July 29th, 2010 ~ Bobby Wolff ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, July 15, 2010 
| Dealer: East
Vul: E/W |
North |
|
| ♠ |
Q J 4 |
| ♥ |
A 10 9 |
| ♦ |
10 9 4 |
| ♣ |
9 7 3 2 |
| West |
 |
East |
| ♠ |
10 |
♠ |
K 9 8 7 6 |
| ♥ |
J 5 4 3 2 |
♥ |
8 6 |
| ♦ |
6 5 2 |
♦ |
K 8 7 3 |
| ♣ |
J 10 6 5 |
♣ |
A Q |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A 5 3 2 |
| ♥ |
K Q 7 |
| ♦ |
A Q J |
| ♣ |
K 8 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
1♠ |
| Dbl. |
Pass |
2♣ |
Pass |
| 2 NT |
Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♠10
“The trapper shall be trapped — the biter shall be bit,
Unravelled is the web that he, poor fool, hath knit!”
— Pierre Corneille
At the Dyspeptics Club three of the four players will confirm that West is the weakest, South the luckiest cardholder, and North the possessor of the most acerbic tongue. But, although none of the others would admit it, East is the best card-player. In today’s deal South was caught by his deceptive defense.
Declaring three no-trump, South covered the opening lead of the spade 10 in dummy and ducked East’s king. Back came a spade, West pitching a heart and declarer winning in dummy to take a diamond finesse. Because of the shortages of dummy entries, South briefly considered leading a heart to dummy’s 10, but eventually crossed to the heart ace to repeat the diamond finesse, then cashed the two remaining heart winners. On the second of these, East discarded the club queen.
Unsure whether East had one diamond and two clubs left, or two diamonds and one club, South cashed the diamond ace next. When East followed with the king, declarer decided that East had the club A-J left. So South exited from hand with ace and a second spade, hoping to score his club king at the end, but East claimed the rest for down one.
As North pointed out, South could have made his life a lot easier by ducking the spade 10. Now, whether West leads a heart, diamond or club, South gains an extra entry to dummy for another finesse and takes two spades, three diamonds, three hearts and a club.
ANSWER: Experts do not agree whether this sequence shows a very strong balanced hand or a long suit with guards outside, prepared to play three no-trump facing not very much. The simplest way to advance here is to bid four no-trump, hoping partner will clarify his hand-type if he has extras.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q J 4 |
| ♥ |
A 10 9 |
| ♦ |
10 9 4 |
| ♣ |
9 7 3 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
2♣ |
Pass |
| 2♦ |
Pass |
3 NT |
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].
July 28th, 2010 ~ Bobby Wolff ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, July 14, 2010
| Dealer: West
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
A K J 8 |
| ♥ |
A 8 5 |
| ♦ |
A K |
| ♣ |
K 5 4 3 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
5 |
♠ |
10 9 3 |
| ♥ |
K Q J 6 4 3 |
♥ |
2 |
| ♦ |
J 10 7 3 |
♦ |
8 6 5 4 2 |
| ♣ |
7 6 |
♣ |
J 10 9 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
Q 7 6 4 2 |
| ♥ |
10 9 7 |
| ♦ |
Q 9 |
| ♣ |
A Q 8 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
2♥ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| 4♠ |
Pass |
4 NT |
Pass |
| 5♦ |
Pass |
5♥ |
Pass |
| 6♠ |
All Pass |
|
|
Opening Lead: ♥ King
“Time, you old gipsy man,
Will you not stay,
Put up your caravan
Just for one day?”
— Ralph Hodgson
Today’s deal features one of my favorite partners, Seymon Deutsch, with whom I was successful in the Venice Olympiad 22 years ago. Seymon’s leap to four spades was full-blooded (a euphemism for a slight overbid). North asked for keycards (the five aces, with the trump king counting as a fifth ace). Over the one-keycard response, North could use the first step to locate the trump queen. Without it, Deutsch would have reverted to the trump suit at the cheapest level; with it, he could cuebid a king if he had one, or jump in the trump suit if he had nothing to cuebid, as here.
