October 7th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, September 23, 2010 
| Dealer: North
Vul: E/W |
North
♠ A K 9
♥ 10 3
♦ A K J 9 7 4
♣ 5 3 |
|
| West
♠ J 5 2
♥ J 6 2
♦ 6 2
♣ K 10 6 4 2 |
 |
East
♠ 10 8 7 3
♥ Q 9 8 7 4
♦ Q 3
♣ A 9 |
| |
South
♠ Q 6 4
♥ A K 5
♦ 10 8 5
♣ Q J 8 7 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♦ |
Pass |
| 2 NT |
Pass |
6 NT |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♠ J
“I see the better way, and approve it; I follow the worse.”
— Ovid
It is especially satisfying to declarers when they can take more tricks seeing only two hands than the spectators and commentators can envision viewing all four hands.
Consider this deal, where, trailing by 68 IMPs going into the final 15-board segment of the U.S. International Team Trials in 2000, the Schwartz team started a huge charge. They made up half the deficit in the first three boards, though they fell just short at the end.
The commentator saw Zia Mahmood and Michael Rosenberg reach six no-trump and foolishly said that this looked like a big pickup for their opponents, since there was no play for the slam. Michael Rosenberg, who did not hear this comment, proved it inaccurate.
On West’s deceptive lead of the spade jack, the defense had already started to create a problem for themselves. Rosenberg won, cashed the diamond ace, then led a club from dummy. East missed his first chance to settle declarer’s hash by rising with the ace and returning the suit — a play that, in retrospect, could hardly have cost.
As it was, West won his club king and played a second diamond. Now declarer rose with the king and ran the diamonds, East’s first discard being an encouraging heart. At this point, instead of pitching spades to clarify the position to his partner, West chose to believe his partner’s discard and pitched a heart. Curtains! Declarer ran the diamonds and spades to squeeze East in hearts and clubs: contract made.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q 6 4 |
| ♥ |
A K 5 |
| ♦ |
10 8 5 |
| ♣ |
Q J 8 7 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
1♣ |
| Pass |
Pass |
2♠ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: A jump in balancing seat is not weak and pre-emptive, even if you play weak jump overcalls in almost every other seat. Jumps in this seat should be intermediate (say 12-15 with a good six-card suit). You want to drive the hand to game, but three no-trump could easily be best. Cuebid three clubs, planning to follow up with three no-trump, offering partner the choice of games.
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 6th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, September 22, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: N/S |
North
♠ J 10 4
♥ A K 3 2
♦ A K Q
♣ 6 3 2 |
|
| West
♠ 3 2
♥ Q 10 8
♦ 10 8 5
♣ K 10 9 8 5 |
|
East
♠ 6 5
♥ 9 7 6
♦ J 9 4 3 2
♣ Q 7 4 |
| |
South
♠ A K Q 9 8 7
♥ J 5 4
♦ 7 6
♣ A J |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
2♦ |
Pass |
| 3♠ |
Pass |
4 NT |
Pass |
| 5♣* |
Pass |
5♦ |
Pass |
| 6♠** |
Pass |
7♠ |
All Pass |
| *Three aces, counting the trump king as an ace |
| **The trump queen but no side kings |
Opening Lead: ♠ 3
“They tell me when the fleeting charm
Of novelty is o’er,
Thou’lt turn away with careless brow
And think of me no more.”
— Emma Embury
Some bridge books totally transcend the test of time. Others just need to be brought up to date to reflect bidding changes of the last two decades. Thanks to Ron Klinger of Australia who updated the classic “The Mistakes You Make at Bridge” by Terence Reese and Roger Trezel.
This is a book with something for everyone. It concentrates on the errors even experienced players commit from time to time, and a frequent flip through should keep your game well honed, no matter what your level of ability.
In today’s deal, North asked for the trump queen, then took a stab at the spade grand slam. After drawing trumps in two rounds, what do you do next?
Did you, in a moment of aberration, discard the club jack on the third diamond, cash the heart ace, and run the spades, hoping for a miracle in hearts or a squeeze? If so, down you go!
