September 21st, 2010 ~ admin ~ 3 Comments 
| Dealer: South
Vul: All |
North
♠ A 5
♥ A K 7 6 4
♦ J 5 3
♣ 10 6 2 |
|
| West
♠ J 9 7 2
♥ Q J 8 3
♦ Q 7 2
♣ Q 5 |
 |
East
♠ K 8 6 3
♥ 10
♦ 10 9 6 4
♣ J 9 7 4 |
| |
South
♠ Q 10 4
♥ 9 5 2
♦ A K 8
♣ A K 8 3 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
3♥ |
Pass |
| 3 NT |
All Pass |
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Opening Lead: ♠ 2
“Reminiscences make one feel so deliciously aged and sad.”
— George Bernard Shaw
Today’s deal was played almost 50 years ago as evidenced by the bidding. It is a good example of the edge declarer can create for himself if he knows the opponents to be honest.
The auction predated transfer responses to a no-trump. Despite holding three-card heart support, South, with his sterile 3-3-3-4 shape, exercised good judgment in rebidding three no-trump rather than four hearts — a contract that would have been doomed.
Playing fourth-highest leads, West led the spade two to East’s king, and the return of the spade three removed dummy’s ace, as well as almost guaranteeing the 4-4 spade break.
One heart trick had to be lost inevitably, so declarer led the heart four from the table at trick three. Winning with the 10, East played a third spade, won by South’s queen. Declarer fell from grace by next playing a heart to dummy’s ace. With no outside entry to dummy, the 4-1 heart break spelled defeat, eight tricks now being the limit of the hand.
Do you see what declarer should have done better, or differently? Once both East and West had followed to one round of hearts, the contract was assured, so long as the defensive carding in spades was honest.
Declarer knew he could afford to lose two tricks in each of the majors. Therefore, by ducking in hearts for a second time (leading a second low heart from each hand), South would have assured himself the three heart tricks needed to fulfill the contract.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 9 7 2 |
| ♥ |
Q J 8 3 |
| ♦ |
Q 7 2 |
| ♣ |
Q 5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♣ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
1 NT |
Pass |
| ? |
|
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| |
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ANSWER: You had planned to bid hearts at your next turn if partner showed a minimum and the opponents competed. Instead your partner has shown 18-20, so all you have to do is decide on which game is best. You might cuebid two clubs, hoping partner will introduce hearts. But equally sensible is a jump to three no-trump. (You may not want to play a 4-4 heart fit even if you have one.)
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 20th, 2010 ~ admin ~ 2 Comments
| Dealer: South
Vul: E/W |
North
♠ J 4
♥ A 6 2
♦ 10 9 8 4 2
♣ Q J 5 |
|
| West
♠ A 9 7 2
♥ K Q 10
♦ 6 5 3
♣ 9 8 4 |
|
East
♠ Q 10 8
♥ 7 4 3
♦ K 7
♣ 10 7 6 3 2 |
| |
South
♠ K 6 5 3
♥ J 9 8 5
♦ A Q J
♣ A K |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♦ |
Pass |
2♦ |
Pass |
| 2 NT |
Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
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Opening Lead: ♠ 2
“Do not block the way of inquiry.”
— Charles Peirce
On today’s deal both the defenders and declarer had the chance to do better. See where you think most of the blame should fall.
South, playing five-card majors, opened his better minor. His rebid showed a balanced 18-19, and North had an easy raise to three no-trump. When West led a fourth-highest spade, South won and immediately played on diamonds, letting East win and cash out the spades. West could then switch to a top heart, leaving declarer struggling to escape for down one because the diamond blockage prevented establishment of that suit.
Both declarer and the defenders had a chance to do better. To start with, after winning the spade lead, all South had to do was cash both top clubs, then play the ace and queen of diamonds. The best East can do now is to return the spade and let West cash out (dummy discarding the losing hearts), then play a top heart. Declarer wins in dummy and cashes the remaining top club, discarding his unblocking diamond honor. Dummy is now high.
