October 27th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, October 13, 2010 
| Dealer: North
Vul: All |
North
♠ J 10
♥ K Q 6 5 4 3
♦ A 9 2
♣ J 5 |
|
| West
♠ K 9 2
♥ 10 7
♦ J 8 5
♣ Q 9 8 6 2 |
 |
East
♠ A 8 7
♥ A J 9
♦ 10 7 6 4
♣ 10 7 3 |
| |
South
♠ Q 6 5 4 3
♥ 8 2
♦ K Q 3
♣ A K 4 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♥ |
Pass |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
2♥ |
Pass |
| 2 NT |
Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♣ 6
“Wrongs unredressed, or insults unavenged.”
— William Wordsworth
I’m willing to bet that if this three-no-trump deal was slipped into a pairs game, most Souths would win the opening club lead in dummy, cross to hand with a diamond, then lead a heart to the king and ace. Eventually declarer would emerge with 10 tricks and no one would think anything more of the deal, even though declarer had done his best to go down in his contract and East had let it through! Can you see why?
On winning the opening club lead, declarer should immediately go after hearts by leading a low heart from dummy. As he can afford to lose two heart tricks, he must take insurance against a defender’s holding two stoppers — which will be the case if East has the guarded heart ace.
On the actual sequence of play at the table, imagine that the heart king had been allowed to win. Now, when a second heart lead did not set the suit up, hearts would be dead. The point is that North had only one side-entry in the form of the diamond ace. Declarer can set up hearts but cannot reach them.
Ducking the first round of hearts preserves the needed additional entry in the suit itself. Declarer can win the return and play a heart to the king, ready to lead a third round if the defenders duck. If they take the ace, the suit will be good, and there is still an entry to the board.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 10 |
| ♥ |
K Q 6 5 4 3 |
| ♦ |
A 9 2 |
| ♣ |
J 5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
1♠ |
Pass |
| 2♥ |
Pass |
3♣ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: In these auctions new suits by responder at the three-level are natural and game-forcing. Here, you are well-placed to give preference to three spades; your strong doubleton is just as good as three-card support. My second choice would be to temporize with a call of three diamonds, the fourth suit, asking for clarification.
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].
October 26th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, October 12, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: All |
North
♠ K 8 7 5
♥ A 9 2
♦ K 7 5
♣ A 10 3 |
|
| West
♠ Q J 10 3
♥ J 7 5
♦ 8 4
♣ 8 7 5 2 |
|
East
♠ 9 6 2
♥ Q 8 6 4
♦ J 10 9 2
♣ 9 6 |
| |
South
♠ A 4
♥ K 10 3
♦ A Q 6 3
♣ K Q J 4 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♦ |
Pass |
1♠ |
Pass |
| 2 NT |
Pass |
6 NT |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♣ 8
“He who has never hoped can never despair.”
— G.B. Shaw
In his contract of six no-trump declarer can count 12 winners if the diamonds split 3-3, but if they do not, do not despair. Brace yourselves: the only remaining chance is to bring off a squeeze. To develop this possibility, dec1arer has to give away one trick to reduce his potential winners to all the rest but one. This is almost always good technique for a squeeze.
The only suit in which South can duck a trick without dipping into his counted winners or the vital threat cards (the fourth diamond, or third heart) is spades. He should therefore immediately give away a spade trick by playing the spade ace and ducking a spade.
After this, declarer must manipulate his entries (his precise play being dependent on what the defenders shift to after taking their spade winner) toward the ending he desires.
Specifically, declarer will play three rounds of each suit other than hearts. North is left with one spade and three hearts. South is left with two hearts (one has been discarded on the spade king), one diamond and the last club winner. When the club is led, West must save his high spade, so must reduce to two hearts. North pitches his now irrelevant spade, and the focus turns to East. That player must save his high diamond, so must reduce to two hearts. Now declarer wins all three heart tricks.
If the defenders attack hearts, declarer can kill the queen or jack, then finesse successfully against the other honor.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K 8 7 5 |
| ♥ |
A 9 2 |
| ♦ |
K 7 5 |
| ♣ |
A 10 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
1♣ |
| Dbl. |
Rdbl. |
Pass |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Your partner’s pass does NOT show club length and a desire to play in this contract. It simply indicates no long suit of his own. Since you have only one four-card suit, you might as well bid it, but if the opponents double in a bloodthirsty turn, you might find one no-trump to be a less expensive spot.
