December 20th, 2010 ~ admin ~ 2 Comments 
| Dealer: East
Vul: None |
North
♠ Q 8 3
♥ A K Q
♦ K 7 2
♣ K Q 4 2 |
|
| West
♠ K J 9 5 2
♥ 8 5
♦ Q 8 6 3
♣ A 5 |
 |
East
♠ 10 4
♥ 10 9 6 4 2
♦ A J 9 4
♣ 9 6 |
| |
South
♠ A 7 6
♥ J 7 3
♦ 10 5
♣ J 10 8 7 3 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
Pass |
| Pass |
1♠ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| 2♣ |
Pass |
3♣ |
Pass |
| 3 NT |
All Pass |
|
|
Opening Lead: ♠ 5
“We should never despair. Our situation before has been unpromising and has changed for the better; so I trust, it will again.”
— George Washington
Occasionally, the world of bridge problems smacks of artificiality. Sometimes, however, you can identify the only chance of bringing home a contract or of defeating it. In that instance, when playing teams or rubber bridge, you are generally justified in going for that chance no matter how slim it may be.
Take today’s deal, where you lead the spade five against three no-trump and dummy’s queen wins the first trick. Partner follows with a low card, which it is sensible to play as an attitude signal, denying the jack. Had dummy won the trick with the jack or a lower card, partner would have signaled count because his attitude was already defined by his inability to beat dummy’s card.
Declarer now continues with the club king (partner plays the nine), which you duck, and the club queen (partner playing the six), which you win perforce.
Your partner’s high-low in clubs shows an even number, here surely a doubleton, so you can work out without too much trouble that declarer has nine tricks (four clubs, two spades and three hearts), unless you can come to five tricks immediately.
Your only chance will come from diamonds, but declarer will simply follow low from dummy if you shift to a small diamond, and the danger will be past. Therefore, you must switch to the diamond queen, hoping to make four diamond tricks. This needs a fairly specific holding in your partner’s hand, but as the cards lie, your luck will be in today.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
6 3 |
| ♥ |
J 10 8 6 5 |
| ♦ |
9 3 |
| ♣ |
Q 8 6 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♥ |
1♠ |
1 NT |
| Pass |
2 NT |
Pass |
3 NT |
| Pass |
Pass |
Dbl. |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Does this double call for the lead of dummy’s first-bid suit (not likely here), or for an unusual lead, or for the normal lead? All three interpretations are possible, but since you would have led a spade without the double, it is best to interpret the double as calling for the lead of partner’s second suit — surely, diamonds. So lead the diamond nine.
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 19th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, December 5, 2010
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
Recently I believe you wrote that a successful doubled contract does not produce a game unless game had been bid, the extra scores going above the line. Did I misread or misunderstand? It makes sense to me, but my club told me that you and I were wrong.
— Game Boy, San Luis Obispo, Calif.
ANSWER: When you play a partscore that has been doubled and you make it, then the whole of the score for the contract goes below the line. Thus two hearts doubled scores as twice 60 or 120. Since that number exceeds 100, it registers the game bonus. The insult, bonus, and overtricks go above the line — as usual.
Two diamonds doubled scores as 80 — thus not game, but two diamonds redoubled is 160 and IS worth the game bonus.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
In rubber bridge, my partner opened with an artificial two-club bid, holding ♠ A Q-9-3-2, ♥ —, ♦ A-Q-10, ♣ A-J-10-9-5. I, in turn, held ♠ K-J-8-6-3, ♥ J-9-4, ♦ 8-3-2, ♣ 8-4. How should we have bid our cards to slam, or should we have played in game?
— Chicken Little, Calgary, Alberta
ANSWER: The general rule is that a two-club opening on an unbalanced hand is forcing to game unless responder shows a double negative by bidding two diamonds at his first turn, then showing weakness at the second turn. With your partner’s hand, a one-spade opening is appropriate. After you jump to four spades, he might shoot out slam and, his way up, the contract is excellent.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
When defending against a suit contract, why lead the king from a suit headed by the ace and king? If your partner is void, he doesn’t know if you are leading from the A-K or the K-Q and doesn’t know whether or not to ruff. Wouldn’t leading the ace inform your partner you have it and leading the king inform him you don’t have it?
