The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, August 24, 2010

September 7th, 2010  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, August 24, 2010 

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

 

South	West	North	East
		Pass	1♠
Dbl.	Pass	2♥	4♠
5♣	5♠	6♣	Pass
Pass	Dbl.	All Pass

Opening Lead: ♠ 5

“When I am grown to man’s estate

Not to meddle with my toys.”

— Robert Louis Stevenson

All the deals this week come from the Junior European tournament held last year in Romania. As mentioned yesterday, there was not only a junior event, but a schools tournament and a girls’ championship, from which today’s deal comes.

The action was from the match between Turkey and Italy, and the heroine was Ozge Tekin. A spirited auction saw Tekin as declarer in six clubs doubled, facing the lead of the spade five. Italy’s Giorgia Botta won the ace and switched to the diamond king. Tekin won her ace, drew trumps, and realized that she needed to bring in the hearts for four tricks to make her slam. It is clear what the percentage line in that suit is: you cash the ace, lead low to the jack, and if the 10 doesn’t appear on the right, play off the king — unless the auction or play thus far has pointed you in another direction.

Tekin duly cashed the heart ace, but paused to reconsider the information already available to her. Because East had bid four spades on her own and seemed to have diamonds also, Tekin judged her to be short in hearts. So instead of leading a heart to the jack, she finessed the nine, came back to hand with a trump, and finessed the heart jack, thus recording 12 tricks for a magnificent plus 1,090.

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

The Aces on Bridge: Monday, August 23, 2010

September 6th, 2010  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Monday, August 23, 2010 

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

 

South	West	North	East
	1♠	2♣	Pass
4♥	4♠	5♥	Dbl.
All Pass

Opening Lead: Your call!

“It doesn’t much signify whom one marries, for one is sure to find next morning that it was someone else.”

— Samuel Rogers

All this week’s deals come from the Junior European Championships held in Romania last summer. During the two-week event, there was an under-25 championship, and in parallel with that, a one-week tournament for girls followed by a schools event.

Europe was well represented, with even some of the smaller countries fielding teams in the minor events. For example, the Estonian girls’ team started the Championships off with a 14-16 loss to the Netherlands — not bad against much more experienced opposition. (Incidentally, the Dutch and Poles — together with the Swedes — have been dominating this event lately. It is certainly not coincidental that the first two countries have set up sporting organizations that ally with the Olympic Federations, and run their programs with benchmarks and training schemes.)

Today’s deal helped to keep the match close, as Estonia’s Tuul Saav first pushed the Dutch North-South to the five-level, then found the only lead to defeat five hearts.

As West, Saav judged that her partner, Erika Parn, must have something useful to explain her double, and in that case, there should be no rush to try to cash black tricks. Accordingly, Tuul led her singleton trump. Parn won the heart ace and returned a second heart. Declarer could now ruff only one spade in dummy, so was a trick short of her contract. Well done — on any other lead declarer can bring home 11 tricks.

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

The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, August 22, 2010

September 5th, 2010  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, August 22, 2010 

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

The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, August 21, 2010

September 4th, 2010  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, August 21, 2010 

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

 

South	West	North	East
Pass	Pass	1♦	Pass
1♥	Pass	1♠	Pass
1 NT	Pass	3♦	Pass
3 NT	All Pass

Opening Lead: ♣ 5

“Sometimes these cogitations still amaze

The troubled midnight and the noon’s repose.”

— T.S. Eliot

Most people’s general strategy for winning and ducking tricks could be summarized as “Win the trick first and think about it later.” This approach is not always optimal, as today’s deal demonstrates.

The auction was informative from West’s perspective. At his third turn, North sensibly jumped to three diamonds to invite game, suggesting a 6-4 pattern and a king more than a minimum. South now reassessed his scattered values and decided he had enough to bid the no-trump game.

West led a low club to his partner’s king and, on the return of the club eight, captured declarer’s nine with his 10 and cashed the ace. Now West realized that he needed to shift to a major, but today was not his lucky day. Declarer had both kings, and neither a heart nor a spade shift would work.

However, when East won the first trick with the king and returned the club eight, it should have marked him with a remaining doubleton or singleton. (With three left, East would have played back a low one.) Whether declarer played the club nine or a highly deceptive queen, West should have worked out to duck, since South was marked with at least an original four-card club suit.

Looking at the dummy, West should reason that the hand cannot be defeated unless East has a fast entry and a third club to lead. It will be easy for East to play another club when on lead with his diamond king, thus defeating the contract.

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

The Aces on Bridge: Friday, August 20, 2010

September 3rd, 2010  ~  admin  ~  2 Comments 

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

 

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

Opening Lead: ♠ 7

“I’m tired of Love; I’m still more tired of Rhyme.

But Money gives me pleasure all the time.”

— Hilaire Belloc

The first BOLS brilliancy prize went to Ron Klinger, who seized his opportunity at the 1976 World Team Olympiad in Monte Carlo. Against four hearts Klinger as West led a spade, and hoping to cut down declarer’s ruffs, East switched to a trump. Declarer played the queen because he wanted to be in his hand if West ducked. Klinger made the first essential play for the defense when he played low. Had he won the heart king, declarer would have made his contract with no problems because he could simply have drawn trumps and taken the diamond finesse. At trick three, declarer ruffed a spade, removing West’s last card in the suit, and guessed to play a club to his queen rather than to the 10. West won the ace and returned a club to dummy’s king. Declarer now ruffed a club and played the heart ace and jack. At this point, Klinger found the only play to defeat the contract: he switched to the diamond king! This severed declarer’s communications. He could win in dummy and come to hand with the diamond jack to draw West’s last trump, but then he would have to lose a spade at the end. If, as happened in practice, declarer played three rounds of diamonds to discard his spade loser, West would make his heart eight.

