December 30th, 2010 ~ admin ~ 2 Comments 
| Dealer: East
Vul: N/S |
North
♠ A 8
♥ K 8 5 4 3
♦ K 8 7 2
♣ Q 8 |
|
| West
♠ K 9 2
♥ Q J 2
♦ A 10 9 6
♣ A J 5 |
 |
East
♠ J 7 6 4
♥ 6
♦ J 5 3
♣ 10 9 7 6 3 |
| |
South
♠ Q 10 5 3
♥ A 10 9 7
♦ Q 4
♣ K 4 2 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
Pass |
| 1 NT* |
Pass |
2♦ |
Pass |
| 2♥ |
Pass |
3 NT |
Pass |
| 4♥ |
All Pass |
|
|
| *12-14 |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: Take your pick!
“It’s very hard in military or in personal life to assure complete equality. Life is unfair.”
— John F. Kennedy
It is rare to see a player endplayed at trick one, but that was West’s fate in this match between England and Denmark at the 2006 European Championships, after Peter Schaltz had opened with a frisky weak no-trump.
John Armstrong did well to stay silent in the auction and to lead the diamond ace. (Any other suit lets the contract succeed.) His diamond continuation was won by South’s queen, and two rounds of trumps revealed a loser. A club to ummy’s queen held, then declarer erred by throwing a club on the diamond king. Schaltz ruffed a diamond and exited with a trump, but now Armstrong could cash his club ace and exit with his last club, leaving declarer with a spade loser.
Armstrong’s silence over the opening bid reaped its reward, for had he doubled, Schaltz would surely have found the correct discard of a spade from his hand on the diamond winner. Then his trump exit would have seen West endplayed into conceding the contract. Either a spade or a club play would allow dummy’s spade loser to go away.
At the second table Colin Simpson reached four hearts as South, but here Gregers Bjarnarson as West had shown strong no-trump values. When West selected the club ace as the opening lead, Simpson quickly wrapped up 10 tricks because dummy’s spade loser could be discarded on the clubs. But even on a diamond lead, declarer would have known how to play the hand.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A 8 |
| ♥ |
K 8 5 4 3 |
| ♦ |
K 8 7 2 |
| ♣ |
Q 8 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♣ |
Pass |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
2♠ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Since you are in a game-forcing auction, a simple call of two no-trump is sufficient for the time being, giving partner space to describe his hand. If partner signs off in three no-trump, you will move forward with a bid of four clubs, suggesting delayed club support and 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 2010. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
December 29th, 2010 ~ admin ~ 2 Comments
| Dealer: West
Vul: N/S |
North
♠ K 9 7 3
♥ Q J 7 2
♦ —
♣ A K Q 8 7 |
|
| West
♠ J 8 5 2
♥ 10 6 5 4
♦ K J 9 5 3
♣ — |
|
East
♠ 10 6 4
♥ 3
♦ A 10 8 4
♣ 10 9 5 3 2 |
| |
South
♠ A Q
♥ A K 9 8
♦ Q 7 6 2
♣ J 6 4 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
Pass |
1♣ |
Pass |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
3♦* |
Pass |
| 3♠ |
Pass |
4♦ |
Pass |
| 4♠** |
Pass |
4 NT |
Pass |
| 5♣** |
Pass |
5♠ |
Pass |
| 5 NT** |
Pass |
7♥ |
All Pass |
Opening Lead: ♥ 4
“Things are seldom what they seem;
Skim milk masquerades as cream.”
— W.S. Gilbert
When Germany met Norway in last year’s Junior European Championships, they encountered an extremely unlucky slam. The Norwegian North-South stopped in five hearts. However, our featured table saw North show his diamond void early on. Then, with repeated inquiries, North showed one keycard, followed by the trump queen and spade king. Finally, North appreciated his good clubs at the end to jump to the grand slam.
In seven hearts, Martin Rehder would have been unable to make the grand slam on a spade lead because of the terrible breaks in trumps and clubs. (Should West have been able to find that lead for the right reasons? I can hardly blame him.)