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].
October 25th, 2010 ~ admin ~ 1 Comment
| Dealer: South
Vul: E/W |
North
♠ A J 6 4
♥ A 9 7
♦ J 9 5
♣ 6 5 2 |
|
| West
♠ Q 10 9
♥ J 5 2
♦ K Q 7
♣ J 9 7 3 |
|
East
♠ K 8 3 2
♥ 10 4
♦ A 6 4 3 2
♣ 10 8 |
| |
South
♠ 7 5
♥ K Q 8 6 3
♦ 10 8
♣ A K Q 4 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
1 NT |
Pass |
| 2♣ |
Pass |
3♥ |
Pass |
| 4♥ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♠ 10
“To do two things at once is to do neither.”
— Publilius Syrus
It may sound trite, but when you have two chances for a contract and can take them both in proper order, this is generally a better approach than putting all your eggs in one basket. Today’s deal gives you just that opportunity.
The point of the play in four hearts is that declarer has three quick losers and has to negotiate a possible problem in clubs. Declarer must not pin his entire hope on a 3-3 split in clubs, since he can make provision against a 4-2 split as well. The defenders lead the spade 10, which South allows to hold the trick. After he wins the spade continuation, what next?
After taking the heart king and ace (in that order, so he can survive a 4-1 trump break with West having the bare jack or 10), he must lead the three top clubs, while leaving one trump outstanding. If the clubs split 3-3, he can take out the last trump and cash the fourth club. If the club split is 4-2 and the third round is ruffed, dummy will have a trump to ruff out the fourth. The defenders have four tricks, but nothing will have been lost in this case, since the contract would have gone down one whatever South did.
However, if the clubs split 4-2 and the defender who is long in clubs also has the last trump, the contract can be made by ruffing out the fourth club before pulling the last trump.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 9 5 2 |
| ♥ |
Q 3 |
| ♦ |
8 4 3 |
| ♣ |
Q 4 3 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
1♥ |
| Pass |
1♠ |
Pass |
2♣ |
| Pass |
2♦ |
Pass |
2 NT |
| Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
|
ANSWER: East rates to have nine cards in hearts and clubs, and is also likely to have a singleton spade, or a small doubleton, with a diamond guard. Since your partner did not double two diamonds, he does not rate to have a stack there, so I would settle for leading up to declarer’s shortage with the spade two.
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].
October 24th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, October 10, 2010
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
At pairs with nobody vulnerable your LHO opens three diamonds, partner doubles, and RHO bids six diamonds. You hold ♠ K-10-8-5-4, ♥ Q-8-7-6-2, ♦ —, ♣ A-10-4. Would you bid, pass, or double, and what should be your partnership agreements about forcing passes?
— Stymied, Texarkana, Texas
ANSWER: It is fair to assume that if the opponents are not vulnerable, their jumps to game or slam here set up a forcing pass. That said, what is right now? I’ve no idea! You could persuade me to pass or to bid. (If I did act, I think my spade 10 suggests bidding that suit. We might be able to avoid a loser against a bad break in spades, but not in hearts.)
Dear Mr. Wolff:
When playing pairs, my partners and I have significant disagreements about how to bid in third seat with moderate values and a decent four-card major. Say I have four clubs and four hearts (or spades), each suit headed by one top honor. Should I open the major or the minor? And why?
— Chain Reaction, Fayetteville, N.C.
ANSWER: It is impossible to generalize, but I would open the minor on almost any hand where I planned not to pass any response by my partner in a new suit. Having said that, with a really bad minor or good major, I might open the major. If I’m making a tactical opening bid with 9-12 high-card points, I’d open the suit I wanted led.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
I was in three no-trump on a low heart lead to my RHO’s king. Dummy had 8-5 while I had A-J-6 in hand. To make game, I had to bring in the diamonds for only one loser. (Dummy had K-J-10-7-2, while I had nine-fourth.) Should I lead to the king, hoping to find the queen on my right doubleton or singleton? Or should I play to the jack, hoping to drive out the ace and find hearts were split 4-4? Does the size of the spot-card and thus the likelihood of my LHO having five-plus hearts make a difference? What if the game were IMPs?