— Who Got What? Atlanta, Ga.
|
|
ANSWER: The problem you describe is a very rare one. More common is deciding how to signal with length, including the jack, facing a king lead. Leading the unsupported ace and having partner know you need an attitude signal, not a count signal, is rather more helpful and comes up more often. The situation of the void facing the king is rare enough that I’ve seen only two disasters resulting from this in my entire life … and it’s been a long life.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
How much of bridge is about knowing the precise percentages, and how much about table feel and table presence?
— Mind Games, West Palm Beach, Fla.
ANSWER: I can’t say I have every percentage at my fingertips, or indeed that I want to, but I know enough that I won’t be off in estimating lines unless the two are so close that it really makes no difference. What I mean is that table presence outranks percentages all the time! And the top players know this — though they may be reluctant to admit it.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
I held ♠ K-Q-9-3, ♥ Q-5-4-3-2, ♦ A-2, ♣ A-10, and my partner opened three diamonds in first chair. How much would your decision to move on or pass be influenced by vulnerability and position, and how much by your choice of partner?
— Tough Choices, Jackson, Miss.
ANSWER: I would pass a first-chair nonvulnerable pre-empt, but gamble out three no-trump facing either a vulnerable pre-empter or a second-in-hand call, unless I knew that my partner had an overdeveloped sense of humor when at favorable vulnerability. In second seat I like to be sound and I like my partners to be the same; I’m sometimes disappointed! |
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 18th, 2010 ~ admin ~ 4 Comments
| Dealer: South
Vul: All |
North
♠ A K 7 5 2
♥ Q 6
♦ A 7 2
♣ A K 5 |
|
| West
♠ 9 6
♥ K 10 8 5
♦ Q J 10 9 4
♣ 10 4 |
|
East
♠ Q 10 8 3
♥ 9 2
♦ 8 6 3
♣ 8 6 3 2 |
| |
South
♠ J 4
♥ A J 7 4 3
♦ K 5
♣ Q J 9 7 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
1♠ |
Pass |
| 2♣ |
Pass |
2♦ |
Pass |
| 2 NT |
Pass |
6 NT |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♦ Q
“Nature is very consonant and conformable with herself.”
— Sir Isaac Newton
West leads the diamond queen against six no-trump. What is your plan to make 12 tricks?
You have three top tricks in the majors and need to develop three more major-suit winners. As playing on spades first will yield at most two extra tricks, you should play on hearts first (where the potential is greater). So you take the diamond queen in hand with the king and lead a low heart toward dummy’s queen. This will give you three extra tricks if West flies up with the king or if East can take the heart queen with the king and hearts split 3-3. In our given layout, West holds the heart king but cannot play it, so the heart queen will win the second trick.
Now you have 10 certain tricks and have to decide whether to continue to play on hearts or to switch to spades. While you have a fair chance of making another two tricks in hearts by continuing the suit, it is better to switch to spades by leading the spade two toward your jack. This will bring in two extra spade tricks when East holds the spade queen and the suit breaks no worse than 4-2 or when West holds the spade queen and spades break 3-3.
Playing on hearts, then on spades, is the only way to succeed today. And note that if you tackle either suit in any way except the recommended one, your contract fails.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 4 |
| ♥ |
A J 7 4 3 |
| ♦ |
K 5 |
| ♣ |
Q J 9 7 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♦ |
Pass |
| 1♥ |
1♠ |
2♣ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: A simple raise to three clubs would be a huge underbid. You have enough to force to game, so cuebid two spades to set up a force, then plan to raise clubs at your next turn. This hand rates to play much better in clubs then in no-trump though you will be prepared to let partner provide input as to the best strain.
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 17th, 2010 ~ admin ~ 2 Comments
| Dealer: West
Vul: All |
North
♠ 9 4 3
♥ A 7
♦ Q J 9 8 5
♣ 6 5 3 |
|
| West
♠ Q J 10 8 2
♥ 9 6 5 2
♦ 6 4 3
♣ J |
|
East
♠ A
♥ K 10 8
♦ A 7 2
♣ Q 10 8 7 4 2 |
| |
South
♠ K 7 6 5
♥ Q J 4 3
♦ K 10
♣ A K 9 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
Pass |
Pass |
1♣ |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
2 NT |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♠ Q
“Intellect is invisible to the man who has none.”