The more mundane low trump lead let declarer win in hand and ruff a diamond; then a top trump from dummy revealed the position. Now declarer had a choice: he could lead a club to hand to ruff a second diamond, or he could cross to a spade to ruff a second diamond, come back to hand with a second spade, and draw trumps. Either of those lines would fail if the chosen black suit broke badly.
Instead, declarer made what looks to be the normal and hugely unlucky play of relying on clubs to split simply by drawing trumps. There was no squeeze, and Norway had an undeserved 11 IMPs.
In retrospect, although a 6-1 spade break is in abstract slightly more likely than a 5-0 club break, maybe with silent and nonvulnerable opponents, one should assume no one could hold six spades.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 8 5 2 |
| ♥ |
10 6 5 4 |
| ♦ |
K J 9 5 3 |
| ♣ |
— |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♣ |
1 NT |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: This hand looks tailor-made for Crawling Stayman. Your plan is to find a better fit in a suit, rather than playing in no-trump. Bid two clubs and plan to pass the response. Even if partner bids two diamonds, denying a major, if he has perhaps only two or three cards in that suit, your final contract will be perfectly playable.
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 28th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, December 14, 2010
| Dealer: North
Vul: N/S |
North
♠ 10 9 8 7 4
♥ A Q
♦ A J 8 6 5
♣ 2 |
|
| West
♠ A 6 5
♥ 8 6 5 2
♦ K Q 3
♣ A 8 5 |
|
East
♠ K J 2
♥ 7
♦ 10 9 7 2
♣ Q 7 6 4 3 |
| |
South
♠ Q 3
♥ K J 10 9 4 3
♦ 4
♣ K J 10 9 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♠ |
Pass |
| 2♥ |
Pass |
2♠ |
Pass |
| 3♥ |
Pass |
4♥ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♦ K
“Successful and fortunate crime is called virtue.”
— Seneca
When this deal came up in the very first round-robin match of the Venice Cup, it gave Liz McGowan of the British team a chance to demonstrate her virtuosity. Having reached an ambitious four-heart contract, she avoided the trump lead, but had to plan the play on the lead of the diamond king.
Liz took the diamond king with the ace to lead a club at once. When her RHO followed small without a flicker, she decided that she was unlikely to have ducked the ace, so inserted the jack losing to the ace. She won the trump shift in dummy and ruffed a diamond, ruffed a club, ruffed a diamond (dropping the queen), and then drew trumps.
As she led out the last trump, she had two spades and two clubs in hand, with dummy holding three spades and the master diamond jack. But what four cards was East to keep? Since she had to keep two clubs, she had to come down to two spades, so she kept the king and jack. (Discarding the jack would have been tantamount to surrender.) Liz now led out a spade, giving the defenders a series of losing options. If East was left on lead after two rounds of spades, she would have to play a club, allowing declarer to finesse and take the last two tricks in hand. If West overtook her partner’s spade winner, she would have to concede the last two tricks to dummy or declarer.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
10 9 8 7 4 |
| ♥ |
A Q |
| ♦ |
A J 8 6 5 |
| ♣ |
2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♠ |
1 NT |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Your partner’s double is for penalties. Normally you would not consider removing the double, but here, with a shapely and very minimum opening bid, it would be reasonable to bid two diamonds. Admittedly it may be a big mistake, but this may not be the hand your partner was expecting you to hold when he doubled.
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 27th, 2010 ~ admin ~ 2 Comments
| Dealer: West
Vul: None |
North
♠ J 8 7 6
♥ A Q 9 6 5
♦ 10 6
♣ 10 4 |
|
| West
♠ Q 10 5
♥ K 8 3 2
♦ 5 3
♣ K 8 5 3 |
|
East
♠ A K 9 4 3 2
♥ 10 7 4
♦ 4
♣ A 9 6 |
| |
South
♠ —
♥ J
♦ A K Q J 9 8 7 2
♣ Q J 7 2 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
Pass |
Pass |
1♠ |
| 5♦ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
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|
Opening Lead: ♠ 5
“His imagination resembled the wings of an ostrich. It enabled him to run, though not to soar.”
— Lord Macaulay, on Dryden
Today’s deal comes from the recent world championships in Beijing. In five diamonds, you ruff the opening spade lead. Looking only at the North and South cards, how should you continue?