The awkward duplication in diamonds makes your slam a delicate one. Deutsch won the opening heart-king lead, drew trumps, played off the top diamonds, and tested the clubs. If they broke, he would have had a home for one of the heart losers. When they did not break, Deutsch had one more chance. He knew the hearts were breaking 6-1, so East had none left. Instead of ruffing the club loser, which would then have forced him to lead a heart sooner or later and concede two tricks in that suit, he made the opponents work for him.
He played dummy’s last club and pitched a heart from hand. East was on play with only minor suits left. Whichever he led, Deutsch could discard his last heart from hand and ruff in dummy. Contract made!
ANSWER: This is an awkward hand, but the best way to keep the auction open is to give false preference to two diamonds. Raising clubs gets the values across, but it is very awkward to raise a second suit with only three-card support. No other invitational call is close to describing the hand, and rebidding spades is very ugly indeed.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q 7 6 4 2 |
| ♥ |
10 9 7 |
| ♦ |
Q 9 |
| ♣ |
A Q 8 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♦ |
Pass |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
2♣ |
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].
July 27th, 2010 ~ Bobby Wolff ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, July 13, 2010
| Dealer: North
Vul: E/W |
North |
|
| ♠ |
9 7 6 |
| ♥ |
8 6 4 2 |
| ♦ |
Q 4 2 |
| ♣ |
A 6 4 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
A |
♠ |
5 2 |
| ♥ |
K Q J 3 |
♥ |
10 9 7 5 |
| ♦ |
J 8 6 5 |
♦ |
K 10 7 |
| ♣ |
J 9 8 3 |
♣ |
K 10 7 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
K Q J 10 8 4 3 |
| ♥ |
A |
| ♦ |
A 9 3 |
| ♣ |
Q 5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
Pass |
Pass |
| 4♠ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♥ King
“Time drops in decay,
Like a candle burnt out,
And the mountains and woods
Have their day, have their day.”
— W.B. Yeats
South’s hand is too strong for an opening pre-emptive bid of four spades in first or second position. However, in third seat, after his partner had passed, South made that his choice, putting maximum pressure on West.
West led the heart king, taken by the singleton ace, and declarer could count nine tricks. One of the minor-suit queens would need to stand up for the 10th. East would have to hold the club king, or West the diamond king. It becomes an all-or-nothing situation if declarer tests diamonds before clubs. But if the club king is well placed, then the position of the diamond king becomes irrelevant because a losing diamond will depart on the club ace.
Two entries to dummy outside the club suit are needed — one to play away from the club ace toward the queen, and, if successful, a second to access the ace for a diamond discard. Those entries had to come from trumps, so at trick two, declarer led the spade eight, preparing to overtake with the nine to continue with a low club.
West rose with the ace perforce and returned a heart. South carefully ruffed high so that two trump entries to dummy remained intact. Now the spade three was led to dummy’s six, and the club four played. East rose with the king and returned a heart. Again declarer ruffed high, then cashed the club queen and overtook the spade four with the nine to cash the club ace for a diamond discard.
ANSWER: Although it is not without risk, your best way into this auction is to pass on the first round (as you did), then double for takeout at your second turn. Because this auction is live — West has not limited his hand — you show opening values and takeout of spades. You rate to have club length here, although this is not strictly guaranteed.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A |
| ♥ |
K Q J 3 |
| ♦ |
J 8 6 5 |
| ♣ |
J 9 8 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
1♣ |
| Pass |
1♠ |
Pass |
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].
July 26th, 2010 ~ Bobby Wolff ~ 3 Comments
| Dealer: North
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
3 |
| ♥ |
A 5 4 2 |
| ♦ |
K 7 |
| ♣ |
A K J 8 7 5 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
A K 8 6 5 2 |
♠ |
J 10 |
| ♥ |
9 3 |
♥ |
J 10 8 7 |
| ♦ |
A J 6 5 |
♦ |
10 9 2 |
| ♣ |
Q |
♣ |
9 4 3 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
Q 9 7 4 |
| ♥ |
K Q 6 |
| ♦ |
Q 8 4 3 |
| ♣ |
10 6 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♣ |
Pass |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
2♥ |
Pass |
| 3 NT |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♠6
“It is so easy to exchange meaning; it is so easy to see the difference.”
— Gertrude Stein
Consider North-South’s club suit in today’s three-no-trump contract, without looking at East–West’s cards. At first glance it seems there is little room for maneuvering. Either the finesse works, or it does not. Well, there is more to it than that.
