August 18th, 2010 ~ Bobby Wolff ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, August 4, 2010 
| Dealer: North
Vul: None |
North
♠ 8 7 3
♥ A 9 8
♦ 10
♣ A 10 7 6 5 4 |
|
| West
♠ A K Q J 9
♥ 5 4
♦ 4
♣ K Q J 9 3 |
|
East
♠ 10 6 5 4 2
♥ Q 7 2
♦ J 9 6 3 2
♣ — |
| |
South
♠ —
♥ K J 10 6 3
♦ A K Q 8 7 5
♣ 8 2 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♥ |
2♥ |
4♥ |
4♠ |
| 5♥ |
5♠ |
Pass |
Pass |
| 6♥ |
Dbl. |
All Pass |
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♠ K
“The music in my heart I bore,
Long after it was heard no more.”
— William Wordsworth
During the 2006 European Championships, Peter Schaltz of Denmark chalked up his 500th representative match for the Danish Open Team. He has a family tradition of bridge: both his parents were internationals, he first made the Danish team with his cousin, and his current partner is his wife, Dorthe. What is more, his son Martin already has gained a World Youth Teams Silver Medal.
This hand, from the 2001 European Championships, is Schaltz’s favorite. He ended in six hearts doubled after West had shown at least 5-5 in the black suits and East had supported spades. He was fortunate to receive a spade lead rather than a club — and yes, West might have worked out South had a spade void.
Schaltz ruffed and saw that if trumps broke 3-2, West would have a singleton diamond. He could not negotiate two diamond ruffs in dummy and also deal with trumps. But Schaltz saw one legitimate chance — that West’s singleton diamond was the nine. Then just one ruff would set up the suit.
A heart was played to the ace, then came the diamond 10. East instinctively played low, and so did Schaltz. When the 10 held, Schaltz finessed his heart 10, ruffed a diamond, and returned to hand via a spade ruff. He pulled the last trump, and cashed his winners for plus 1,210.
Remarkably, that was also the Danish score in the other room, where the contract was six spades doubled, steered home after the unfortunate lead of the club ace.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
8 7 3 |
| ♥ |
A 9 8 |
| ♦ |
10 |
| ♣ |
A 10 7 6 5 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
Pass |
Pass |
1♠ |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Your hand is seriously unsuitable for a weak jump overcall. You have aces and defense, and you also have a trump suit where you might easily lose four tricks to a hostile distribution. Change your hand to nothing but six clubs to the K-Q, and at least you would have a reason to pre-empt. But this hand screams defense, not offense; even an overcall of two clubs would be inappropriate.
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].
August 17th, 2010 ~ Bobby Wolff ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, August 3, 2010
| Dealer: North
Vul: All |
North
♠ A Q 10 8 4
♥ Q 8 7 6
♦ K
♣ A K 10 |
|
| West
♠ 5
♥ —
♦ AQ10986542
♣ 8 3 2 |
|
East
♠ J 9 7 3 2
♥ 9 5 4 2
♦ 7
♣ Q J 9 |
|
South
♠ K 6
♥ A K J 10 3
♦ J 3
♣ 7 6 5 4 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♠ |
Pass |
| 2♥ |
5♦ |
6♥ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♦ A
“Example is always more efficacious than precept.”
— Samuel Johnson
In today’s six-heart deal West, who judged well not to save in seven diamonds, had no good reason to lead anything but his diamond ace. He gave much thought to continuing with a second diamond, but was afraid of conceding a critical ruff and sluff.
Eventually West shifted to a club. Declarer won this in dummy, crossed to hand with a top heart, and ruffed the losing diamond for himself with the trump queen. East decided that his best chance to defeat the hand was to find West with the spade king, so he pitched one of his small spades on this trick. Now declarer drew trumps and established a long spade to set up a discard for his club loser.
A club discard by East at trick four would have worked no better. After drawing trumps and cashing two top spades to find the bad news, South would have known West had started with one spade, nine diamonds and no hearts, and thus had two clubs left. His only chance to make the hand would have been to drop the missing club honor.