— Arthur Schopenhauer
With support for both major suits, South has a case for doubling one club rather than making a one-no-trump overcall. However, if North-South belongs in game, North will be able to look for any major-suit fit in comfort, even after the no-trump overcall.
On the given auction North is certainly worth at least an invitational rebid since he appears to have a source of tricks and an entry to them.
With so many values in his short suits, South is probably right to reject the invitation. And indeed, as the cards lie, even the no-trump partscore may be in some jeopardy.
South was allowed to bring home his two-no-trump contract. East won the opening spade lead and shifted to a small club. Declarer flew up with the ace and drove out the diamond ace. The defenders cleared clubs, but South had his eight winners.
East should have recognized the threat of dummy’s diamond suit becoming established and have sacrificed his heart king at the second trick to kill dummy’s only entry card. Subsequently, East must work out when to take his diamond ace — and note that West can tell his partner how many diamonds he has. West can indicate to East that he has three diamonds by playing low-high when the suit is led so that East will know to win the second diamond lead.
If East defends perfectly, he can hold declarer to seven tricks, but if he ducks the second diamond, he lets through the partscore.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A |
| ♥ |
K 10 8 |
| ♦ |
A 7 2 |
| ♣ |
Q 10 8 7 4 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
1♦ |
| 2♣ |
2♦ |
2♠ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Even if you play a new suit as forcing, if West had passed over two clubs, a two-spade call here should show a good suit but not be forcing. You have a minimum in high cards, and while it is tempting to retreat to three clubs, you do have a broken suit. Imagine partner with six spades to the Q-J, and you will see that his hand will play much better in spades. So pass two spades.
For details of Bobby Wolff’s autobiography, The Lone Wolff, contact [email protected]. If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, please leave a comment at this blog. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2010. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
December 16th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, December 2, 2010
| Dealer: East
Vul: E/W |
North
♠ Q 6 3
♥ K 2
♦ A J 10 5
♣ J 10 9 8 |
|
| West
♠ A K 10 9 4 2
♥ 10 5 3
♦ 8
♣ K 6 4 |
|
East
♠ 8
♥ Q J 7 6 4
♦ Q 9 7 6
♣ 7 5 3 |
| |
South
♠ J 7 5
♥ A 9 8
♦ K 4 3 2
♣ A Q 2 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
Pass |
| 1♦ |
2♠ |
3♦ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♠ K
“Few things are impossible to diligence and skill.”
— Samuel Johnson
The normal effect of a ruff and sluff is to allow declarer to succeed in an otherwise unmakable contract. So how are you to know when the right moment has arrived? In principle, it is when declarer can be placed with all the missing side-suit honors.
In this deal, from the 2008 Warren Buffett Cup, Jill Meyers led her two top spades against three diamonds, then continued with the spade deuce, ruffed by Larry Cohen. East dutifully returned the club requested by Meyers’ suit-preference signal.
Declarer, Sabine Auken, was at the crossroads. Her opponents, who numbered among the cream of the world’s players, were well capable of psychic signaling. Auken reasoned that if West held the club king in addition to her spade honors, she might have made a simple overcall rather than a weak jump.
Additionally, rising with the ace, then discovering later that the club king was onside, could cost heavily in the scoring (which was closer to pairs than teams). Moreover, nobody likes to concede a psychological edge in this way. So South inserted her queen, West captured it, and believing that there were no further plain-suit defensive tricks to come, returned another spade.
This proffered ruff and discard was the killer defense. If declarer ruffed low in dummy or discarded, East would ruff in with the nine, forcing South’s king and ensuring that his queen would score a trick. And if declarer ruffed with the diamond jack, East would discard, establishing a trump trick for himself.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 7 5 |
| ♥ |
A 9 8 |
| ♦ |
K 4 3 2 |
| ♣ |
A Q 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♣ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: There is no perfect call to describe this hand, but sometimes the simplest ways are best. With the opponents’ suit properly guarded, you can simply jump to three no-trump to show a balanced opening bid and end the auction facing anything but an exceptional 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 15th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, December 1, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: E/W |
North
♠ 9 6 5
♥ K Q 3
♦ K Q J 7 2
♣ Q 10 |
|
| West
♠ Q J 8 4
♥ 8 6 5
♦ 10 5
♣ J 8 4 2 |
|
East
♠ K 7 3
♥ 7 2
♦ A 6 3
♣ K 9 7 6 3 |
| |
South
♠ A 10 2
♥ A J 10 9 4
♦ 9 8 4
♣ A 5 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
2♦ |
Pass |
| 2♥ |
Pass |
4♥ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♠ Q
“I … hold there is no sin but ignorance.”