Anyone could try to set up a club and ruff a club, but the defenders might foil you by getting two rounds of trump in. Matthew Granovetter crossed instead to the heart ace and led a low club from the dummy, figuring that this would work if East had a singleton trump, no matter whether he had one club honor or both.
West captured the club queen with his king and shifted to trumps, but Granovetter saw his plan through and won in hand to lead a second club. When East had no second trump to lead, declarer was home.
In the other room declarer followed the mundane line of leading a club from hand at trick two, letting the defenders play trumps twice and forcing South to rely on the heart finesse eventually.
If that was lucky for him and unlucky for Granovetter, consider the multiple world champion who won the spade lead and advanced the heart jack at trick two. When West ducked smoothly, declarer overtook in dummy and ruffed a heart, led a club to the 10 and ace, won the trump return in dummy, ruffed a heart, then led a second club. West took the trick and played a second trump, and declarer was dead. “What bad luck; the heart finesse worked!” his teammates consoled him.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
8 4 |
| ♥ |
K 10 2 |
| ♦ |
Q 9 6 4 3 2 |
| ♣ |
Q 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♥ |
1♠ |
| 2♥ |
2♠ |
Pass |
Pass |
| 3♦ |
3♠ |
All Pass |
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: One choice is to go passive by leading a trump. On this auction, if declarer has a two-way finesse to take, he won’t get it wrong. Alternatively, the clubs might well produce a source of discards for declarer, so maybe an aggressive heart lead is correct. My soft cards in the minors persuade me to go passive and lead the spade eight. After all, how can we have five top winners to cash?
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 26th, 2010 ~ admin ~ 1 Comment
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
Recently you discussed a sequence where opener bids one spade and the next hand overcalls two hearts. What four options of raising spades are open to the next hand? I would regard two spades as typically showing three-card support and 6-9 points; a jump would show three-card support with 10-12 points. Meanwhile a jump to four spades shows at least four-card support with a moderate hand, while a cuebid forces to game. Is this standard treatment nowadays?
— All Bases Covered, Holland, Mich.
ANSWER: Your interpretation is reasonable, but modern competitive bridge players have altered the meaning of the jump raise. Instead of playing it as limit, they use it as weak — say 3-7 HCP and four trumps. So with a limit raise they must cuebid, losing the ability to force to game with support via the cuebid. You win some and you lose some!
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Playing two-over-one, my partner opened one club, and I held ♠ J-9-3, ♥ K-Q-J-9-8-5, ♦ 3-2, ♣ 10-4. I was planning to bid and rebid my hearts, but my RHO overcalled one spade, and now I did not know if my call of two hearts would set up a game force or if it would be an overbid even if that were not the case.
— Heart in Hand, Pottsville, Pa.
ANSWER: Using two-over-one in a noncompetitive auction means a response of — say — two hearts to one spade forces to game. With a hand like yours, you must respond one no-trump then bid hearts to show less than a game-force plus a long heart suit. After the one-spade overcall, your choice is to bid and rebid hearts, which I would do with an additional side queen, or to make a negative double and then convert partner’s response to hearts, suggesting these approximate values.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
If I plan to overcall a strong no-trump to show a single-suited hand, what are the criteria I should use in deciding whether to act or pass? Conversely, if my partner opens a no-trump and the next hand overcalls, does a suit bid from me at the two-level promise four or guarantee five — and is it forcing?
— Jumping Jack, Charlottesville, Va.
|
|
ANSWER: Don’t come in over one no-trump without playing strength. It is much better to hold six hearts to the Q-J and a side K-Q than a solid five-card suit in a balanced 13-count. You might balance with the latter hand though.
If the opponents intervene over partner’s no-trump, a free bid by you (of two spades over two hearts in our example) suggests five with 5-8 points or so, as you could double for takeout.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
What is the best defense against an opponent’s pre-emptive bids? I don’t always feel that I have the correct hand to make a takeout double. For example, over my RHO’s three-heart call, I felt I had to bid four diamonds with 13 points and six diamonds, four spades, and three hearts. However, we missed our cold four-spade contract.
— Crystal-Gazer, Seneca, S.C.