— Riddler, Worcester, Mass.
|
|
ANSWER: Off the cuff, against the lead of what looked to be a five- or six-card suit, the first play looks like a huge favorite. Guessing diamonds by putting in the jack, losing to the ace won’t help! It is even clearer at IMPs. However, against the lead of the heart two, I’d lead a diamond to the jack — the best play in diamonds, in abstract.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Is there a specific way show a void suit during the auction? I’m worried that a splinter bid in clubs might be misunderstood, particularly if it may be confused with the Gerber convention.
— Plenty of Nothing, Honolulu, Hawaii
ANSWER: First, I’d encourage you NOT to use Gerber except after no-trump openings or rebids.Blackwood does the job just as well. Meanwhile, do not abandon splinters or cue-bids.
A simple rule about splinter bids is that in any sequence, if a bid in a new suit would be natural and game-forcing, a higher bid in that suit is not natural but shortage. Just remember that principle and see where it gets you.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Holding ♠ K-9-8-2, ♥ K-10-4-2, ♦ 10-3, ♣ 4-3-2, I responded two diamonds to my partner’s two-club opening. He rebid three clubs, and I was not sure what to do next. How do you feel about temporizing with three diamonds, hoping partner will bid a major, or raising clubs, as opposed to committing the hand to three no-trump right away?
— Stuck, Trenton, N.J.
ANSWER: I do not like the three-no-trump bid. After all, the diamond suit could be wide open. I’d prefer a four-card major to have more internal solidity than either of your suits here. So the choice is between the temporizing three-diamond call (consistent with a second negative) and the raise of clubs. I like the slam potential of this hand, and since clubs rates to be your best slam, a four-club call is best. |
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].
October 23rd, 2010 ~ admin ~ 3 Comments
| Dealer: West
Vul: N/S |
North
♠ A K 6
♥ A 4
♦ 9 6
♣ A J 9 8 6 4 |
|
| West
♠ 10 9
♥ Q 8 5
♦ A K J 8 5 4 2
♣ 5 |
|
East
♠ J 7 3
♥ K J 9 7 3
♦ 7
♣ Q 10 7 3 |
| |
South
♠ Q 8 5 4 2
♥ 10 6 2
♦ Q 10 3
♣ K 2 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
2♦* |
3♣ |
Pass |
| Pass |
Dbl. |
Pass |
3♥ |
| Pass |
4♦ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| 4♠ |
Pass |
Pass |
Dbl. |
| All Pass |
|
|
|
| *9-13 points, diamonds, unbalanced |
Opening Lead: ♦ K
“The reason firm, the temperate will,
Endurance, foresight, strength, and skill;
A perfect woman, nobly planned,
To warn, to comfort, and command.”
— William Wordsworth
These days at the world championships there is almost always a choice of events. Right now in Philadelphia the major events are open teams and women’s teams. But last year there was an open team game as well as separate events for women, a senior event and a transnational teams.
Here are Michael and Debbie Rosenberg at work in the last-mentioned event. Michael’s double of four diamonds was intended as optional, with extra values, and Debbie expected to find a hand that was at least moderately suitable for spades. The opponents can hold their loss to one trick in four diamonds, so it seems right to attempt the spade game, despite the work required to succeed in that contract.
The defenders led two top diamonds and East signaled for a heart. West obediently shifted to the heart five, suggesting three. Debbie needed the spades to be 3-2, and because West had 10 red cards, she placed him with short clubs.
Having drawn this conclusion, Rosenberg now found the fine move of advancing the club jack! Had this held the trick, she would have drawn two trumps with the ace and king, unblocked clubs, and pitched her heart loser on the diamond queen. Whether East ruffed or not, declarer would be able to ruff one heart and throw the other on the club ace.