When the deal cropped up in the Bermuda Bowl encounter between Poland and Brazil, Michael Kwiecien won the spade lead and could see that he would need to run the clubs to make his contract.
The natural play seems to be to run the club 10, then play the suit from the top if that card is covered by the queen, but Michael saw a little more deeply into the position than that. The point is that the only way three no-trump can come home is if the club queen is onside. Since declarer could not see through the backs of the cards, he was never going to negotiate a 4-1 split onside by finessing the nine on the second round. The one distribution he could easily cope with was a singleton queen onside — that would not jeopardize any other favorable lie of the cards. So after carefully leading a low club to the queen and king at trick two, he could now unblock the club 10 and was then able to return to dummy by usiing the heart ace to collect 10 tricks. That was worth a game swing when the Brazilian declarer missed the play in the other room.
ANSWER: Declarer is surely going to need to ruff hearts in dummy, and perhaps also to discard spade losers on dummy’s diamond winners. Which should come first? My guess would be to lead trumps, but I can understand the spade lead too.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K 9 3 2 |
| ♥ |
J 6 5 |
| ♦ |
Q 9 5 4 3 |
| ♣ |
6 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
1*♦* |
Dbl. |
1*♥* |
| 1*♠* |
Pass |
Pass |
2*♣* |
| Pass |
3*♣* |
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].
July 25th, 2010 ~ Bobby Wolff ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, July 11, 2010
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
How much talking is acceptable across the board between partners during the bidding? For example, your partner has opened in a suit, the bidding has come around to you, and you jump-shift. Are you allowed to say “I jump shifted”?
— Blabbermouth, Detroit, Mich.
ANSWER: No such communication is allowed. Nowadays in tournament bridge (and even in most rubber bridge games), jump bids should be preceded with the works “Skip bid, please wait.” This is not to alert partner to your jump, whether it is a weak or strong call. It is to ensure that the next player gets 10 seconds to bid. This way he does not give unauthorized information to his partner as to whether he has a problem or a straightforward call.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
I opened one heart with ♠ Q-9-8-4-3, ♥ A-K-J-9-7-3, ♦ 10, ♣ A. My partner responded one spade, I tried a jump to five spades, and my partner bid the grand slam … and the defenders cashed the diamond ace. What should I have done to explore for slam without getting too high?
— Leap of Faith, Sioux Falls, S.D.
ANSWER: I think maybe the right call is four clubs, a splinter bid showing short clubs and setting spades as trumps, planning to pass four spades. That way you do not get overboard facing a quite normal hand with four spades to one honor and no diamond ace, when even four spades is not entirely comfortable and five spades is no bargain.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
In most bridge columns South is the declarer. Is there a reason for this that I don’t understand?
— Southern Comfort, Wilmington, N.C.
|
|
ANSWER: I could make some frivolous remark about South holding better cards than the other players, but the fact is that when South is declarer, his cards are virtually in the reader’s lap. When I see a deal with North as declarer, I feel I should turn the page upside down. Maybe that’s just me, but I suspect not.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
How should I respond with ♠ 3, ♥ 9, ♦ Q-J-10-8-7-3, ♣ J-10-6-4-2, facing my partner’s two-no-trump opening? Do people still play minor-suit Stayman?
— Stuck in the Minors, Lake Worth, Fla.
ANSWER: I’d ignore the clubs and jump to five diamonds. I don’t see how clubs can play that much better than diamonds, but the reverse is certainly not true. If I offer partner the choice, he’ll get it wrong with 3-3. These days, using a three-spade response as minor-suit Stayman is a minority position. Many play it as a puppet to three no-trump to show a slam-try with one minor or both.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
I opened one club, partner responded one heart, and the next hand butted in with one spade. How much do I need to bid one no-trump now? I thought it showed extras as a free bid, but nobody agrees with me.
— Extra Credit, Union City, Tenn.
ANSWER: My view is that the rebid shows a maximum 12-14 hand with a good spade stop. You could, I suppose, upgrade some dead minimums, but I’m not sure I would do that. It certainly can’t be a balanced 15-17 or 18-19. You’d have opened one no-trump or rebid two no-trump as appropriate. And if you weren’t balanced, you would not bid no-trump now. |
If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, e-mail him at [email protected]. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2009.