However, the winning defense is not hard to spot when you think about it. East must underruff dummy at trick four! Now East gets to discard after dummy on the run of the trumps, and simply keeps equal length with North in the black suits. So long as West holds on to his precious guard in clubs, his eight will score the setting trick.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K 6 |
| ♥ |
A K J 10 3 |
| ♦ |
J 3 |
| ♣ |
7 6 5 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
1♦ |
| 1♥ |
2♦ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: Your partner has made a takeout double, and although it is tempting to repeat the hearts, I would bid my clubs now, planning to reintroduce my hearts if the opponents compete to three diamonds. This way, you get both of your suits in at a sensible level. Your partner either has clubs or has at least tolerance for hearts.
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].
August 16th, 2010 ~ Bobby Wolff ~ 4 Comments
| Dealer: North
Vul: E/W
|
North
♠ 8
♥ A J 5 4
♦ K 9 2
♣ A Q 10 4 2 |
|
| West
♠ K J 3 2
♥ 9 8 7 2
♦ J 8 7 4 3
♣ — |
|
East
♠ Q 7 6 5 4
♥ 3
♦ 10 6
♣ J 9 8 7 5 |
| |
South
♠ A 10 9
♥ K Q 10 6
♦ A Q 5
♣ K 6 3 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♣ |
Pass |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
3♥ |
Pass |
| 4 NT |
Pass |
5♥ |
Pass |
| 5♠ |
Pass |
5 NT |
Pass |
| 6♣ |
Pass |
7♥ |
All Pass |
Opening Lead: ♥ 2
“He is all fault who hath no fault at all.”
— Alfred, Lord Tennyson
In today’s deal South employed some finesse in the auction, but fell down in the play.
After North’s light but entirely sound jump-raise to three hearts, South’s fancy turned immediately to thoughts of a grand slam. He asked for aces, then bid five spades over the response to get his partner to bid five no-trump. At this point the six-club call asked North to bid the grand slam with a third-round club control. Had South bid six clubs over five hearts, that would have focused on the second-round club control.
As a general rule, after asking for aces, you should use five no-trump directly to ask for kings (either specific or the number of kings) and direct-suit bids to look for second-round control in the named suit. The indirect route followed in today’s auction asked for third-round control in the named suit.
Seven hearts looked like an excellent spot. Declarer won the opening heart lead, drew trumps, then went after clubs. The 5-0 split now proved too much for him, leaving an inescapable spade loser at the end.
Unlucky — but there was a simple, and painless, route to 13 tricks. Win the heart lead in dummy, immediately play the spade and ruff a spade. Cross back to South with a second trump, ruff a second spade, and come back to hand with a diamond to draw the last trump. You can safely claim the rest now, without needing the clubs to split.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A 10 9 3 |
| ♥ |
Q 7 5 |
| ♦ |
10 9 6 2 |
| ♣ |
8 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♠ |
2♣ |
| 2♠ |
3♣ |
3♠ |
4♣ |
| All Pass |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
ANSWER: There is some temptation to lead the spade ace, but that would be necessary only if the defense needs to cash out at once (perhaps if dummy has a long suit). I suggest defending along passive lines, which argues for a trump lead. My second choice would be a small diamond rather than the 10. It is likely that someone holds a singleton or doubleton diamond honor.
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].
August 15th, 2010 ~ Bobby Wolff ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, August 1, 2010
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
What are attitude leads? How do they work, and are they used only against no-trump contracts?
— Adam Ant, Fort Walton Beach, Fla.
ANSWER: Attitude leads are generally used only at no-trump. Instead of leading fourth highest, the smaller the card you lead the better your suit. So you might lead third from four, lowest from five to an honor, but a higher spot-card from five small.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
In a club duplicate game, I held ♠ Q-10-9-8-5-3, ♥ J-2, ♦ A-Q-J-10, ♣ 4. My partner opened one heart, RHO overcalled two clubs, and I bid two spades. When my partner rebid three diamonds, was I right to raise diamonds (and would that be forcing?), or should I have repeated spades? I followed the latter course and played in three spades when five diamonds was a making spot.
— Johnny One-Note, Montreal
ANSWER: I would have raised three diamonds to four — with 100 honors I think I must show support. This would let partner bid four spades with a doubleton honor — he has already almost denied three trumps when he did not raise spades at once, hasn’t he? Support with support is a valid concept even at one’s second turn, and yes, I think it would have to be forcing here.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
What does an adjusted score at duplicate mean, and how or why is it awarded?