On any other return, declarer would have been able to win in hand, draw the last trump, and run diamonds to discard his spade loser.

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

The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, August 19, 2010

September 2nd, 2010  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, August 19, 2010 

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

 

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

Opening Lead: ♥ 6

“There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.”

— Henry David Thoreau

The players at the Dyspeptics Club can act in unison only when combining to insult one member of the foursome. Occasionally it seems less important to have a good reason to criticize someone else, and more important to present a united front.

In today’s deal, however, the arguments presented against South’s line of play in four spades sounded reasonable. What do you think?

Playing four spades, South took East’s heart king with his ace, then played to dummy’s club ace and ran the club queen, discarding a heart. That allowed South to ruff the heart return and try to drop the spade king. When that failed, he was down to his last chance — the finesse against the diamond queen — but he came up empty for down one. Were his table-mates right to complain about his declarer play?

Yes, they were. The correct approach is to recognize that West has overcalled on a broken heart suit — the lead marks him with no better a suit than five to the Q-10. Since West has risked his life vulnerable, he must have the balance of high cards. Start by leading out the spade ace, trying to drop the spade king; you will be home without needing to take a chance if that line works.

If that attempt fails, take the club finesse and discard your heart on the club ace before going after diamonds for the possible overtrick.

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

The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, August 18, 2010

September 1st, 2010  ~  Bobby Wolff  ~  7 Comments 

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

 

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

Opening Lead: ♠ J

“He listens well who takes notes.”

— Dante Alighieri

When declarer has limited his hand via an opening bid or a rebid in no-trump, one can often judge just how much help partner’s hand will contribute to the defense.

Here, for example, after West led the spade jack against three no-trump, East knew that his partner had few high-card points. On winning the lead in dummy, declarer continued with the club queen, and East was rather surprised to find that his king held the trick. Now the South and West hands had become transparent. West was marked with the club ace, and having led the spade jack, West probably did not have any other honor cards.

A spade continuation would be a waste of time, East reasoned, as declarer and dummy between them had three stoppers in the suit unless declarer had a doubleton ace — not impossible, but not likely. East would have played for that chance if it was the only way to defeat the contract, but he figured that a more realistic hope would be to take three heart tricks in addition to the two clubs tricks. But which heart should East return?

If East returned a low heart, South would run this to dummy’s jack and still have a second stopper with the king. The card to play was the queen, leaving the jack surrounded. South played his king perforce, but when West got in with the club ace, a heart continuation through dummy’s jack produced the requisite three heart tricks.

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

The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, August 17, 2010

August 31st, 2010  ~  Bobby Wolff  ~  6 Comments 

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

 

South	West	North	East
			Pass
Pass	2♠	Dbl.	4♠
5♥	Pass	6♥	All Pass

Opening Lead: ♠ K

“Great is the hand that holds dominion over

Man by a scribbled name.”

— Dylan Thomas

Those who reached the small slam in hearts, then tried two diamond finesses, were destined to enter a minus score on the travelling score sheet in this deal from a pairs duplicate at the Marbella Internacional Bridge Club.

At the featured table North inferred his partner had very short spades and bid the slam, and it was up to former Irish international Des Deery to make his contract. On a top-spade lead, Deery crossed to dummy twice in hearts for two more spade ruffs, eliminating that suit and drawing trumps in the process. Declarer then played ace, king and queen of clubs, hoping the jack would drop. Had it done so, not just one but two of dummy’s diamonds would have departed, leaving declarer with the luxury of the diamond finesse for the overtrick.

When the club jack did not appear, Deery now played his last club and was relieved to see West discard. He pitched a second diamond from dummy, and on winning with the club jack, East was endplayed into either leading a diamond around to dummy’s A-Q, or giving a ruff and discard by returning a spade.

You might care to consider how declarer would have played if West had produced the fourth club. He would have ruffed the club, then gotten off play with the diamond queen. If West held the king, it would surely be singleton, forcing him to concede a ruff and discard. And if East had it, he would be endplayed, as before.

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

The Aces on Bridge: Monday, August 16, 2010

August 30th, 2010  ~  Bobby Wolff  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Monday, August 16, 2010 

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

 

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

Opening Lead: ♥ 3

“Let such teach others who themselves excel,

And censure freely who have written well.”

— Alexander Pope

In today’s deal South plays four spades after he opened a strong no-trump and Stayman located the 4-4 fit. Put yourself in East’s seat: your partner leads the heart three, and you must plan the defense.

Since South has shown a balanced hand, he cannot have a singleton heart. Your partner would have led the top of a doubleton; thus he has clearly led a singleton heart — but don’t give him a heart ruff straightaway. If you do so, you can count on three tricks for your side, but you will have no likelihood of a fourth winner, unless partner’s meager assets include the club king.

The key point to remember is that there is no hurry to give your partner the ruff, because you have the trump ace. Win the heart ace and switch to your singleton diamond. When you win the ace of trumps, you will be able to play the heart nine as a suit-preference signal for the higher of the two nontrump suits. West will give you a diamond ruff for one down.

The lesson from today’s deal is that although it is a priority to give partner a ruff as soon as you can, if your side has a control in the trump suit, you will sometimes be able to work out that other actions should take precedence over immediately giving or taking a ruff.

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

The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, August 15, 2010

August 29th, 2010  ~  Bobby Wolff  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, August 15, 2010 

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