July 24th, 2010 ~ Bobby Wolff ~ 1 Comment
| Dealer: South
Vul: None |
North |
|
| ♠ |
A 6 |
| ♥ |
K 9 7 5 2 |
| ♦ |
A Q |
| ♣ |
Q J 10 3 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
3 |
♠ |
K Q J 10 9 8 4 |
| ♥ |
J 6 |
♥ |
Q 10 4 |
| ♦ |
10 8 7 6 |
♦ |
5 3 2 |
| ♣ |
9 8 7 6 4 2 |
♣ |
— |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
7 5 2 |
| ♥ |
A 8 3 |
| ♦ |
K J 9 4 |
| ♣ |
A K 5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
2♦ |
3♠ |
| Pass |
Pass |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| 4♥ |
Pass |
4♠ |
Pass |
| 5♣ |
Pass |
5 NT* |
Pass |
| 6♥ |
Pass |
6 NT |
All Pass |
Opening Lead: ♠3
“The full truth of this odd matter is what the world has long been looking for, and public curiosity is sure to welcome.”
— Robert Louis Stevenson
Matchpoints and bridge often seem to have only passing resemblances to each other, but here North’s decision to play the slam in no-trump as opposed to hearts was based on the idea that South might be able to come to 12 tricks without bringing the hearts in.
In fact, after a spade lead, declarer had decent chances. With spades 7-1, the best and obvious chance was to set up the hearts without allowing East in to run his spades. South was unwilling to put all his eggs in one basket, so he decided to try to find out a little about East’s side-suit pattern.
He won the spade lead in dummy, cashed the A-Q of diamonds, then came to hand with a high club as East pitched a spade. Now the king and jack of diamonds, with hearts pitched from dummy, gave South a complete count of the hand. East had only three minor-suit cards and seven spades, thus three hearts. When the last three clubs were cashed, South pitching a heart from hand, what four cards was East to come down to? If he kept fewer than three hearts, the suit would run for declarer, so he could retain only one spade. Now declarer led dummy’s second spade, setting up the remaining spade in hand for the 12th trick.
If East had turned up with length in diamonds and clubs, declarer would have gone after hearts, cashing the ace and leading up to dummy’s nine, a line that would succeed unless West had a four-card suit including all the top honors.
ANSWER: These days many play inverted minors. This means that a response of two diamonds here would show at least a limit raise and be forcing as far as two no-trump or three diamonds. This allows for exploration at a more convenient level. (The corollary is that a jump to three diamonds here would be pre-emptive.) Lacking that tool, maybe your best bet is to invent a two-club response.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
7 5 2 |
| ♥ |
A 8 3 |
| ♦ |
K J 9 4 |
| ♣ |
A K 5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♦ |
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].
July 23rd, 2010 ~ Bobby Wolff ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Friday, July 9, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: E/W |
North |
|
| ♠ |
J 7 3 |
| ♥ |
K J 10 |
| ♦ |
Q J 10 7 |
| ♣ |
10 7 5 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
— |
♠ |
K 8 6 5 |
| ♥ |
7 6 4 3 |
♥ |
Q 9 8 2 |
| ♦ |
K 5 4 2 |
♦ |
9 8 |
| ♣ |
A K Q 8 3 |
♣ |
J 6 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A Q 10 9 4 2 |
| ♥ |
A 5 |
| ♦ |
A 6 3 |
| ♣ |
9 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♠ |
Dbl. |
1 NT |
2♥ |
| 2♠ |
Pass |
2♠ |
Pass |
| 4♠ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♣ King
“How slow
Behind the course of thought, even sick with speed,
Lags leaden-footed time!”
— Percy Bysshe Shelley
One of the most unfortunate things that occurred in the Venice Cup in Bermuda 10 years ago was that a Danish star, Charlotte Koch-Palmund, took ill and had to return home in midtournament. Her presence was sorely missed, although the Danes did go on to win the bronze medal.
When Denmark met France in the early stages of the Venice Cup, Charlotte had a chance to break one of the cardinal rules on defense — but it just happened to be the only way to set the hand! Put yourself in the West seat to see what I mean.