ANSWER: You did just fine and you were thinking along the right lines when you did what you did. Takeout doubles are the best defense available; one-suiters are relatively easy to bid, and two-suiters can sometimes be shown with a cue-bid, sometimes by bidding both suits if allowed. But here, your void in clubs and your six diamonds forced you to pass or bid four diamonds. Don’t worry about the result; you did the best with what you had.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Say you are in fourth chair after hearing one diamond to your left and one spade to your right. Does it makes sense to bid either of your opponents’ suits as artificial as opposed to natural? My thinking is that the diamond call normally delivers diamonds, so why bid the suit yourself?
— Real or Fake? Elkhart, Ind.
ANSWER: Standard American assumes that because minors are always suspect (and strong clubbers’ one-diamond openings even more so), we don’t worry about our opponents’ minimum opening lengths. Fourth hand’s bids are natural — end of story. Also, since we have double and a jump to two no-trump for takeout, we don’t need a third call. A bid of one no-trump is best used as strong, and all suit-bids are natural. Is it best? I say yes, but even if not best, it is simplest. |
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 25th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, December 11, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: None |
North
♠ —
♥ K 8 7 2
♦ A K J 7 6 2
♣ A 6 4 |
|
| West
♠ J 8 6
♥ J 4
♦ 9 8 5 4 3
♣ Q 10 9 |
|
East
♠ K 9 4 2
♥ 10 5 3
♦ 10
♣ K J 7 5 3 |
| |
South
♠ A Q 10 7 5 3
♥ A Q 9 6
♦ Q
♣ 8 2 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
2♦ |
Pass |
| 2♥ |
Pass |
5 NT |
Pass |
| 7♥ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
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|
Opening Lead: ♦ 4
“It is the logic of our times,
No subject for immortal verse —
That we who lived by honest dreams
Defend the bad against the worse.”
— Cecil Day-Lewis
I try not to be too harsh in print when players fall below the standards of perfection; others are not always so charitable. As an example, consider today’s deal, which decided an Indian championship nearly 40 years ago. One table stayed in six hearts, just making. At our featured table, how would you play the grand slam on a diamond lead? (North’s bid of five no-trump asked South to bid the grand slam with two top heart honors.) To make the challenge a fair one, cover the East and West cards.
At the table declarer took the diamond lead and played the heart king and ace. Now the contract could no longer be made when diamonds failed to break. Declarer had five trump tricks, five diamonds and two black aces, but no route to a 13th trick.
However, as declarer needs only five diamond tricks, he should try to cater to diamonds being 5-1 by generating an extra trump trick. The required play is to ruff a spade in dummy at once, then play the heart king and ace, take a second spade ruff, and come back to hand with a diamond ruff. The heart queen and spade ace take care of dummy’s losing clubs, and dummy is now high.
Whoever wrote this hand up said, “South played without thoughtful planning and went down in a hand that a well-trained player would not fail to make.” This was perhaps a little harsh on a player who represented India at the 1972 Olympiad!
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A Q 10 7 5 3 |
| ♥ |
A Q 9 6 |
| ♦ |
Q |
| ♣ |
8 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
1 NT |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: When holding a six-four pattern, always introduce the second suit if you can do so economically, unless it is not headed by a top honor and you are dead minimum for the auction. The point is that by doing so, you let partner know 10 of your cards at once. Repeating your long suit tells him only about six cards in your hand.
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 24th, 2010 ~ admin ~ 10 Comments
| Dealer: West
Vul: All |
North
♠ Q 9 6
♥ A 9 8 6
♦ K 6 5
♣ K 8 3 |
|
| West
♠ 10 7 5
♥ 5 2
♦ J 9 8
♣ A J 9 4 2 |
|
East
♠ K 8 3
♥ 10 7 4
♦ A 7 3 2
♣ 10 6 5 |
| |
South
♠ A J 4 2
♥ K Q J 3
♦ Q 10 4
♣ Q 7 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
Pass |
Pass |
Pass |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♣ 4
“Art is long, life short; judgment difficult, opportunity transient.”
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Today’s deal demonstrates that the inferences you can draw about how normal mortals defend may be sound, but they may not be proof against the very best. Sometimes you have to pay off to a defender in top form.
For example, when Geoff Hampson and Eric Greco were defending against Steve Garner and Howard Weinstein in the 1997 Cavendish, they produced one of the best defenses of the tournament.