In fact, East covered the club jack, so declarer took the trump ace and queen, set up the clubs via the ruffing finesse, and made no fewer than 11 tricks.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q 8 5 4 2 |
| ♥ |
10 6 2 |
| ♦ |
Q 10 3 |
| ♣ |
K 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♥ |
Pass |
1 NT |
| Pass |
2♦ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Any delayed double of a suit in this way is takeout if facing a passed partner. Here, North rates to have awkward length in hearts and short diamonds, together with about an opening bid. He was unable to double initially because of his short diamonds. This being the case, you have a simple call of two spades. Your problem may come on the next round if the opponents compete to 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].
October 22nd, 2010 ~ admin ~ 3 Comments
| Dealer: East
Vul: E/W |
North
♠ A K 3
♥ K Q 8 6 5
♦ 7
♣ J 8 4 3 |
|
| West
♠ 2
♥ A J 4 3
♦ J 10 8 6 2
♣ K 10 5 |
|
East
♠ Q J 9 8 6 4
♥ 9 7 2
♦ Q 9 5
♣ 6 |
| |
South
♠ 10 7 5
♥ 10
♦ A K 4 3
♣ A Q 9 7 2 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
Pass |
| 1♦ |
Pass |
1♥ |
Pass |
| 2♣ |
Pass |
2♠ |
Pass |
| 2 NT |
Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
Opening Lead: ♦ J
“How comes it to pass, then, that we appear such cowards in reasoning, and are so afraid to stand the test of ridicule?”
— Earl of Shaftesbury
All this week’s deals come from last year’s world championships in Brazil. Today’s deal is from a Seniors’ match between USA and Poland and features Poland missing an opportunity.
Where Poland sat North-South, the contract of three no-trump was played by North (Jacek Romanski). After Mark Lair (East) led a top spade, the Polish declarer was not under pressure. Since East had not bid spades at either of his first two turns, North was confident that West held the heart ace and club king. So declarer won the first trick in his hand, led a club to dummy’s ace, and played the heart 10 to his king. Declarer continued with the club jack and another club, establishing nine tricks: two spades, one heart, two diamonds and four clubs.
Against Mike Passell, West found the apparently killing lead of a diamond. Declarer took the trick with the king and led his singleton heart. When West ducked, declarer won with dummy’s king, then played a club to his queen. West took the trick and led another diamond, but Passell had the same nine tricks as Romanski.
Did you notice West’s error? He needed to play diamonds three times: twice to knock out declarer’s ace-king and once to cash his established winners. And he had three chances: the lead at trick one and when in with his two entries — the heart ace and club king. At trick two, he should have hopped up with his heart ace to lead another diamond. This would have defeated the contract.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A K 3 |
| ♥ |
K Q 8 6 5 |
| ♦ |
7 |
| ♣ |
J 8 4 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♣ |
Pass |
| 1♥ |
2♠ |
Pass |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: In this seat, double would simply be for takeout. It’s the most flexible action since you will elicit three-card support from your partner, or find out more about your partner’s minor-suit pattern. It seems premature for you to commit the hand either to clubs or to no-trump.
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].
October 21st, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, October 7, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: None |
North
♠ K J 4 3
♥ A K
♦ 10 6
♣ K 10 7 5 4 |
|
| West
♠ A 10
♥ Q 6 2
♦ A Q 9 8 2
♣ J 9 6 |
|
East
♠ 8 7 6 5 2
♥ J 10 9 5 4
♦ J 4 3
♣ — |
| |
South
♠ Q 9
♥ 8 7 3
♦ K 7 5
♣ A Q 8 3 2 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♣ |
1♦ |
1♠ |
2♦ |
| Pass |
Pass |
3♦ |
Pass |
| 3 NT |
Pass |
5♣ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♥ 2
“What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure.”
— Samuel Johnson
All this week’s deals come from the World Championship last year in Sao Paulo, to mark the ongoing championships in Philadelphia.
At many tables South played three no-trump, speedily down on a diamond lead. But in Russia vs. Italy, the Italian declarer brought home a diamond partscore while the Russian declarer, Yuri Khiuppenen, reached five clubs via the auction shown and received a heart lead.
The simplest way to try to set up the spades for two diamond discards would have been to lead a spade to the nine. But Khiuppenen did better. He cashed both top hearts, crossed with a club to hand to ruff out the hearts, and drew the rest of the trumps before leading a spade toward dummy,
He had worked out to play West for the doubleton spade ace (since West was marked with five diamonds and three hearts and three clubs). If West ducked his ace, he would be endplayed on the next round of spades. If he took his ace, declarer would have two discards for his diamond losers.