— Maladjusted, Anchorage, Alaska
ANSWER: When, in the bidding or play, an infraction occurs that may have led to a player or partnership being damaged, the director should be called to the table and asked to adjudicate. If he decides that without the infraction a different result would or might have taken place, he is empowered to change the result to protect the nonoffenders. This generally results in the nonoffenders getting the benefit of the doubt, but the issue is an exceedingly complex one and hard to summarize in this limited space. |
|
Dear Mr. Wolff:
You recently posed this bidding problem: A player with ♠ A-5-3, ♥ J-5, ♦ A-J-9-7-6-2, ♣ K-Q made a two-diamond overcall over one spade. When he received a raise to three diamonds, you advocated a cuebid of three spades. Does this promise a spade stop or deny one? What about the hearts? Don’t you need to worry about them too?
— Openhearted, Springfield, Mich.
ANSWER: Judging from the auction, the opponents MIGHT run hearts. But if you focus on getting to no-trump with the danger suit (spades) stopped and don’t worry about unbid suits, you will generally be right. In the auction shown, the cuebid suggests something in spades but no more than one stopper. As a general rule, if you have space, you can temporize (with a three-heart call) without a stop and cuebid with about half a stop. This gets you to no-trump when it is right more frequently than just bidding no-trump with a single stop while probing without a stop.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
You showed a deal in which the opening bidder held ♠ J-7-5, ♥ A-K-9-7-3-2, ♦ 7-3-2, ♣ 9. You recommended a jump to four clubs after opening two hearts and hearing a two-spade response. While I agree with that, how should your partner’s response of two spades differ from a response of two no-trump?
— Subtle Difference, Rockford, Ill.
ANSWER: The responses differ not in terms of high cards, but in terms of whether it is more important to tell partner about your hand (by bidding a suit) as opposed to asking partner about his. Normally the relayer is balanced or has heart support, though he may have a minor he does not want to emphasize. A player who bids a suit tends not to have primary support for partner. |
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].
August 14th, 2010 ~ Bobby Wolff ~ 5 Comments
| Dealer: South
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
9 5 |
| ♥ |
A 8 4 2 |
| ♦ |
K 9 5 3 |
| ♣ |
K 7 4 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
J 2 |
♠ |
Q 10 8 7 4 |
| ♥ |
K Q 10 7 6 5 |
♥ |
J |
| ♦ |
Q 8 |
♦ |
J 6 4 |
| ♣ |
9 8 5 |
♣ |
Q J 10 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A K 6 3 |
| ♥ |
9 3 |
| ♦ |
A 10 7 2 |
| ♣ |
A 6 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 NT |
2♥ |
3 NT |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♥ King
“Up goes the lark, as if all were jolly!
Over the duck-pond the willow shakes.
Easy to think that grieving’s folly.”
— George Meredith
“Duck or no dinner” is a British expression meaning “all or nothing.” In a Spingold Knockout Teams match from last summer’s national championships, it was Steve Bloom who produced the duck, and it was his opponents who had no dinner. His play won the match for his team, and so his opponents got no dinner, because they had to prepare for their evening match.
Bloom (South) reached three no-trump after West had bid hearts. The lead of the heart king put him in a perilous spot, but East’s jack was a welcome sight. Bloom ducked the heart king, then the heart queen, East discarding a low spade, suggesting an initial holding of five spades. West was now unable to continue hearts without costing himself a trick. He shifted to the club nine, ducked all around.
At this point Bloom had a fair idea of the defenders’ hand-patterns. He decided to play for West to be 2-6-2-3, with a diamond honor. Accordingly, he cashed his clubs and spades, went to the diamond ace, and had reached a five-card ending in which West was down to the bare diamond queen and four hearts.
Bloom ducked a diamond to West, who was endplayed to lead a heart into dummy’s tenace and concede the rest. Declarer won the heart cheaply and cashed the heart ace, pitching his two spade losers, and had two diamond winners at the death.
In retrospect East might have done better to pitch a club at trick two. Declarer might then have misguessed his opponents’ hand patterns.
ANSWER: Your hand looks just too good to sell out by passing. Bid two no-trump natural, showing a good 15 to 18. You may have a minimum hand, but that does not mean that bidding will lead to a bad result.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A K 6 3 |
| ♥ |
9 3 |
| ♦ |
A 10 7 2 |
| ♣ |
A 6 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
2♦ |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
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].