— Christopher Marlowe
The point of the defense to four hearts in today’s deal is that East must try to kill the diamond suit. If declarer wins the spade lead and takes out all the trumps, then East should hold up the diamond ace until the third round (and West should cooperate by playing high-low to show two diamonds). If declarer tackles the diamonds before exhausting trumps, so as to leave a trump re-entry in dummy, East must win the second diamond and lead a third, giving West a ruff. Thus the defenders should win either a trump or a club in addition to two spades and a diamond.
Can South do better, though? Yes, if he reads the position. South ducks the opening lead and wins the second spade, West having led a low spade to East’s king. Now South plays one round of diamonds. As West will show an even number of diamonds, East holds up the diamond ace. Declarer draws the rest of the trumps, perforce, and reverts to diamonds, East ducking again. Declarer now exits with a spade. West does best to win and lead out his remaining spade winner since he cannot afford to open up the clubs, but South discards a diamond from hand and from dummy on the 13th spade. West now has to lead a club and declarer should guess what to do. (If West had the high club, maybe the defenders would have arranged for East to win the third spade.)
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K 7 3 |
| ♥ |
7 2 |
| ♦ |
A 6 3 |
| ♣ |
K 9 7 6 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
Pass |
| Pass |
1♣ |
1♥ |
Pass |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
2♣ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Is two clubs natural or artificial? You would get many loud opinions on either side of this issue, but fortunately you do not have to commit yourself. Simply raise to three clubs and let partner tell you how he meant his call. If he intended it as artificial, he will doubtless describe his hand-pattern. If natural, you are in your side’s best strain.
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 14th, 2010 ~ admin ~ 2 Comments
| Dealer: East
Vul: All |
North
♠ K Q 3
♥ K 10 7 6
♦ K 8
♣ Q 10 9 4 |
|
| West
♠ J 9 7 6 5
♥ —
♦ 10 7 4 3
♣ 7 6 3 2 |
|
East
♠ 10 4 2
♥ A Q J 8 2
♦ J 9 6
♣ J 8 |
| |
South
♠ A 8
♥ 9 5 4 3
♦ A Q 5 2
♣ A K 5 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
Pass |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
2♣ |
Pass |
| 2♥ |
Pass |
4♥ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♠ 6
“Sometimes these cogitations still amaze
The troubled midnight and the noon’s repose.”
— T.S. Eliot
The friendliness of the competitors and their high standard of ethics contribute hugely to making the Schapiro Spring Foursomes a most enjoyable event. And the standard of play is pretty high too!
The Norwegian international Boye Brogeland found himself in four hearts here when North used Stayman instead of raising directly to three no-trump, the action chosen at the other table. The bad trump break meant declarer would need to be very careful.
West led a spade, won in hand by South with the ace. Brogeland was brought up short when West showed out on the low heart continuation. However, he accurately inserted dummy’s 10, taken by the jack, and won the club return in hand. Three rounds of diamonds were followed by the club ace, then the spade queen and king, on which Brogeland discarded his third club (to avoid an embarrassing ruff from East).