Incidentally, at another table, South played five clubs doubled and made a slight slip when he played a trump to his queen at once. Now the 3-0 trump break meant that to sort out the entry position, he needed to play a spade up at once. But in fact he played a second trump instead and now could no longer achieve the endplay, but was forced to lead a spade to the nine. Unlucky!
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q 9 |
| ♥ |
8 7 3 |
| ♦ |
K 7 5 |
| ♣ |
A Q 8 3 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♦ |
Pass |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: It is correct to balance with this hand, although you would not have acted with it in second seat. Since a takeout double is clearly wrong, as you have neither major suit, the choice is the simple two-club overcall, or, my favorite, a call of one no-trump. In balancing seat the range for this call is 10-14, not 15-17; thus you get to protect your diamond king and describe your hand simultaneously.
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].
October 20th, 2010 ~ admin ~ 1 Comment
| Dealer: East
Vul: All |
North
♠ 10 2
♥ A 10 7 3
♦ A 10 9 5 3
♣ A Q |
|
| West
♠ K Q 9
♥ 9 8 6 2
♦ 8 4 2
♣ J 5 2 |
|
East
♠ 8 5 3
♥ 5 4
♦ K J 7 6
♣ K 10 9 4 |
| |
South
♠ A J 7 6 4
♥ K Q J
♦ Q
♣ 8 7 6 3 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
Pass |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
2♦ |
Pass |
| 2 NT |
Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: Your choice!
“To err is human, not to, animal.”
— Robert Frost
To mark the world championships currently taking place in Philadelphia, all this week’s deals come from last year’s championships from Sao Paulo.
When England played Indonesia, there were two identical auctions to three no-trump. A club lead would have been fatal, but against Colin Simpson, West selected the heart nine. Declarer won with his jack and immediately ran the diamond queen. East took his king and shifted to the spade three (when maybe the eight would have been a better choice).
South should have won the trick, cashed the heart king, overtaken the heart queen with dummy’s ace, and played on diamonds. At worst he would have lost two spades and two diamonds. But declarer ducked the spade, which might have allowed West to win and shift to a club.
However, West was equally fooled by his partner’s low-spade shift, so he continued with the spade king. South could now claim 10 winners.
In the other room, John Holland (West) led the heart two. South started in identical fashion, winning in his hand and running the diamond queen. But now came the key difference: Gunnar Hallberg (East), a Swede who has lived in England for many years, ducked. And now the contract could not be brought home.
South tried a low spade, but West won with his queen and shifted to the club two. East took dummy’s queen with his king and returned the four, West carefully unblocking his jack. Declarer was now dead in the water.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A J 7 6 4 |
| ♥ |
K Q J |
| ♦ |
Q |
| ♣ |
8 7 6 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
3♣ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: You are too strong for a simple bid of four spades, since it is easy to envisage quite moderate hands opposite where slam might be laydown. At the same time you don’t want to risk the five-level unnecessarily, so cue-bid four clubs, planning to bid four spades over a red-suit response. This sequence simply suggests a good four-spade bid, in case partner has 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].
October 19th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, October 5, 2010
| Dealer: West
Vul: N/S |
North
♠ J 9
♥ A J 8 3
♦ 9
♣ Q 9 8 6 3 2 |
|
| West
♠ Q 8 7 3 2
♥ 9 6 4 2
♦ A Q
♣ 7 5 |
|
East
♠ 6
♥ K Q 7 5
♦ J 8 6 4 2
♣ K 10 4 |
| |
South
♠ A K 10 5 4
♥ 10
♦ K 10 7 5 3
♣ A J |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
Pass |
Pass |
Pass |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
1 NT |
Dbl. |
| 2♦ |
2♥ |
2♠ |
3♥ |
| 3♠ |
All Pass |
|
|
Opening Lead: ♥ 9
“In the vaunted works of Art
The master-stroke is Nature’s part.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
In today’s deal from the Transnational event at last year’s World Championships in Sao Paulo, the hero was Peter Boyd of USA-1.