A far better chance exists — namely, that either the heart queen drops doubleton, or that hearts divide 3-3. Accordingly you must take the chances in the right order. After drawing trumps, cash the ace and king of hearts. If the queen has failed to appear, continue with the three top diamonds and discard not the club jack, but the heart jack, on the third diamond. Then ruff a heart. With hearts breaking 3-3, dummy is re-entered in trumps, and only now is the club jack jettisoned — on the 13th heart.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
3 2 |
| ♥ |
Q 10 8 |
| ♦ |
10 8 5 |
| ♣ |
K 10 9 8 5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♥ |
1♠ |
1 NT |
| Pass |
Pass |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: This double is for takeout, suggesting five spades and relatively short hearts. North rates to have three cards in each minor, or to be planning to correct a bid in clubs to two diamonds to show something akin to five spades and four diamonds. For the time being, simply bid two clubs and await developments, if any.
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 5th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, September 21, 2010
| 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
“Among all forms of mistake, prophecy is the most gratuitous.”
— George Eliot
When responder to a major-suit opening bid has a 10-count with three trumps, he has three ways to describe his hand. If he has extra shape (say a side-suit singleton or extra length in a side-suit), he might jump directly to three of partner’s suit. More typical, though, is to downgrade the hand into a constructive raise to two of partner’s suit, or to upgrade the hand via the forcing no-trump to a balanced limit-raise.
This was what today’s North did. South, with concentrated values in his two suits and decent high cards, had an easy acceptance of the invitation.
In four hearts, declarer must not pin all his hopes on a 3-3 split in clubs, since he can make provision against a 4-2 split as well. West leads the spade 10, which South allows to hold the trick. After winning the spade continuation, what next?
After taking the heart ace and king, declarer should next lead out the three top clubs. If the clubs split 3-3, he can draw the last trump and claim. If the clubs split 4-2 and the third round is ruffed, dummy will have a trump to ruff the fourth club. Nothing has been lost, since the contract would always have gone down one.
However, if the clubs split 4-2 and the defender who is long in clubs also has the last heart, the contract can be made by ruffing the fourth club before pulling the last trump.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
7 5 |
| ♥ |
K Q 8 6 3 |
| ♦ |
10 8 |
| ♣ |
A K Q 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
1♠ |
Pass |
| 2♣ |
Pass |
2♦ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Your partner’s use of the fourth suit is conventional. It is artificial and game-forcing and asks you to describe your hand further. With no real support for your partner and no diamond stop, the cheapest call of two hearts is the least lie. It does not promise six hearts, merely a rebiddable five-card suit, or better.
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 4th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Monday, September 20, 2010
| Dealer: North
Vul: All |
North
♠ A 10 8 4
♥ A Q
♦ A 10 8
♣ A 9 4 3 |
|
| West
♠ K J
♥ K 9 5 2
♦ Q 9 2
♣ K 10 8 7 |
|
East
♠ Q 9 6 2
♥ 10 8 6 4 3
♦ J 7 5 4
♣ — |
| |
South
♠ 7 5 3
♥ J 7
♦ K 6 3
♣ Q J 6 5 2 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♣ |
Pass |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♥ 2
“Life is the art of drawing sufficient conclusions from insufficient premises.”
— Samuel Butler
Your partner opens one club and you hold five clubs and 6-9 points. What is your response? You know that a jump would be pre-emptive and a simple raise would be inverted (showing a limit raise or better). What’s left?
Today’s South compromised sensibly enough with a response of one no-trump. With such a strong hand and secure stoppers in every suit, North saw no reason merely to invite game but went all the way. Thus the partnership ended up in the no-trump game from the wrong seat.
Declarer had his first reprieve on a heart lead, when dummy’s queen held the trick. What next? South rejected the idea of crossing to hand with his diamond king to take the club finesse. Instead, he laid down the club ace and scowled when East discarded. There was no way back: the defenders could establish their five winners before declarer had nine.