August 13th, 2010 ~ Bobby Wolff ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Friday, July 30, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
J 9 4 |
| ♥ |
A 5 |
| ♦ |
K J 7 |
| ♣ |
Q J 8 3 2 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
Q 8 7 6 3 2 |
♠ |
10 |
| ♥ |
9 |
♥ |
Q 10 8 3 |
| ♦ |
A 10 5 2 |
♦ |
Q 9 6 4 |
| ♣ |
10 7 |
♣ |
K 9 6 4 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A K 5 |
| ♥ |
K J 7 6 4 2 |
| ♦ |
8 3 |
| ♣ |
A 5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
2♣ |
Pass |
| 2♥ |
Pass |
3♥ |
Pass |
| 4♥ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♠7
“Antoine Magnan, a French zoologist, in 1934 made some very careful studies of bumblebee flight and came to the conclusion that bumblebees cannot fly at all!”
— General Motors sign
All this week’s deals come from last year’s Summer Nationals. Phillip Cronier of France showed me this deal from his losing Spingold Knockout Teams match. How would you play four hearts on the lead of the spade seven (third-and-fifth best)? To enjoy this deal fully, cover up the East and West cards.
I think it is right to put up the jack, but at the table, declarer played the spade nine from dummy at the first trick, which was covered by the 10. He won the spade ace and led a diamond to the jack, which lost to the queen. East now emerged with the heart three. Plan the play.
Clearly the club finesse was onside, or else East would have shifted to a club. And either the spades were 6-1 or East had the spade queen, explaining why that suit wasn’t continued. Does that help?
Declarer was unwilling to take the heart finesse, since if the heart jack was covered by the queen, the last entry to dummy would vanish. At the table, declarer decided to play for the diamond ace to be onside and to hope there would be nothing too hostile in trumps.
He rose with the heart king, led a diamond up, and found both good news and bad. The diamond ace was indeed onside, but he now had two trump losers he could not avoid. Without the heart shift, declarer would have had no losing options.
ANSWER: Even if you play weak jumps in competition, this hand feels much more like a bid of one spade than two spades. With significant defense and a poor suit of your own, the weak jump would be misleading. And if partner repeats his clubs, you surely have a sensible alternative trump suit.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q 8 7 6 3 2 |
| ♥ |
9 |
| ♦ |
A 10 5 2 |
| ♣ |
10 7 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♣ |
1♦ |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
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].
August 12th, 2010 ~ Bobby Wolff ~ 4 Comments
| Dealer: South
Vul: None |
North |
|
| ♠ |
Q 5 |
| ♥ |
K J 7 |
| ♦ |
J 9 4 |
| ♣ |
A K 8 6 2 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
10 7 |
♠ |
A K J 9 6 2 |
| ♥ |
Q 8 6 3 |
♥ |
9 4 2 |
| ♦ |
10 6 |
♦ |
K 8 5 |
| ♣ |
Q 7 5 4 3 |
♣ |
9 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
8 4 3 |
| ♥ |
A 10 5 |
| ♦ |
A Q 7 3 2 |
| ♣ |
J 10 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1NT* |
Pass |
2♣ |
2♠ |
| Pass |
Pass |
3♣ |
Pass |
| 3♦ |
Pass |
3♠ |
Pass |
| 4♥ |
All Pass |
|
|
| *Weak |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♠10
“To mortify and even to injure an opponent, reproach him with the very defect or vice … you feel … in yourself.”
— Ivan Turgenev
To mark the Summer Nationals currently taking place in New Orleans, here is a deal from last year’s championships.
Steve and Betty Bloom are one of the most successful married partnerships playing bridge in the United States. Steve demonstrated his skill in this deal from early play in the Spingold Knockout Teams.
After Steve opened the South hand with a weak no-trump, North bid puppet Stayman, looking for a five-card major in her partner’s hand. East overcalled in spades, and now, with no spade stop, it was easy for the Blooms to avoid three no-trump.
It might have been less clear why it was necessary to play four hearts on the 3-3 fit. As to blame, as Sherlock Holmes said, “I think we must ask for an amnesty in that direction.”