So how could the defenders have done better? West’s opening lead was to blame. Although I won’t go so far as to say that leading from ace-fourth into a strong no-trump is never right, my experience tells me that whenever a viable alternative exists, it should be taken. In this case, on a top heart lead declarer must duck dummy’s ace, and when East discourages hearts, the spade shift establishes five tricks for the defenders before declarer can take nine.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 9 3 |
| ♥ |
A J 4 |
| ♦ |
10 7 4 3 |
| ♣ |
Q 8 7 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♦ |
1♠ |
| 2♦ |
2♠ |
3♦ |
3♠ |
| All Pass |
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ANSWER: If you are going to lead a diamond, as I would, my instincts are to lead the 10 or the seven, not a smaller one. The reason is that with partner almost guaranteed to have five or six diamonds, I want to avoid letting declarer score a singleton honor (with the bare queen facing king-third, for example).
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 19th, 2010 ~ admin ~ 2 Comments
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
How often in a five-card major system will a one-diamond opening be based on a three-card suit? Does it matter if you occasionally open one diamond with 3-3 in the minors for lead-directing purposes?
— Bloodhound, Pueblo, Colo.
ANSWER: The three-card suit comes up only about one time in 50 for a one-diamond opening bid. However, opening one diamond with 3-3 would affect the calculation considerably. My advice is that, except in third seat, one should never open one diamond with fewer than four, or specifically a 4-4-3-2 pattern. In third seat a lead-directing call is acceptable with three — if you must.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Holding ♠ K-9, ♥ 2, ♦ A-Q-J-10-3, ♣ A-10-4-3-2, I responded two clubs Stayman to my partner’s strong no-trump, then bid three clubs, and next introduced my diamonds. We made six clubs after a tortured auction, but we could have made six no-trump. How could we have gotten there?
— Road Map, Danville, Ill.
ANSWER: I’d respond three diamonds initially, natural and game-forcing, planning to bid six clubs at my next turn to offer a choice of slams. I’d bid the minors in this order because of the suit disparity. Six no-trump may be too tough to reach unless partner can bid it on his own after this start.
Incidentally, an alternative approach is to use direct calls of three clubs and three diamonds conventionally to show 5-5 in the minors, invitational and game-forcing respectively, while bids in the majors show 5-4 in the minors and show my shortage.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
My bridge partner says that if I open one of anything, then when my LHO passes and she responds three of a suit, that it is not a jump-shift, but a reverse pre-empt. Have you ever heard of this?
— Brown Study, Topeka, Kan.
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ANSWER: Let’s differentiate between single and double jumps. A bid of three hearts in response to one diamond is normally played as weak — about the values for a minimum three-level pre-empt (say, seven hearts to the K-J, but you might have a queen on the side). The single jump — three hearts over one spade — can be played as weak, strong or invitational and requires agreement. In a two-over-one base it won’t be strong. I’d call it a jump shift, not a reverse pre-empt!
Dear Mr. Wolff:
You posed a recent query with ♠ Q-3-2, ♥ A-K-7-4, ♦ Q-2, ♣ Q-J-10-9. After doubling one diamond, your LHO raises to two diamonds and your partner doubles for takeout. When you bid two hearts, partner says two no-trump. You suggested this denied hearts, but is he not showing four hearts and a diamond stop, allowing you to choose strain and level?
— Lost in Translation, Pottsville, Pa.
ANSWER: Without getting into specifics, the responsive double says “both majors OR spades, and able to correct hearts to no-trump to get my values across.” Here the continuation of two no-trump must deny hearts unequivocally. In my old-fashioned style, I raise hearts as advancer if I have them, or probe with three diamonds if I want to keep no-trump in the picture.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
In first seat I held ♠ J-9-5-4, ♥ A-Q-7-3-2, ♦ K-10, ♣ J-4. Do you agree with my decision to open one heart? After my partner responded with a forcing no-trump, what should I do now?
— Stuck for an Answer, Jackson, Tenn.