A four-card ending had been reached, declarer having thus far lost just one trump trick, and now came the club queen from dummy. With just A-Q-8-2 of hearts left, whichever heart East chose to play would allow declarer to come to two of the last four tricks. Had East ruffed low, South would have overruffed and put East back on play to lead a trump to dummy’s king. In fact East elected to ruff with the queen, then returned the two, won by North’s six. Now a club from North meant declarer scored either his heart king or nine for the game-going trick.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K Q 3 |
| ♥ |
K 10 7 6 |
| ♦ |
K 8 |
| ♣ |
Q 10 9 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♣ |
Pass |
1♥ |
Pass |
| 2♥ |
Pass |
2 NT |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Your partner’s invitational sequence suggests about an 11-count with four hearts. Your soft cards suggest four hearts may not make, but with so much of your hand in your short suits, I would not be surprised to discover that two no-trump was easier to make than three hearts. So I would pass, although correcting to three hearts might work if partner turns out to be weak in 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 13th, 2010 ~ admin ~ 2 Comments
| Dealer: South
Vul: N/S |
North
♠ K 10 3 2
♥ K Q 7
♦ Q 9 8 3
♣ A 6 |
|
| West
♠ J 7 4
♥ J 10 9 6 5
♦ A 7
♣ 7 5 3 |
|
East
♠ 9 6 5
♥ A 8
♦ 6 5 2
♣ Q 10 9 4 2 |
| |
South
♠ A Q 8
♥ 4 3 2
♦ K J 10 4
♣ K J 8 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♦ |
Pass |
1♠ |
Pass |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
| |
|
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| |
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Opening Lead: ♥ J
“No man lives without jostling and being jostled; in all ways he has to elbow himself through the world, giving and receiving offense.”
— Thomas Carlyle
Today’s deal, from a team game, demonstrates the danger of thinking by rote as opposed to finding the right moment to break the rules.
Declarer knew that the textbooks said to cover an honor with an honor. When West led the heart jack against three no-trump, declarer covered in dummy; East won with the ace and returned his second heart. Declarer ducked in dummy but won the next heart. When West turned up with the diamond ace and an original five-card heart suit, the game had to fail.
Unlucky — but the contract was the same at the second table, after a similar bidding sequence. This declarer was prepared to give the deal the proper amount of attention. Again, the lead was the heart jack, but South ducked in dummy. He had reasoned that if hearts broke 4-3, he would have no problems, but if they were 5-2 with East holding the heart ace and West the diamond ace, the hearts needed to be blocked before the opponents could set them up. Right he was. And note that if the red aces were switched, West would get a cheap trick, but the contract would not be jeopardized since West would not have a re-entry.
Declarer’s line would lose if West had led from a heart holding of A-J-10-9-6 and held the diamond ace, but South correctly reckoned that had that been the case, West would surely have overcalled at his first turn.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q 9 6 |
| ♥ |
K 9 8 4 2 |
| ♦ |
8 3 |
| ♣ |
A 7 6 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
1♣ |
| 1♥ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
2♣ |
| Pass |
Pass |
2♥ |
2♠ |
| All Pass |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Declarer has suggested six clubs and only three spades (or he would have bid spades at his previous turn), while your partner rates to have only two or three small hearts. My instinct would be to lead the diamond eight — the heart lead seems too likely to give up our side’s trick in that suit.
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 12th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, November 28, 2010
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
Today’s bidding sequence went around the table: 1 ♦ – ♠ – 2 ♥ – Pass – 3 ♥ – Pass. You wrote that the call of three hearts was not forcing. Does this imply that if opener had rebid three diamonds or two no-trump instead, that would also be nonforcing? Equally, does this mean that both three clubs and a cuebid of two spades are forcing bids, with the latter requesting a stopper?
— Who’s on First?, Naples, Fla.
ANSWER: Absolutely right, and very clearly and concisely expressed. Any action by either opener or responder that sounds nonforcing at the second turn will indeed be nonforcing. The cuebid initially asks for a stopper, but may conceal a strong hand with support. A direct three-level (as opposed to two-level) action by responder should be played as game forcing, though.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Holding ♠ K-9-3-2, ♥ Q-2, ♦ A-10, ♣ A-10-8-4-3, I opened one club and heard one diamond to my left. My partner bid one spade, the next hand bid three diamonds, and I joined in with three spades. The next thing I knew, my partner had the five-spade bid on the table. What does that mean? I thought my trumps were not good enough to go on, but slam was cold our way.
— Timid Tim, Staten Island, N.Y.
ANSWER: When the opponents bid a suit, as here, one should play jumps to the five-level in a major to ask for a control in their suit, not for good trumps, unless one member of the partnership has already announced a control in the danger suit. Here, partner wanted a diamond control, and your choice is to cue-bid six diamonds to announce a first-round control, or to cautiously raise partner to six spades because your hand is minimum in other respects.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
What card should you lead from a six-card suit if playing third-and-fifth or third-and-low leads? If the answers are different, which do you recommend?