The defenders, top-class Polish internationals, started with a spade to East’s jack and a helpful (to Bloom) shift to the club nine, covered by the 10 and ducked.
Bloom played a heart to the jack and gave up a spade, ruffing the spade return in dummy, West pitching a club.
Bloom then played a diamond to the queen, and played the diamond jack covered by the king and ace, West’s 10 falling. He drew two rounds of trumps ending in hand and then passed the club jack, ducked all round and played a third diamond. West could take his heart trick when he wanted, but with only clubs left, had to concede the last three tricks to dummy. Contract made!
ANSWER: Your partner has shown 5-5 in the black suits, since he is a passed hand. (If he were an unpassed hand, this would show a strong no-trump.) Even though all your cards are in the opponents’ suits, a two-spade bid seems reasonable. However, if your partner is going to bid on regardless of his hand, maybe passing would be wiser.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
8 4 3 |
| ♥ |
A 10 5 |
| ♦ |
A Q 7 3 2 |
| ♣ |
J 10 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
Pass |
1♦ |
| Pass |
1♥ |
1 NT |
2♥ |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
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].
August 11th, 2010 ~ Bobby Wolff ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, July 28, 2010
| Dealer: West
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
K Q J 10 4 |
| ♥ |
Q 5 3 |
| ♦ |
J 10 7 5 |
| ♣ |
A |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
8 3 2 |
♠ |
9 6 |
| ♥ |
9 7 6 4 |
♥ |
A 10 2 |
| ♦ |
K Q 3 2 |
♦ |
A 4 |
| ♣ |
9 4 |
♣ |
K 10 8 6 5 3 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A 7 5 |
| ♥ |
K J 8 |
| ♦ |
9 8 6 |
| ♣ |
Q J 7 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
Pass |
1♠ |
2♣ |
| 2 NT |
Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♣9
“Thus the best human intelligence is still decidedly barbarous; it fights in heavy armour and keeps a fool at court.”
— George Santayana
To celebrate the Summer Nationals currently taking place in New Orleans, all this week’s deals come from last year’s event.
Both tables did the right thing in the auction on this deal from the Senior Swiss. However, a slight difference in declarer’s tactics at trick two earned the John Swanson team a game swing.
The North-South pairs at each table did well to land in three no-trump after North had opened one spade and East overcalled two clubs. At least that game had chances!
When Rich Oshlag was East, his wife, Mary, led the club nine. Declarer won dummy’s club ace and advanced the heart queen. Rich ducked, won the next heart, and cashed the diamond ace and club king. He then led his other diamond, perhaps more in hope than expectation. But his hopes were answered, and when West produced the K-Q of diamonds, that was a swift down one.
At the other table, declarer Sid Brownstein won the club ace and could see that if he developed his game-going tricks in hearts, he would force the defenders to go after diamonds, making it almost impossible to prevent the defenders from taking five tricks.
So Brownstein, deciding to throw up a smokescreen, played a low diamond from dummy at once. Can you blame East for ducking? I can’t, and now the diamond blockage meant the defenders could cash only four of their five tricks.
ANSWER: The simplest way to get your values across is to bid one no-trump. Although you might contemplate raising diamonds, your stoppers in the black suits and your decent high-card values argue for trying for no-trump. Your partner might expect more offense and less defense if you raise diamonds directly.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A 7 5 |
| ♥ |
K J 8 |
| ♦ |
9 8 6 |
| ♣ |
Q J 7 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♣ |
1♦ |
1♠ |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
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].
August 10th, 2010 ~ Bobby Wolff ~ 2 Comments
| Dealer: West
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
Q J |
| ♥ |
A J 7 |
| ♦ |
J 10 9 7 6 4 3 |
| ♣ |
K |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
10 9 2 |
♠ |
A K 8 5 4 3 |
| ♥ |
10 6 4 3 |
♥ |
9 8 |
| ♦ |
A 8 5 |
♦ |
K 2 |
| ♣ |
J 6 5 |
♣ |
Q 9 4 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
7 6 |
| ♥ |
K Q 5 2 |
| ♦ |
Q |
| ♣ |
A 10 8 7 3 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
Pass |
Pass |
1♠ |
| 2♣ |
Pass |
2♦ |
Pass |
| 2♥ |
2♠ |
3♥ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♠10
“One must not try to know the unknowable, though one was quite powerless to ignore it.”
