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].
August 8th, 2010 ~ Bobby Wolff ~
Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, July 25, 2010
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
I thought I understood inverted minors until I bid it and later heard a variety of explanations for it. I thought it showed unlimited strength, natural support, and no four-card major. What is the most useful way to play inverted minors with Standard American?
— Puzzled, Sequim, Wash.
ANSWER: Your explanation is basically correct. It is easier to play the inverted minors as invitational or better. (Either hand can limit the action and stop in two no-trump or three of the agreed minor if he limits his hand at his next turn.) But you can, if you want, play the inverted raise as game-forcing, in which case you need to find an artificial call to show a limit raise, perhaps a jump in the unbid minor.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Holding ♠ K-7, ♥ Q-J-9-4 ♦ A-9-7-3, ♣ Q-7-3, you open one diamond in third seat. Your LHO bids one spade, which gets passed back to you. What action should you take?
— Mousetrap, Pittsburgh, Pa.
ANSWER: This is a vicious problem. Partner’s hand will be good only if he has a penalty double of spades, and you are looking at enough in spades to make this unlikely — and partner is a passed hand to boot. So I’d pass. If partner does have good spades, who is to say that we also have good defense against a club contract?
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Recently you showed a deal where your partner opened one club, the next hand overcalled one spade, and you bid two diamonds. When your partner bid two spades, was he asking for a control in spades or showing one? What are your obligations?
— Cue Tips, Miami, Fla.
|
|
ANSWER: The cuebid here is typically forcing (when below three no-trump), asking for a stopper in the opponents’ suit. If your partner has huge diamond support and short spades, he could jump to three spades — a splinter bid — or he could bid two spades, then bid on over three no-trump.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
I’ve been reading your column for years, keeping an eye out for mistakes or for something I could comment on. (I wrote to you once about what I thought was a mistake, but it wasn’t.) At last I have found one in today’s column. There are not two diamond kings in the deck. Gotcha!!!
— Sleuth, North Little Rock, Ark.
ANSWER: I wish I could be humble enough to say mea culpa — but I am not, I can’t and I won’t! When the column is first written, it is run through an automatic check that insures that all deals have 52 different cards, 13 per hand. Then it is edited, with corrections at every stage. Next the paper gets it, and at that point the occasional computer glitch or human error creeps in. We have no control.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
With ♠ A-3, ♥ 9-7-3, ♦ K-Q-7-3-2, ♣ 10-8-3, what is the right response to a one-diamond opening? And what would you do if you had a one-heart overcall on your right?
— Tipping Point, Atlanta, Ga.
ANSWER: In all cases you would like to upgrade this hand to a limit raise of diamonds. The simplest way facing an opening bid is a jump raise in diamonds, or an inverted minor-suit raise if you play that method. If the opponents come in, you can cuebid in hearts to show a limit raise, assuming that a jump raise would be more shape and fewer high cards. |
If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, e-mail him at [email protected]. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2009.
August 7th, 2010 ~ Bobby Wolff ~
Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, July 24, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: None |
North |
|
| ♠ |
10 8 3 |
| ♥ |
A 4 |
| ♦ |
K Q J 7 2 |
| ♣ |
K J 6 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
K 5 4 2 |
♠ |
J 7 6 |
| ♥ |
9 8 3 2 |
♥ |
J 6 |
| ♦ |
10 6 |
♦ |
A 9 8 5 4 |
| ♣ |
A 8 4 |
♣ |
Q 9 3 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A Q 9 |
| ♥ |
K Q 10 7 5 |
| ♦ |
3 |
| ♣ |
10 7 5 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
2♦ |
Pass |
| 3♣ |
Pass |
3♠ |
Pass |
| 3 NT |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♠2
“Her reasoning is full of tricks
And butterfly suggestions.
I know no point to which she sticks;
She begs the simplest questions.”
— Alfred Cochrane
In the San Remo European Open Teams, Romania’s Veronel Lungu (West) and Viorel Micescu (East) produced a stunning defense against what appeared to be an unbeatable contract.
West led the spade two against three no-trump, and declarer played low from dummy, taking East’s jack with the queen. When he played a diamond to the king, East won with the ace and played another spade, which declarer ducked to West’s king.
Now West made the farsighted play of switching to a club — he could see that the spade suit by itself did not offer enough prospects for the defense. When declarer played low from dummy, East put in the queen, and when that held, he switched back to spades.
The defenders were now assured of four tricks, but it also it appeared that declarer was fated to make his contract, thanks to the fall of the heart jack. However, when declarer, having taken the spade ace, crossed to dummy with the heart ace, the heart jack made an unexpected appearance.