ANSWER: It is precisely because I have no rebid over a forcing no-trump (or indeed over a two-diamond response) that I would pass this hand. With 11-counts, the ease of rebid is critical to deciding whether to open. Here, unless you want to break discipline and pass the forcing no-trump (I might!), you have to bid two clubs and hope you emerge relatively unscathed. |
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 18th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, September 4, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: N/S |
North
♠ 9 8 4 3
♥ K 8
♦ K Q 5
♣ K 7 5 2 |
|
| West
♠ Q 5
♥ Q 10 7 6 4
♦ J 9 4 3
♣ J 8 |
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East
♠ 10 7 6 2
♥ A 5 2
♦ A 10 7 6
♣ 10 9 |
| |
South
♠ A K J
♥ J 9 3
♦ 8 2
♣ A Q 6 4 3 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
2♣ |
Pass |
| 2♦ |
Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
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Opening Lead: ♥ 6
“A ROMAN Master stands on Grecian ground,
And to the people at the Isthmian Games …
Proclaims THE LIBERTY OF GREECE…”
— William Wordsworth
As a commentator at world championships, I was constantly amazed by the skill of Lorenzo Lauria. His play in today’s deal was most impressive.
In three no-trump on repeated heart leads (suggesting West had started with five), you win the second and plan to cash as many clubs as you can before deciding whether to set up a diamond for your ninth trick, or to fall back on the spade finesse.
On your third club winner, West discards an encouraging diamond three, while East lets go the diamond six. You lead a spade to the king, then cross back to the club seven, on which both opponents again let go of small diamonds.
I just had time to say, “I’ve seen this sort of position for 50 years and no one has ever successfully dropped a doubleton queen offside” when Lauria did find the play!
Lauria had decided that the diamond discards suggested West had begun life with either a small doubleton spade or the doubleton queen. If so, why had East not pitched a spade? After all, he knew he could afford one.
Lauria had reasoned as follows: “East thinks if he lets go a small spade, it might persuade me to play for the drop. Since East wants me to think he is keeping spades because he has something, he really has nothing in the suit. If he had started life with queen-fourth of spades, he would have pitched one to make me play for the drop.”
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
9 8 4 3 |
| ♥ |
K 8 |
| ♦ |
K Q 5 |
| ♣ |
K 7 5 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
1♣ |
| Pass |
1♥ |
2♦ |
Pass |
| ? |
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| |
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ANSWER: If your partner has come into the auction with a relatively poor suit, he rates to have either extra length or extra high-cards. Either way, bidding three no-trump now seems the practical option. If nothing else, it should teach your partner that two-level overcalls are not to be taken lightly.
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 17th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Friday, September 3, 2010
| Dealer: West
Vul: None |
North
♠ K 8 6 3
♥ 9 5
♦ 8 6 3 2
♣ K 8 2 |
|
| West
♠ 7 4
♥ K J 10 3
♦ A K Q 9
♣ Q 10 5 |
|
East
♠ 9
♥ 8 7 6 4 2
♦ 7 5 4
♣ J 6 4 3 |
| |
South
♠ A Q J 10 5 2
♥ A Q
♦ J 10
♣ A 9 7 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1 NT |
Pass |
2♦ |
| 3♠ |
Pass |
4♠ |
All Pass |
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Opening Lead: ♦ K
“If you can dream — and not make dreams your master;
If you can think — and not make thoughts your aim…”
— Rudyard Kipling
The strong no-trump occasionally acts as a pre-emptive weapon. But when your opponents bid to game, it also can work to your disadvantage by telling declarer where the high cards are. Today West’s no-trump was strong, so it certainly made placing the outstanding high cards easy for South.
The auction also featured a point of interest: Is it better to play weak jump overcalls or strong ones when the opponents transfer into a major over a strong no-trump? Both options make sense, but on this deal South was playing strong jumps, and North thought that his two kings were enough to go forward. (He was also hoping that his hand might also offer a heart ruff.)
Against four spades West led the diamond king and received a count signal of the four from East. To avoid being forced to isolate the diamond menace, West cashed a second diamond and shifted to a trump.
Without a clear idea of where he was going, declarer won the trump in dummy, ruffed a diamond, and ran the rest of his trumps, reducing to a five-card ending in which West had to keep at least two hearts, or his king would drop. Since he had to retain the master diamond as well, he could keep only two clubs.
South now cashed the ace and king of clubs, then exited with the losing diamond from the board. West won the trick, but had to lead into South’s heart tenace, conceding the contract.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K 8 6 3 |
| ♥ |
9 5 |
| ♦ |
8 6 3 2 |
| ♣ |
K 8 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♣ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| 1♠ |
Dbl. |
Rdbl. |
2♣ |
| ? |
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ANSWER: It seems unlikely that you can defend clubs successfully, and since you have a second suit to bid, you should introduce it now, suggesting a little extra shape and moderate values. A call of two diamonds does not commit your hand to anything beyond the two-level.