— Get the Lead Out, Vancouver, British Columbia
|
|
ANSWER: From a theoretical viewpoint, the answer is not close. Third-highest leads (as opposed to fourth highest) are designed to make it easy to distinguish the length held by the opening leader immediately. Leading the four from both Q-10-8-6-4-2 and the same holding without the two violates the whole principle of the lead system. I’d lead third highest from both four and six cards and low from three or five cards.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Holding ♠ K-J-10-3, ♥ A-10-8-6-4-3, ♦ Q-3-2, ♣—, would you pass or would you open some number of hearts in first seat? Would the vulnerability or form of scoring matter?
— High Hopes, Monterey, Calif.
ANSWER: Two hearts is out of the question. If you are not playing Flannery (few do these days, whatever its technical merits), your choice is to open one heart (and be stuck for a satisfactory call if partner responds one no-trump), or to pass and hope to make up for it later. I say “Thrice blest is he who strikes the first blow” and open one heart.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
My partner told me that occasionally the response of two no-trump to a takeout double is not natural. I know that some play Lebensohl after the double of a weak two-bid, but this was a more complex sequence. Please explain the idea of a scramble.
— Escape Artist, Waterbury, Conn.
ANSWER: If you pass initially, then balance with a double of a two-level bid, your side will rarely want to play game, but it may not be clear to partner what his side’s best fit is. He can offer a choice of the minors (or two lowest unbid suits) with a call of two no-trump. If he subsequently corrects his your response to the next suit up, it shows the other two suits. This approach also works with a response of four no-trump to a takeout double, but three no-trump is always to play. |
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 11th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, November 27, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: All |
North
♠ Q 7 6 4
♥ J 6 3
♦ J 7 4 2
♣ A 5 |
|
| West
♠ A J 5 2
♥ 8 5
♦ A 6 3
♣ J 10 9 7 |
|
East
♠ —
♥ Q 10 9 4
♦ K 10 9 5
♣ Q 8 6 4 2 |
| |
South
♠ K 10 9 8 3
♥ A K 7 2
♦ Q 8
♣ K 3 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
3♣* |
Pass |
| 3♦** |
Pass |
3♠ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| *6-9 high-card points with four or more trumps |
Opening Lead: ♣ J
“Expert men can execute, and perhaps judge of particulars, one by one; but the general counsels, and the plots and marshalling of affairs, come best from those that are learned.”
— Francis Bacon
To mark the U.S. Nationals currently being played in Orlando, all this week’s deals come from last year’s championships in San Diego. Today’s three-spade contract comes from the Senior Knockout Teams, quarterfinal round.
Declarer Melih Ozdil won the club lead in hand, led a club to dummy’s ace, then crossed with a spade to his king. West ducked and East pitched a club. This was good defense by West. Now, although declarer can negotiate trumps easily enough, he still needs to hold his heart losers to one, which is not so easy to do. With East apparently having the heart length, Ozdil advanced the diamond eight (the queen is technically the best play, forcing West to win the first diamond) and ran it to East’s nine. Back came a diamond to the queen and ace, and West now continued diamonds. Ozdil ruffed the third diamond and advanced the spade eight, ducked, East discarding another club. Then he led a third spade, East discarding his last club. West won and could do no better than play back a fourth spade as East pitched a heart.
Ozdil won the trump in dummy and exited with a diamond to East, throwing a heart from hand, endplaying East to open up hearts for declarer’s ninth trick.
The winning defense is for West to shift to hearts after taking the diamond ace. Try as he might, declarer can no longer endplay East at the right moment.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
— |
| ♥ |
Q 10 9 4 |
| ♦ |
K 10 9 5 |
| ♣ |
Q 8 6 4 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♠ |
Pass |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
3♠ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: It is tempting to try to improve the contract by bidding three no-trump. In practice, while three spades may be an unhappy contract, you will likely find it far harder to score partner’s small spades in a no-trump contract. I would pass now and hope partner finds a way to go plus in the partscore.
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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