Needing only four club tricks to make his contract, South should have taken a safety-play in clubs to guard against any adverse split. Admittedly, cashing the club ace suffices if East has all four clubs. However, the low lead toward the South hand wins if either player has all four clubs, for it gives declarer the extra entry to dummy needed to finesse against West’s club 10. If declarer wastes his diamond entry to take the club finesse, the entries to defend against the 4-0 split will also be fatally scrambled.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
7 5 3 |
| ♥ |
10 7 |
| ♦ |
K 6 3 |
| ♣ |
Q J 6 5 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♦ |
Pass |
1♥ |
| Pass |
2♥ |
Pass |
3 NT |
| All Pass |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: This is the sort of club-holding where leading an honor rates to block the suit or worse. If either partner or dummy has a doubleton club honor, be it the ace, king. or even the 10, you may need to lead a low club to unscramble the suit to best effect. Typically, fourth highest is right from any two honors unless they are supported by a large intermediate — here, the 10 or 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].
October 3rd, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, September 19, 2010
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
You posed a problem where you held ace-doubleton of spades, five small hearts, king-fourth of diamonds and a doubleton club. Your unopposed auction had gone one diamond – one heart – one spade – two diamonds – two spades, and you advocated a jump to five diamonds with your “miserable seven-count.” Is this the principle of Fast Arrival? And might your partner have only five spades and five diamonds to bid like this?
— High-Wire Artist, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
ANSWER: This is, of course, a spectacular seven count — blame my ironic sense of humor. If you open a minor and then repeat a major (with the POSSIBLE exception of clubs and spades, where opinions differ and suit quality issues may be paramount), then you are implying a 6-5 pattern. The sequence does not constitute Fast Arrival — that applies only to jumps to game in game-forcing auctions.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
I have told my bridge friends that when you make a jump shift, you are allowed to alert your partner by saying “Skip Bid” before you bid. Is that right?
— Wake-Up Call, Twin Falls, Idaho
ANSWER: The objective of the skip bid (which you should use before any jump bid, even in a slam-going and uncontested auction) is NOT to alert partner. It is to let the opponents pause over your bid without conveying information to their partner. When you pre-empt, you may give LHO a problem. The 10-second pause is designed to make that player’s life easier by imposing a mandatory pause — thus his partner is not passed unauthorized information by a slow pass. In theory…
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Why do some players use a waiting two-diamond response to a strong two-club opener, when there are other response systems that give information about the responder’s hand?
— Jumping In, Canton, Ga.
|
|
ANSWER: The idea is that in order not to pre-empt opener, you only respond in a suit (and risk pushing partner up a level) if you have a good suit. Hence, the two-diamond response may conceal a good hand and a moderate suit. Note that an initial response of two hearts will never pre-empt partner. Therefore one should almost always respond two hearts with five decent hearts and a positive, and you don’t have to wait for a great suit. The higher the response, the better the suit needed by responder.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Recently I received a lot of flak for forcing to game by responding two hearts to a one-spade opening with ♠ J-9, ♥ A-Q-7-3-2, ♦ K-10-8-3-2, ♣ 4. What would you recommend with this hand?
— In the Soup, Troy, N.Y.
ANSWER: This is a very tough problem. I’d prefer to respond with a forcing no-trump, planning to bid hearts at my next turn over a two-club response, or to raise spades if partner shows six. Forcing to game seems a little too rich for my blood, but if partner has hearts, I would certainly be happy to play in four hearts.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
As responder you were dealt ♠ J-7-4, ♥ 7-2, ♦ A-Q-J-10-3-2, ♣ 8-4. Partner opened one club, and over your response of one diamond he rebid one heart. When you repeated your diamonds, your partner bid two spades. What sort of hand would that show, and what would you do next?
— Misfit, Seneca, S.C.