Charlotte (West) led out three rounds of clubs against four spades. When declarer ruffed and played a heart to dummy’s king to run the spade jack, Charlotte pitched a diamond. Now declarer correctly decided to repeat the spade finesse, and when East covered the spade seven with the eight, declarer won in hand and led a low diamond up.
Charlotte hopped up with the king and made the key defensive play when she broke all the rules by giving declarer a ruff and discard — a discard she did not need. The trump in dummy had to be preserved for the spade finesse, so declarer ruffed in hand, but that gave East the chance to discard her last diamond. Now when South tried to cross to dummy with a low diamond for the trump play, East ruffed in for one down.
ANSWER: You could simply jump to four spades now, but that would be highly premature. With your aces and your diamond fit, you might make seven diamonds if your partner had the spade king, the club ace and decent diamonds. Start the exploration by setting up a forcing auction: cue-bid two hearts, planning to support diamonds, and see what develops.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A Q 10 9 4 2 |
| ♥ |
A 5 |
| ♦ |
A 6 3 |
| ♣ |
9 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♦ |
1♥ |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
2♦ |
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].
July 22nd, 2010 ~ Bobby Wolff ~ 2 Comments
| Dealer: South
Vul: E/W |
North |
|
| ♠ |
J 7 2 |
| ♥ |
Q J 10 8 6 |
| ♦ |
Q 10 5 |
| ♣ |
10 2 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
8 5 |
♠ |
Q 10 9 4 |
| ♥ |
7 5 |
♥ |
A 9 3 2 |
| ♦ |
K 9 8 4 2 |
♦ |
7 3 |
| ♣ |
Q 9 7 4 |
♣ |
K 8 5 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A K 6 3 |
| ♥ |
K 4 |
| ♦ |
A J 6 |
| ♣ |
A J 6 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 2 NT |
Pass |
3♦ |
Pass |
| 3♥ |
Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♦4
“Therefore, acknowledge your error and be attentive.”
— Christopher Marlowe
At the Dyspeptics Club, whenever South becomes declarer, his partner — a man of almost legendary impatience and acerbity — puts down his dummy and ostentatiously focuses on a spot in the middle distance. His explanation is that he does not want to watch his partner butcher the hand, but somehow he always has a biting comment ready for the post-mortem.
Today’s deal was no exception. South played three no-trump by winning the opening diamond lead cheaply in his hand and playing two rounds of hearts to East. That player continued the attack on diamonds, and declarer finessed again, letting West win and clear the suit. Declarer now realized that leading a low spade from hand to dummy’s jack could not win. His only chance of success was to find the spade queen doubleton. But his luck was not in; he emerged with only six tricks.
Before South could claim that he was unlucky, North inquired whether a 100 percent chance was not good enough for him. Can you see what he meant?
South should have won the first trick with the diamond ace, sacrificing a potential diamond trick to ensure that he had an entry to dummy in diamonds. Now he simply wins the heart king and leads another heart. By leading his low diamond to dummy’s 10 at his next opportunity, he can be assured of two diamond tricks, four hearts, and his three black-suit winners.
ANSWER: Although you are not overburdened with aces and kings, you have extra shape and trumps that will allow you to compete to three hearts. Any time you have a chunky five-card suit and six points, you are better off than you might be. Since your partner’s double committed you to the two-level, you should feel comfortable in competing one level further.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 7 2 |
| ♥ |
Q J 10 8 6 |
| ♦ |
Q 10 5 |
| ♣ |
10 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
2♦ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| 2♥ |
Pass |
Pass |
3♦ |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
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].
July 21st, 2010 ~ Bobby Wolff ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, July 7, 2010
| Dealer: West
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
K Q 6 3 |
| ♥ |
J 8 7 |
| ♦ |
Q 6 4 |
| ♣ |
5 4 3 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
10 |
♠ |
9 8 |
| ♥ |
K 10 5 2 |
♥ |
9 6 4 3 |
| ♦ |
J 9 8 5 2 |
♦ |
K 10 |
| ♣ |
A 9 7 |
♣ |
K Q J 10 6 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A J 7 5 4 2 |
| ♥ |
A Q |
| ♦ |
A 7 3 |
| ♣ |
8 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
Pass |
Pass |
Pass |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
2♠ |
Pass |
| 3♦ |
Pass |
4♠ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♠10
“You will, therefore, permit me to concede your entire argument, and yet contrive means to escape your dilemma.”