— Henry Adams
All this week’s deals come from last year’s Summer Nationals, marking the ongoing tournament in New Orleans this year.
Playing in a 4-3 trump fit always seems to lead to a lot of hard work. This deal from the first semifinal session of last summer’s von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs was no exception.
Three diamonds looks to be an easy partscore for North-South, but the contract of three hearts did produce an attractive alternative, though it was difficult to play.
South was treated to a defense of two rounds of spades, then a deceptive but inaccurate shift to a low diamond. (Playing the diamond king and another diamond might have worked out better).
West won the diamond ace and returned a diamond, which South ruffed. Spades appeared to be 6-3 and East had at least two diamonds, so it seemed too much to expect a trump break. Accordingly, South cashed the heart king and went to the heart jack to run the diamonds.
As soon as West ruffed in, he could do no better than return a spade. South could ruff in hand and enter dummy with the club king to draw the last trump and claim. If West had discarded all his clubs on the next three diamonds, South would still have taken two of the last three tricks for his contract.
ANSWER: It seems excessive to bid three hearts here, driving to game on what may be only a partscore deal. Simply rebid three clubs and be prepared to play a club or diamond partscore if that is what partner wants to do. There was certainly a case of sorts for responding one heart initially with this hand, but I much prefer bidding my length first.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
7 6 |
| ♥ |
K Q 5 2 |
| ♦ |
Q |
| ♣ |
A 10 8 7 3 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♦ |
Pass |
| 2♣ |
2♠ |
Pass |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
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].
August 9th, 2010 ~ Bobby Wolff ~ 2 Comments
| Dealer: North
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
A 10 9 |
| ♥ |
Q 7 5 |
| ♦ |
A K 10 8 4 |
| ♣ |
9 7 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
Q J 4 |
♠ |
5 3 2 |
| ♥ |
10 8 6 3 2 |
♥ |
A K J 9 |
| ♦ |
9 2 |
♦ |
Q 7 6 5 |
| ♣ |
Q 8 4 |
♣ |
6 3 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
K 8 7 6 |
| ♥ |
4 |
| ♦ |
J 3 |
| ♣ |
A K J 10 5 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♦ |
1♥ |
| 2♣ |
3♥ |
Pass |
Pass |
| 3♠ |
Pass |
4♣ |
Pass |
| 5♣ |
All Pass |
|
|
Opening Lead: ♥2
“Thou whom chance may hither lead
Be thou clad in russet weed,
Be thou decked in silken stole,
Grave these counsels on thy soul.”
— Robert Burns
To mark the Summer Nationals now taking place in New Orleans, all the deals this week come from last summer’s championships.
After East’s reasonable but ill-timed overcall, North-South were warned against playing three no-trump. Indeed, declarer, Eric Leong, had already assured himself a reasonable result simply by playing five clubs.
East-West were using third-and-fifth leads. On the lead of the heart two, East won the jack and played a top heart. Leong ruffed, then guessed very well to play trumps from the top. West won the club queen — dummy pitching the heart queen and East the heart ace — and exited with a heart.
Leong ruffed, advanced the diamond jack to dummy’s king, cashed the diamond ace (noting the fall of the nine), then ran the diamond 10, pitching a spade, and claimed 11 tricks when it held.
In retrospect, East should have found the spade switch at trick two. While this might have picked up a vulnerable queen in partner’s hand, declarer was surely marked with only four spades — so dummy’s threatening diamond spots required a spade shift at trick two to dislodge that entry from dummy.
If East shifts to a spade, then either declarer will give up dummy’s spade entry at once, or West will dislodge it later.
Finally, might West have considered a devious shift to the spade jack at trick six? If declarer gets that right and works out how to play diamonds from there, good luck to him!
ANSWER: I’m not convinced that a club lead is right with such a weak suit. The auction suggests partner has four decent hearts, so maybe it is right to lead the heart 10, hoping to get on lead again in spades for a second heart play, if necessary.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q 9 |
| ♥ |
10 9 5 |
| ♦ |
J 7 5 3 |
| ♣ |
10 7 5 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♦ |
Dbl. |
1♠ |
| Pass |
2♥ |
Pass |
3 NT |
| All Pass |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
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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