ANSWER: I’d expect my partner to raise diamonds with extras whenever he could, so here he rates to have something like 2-4-2-5 shape. I hold some extras and am not unsuitable for no-trump. Even if partner has no spade honor, we might make game if the missing spades split or if there is a blockage in the suit. So I would gamble out three no-trumps, hoping that he has the diamond king, or that the finesse works. |
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 2nd, 2010 ~ admin ~ 2 Comments
| Dealer: West
Vul: N/S |
North
♠ K 9 7
♥ 10 7 6 4 3
♦ 10 9 8 4 3
♣ — |
|
| West
♠ Q 5
♥ A 9 5 2
♦ 2
♣ K 10 7 6 4 2 |
|
East
♠ 10 6
♥ Q J 8
♦ A K J 7 6
♣ J 8 3 |
| |
South
♠ A J 8 4 3 2
♥ K
♦ Q 5
♣ A Q 9 5 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
Pass |
Pass |
1♦ |
| 1♠ |
Dbl. |
2♠ |
Pass |
| 3♣ |
Pass |
3♠ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♦ 2
“We meant full well and we tried full hard,
And our failures were manifold.”
— Richard Burton
The best-played hand of the 2009 Lederer was also a candidate for the best-defended hands at some tables, and a missed opportunity at another.
In our featured auction, Cameron Small, for the TGR Super League winners, contented himself with a game-try on the South cards, which his partner was quick to decline. Against three spades, West led a diamond, and East won and switched to the spade 10 to the jack, queen and king. A heart to the jack and ace saw West play a second trump, which was won in dummy with the nine.
Now Small ruffed a heart and exited with the diamond queen to the king. East was endplayed — a heart or diamond is clearly fatal — so he exited with a club. Small covered with the nine and pitched a diamond from dummy to endplay West for nine tricks.
At another table, when David Bakhshi was South, he simply bid game at his second turn when his partner Zia raised, and West, Andrew McIntosh, for the Gold Cup team, raised the stakes by doubling. Again West led his singleton diamond, and East, Nick Sandqvist, won and continued with the diamond king and jack, theoretically a fatal error. Now South misguessed when he ruffed with the trump jack and went down.
The winning line was to ruff with the ace, cross to dummy with the king of trumps, and discard the heart king on a diamond. This line succeeds if the opposing trumps are 2-2, or if West has queen-third of spades.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
10 6 |
| ♥ |
Q J 8 |
| ♦ |
A K J 7 6 |
| ♣ |
J 8 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♣ |
Pass |
| 1♦ |
Dbl. |
Rdbl. |
2♠ |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Your partner’s redouble shows a good hand, so you have enough to drive to game. The simplest way to find out about your partner’s hand and set up a game-forcing auction is to cue-bid three spades. Your plan would be to pass three no-trump if your partner bids it.
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 1st, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Friday, September 17, 2010
| Dealer: North
Vul: N/S |
North
♠ 9 5
♥ A J 9
♦ Q J 7
♣ K 7 5 4 3 |
|
| West
♠ —
♥ K 10 8 5 2
♦ A K 5 2
♣ A 10 9 2 |
|
East
♠ Q 7 3 2
♥ 7 4 3
♦ 9 8 4
♣ Q J 6 |
| |
South
♠ A K J 10 8 6 4
♥ Q 6
♦ 10 6 3
♣ 8 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♣ |
Pass |
| 1♥* |
Dbl. |
Pass |
Pass |
| 4♠ |
Dbl. |
All Pass |
|
| |
|
|
|
| *Spades |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♦ K
“Not wrung from speculations and subtleties, but from common sense and observation.”
— Thomas Browne
The Lederer tournament, an invitational teams event for eight of the top squads in Europe, will be played this coming weekend and relayed on bridgebase.com. All this week’s deals come from last year’s event.
Victor Silverstone usually provides a couple of stimulating hands, and today’s deal, which is one of his, contains some interesting points.
Four spades doubled was typical of the rough and tumble of international play, with chances for both sides to do better. In the auction, the one-club opening was clubs or balanced, and the one-heart response showed spades, a style that is becoming increasingly popular at the very top levels of the game.
West cashed his minor-suit winners and exited with a club, ruffed by South, a key play. In retrospect Silverstone believed he should have taken a first-round trump finesse, but he recovered well.
After cashing the spade ace and discovering the bad news, he led a heart to dummy’s jack. Now he repeated the spade finesse, crossed to a diamond, ruffed another club, returned to dummy with the heart ace, and led another club to trump-coup East in the two-card ending.