— Johann Goethe
The cunning declarer can sometimes get away with murder if he manages to conceal his high-card strength. Today’s deal provides an example, where North-South had bid very aggressively to a delicate game at both tables of a team game. Cover up the East-West cards and make your plan in four spades on a trump lead.
In one room West led a diamond and declarer was soon down two tricks when he misguessed the diamond suit at trick one.
At the other table Israel’s Ilan Herbst received a trump lead. He won in hand and found the inspired shot of leading the heart queen from hand, inferring from the passive lead that West had awkward holdings in the other suits. While it may look like an extreme position to give up on a legitimate play in exchange for a swindle, good players should have the courage of their convictions.
West won the trick and, with no real clue, chose to return a heart. Declarer won his ace, crossed to dummy with a trump, and discarded a club on the heart jack. He now played a club, which was won by West. When West continued with a second club, declarer ruffed, crossed to dummy with a trump, ruffed the last club, then played ace and another diamond. The king was offside, but because East had only a doubleton, his only choice was to win and give declarer a ruff and discard for his contract.
ANSWER: The range for your two-diamond call was quite wide — you might easily have had a 10-count. Your partner must have extra shape if not high cards and be trying for game. Since you have no interest beyond partscore, you should sign off in three diamonds.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K Q 6 3 |
| ♥ |
J 8 7 |
| ♦ |
Q 6 4 |
| ♣ |
5 4 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♦ |
Pass |
| 1♠ |
2♣ |
Pass |
Pass |
| 2♦ |
Pass |
2♥ |
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].
July 20th, 2010 ~ Bobby Wolff ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, July 6, 2010
| Dealer: East
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
K J 6 2 |
| ♥ |
A 5 3 |
| ♦ |
A K |
| ♣ |
K J 10 4 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
9 7 3 |
♠ |
5 |
| ♥ |
10 6 2 |
♥ |
K Q J 9 8 7 4 |
| ♦ |
Q 10 9 6 3 2 |
♦ |
J 4 |
| ♣ |
3 |
♣ |
Q 7 5 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A Q 10 8 4 |
| ♥ |
— |
| ♦ |
8 7 5 |
| ♣ |
A 9 8 6 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
3♥ |
| 3♠ |
4♥ |
4 NT |
Pass |
| 5 NT |
Pass |
7♠ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♥2
“She took (the quilt) out of the chest, unfolded it, and counted the stars in the pattern — counting was an accomplishment she was proud of — before she wrapped it up.”
— Willa Cather
Anyone can bid a grand slam; making it is another matter. Here, South stretched to act at his first turn — rightly so, given his heart void. North was able to use key-card Blackwood in response. (Some would play his bid of four no-trump as takeout for the minors.) South’s response to the ace-asking bid showed two aces and a void, so North made the majestic leap to seven spades. Since South was missing the club queen, he had to use good judgment to make his contract.
When West led a heart, South ruffed, then drew trumps. The bidding suggested that West was more likely to hold the club queen than East, as hearts looked to be dividing 7-3. West had shown up with three spades to East’s one, which meant that East had only five spaces for minor-suit cards, to West’s seven.
But there was no need for haste, and declarer gave himself every chance to pinpoint the distribution. He cashed dummy’s ace and king of diamonds, then the heart ace, carefully throwing a club from hand. Dummy’s last heart was ruffed in hand, then South’s third diamond was ruffed in dummy, East showing out.
At this point West was proven to have started with three spades, and a minimum of three hearts and six diamonds, which left room for at most one club. So it was quite safe to lead dummy’s club king, then run the club jack through East to bring home the grand slam.
ANSWER: The way to show a balanced 18-20 hand is to double and then bid no-trump. This shows more than a direct one-no-trump overcall and not less than the direct overcall. With a balanced 12-14 and stoppers in the opponents’ suit, by the way, you have to pass in direct seat, although you can come in with a bid of one no-trump in the balancing seat.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K J 6 2 |
| ♥ |
A 5 3 |
| ♦ |
A K |
| ♣ |
K J 10 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
1♦ |
| Dbl. |
Pass |
1♥ |
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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