Convinced by East’s falsecard that he could no longer hope for five heart tricks, declarer decided that he needed to establish the ninth trick in clubs. As West had failed to clear the spade suit, it seemed logical to place the ace with East, so declarer played the club king. However, it was West who took the trick, and his last spade defeated the unbeatable game.
ANSWER: Your partner’s double shows cards; it is not for penalties. You have a choice of ways forward, given that you must not pass with only three trumps. You can rebid your chunky diamonds or support hearts, the former looking preferable. Even if you had denied three hearts, those diamonds look as if they are supposed to be trumps.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
10 8 3 |
| ♥ |
A 4 |
| ♦ |
K Q J 7 2 |
| ♣ |
K J 6 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♦ |
Dbl. |
1♥ |
2♣ |
| Pass |
Pass |
Dbl. |
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 6th, 2010 ~ Bobby Wolff ~
1 Comment
| Dealer: North
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
Q J 4 |
| ♥ |
K Q 9 |
| ♦ |
A 5 4 |
| ♣ |
A K Q J |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
A 10 8 3 2 |
♠ |
K 7 6 5 |
| ♥ |
7 |
♥ |
A 5 3 2 |
| ♦ |
J 10 7 3 |
♦ |
K 6 2 |
| ♣ |
8 6 5 |
♣ |
7 4 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
9 |
| ♥ |
J 10 8 6 4 |
| ♦ |
Q 9 8 |
| ♣ |
10 9 3 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
2♣ |
Pass |
| 2♥* |
Pass |
2 NT |
Pass |
| 3♦ |
Pass |
3♥ |
Pass |
| 3 NT |
Pass |
4♥ |
All Pass |
Opening Lead: ♦ Jack
“A wise player ought to accept his throws and score them, not bewail his luck.”
— Sophocles
In today’s deal the methods played by North-South accidentally nullified the effect of the transfer system they were playing over two no-trump. Because South was marked with at least a five-card heart suit and probably a lack of entry cards, it was clear for North to convert back to four hearts rather than passing three no-trump, and indeed the suit game looked comfortable enough.
However, the defenders were on the ball, and the combination of an accurate defense and the bad trump break was enough to doom the contract.
After winning the diamond king, East knew that the contract could not be set unless West had the spade ace, and the auction had marked West with that card. If South had two spades, the contract could be set no matter which spade East led. But if South had only one spade, East saw that he had to lead the spade king first and then continue leading spades.
South had to trump the second spade, and was down to four hearts. When East won the heart ace, he could lead a third spade and force South to ruff again, setting up his long trump for the setting trick.
Note that if East’s first lead is a low spade, dummy’s queen and jack of spades are equal against East’s king. South will get to ruff away East’s honor. He cannot be forced to ruff a second time, and so can draw trumps with impunity.
ANSWER: For the time being you have no problem; your partner has shown a good hand with long clubs and four hearts. You can give preference to three clubs and leave it up to your partner whether he wants to bid on. Do not bid no-trump — you have no idea where your tricks will come from, despite your diamond guard.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A 10 8 3 2 |
| ♥ |
7 |
| ♦ |
J 10 7 3 |
| ♣ |
8 6 5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♣ |
1♦ |
| 1♠ |
2♦ |
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].
August 5th, 2010 ~ Bobby Wolff ~
2 Comments
| Dealer: South
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
K 6 5 2 |
| ♥ |
— |
| ♦ |
K 8 4 2 |
| ♣ |
Q 7 5 4 2 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
10 9 |
♠ |
J |
| ♥ |
J 9 7 3 |
♥ |
Q 10 8 5 4 2 |
| ♦ |
A J 9 5 |
♦ |
10 7 3 |
| ♣ |
K 10 8 |
♣ |
9 6 3 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A Q 8 7 4 3 |
| ♥ |
A K 6 |
| ♦ |
Q 6 |
| ♣ |
A J |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
3♠ |
Pass |
| 6♠ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♠10
“True wit is Nature to advantage dressed,
What oft was thought, but ne’er so well expressed.”
— Alexander Pope
Today’s deal comes in the form of a problem. South is in six spades, West leads the trump 10, and East will follow suit to the first trump. Clearly this contract will never go down if the club finesse succeeds. But how can declarer make this contract regardless of the position of the club king?
The answer is that on careful play the contract will always come home, provided West has the diamond ace in addition to the club king.
South wins the trump in hand and plays the diamond six out of his hand at once. If West rises with the ace, the club jack will later be discarded on dummy’s diamond king. So West ducks his ace, and the diamond king wins the trick. Declarer returns to hand in trumps and now throws two low diamonds away on the top hearts. He ruffs the third heart in dummy and exits in diamonds to endplay West. If East holds the diamond ace, the club finesse will be needed.
