whereas today’s play was a more cold-blooded surrender of a winner.

When France defeated England in their annual encounter in the Entente Cordiale Trophy, Michel Lebel was the player confronted with the tricky defensive problem against six spades. You can view it from Lebel’s perspective by taking the East seat.

The auction was entirely straightforward, but South’s Blackwood inquiry had elicited the fact that North did not have the heart queen (not entirely a surprise to Lebel). Philippe Cronier led the diamond four, and declarer played low from dummy. How would you plan the defense?

It is all too easy to defend passively, but Lebel worked out that on a passive black-suit return, declarer would make 12 tricks easily. He would draw trumps, play the top hearts, ruff a heart, then cross to the diamond ace to run the hearts. Hoping to find his partner with the club jack, Lebel found the Greek gift of winning with the diamond queen and returning a diamond into dummy’s tenace, giving declarer a cheap trick, but taking away the entry to the heart suit. The best that declarer could do was take the club finesse and try to ruff a club, but Lebel could overruff for one down.

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].

The Aces on Bridge: Friday, November 5, 2010

November 19th, 2010  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Friday, November 5, 2010 

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

 

South	West	North	East
1♦	Pass	1♥	Pass
2♣	Pass	2♥	Pass
2 NT	Pass	3 NT	All Pass

Opening Lead: ♠ 5

“Economy is going without something you do want in case you should, some day, want something you probably won’t want.”

— Anthony Hope

Put yourself in the East seat when West leads a low spade against three no-trump.

The natural inclination is to play your spade king (hoping it wins), drive out North’s third-round spade winner, then try to keep declarer from enjoying the hearts in dummy.

This is a good idea as far as it goes, but what if South has the spade ace and partner has led from five to the jack or 10? (In both cases, not only would playing the spade king give South a third natural spade trick, but it would also give him a possible late entry to dummy with the spade queen.)

On the sight of dummy, East should focus his attention on trying to try to kill the heart suit by holding up his heart king as long as he can and by saving his spade king over the queen to prevent the latter from being an entry.

Best defense is to duck the first spade. South will win in hand and lead a heart to dummy as West gives count in hearts by following low. East ducks offhandedly, and South returns to hand with a club to play a second heart to the queen and king.

Now East exits with the club jack, and when West pitches the spade two, it clarifies the layout and the count in that suit. East can duck the next spade play, and the defenders will be in complete control.

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].

The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, November 4, 2010

November 18th, 2010  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, November 4, 2010 

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

 

South	West	North	East
1♠	2 NT	Pass	3♣
Dbl.	Pass	4♣	Pass
4♠	All Pass

Opening Lead: ♣ K

“Nothing happens to anybody which he is not fitted by nature to bear.”

— Marcus Aurelius

In today’s auction West’s two-no-trump bid promised the minors, and over your takeout double North found an imaginative “choice-of-games” cue-bid. After West leads the club king to your ace, how do you plan the play in four spades?

Since West can have at most three major-suit cards, he is more likely to hold only one trump than any other holding. If you start from that assumption, you should attempt to cut your four top losers in spades and diamonds to three by trying to ruff your fourth diamond in dummy.

Win the club ace, cross to the trump king in dummy, and lead a diamond to the ace. A heart to the ace allows another diamond to be led toward your hand. Because East knows he cannot gain by ruffing a loser with a master trump, your diamond king will win.

Now you put West on lead with a diamond, planning to ruff the fourth round of diamonds in dummy. Because West began with only one spade, he cannot prevent you from executing this plan. If he returns a diamond, you ruff with dummy’s five. All the defenders will score is two trump tricks to go with their diamond trick. If instead West returns a club, you will trump this in hand and lead a fourth round of diamonds, ruffing in the dummy.

Note that this line succeeds even if West has one heart and two spades; the defenders can maneuver a heart ruff, but East has one fewer natural trump trick.

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].

The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, November 3, 2010

November 17th, 2010  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, November 3, 2010 

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

 

South	West	North	East
			1♣
1♠	Pass	2♣	Pass
3♠	Pass	4♠	All Pass

Opening Lead: ♣ 10

“Here, as elsewhere, the search for causes must follow the collection of facts.”

— Hippolyte Taine

Suppose you are sitting South in a team game, which means that assuring the contract is paramount. You have become declarer in four spades after East had opened one club. Your partner’s cue-bid in response to your overcall promised values and spade support. Your jump to three spades showed a little extra, allowing partner to bid on to game. Plan the play on the club-10 lead.

There are two obvious considerations. The first is that you would lead to the trump king and finesse on the way back if West produced an honor. This is the right play in abstract, especially if you want to keep East off lead. But here you wish to keep West off lead to avoid a potentially fatal heart shift, so that plan is a poor idea.

Instead, it looks entirely logical to play a no-frills line. Draw trumps, then cash winners. Accordingly, you take the two top trumps and leave West with the master trump if necessary, then run diamonds to pitch your heart loser. Nice try, but no cigar! West can ruff the third diamond and find the deadly shift to the heart jack.

Back once more to the drawing board. Win the club ace and play a deceptive spade four from hand. When West follows with the seven (he will, won’t he?), duck in dummy, knowing this will lose to East. Now the contract is ensured. You can win the return, draw trumps, and take five spades, four diamonds and a club.

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].