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 16th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, September 2, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: E/W |
North
♠ K J 10
♥ 10
♦ A Q 7
♣ A K Q 10 8 5 |
|
| West
♠ 8 5 4 3
♥ K 8 2
♦ J 10 9 3
♣ 6 2 |
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East
♠ A 9 6
♥ A 3
♦ K 6 5 4
♣ J 9 7 4 |
|
South
♠ Q 7 2
♥ Q J 9 7 6 5 4
♦ 8 2
♣ 3 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 3♥ |
Pass |
4♥ |
All Pass |
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Opening Lead: ♦ J
“Our sympathy is cold to the relation of distant misery.”
— Edward Gibbon
You might not agree with South’s decision to treat his hand as worth a three-level pre-empt, but my view is that at this vulnerability one is entitled to take a little latitude (or maybe rather more than a little) with pre-empting in first seat. There are, after all, two opponents to contend with but only one partner. Be that as it may, North felt he had enough to bid on to the heart game, although a call of three no-trump would have been a very practical alternative.
On the lead of the diamond jack, declarer won the ace, played two top clubs while discarding a diamond, and led dummy’s heart. Can you see any hope for the defense?
East knew that since his side could take no more than one trick in the side-suits, his partner had to have decent trumps to have any hope of defeating the game. That being so, a trump promotion or two would offer the best chance of a fourth trick. Accordingly, he won the heart ace and played a club. Declarer was forced to ruff high, and West discarded a diamond (to make sure his partner did not try to give him a spade ruff later on). When declarer led another high trump from his hand, West could win and play a spade to East’s ace. The fourth round of clubs promoted his heart eight to the setting trick.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A 9 6 |
| ♥ |
A 3 |
| ♦ |
K 6 5 4 |
| ♣ |
J 9 7 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
1♣ |
Pass |
| ? |
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ANSWER: Depending upon your partner’s ability, one option would be to respond in no-trump, in which case you’d jump to three no-trump to show 12-15. An inverted minor-suit raise to two clubs is also possible, so long as you play a simple raise is forcing here. But I’d prefer to respond one diamond. That gives partner room to describe his hand, and might also let the opponents warn us of dangers in one major or the other.
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 15th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, September 1, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: None |
North
♠ 10 5 3
♥ 9 8 6 5
♦ A K J 6 4
♣ 3 |
|
| West
♠ J 8 4 2
♥ J 4 2
♦ 10 2
♣ J 8 5 2 |
|
East
♠ A K 6
♥ A 10 7 3
♦ Q 8 3
♣ 9 7 6 |
| |
South
♠ Q 9 7
♥ K Q
♦ 9 7 5
♣ A K Q 10 4 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
2♣ |
Pass |
| 2♦ |
Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
| |
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Opening Lead: ♠ 2
“It seemed to be but chance, yet who shall say
That ’twas not part of Nature’s own sweet way…”
— John Kendrick Bangs
Sally Brock, a member of the current English World Teams Champions, provided me with a good problem from the qualifying rounds of the National Women’s Teams. Cover up the South and West hands. When West led the spade two against three no-trump, how would you (East) plan the defense?
It seemed to Brock that because of her guarded diamond queen, there was no hurry to do anything committal. If partner held queen-fourth in spades, she would still do so after East won her diamond queen. Brock considered what might be best if West had jack-fourth of spades instead. One possibility would be to win the spade ace and return the six, but if South were to guess right, that would surely be the end of the defensive prospects.
Brock decided that her best extra chance was to play partner for a three-card heart suit, so at trick two she switched to the heart three, won by declarer’s king as West played the four. Declarer took a diamond finesse and that let Brock win her queen and cash the heart ace. If this had dropped her partner’s jack, Brock would have switched to a low spade, hoping that declarer would still get the suit wrong.
However, when West followed low on the heart, Brock was confident her partner held the jack (or she would have discouraged at trick two).