You will perhaps have spotted West’s error: he should have inserted the heart king on the first round of the suit, after which declarer is an entry short for the coup. Better still would have been to exit with a diamond rather than a club at trick three; then finding the blocking play would have been unnecessary.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q 7 3 2 |
| ♥ |
7 4 3 |
| ♦ |
9 8 4 |
| ♣ |
Q J 6 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♦ |
Dbl. |
1♥ |
| Pass |
3♥ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Your partner has shown a great hand by doubling again. The second double is also takeout. Having passed over one heart at your first turn, you can hardly do less than bid four spades now. Partner can’t really expect you to have any more than this.
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].
September 30th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, September 16, 2010
| Dealer: East
Vul: All |
North
♠ A K 8 3 2
♥ 4 2
♦ A K 8 7
♣ 10 2 |
|
| West
♠ 10 7
♥ A 10 7 6 3
♦ 9 6 3
♣ 8 7 4 |
|
East
♠ Q 9 6 4
♥ K Q J 8
♦ 5
♣ J 9 6 3 |
| |
South
♠ J 5
♥ 9 5
♦ Q J 10 4 2
♣ A K Q 5 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♦ |
Pass |
1♠ |
Pass |
| 2♣ |
Pass |
2♥ |
Dbl. |
| Pass |
Pass |
3♦ |
Pass |
| 4♦ |
Pass |
5♦ |
All Pass |
Opening Lead: ♥ A
“What is man in nature? Nothing in relation to the infinite, everything in relation to nothing, a mean between nothing and everything.”
— Blaise Pascal
In the featured auction here from last year’s Lederer tournament, North-South (Tony Priday and Bernard Teltscher) exercised some nice judgment.
Continuations after fourth suit forcing are notoriously difficult. In today’s deal, if South had a significant doubleton spade honor (such as the ace, king, or even queen), it would be clearly right to show that at his fourth turn.
On the actual deal it is extremely hard to decide what to do with the doubleton spade jack, and one can hardly fault Teltscher’s choice of four diamonds — particularly since it led to the best game!
While there is nothing to the play in five diamonds, the Irish (the eventual tournament winners) were in four spades from the North seat against Dixon and Silverstone, South having supported spades at his fourth turn and North having raised himself to game.
Victor Silverstone as East showed that the simple way to defeat that game was to lead hearts at every opportunity. But even here, there was a trap to avoid. He started with the heart king and then continued thoughtfully with the queen. Dixon could not get in the way by overtaking, so now Silverstone could continue with a third heart.
Declarer ruffed in hand and tried a spade toward the jack, but Silverstone rose with his queen and exited with a diamond. Declarer could win and unblock the spade jack, but had no safe route back to hand to draw trumps and had to concede a diamond ruff.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 5 |
| ♥ |
9 5 |
| ♦ |
Q J 10 4 2 |
| ♣ |
A K Q 5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
2♠ |
3♥ |
3♠ |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: There are only two practical options here. You can double, which is card-showing, not penalties, or you can bid four hearts. The latter is the call you would have made had the opponents not competed for a second time. I’m torn between the two actions, but I tend to believe the opponents and so would simply raise to four hearts rather than try something more extravagant.
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].
September 29th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, September 15, 2010
| Dealer: East
Vul: E/W |
North
♠ Q J 10 2
♥ 10 6 4
♦ J 5 4
♣ K 7 4 |
|
| West
♠ K 6 5
♥ Q 8
♦ 7 6 3
♣ Q 10 5 3 2 |
|
East
♠ 9 8 7
♥ A 5 2
♦ K 9 8 2
♣ J 9 8 |
| |
South
♠ A 4 3
♥ K J 9 7 3
♦ A Q 10
♣ A 6 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
Pass |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
2♥ |
Pass |
| 4♥ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♣ 3
“Both look up to me alone
For learning and defence
As I look up to Providence.”