Weinstein had done well to get his side to three no-trump rather than four hearts, and Greco led his fourth-highest club. Garner won the club queen to lead a diamond to dummy’s king. (It is not clear to me whether playing on spades is theoretically better, but if the diamond king holds, declarer can shift to spades with a useful gain of tempo.)
Be that as it may, Hampson as East took the diamond ace and returned the club six, ducked by Greco. Garner took the club king in dummy and led the spade queen, which Hampson ducked without hesitation! Now declarer assumed the spade finesse was wrong. He rose with the spade ace and cashed his heart winners (on which Greco threw two spades), then took the diamond finesse. Greco could win his jack and cash out for a spectacular one down.
Of course, if East had followed the rules for normal mortals (cover an honor with an honor), Garner would have taken two spade tricks, and that would have given him nine tricks without needing the diamond finesse.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
10 7 5 |
| ♥ |
5 2 |
| ♦ |
J 9 8 |
| ♣ |
A J 9 4 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♠ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Today’s problem illustrates the point that the correct way to raise partner depends considerably on whether you use a forcing no-trump response to a major. If you do not, then you should raise to two spades here, conscious that the range for this action is 6-10 points. If you play the forcing no-trump, then don’t raise directly — that shows 8-10 points. Instead, respond one no-trump and support at your next turn.
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 23rd, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, December 9, 2010
| Dealer: North
Vul: All |
North
♠ A 6 5
♥ K 6 5
♦ A J 10
♣ Q J 8 7 |
|
| West
♠ Q 9 4 3
♥ 10 9 7 4
♦ K 8 2
♣ 6 3 |
|
East
♠ J 10
♥ A J 8 3
♦ 9 6 5 4 3
♣ 9 2 |
| |
South
♠ K 8 7 2
♥ Q 2
♦ Q 7
♣ A K 10 5 4 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1 NT |
Pass |
| 2♣ |
Pass |
2♦ |
Pass |
| 3♣ |
Pass |
4♣ |
Pass |
| 6♣ |
All Pass |
|
|
Opening Lead: ♣ 6
“Imagination is that sacred power,
Imagination lofty and refined.”
— William Wordsworth
At first glance, today’s six-club contract at the Dyspeptics Club looked hopeless. An ace was missing and there was seemingly no way to avoid a spade loser. But if South had assumed that the diamond king needed to be onside, he could have turned disaster into triumph.
At the table declarer drew trumps and ran three diamond winners, pitching a heart from hand, then cunningly led a heart toward his bare queen. Alas for him, East worked out to rise with the ace, and there was still a spade to lose at the death.
Declarer would have had a much better chance of success as long as he had guessed correctly which opponent held the heart ace. Assume that it seems only fair to play East for that card since you intend to play West for the diamond king, and you are in business!
Take the trump lead in dummy, then lead a low heart at once. If East rises with the ace, there would be two discards for declarer’s losing spades — one on the heart king and one on the diamonds. So assume East ducks his ace, and South’s queen holds the trick. Trumps can be drawn and the diamond finesse taken. South’s losing heart now goes away on the third diamond, and after conceding one spade, declarer can ruff the fourth spade in dummy.
For the technically minded, South has performed a Morton’s Fork Coup, whereby East was forced either to lose his heart ace or present declarer with a vital discard by taking it prematurely.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K 8 7 2 |
| ♥ |
Q 2 |
| ♦ |
Q 7 |
| ♣ |
A K 10 5 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
Pass |
2♦ |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: When the opponents open with a pre-empt, it often acts like a red rag to a bull. And when you hold a 14-count, it seems wrong to pass and perhaps let the opponents steal from you. But remember that the auction is not over yet, and that since your hand would barely have been worth a two-level overcall, how can it be worth a three-level overcall facing a passed partner? You must pass, like it or not.
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 22nd, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, December 8, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: None |
North
♠ 10 6 3
♥ A Q 3
♦ K 8 6 5
♣ 8 6 2 |
|
| West
♠ A K 5 4
♥ K 9 7
♦ 10 2
♣ J 9 7 5 |
|
East
♠ Q J 2
♥ 8 6 5 4
♦ J 9 7 4 3
♣ 4 |
| |
South
♠ 9 8 7
♥ J 10 2
♦ A Q
♣ A K Q 10 3 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
2 NT |
Pass |
| 3 NT |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♠ A
“I would far rather feel remorse than know how to define it.”