Since one down would be sufficient at teams scoring, Brock played the spade ace now, and West intelligently confirmed the spade position by dropping the jack, making the heart play a sure thing.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
10 5 3 |
| ♥ |
9 8 6 5 |
| ♦ |
A K J 6 4 |
| ♣ |
3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♣ |
1♥ |
| ? |
|
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| |
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ANSWER: A call of two diamonds would overstate your hand by a queen or so, a response of one no-trump without a heart stop looks extremely distorted, and a negative double promises four spades. What does that leave? You can only pass and hope to get a second shot, or else defend one heart — and that will happen only if partner is minimum with heart length. As a passed hand, you might risk a bid of two 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].
September 14th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, August 31, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: All |
North
♠ K 8 6
♥ A Q 6
♦ A J 7 5 3
♣ K 8 |
|
| West
♠ Q J 9 5 4
♥ 5 3
♦ K Q 10 9 4
♣ 6 |
|
East
♠ 10 7 3 2
♥ 9 7 4
♦ 6
♣ Q J 10 5 4 |
|
South
♠ A
♥ K J 10 8 2
♦ 8 2
♣ A 9 7 3 2 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♥ |
2♥ |
Dbl. |
3♠ |
| 4♣ |
Pass |
4 NT |
Pass |
| 5♥ |
Pass |
6♥ |
All Pass |
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Opening Lead: ♦ K
“Stake your counter as boldly every whit,
Venture as warily, use the same skill,
Do your best, whether winning or losing it,
If you choose to play!”
— Robert Browning
In today’s deal South decided to overbid slightly to get his two-suiter in at a convenient level, and North took him seriously, driving to what turned out to be an excellent slam, even with the clear warnings of possible bad splits.
How would you play the slam, knowing that West has at least 10 cards in his two suits, which you assume to be spades and diamonds?
At the table South made no mistake on a top diamond lead. It would have been very easy to pitch the diamond loser on the spades and rely on the clubs breaking. South did far better. He took the diamond lead on the board, drew two rounds of trumps with the ace and jack, cashed the spade ace, then played the club king and club ace and ruffed a club in dummy. Now came a spade ruff to hand, and South drew the last trump. At this point South led a diamond toward dummy’s jack. West won the trick and had to return either a spade or diamond. Whichever he played, South would win in dummy and discard his two losing clubs — contract made.
Had hearts been 4-1 and clubs 4-2, declarer would have drawn two rounds of trumps and ruffed a club in dummy. Then he would have crossed to his spade ace and drawn trumps. Now he could either set up a diamond trick, or play a fourth club to East. Because that player has only spades left, he must lead one round to dummy to let declarer pitch his diamond.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A |
| ♥ |
K J 10 8 2 |
| ♦ |
8 2 |
| ♣ |
A 9 7 3 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
|
1♦ |
| ? |
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ANSWER: A jump overcall of two no-trump shows the two lowest unbid suits, and although South has slightly better defense than partner might expect, it is still the sensible way to describe this hand at one go. If you bid hearts now, you may never get your clubs in at a convenient level. Vulnerable, there is a case for the simple overcall, given your rather feeble club spots.
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 13th, 2010 ~ admin ~ 2 Comments
| Dealer: West
Vul: All |
North
♠ A K 5 4
♥ —
♦ A K Q 4
♣ A K 8 6 2 |
|
| West
♠ J 9 6
♥ —
♦ J 10 9 8 6 3
♣ Q J 10 5 |
|
East
♠ Q 10 7 3 2
♥ 9 6 5 4 3 2
♦ 5
♣ 9 |
| |
South
♠ 8
♥ A K Q J 10 8 7
♦ 7 2
♣ 7 4 3 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
Pass |
| 4♥ |
Pass |
4 NT |
Pass |
| 5♠ |
Pass |
7♥ |
All Pass |
| |
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Opening Lead: ♦ J
“It is undesirable to believe a proposition when there is no ground whatsoever for supposing it to be true.”
— Bertrand Russell
After South opens four hearts, North can locate the missing trump honors, and at the given vulnerability is then entitled to play his partner for an eighth trump or a little extra in terms of trump honors.
Now the issue is how to make the contract. Playing safe may not be as glamorous as a squeeze or a swindle, but there is a lot to be said for making your contract whenever it can be made. And that applies especially in a grand slam. Just because you believe trumps ought to split is no reason that they actually will.