— W.B. Yeats
This week’s deals all come from the 2009 Lederer Invitational teams tournament. Yesterday’s winner of the award for the best-bid hand was the victim (as declarer) of the deal that won the prize for best defense.
In the last match of the event, a simple auction brought Bennett and Rosen, who were in contention for second place, to the normal game. John Matheson avoided giving the 10th trick immediately by not leading a spade or a diamond. (Even Zia’s unlikely choice of the heart eight might have worked well enough here.) Instead, Matheson led a small club.
Bennett won the trick and advanced the heart king, as only a singleton queen was going to be of any use to him. Both opponents ducked, the second essential play to prevent declarer from getting to dummy for the finesses he needed, and West won the next trump to play a second club. Declarer took this in dummy with the king and ran the spade queen. Again, both opponents ducked smoothly.
It is far from clear what to do next. Maybe the defenders ducked because the king was onside — it does happen! Whether there is a case for switching to diamonds by leading the jack, you can certainly sympathize with declarer when he repeated the spade finesse. West now won and exited in spades. There was no further entry to dummy, and declarer had to go one down.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q J 10 2 |
| ♥ |
10 6 4 |
| ♦ |
J 5 4 |
| ♣ |
K 7 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
2♣ |
Pass |
| 2♦ |
Dbl. |
2♠ |
4♦ |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Even the most experienced partnerships will not have a detailed agreement about what to do here, but a simple bid of four spades is not enough. One would make the same call without the minor-suit honors, maybe with just three trumps. Jump to five spades, intending it to show a hand too good for four spades and with no diamond 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].
September 28th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, September 14, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: None |
North
♠ Q 6
♥ K Q J 5 4
♦ A K 9 7 2
♣ K |
|
| West
♠ 10 8 7 4 3
♥ 7 6 2
♦ J
♣ J 10 7 5 |
|
East
♠ 5
♥ A 9 8 3
♦ Q 8 3
♣ 9 8 6 4 3 |
| |
South
♠ A K J 9 2
♥ 10
♦ 10 6 5 4
♣ A Q 2 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
2♥ |
Pass |
| 2 NT |
Pass |
3♦ |
Pass |
| 3 NT |
Pass |
4♦ |
Pass |
| 4 NT |
Pass |
6 NT |
All Pass |
Opening Lead: ♥ 7
“Wisdom denotes the pursuing of the best ends by the best means.”
— Francis Hutcheson
This week’s deals all come from the 2009 Lederer Invitational tournament, marking this year’s event to be held in London this weekend. Eight of the stronger teams in the U.K. and Europe play a round-robin event using a form of scoring closer to pairs than teams.
Awards are given for the outstanding deals in the bidding and play. Here is the best-bid hand for the weekend. It is rare that a contract reached at only one table is exactly 100%, but such was the case for South’s six no-trump.
The key to this hand was to avoid playing in diamonds, which Keith Bennett (South) did comfortably by never supporting the suit. After the normal first two calls, Bennett upgraded his hand by virtue of its two red 10s and rebid two no-trump, which in his methods was natural and showed extras.
After two natural slam tries by his partner, Neil Rosen, Bennett saw no benefit to playing in diamonds and bid a natural four no-trump, suggesting a minimum hand with no great fit for either red suit. Now it was Rosen’s turn to re-evaluate. Looking at honors in both black suits, he simply bid what he thought he could make. Bennett could win the heart lead in hand, then cross to dummy with a club, and drive out the heart ace. Even if neither major suit split, declarer would have been able to establish a third heart winner and claim four spades, two diamonds, and three tricks each in hearts and clubs.
Note that six diamonds goes down on the bad trump break.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A K J 9 2 |
| ♥ |
10 |
| ♦ |
10 6 5 4 |
| ♣ |
A Q 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♣ |
Pass |
1♥ |
| 1♠ |
2♥ |
Pass |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Before you pass after partner was unable to compete at his second turn, consider that you have extra values and the opponents have found a fit. If they do, then so must your side! Even if you have only a seven-card spade fit, how bad can that be? Double for takeout and resolve never to let the opponents declare the hand at a low level when they have a fit and your side has values.
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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