After the heart lead, declarer could have succeeded in three spades simply by taking the club finesse, cashing the club ace, and exiting with a low diamond. It’s not as easy when you cannot see all the cards, however, so declarer played on diamonds at trick two, leading the nine to his king and Boyd’s ace.
At this point, only one card in Boyd’s hand would defeat three spades, and he found it: the spade queen!
Say Boyd had exited with a heart. Declarer ruffs, ruffs a diamond, ruffs a heart, and ruffs another diamond, noting Boyd’s discard. If Boyd discards a club, declarer ruffs a heart, plays the club ace, and exits with a club or a diamond. Boyd, down to all trumps, would be forced to ruff, then lead into declarer’s trump tenace.
Equally, a low-spade switch from Boyd does not do the job, because declarer can win the trick in dummy, take the club finesse, cash the club ace, ruff a diamond, and eventually force West to ruff one of his partner’s winners and lead into the spade tenace.
After the play of the spade queen, declarer won in hand, ruffed a diamond, took the club finesse, cashed the club ace, and exited with a diamond. However, East won, cashed another diamond, and gave West a ruff. Boyd still had a sure trump trick to come, for down one.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 9 |
| ♥ |
A J 8 3 |
| ♦ |
9 |
| ♣ |
Q 9 8 6 3 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♣ |
1♦ |
Pass |
| Pass |
1♥ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| ? |
|
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| |
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ANSWER: Your partner’s double is for takeout, suggesting five diamonds and four spades. Since declarer is marked with long clubs, (or he would have balanced with a double), your choice is to defend, which seems a little adventurous, or else bid a quiet one no-trump, which 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 2010. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
October 18th, 2010 ~ admin ~ 2 Comments
| Dealer: South
Vul: None |
North
♠ K J 5 4
♥ A K Q
♦ 9 8 2
♣ J 8 3 |
|
| West
♠ Q
♥ J 10 6 4 3
♦ Q J 7 6
♣ K 10 4 |
|
East
♠ 10 6
♥ 9 5 2
♦ A 5 3
♣ A Q 7 6 5 |
| |
South
♠ A 9 8 7 3 2
♥ 8 7
♦ K 10 4
♣ 9 2 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 2♦* |
Pass |
2♥ |
Pass |
| 2♠ |
Pass |
4♠ |
All Pass |
| |
|
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| |
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|
| *Weak two in either major, or 22-23 HCP |
Opening Lead: ♥ 3
“This life’s five windows of the soul
Distorts the Heavens from pole to pole,
And leads you to believe a lie.”
— William Blake
To mark this year’s world championships, being held in Philadelphia, all this week’s deals come from the last world championships, held in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Lynn Deas and Beth Palmer defended expertly on this deal from their round-robin match against Jordan. In the other room Kerri Sanborn had made 10 tricks in two spades, collecting six spades, three hearts and one diamond. But there was more at stake in the closed room, where the Jordanians had reached game.
Deas (West) led the heart three. The Jordanian declarer, Randa Saket, won, drew trumps, and cashed the other two hearts, discarding a club from her hand. Then she called for a club, Palmer as East rising with her ace and shifting to a low diamond, which was ducked to West’s jack. Now Deas set out to help declarer misplace the diamond honors. Instead of leading the club king, she played a low club to the jack and queen, ruffed by South.
Declarer, thinking that East had false-carded on the first round of clubs from the ace-king-queen, now knew that East was unlikely also to have the diamond ace and to have stayed silent at her first turn. She crossed to dummy with a trump and played a diamond to her 10. Deas produced the queen and returned a diamond for down one and six IMPs to USA-1, instead of a loss of the same number.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q 10 4 3 |
| ♥ |
10 6 2 |
| ♦ |
A 3 |
| ♣ |
J 8 4 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
Pass |
1♥ |
| Pass |
4♥ |
All Pass |
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: While a diamond lead can offer instant gratification if successful, the more mundane fourth highest in a black suit is more likely to succeed. The spade lead is preferable since any honor in partner’s hand will minimize the chance of that lead costing a trick. A club lead, however, might be expensive even when you find the queen or jack 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 2010. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
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