The correct approach for South is to win the opening diamond lead, take one spade honor, and lead a low spade, ruffing low. Then he will cash a high trump to discover the distressing news, and at that point he should take three more trump winners, pitching low cards from dummy. Declarer then leads a low club to dummy. He must then discard his remaining diamond on dummy’s high spade and can then lead out high diamonds, being able to overruff and draw trumps if East ruffs in.
If East throws away losers on the top diamonds, then so does declarer, and he will reach an ending with the lead in dummy and be left with the heart 10-8 poised over East’s 9-6. Whatever the defenders do, declarer has an answer.
Once the bad trump break is revealed, all this line requires is that East not be void in clubs.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 7 4 |
| ♥ |
Q J 9 2 |
| ♦ |
9 8 6 |
| ♣ |
9 8 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
Pass |
1♦ |
| Pass |
1♥ |
2 NT |
3♦ |
| Pass |
5♦ |
All Pass |
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ANSWER: Your partner has shown at least 10 cards in the black suits by his jump to two no-trump. It feels right to try to set up a black-suit winner before anything can be discarded on dummy’s hearts, and you are fractionally more likely to do this by leading spades rather than clubs, given your minor spade honor. A heart lead is unnecessary and may jeopardize your 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].
September 12th, 2010 ~ admin ~ 3 Comments
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
What should the responses of three hearts and three spades to one no-trump be used for? Should they show both majors, invitational and strong respectively?
— Solon, Mason City, Iowa
ANSWER: That is playable, but I believe transferring to spades, then bidding three hearts, takes care of the good hand. And using Stayman, then bidding two spades, can effectively describe an unbalanced invitational hand with five spades. Thus I marginally prefer using the direct jumps as game-forcing, showing both minors with 5-4 pattern. Responder bids his shortage to suggest three cards in the other major.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Holding ♠ 9, ♥ A-J-10-3-2, ♦ K-Q-7-4, ♣ K-J-4, I opened one heart and rebid two diamonds over a one-spade response. My partner now jumped to three spades. Should this be forcing or invitational, and if the latter what would you do now?
— Bounceback, Harrisburg, Pa.
ANSWER: This sequence should be invitational, not forcing — your partner could use fourth-suit forcing to set up the game-force. Because you have a bit extra in high cards, it looks logical to bid three no-trump now. Partner can always overrule you with a hand that looks more appropriate to the suit game.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
In a social duplicate match, South opened a strong no-trump, and West overcalled two clubs. If North was planning to make a Stayman call before the intervention, what is the best call to convey that? Two diamonds was suggested as a possibility (if agreed as a convention), although that would take away the normal two-diamond rebid from South, denying a four-card major.
— Stymied, Midland, Mich.
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ANSWER: After intervention of two clubs (unless the call shows both majors), best is to ignore it and use double for Stayman, with transfers remaining in place. This is ONLY for the two-club call — and it is because you still have exactly the same scheme of responses available as you did before. If they intervene with higher calls, I suggest takeout doubles and an artificial two-no-trump call. Two-level calls are natural and weak; three-level calls, strong.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
An unopposed auction ran one heart – one spade – three spades – four diamonds – four hearts – four spades – all pass. In an expert game what inferences would the opening leader be able to draw about declarer’s (or dummy’s) holding a club control?
— Infer a Penny, Durango, Colo.
ANSWER: In a top-class game the four-diamond call would tend to deny a club control, particularly if the partnership style was to cue-bid first- and second-round controls indiscriminately. The return cue-bid of four hearts would then guarantee a heart control and some control in clubs, or else that hand would have signed off, knowing there was no club control held.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Recently you discussed ♠ A-K-J-6-5-4, ♥ 2, ♦ A-10-6-3-2, ♣ 7. To me this looks like another one of those two-suiters best opened two clubs (since it is a five-loser hand) to avoid being passed out in one spade when game is cold, with North holding as little as the spade queen or diamond king and nothing else. What do you think?
— Eager Beaver, Orlando, Fla.
ANSWER: The simple answer is that since one spade will almost never be passed out, I prefer one spade. If your diamonds included even the queen instead of the 10, the strong opening would be acceptable. With a two-suiter in this range, the one-level opening followed by a jump shift gets you to game and does not risk going overboard when partner assumes you have much more. |
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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