— Thomas a Kempis
My thanks go to Jean-Paul Meyer, editor of France’s Le Bridgeur, for the original theme of today’s deal. Assume you are facing top-notch defenders.
Against the no-trump game West led the spade ace. When East contributed the queen, showing the jack, West underled his king at trick two. Now, with the defenders’ spades fluid, the defense was able to cash four tricks in the suit. The key question, then, is what does declarer throw from his hand and from dummy on the fourth spade? There is no great problem with the choice from dummy — a club or diamond fits the bill. But South’s discard is trickier.
It looks natural to pitch a heart from hand, but in fact declarer must discard a club. This is not a case of foreknowledge of the unwelcome split, but relates to the diamond blockage. This determines that the heart king must be with West for the contract to make.
The point is that a heart switch by West at trick five means that the heart finesse will have to be taken at once. Even if the clubs play for five tricks, declarer cannot afford to rise with the heart ace since it would cut him off from the diamond king.
Therefore, if the heart king must be onside, no more than three club tricks are required. But if you discard your low heart, the devastating return of the heart king by West would mean that declarer would again be reliant on the club jack dropping in three rounds.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
10 6 3 |
| ♥ |
A Q 3 |
| ♦ |
K 8 6 5 |
| ♣ |
8 6 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♦ |
1♥ |
| 2♦ |
2♥ |
2♠ |
Pass |
| ? |
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ANSWER: Your simple raise in diamonds suggested 6-10 points, and your partner’s advance with two spades suggested extra shape and high cards. With hearts well stopped, the question is whether to drive to three no-trump or to make a simple call of two no-trump to get your values across nicely. I’m torn here, but will opt for two no-trump for fear that the defenders might lead clubs if I insist on three no-trump at once.
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 21st, 2010 ~ admin ~ 2 Comments
| Dealer: South
Vul: N/S |
North
♠ A 7 5 2
♥ 6 2
♦ 7 3
♣ 10 9 6 3 2 |
|
| West
♠ K Q J 6
♥ 10 9 4
♦ Q 8 6
♣ Q 7 4 |
|
East
♠ 3
♥ Q J 8 5 3
♦ J 10 5 4 2
♣ 8 5 |
| |
South
♠ 10 9 8 4
♥ A K 7
♦ A K 9
♣ A K J |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 2 NT |
Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
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Opening Lead: ♠ K
“There’s no time for a man to recover his hair that grows bald by nature.”
— William Shakespeare
Against today’s contract of three no-trump, reached after North had refused to use Stayman over his partner’s opening bid, West led the spade king. Now South’s problem was to set up a late route into dummy after the only obvious entry had been attacked at trick one and before the clubs were unblocked.
If South wins with the spade ace, then sets up the clubs, West can foil any attempt to establish an entry to dummy. He does this by playing a high spade if South leads his low spot toward the seven, or by following with a low spade should declarer lead a high spade from his hand, once the position in that suit has been established.
To conserve the late entry to the board until clubs were untangled, South withheld the spade ace at trick one, while making the vital unblock of the spade eight from his hand. And on the spade-queen continuation declarer ducked again, while unblocking his nine.
West now had no winning move. If he switched to a red suit, South would win, and the spade ace would still be in place as an entry after the clubs were established. (South would play clubs from the top and give West his queen.) However, had West continued with the spade jack at trick three, only now would the ace be played and the 10 unblocked from hand, leaving the seven as the sure entry to the board to reach dummy’s clubs.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
3 |
| ♥ |
Q J 8 5 3 |
| ♦ |
J 10 5 4 2 |
| ♣ |
8 5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♣ |
Pass |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
1♠ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
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| |
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ANSWER: Things have gone from bad to worse! Your decision to respond to one club was partly for tactical reasons, maybe to keep the opponents out. However, now you have to decide if you want to leave partner in a 4-1 fit. I say no. Best is to rebid one no-trump and hope partner lets you off the hook somehow.
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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