Note that it would do declarer no good to play a diamond toward the queen at an early stage of the hand. Either West has the diamond ace — in which case he can exit with a diamond safely — or East has the diamond ace. In the latter case East will be able to obtain the lead later on in the hand and exit with a club to force declarer to take the finesse.
ANSWER: When your partner failed to compete to two hearts over two diamonds, he suggested a minimum hand. Although there seem to be a lot of high cards in the deck, the opponents obviously have a decent spade fit, and hearts do not rate to be splitting for your side. Pass, and take your medicine.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
10 9 |
| ♥ |
J 9 7 3 |
| ♦ |
A J 9 5 |
| ♣ |
K 10 8 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♦ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| 1♥ |
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].
August 4th, 2010 ~ Bobby Wolff ~
Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, July 21, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: N/S |
North |
|
| ♠ |
Q |
| ♥ |
K J 8 4 2 |
| ♦ |
Q 9 7 |
| ♣ |
K J 7 3 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
A 3 |
♠ |
J 4 |
| ♥ |
Q 10 9 6 3 |
♥ |
A 5 |
| ♦ |
A 2 |
♦ |
8 5 4 3 |
| ♣ |
A 10 4 2 |
♣ |
Q 9 8 6 5 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
K 10 9 8 7 6 5 2 |
| ♥ |
7 |
| ♦ |
K J 10 6 |
| ♣ |
— |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
4♠ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♦ Ace
“Soldiers are sworn to action; they must win
Some flaming, fatal climax with their lives.”
— Siegfried Sassoon
Do not be afraid to pre-empt to the limit with hands like South’s. You do better to get into the auction immediately with hands like this; it actually works out to be safer to steal the opponents’ bidding space immediately than to let them exchange information and then bid.
Not that four spades is an easy contract. Cover up the East-West hands and plan the play after West leads the diamond ace, followed by another diamond. How do you rate your chances?
Without the threat of the diamond ruff, you would be in reasonable shape, but now it looks as though you will go down if East has either major-suit ace. This is because he will be able to obtain the lead cheaply and give his partner a diamond ruff. However, you do have a cost-free extra chance if East has the heart ace and not the club ace. Give yourself a moment to think about what that might be.
Win the second diamond in dummy and play the club king. If East plays the ace, you ruff and are no worse off than before. However, if East plays low, you can discard your heart and East can no longer gain the lead to deliver the ruff since you have no hearts left.
This maneuver is called the Scissors Coup, the “unkindest cut of all,” at least from your opponents’ perspective.
ANSWER: Although there are many situations where it makes sense to play a change of suit as forcing, this is not one of them. Your partner had cue-bids or jumps available with a strong hand; this sequence sounds as if he has extra shape but no extra high-cards. It feels right to pass now while you are still at a sensible level, since diamonds is surely your best fit.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q |
| ♥ |
K J 8 4 2 |
| ♦ |
Q 9 7 |
| ♣ |
K J 7 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
1♣ |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
1♠ |
Pass |
| 1 NT |
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].
August 3rd, 2010 ~ Bobby Wolff ~
Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, July 20, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: None |
North |
|
| ♠ |
A 8 6 5 3 2 |
| ♥ |
A Q 9 |
| ♦ |
7 2 |
| ♣ |
K 6 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
4 |
♠ |
Q J 10 |
| ♥ |
8 5 3 2 |
♥ |
10 7 |
| ♦ |
K Q 10 9 3 |
♦ |
J 8 5 4 |
| ♣ |
Q 9 4 |
♣ |
10 8 7 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
K 9 7 |
| ♥ |
K J 6 4 |
| ♦ |
A 6 |
| ♣ |
A J 5 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
2♥ |
Pass |
| 2♠ |
Pass |
4♠ |
Pass |
| 6♠ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♦ King
“Unfold thy face, unmask thy ray,
Shine forth, bright Sun, double the day.”
— Christopher Harvey
If you play two-level and four-level transfers (the latter known as Texas transfers), then a transfer followed by a raise to game can be played as a mild slam-try. That was what North-South were doing here, and South simply drove to the spade slam when he was offered the invitation.
Slam is secure on any lead except a diamond, and 13 tricks will materialize if trumps break, as dummy’s losing diamond will disappear on South’s fourth heart.
However, West was dealt an easy diamond lead, and two rounds of trumps revealed the inevitable trump loser. That left the problem of how to eliminate the diamond loser before East gained the lead with the master trump and returned the diamond that would sink the slam.
One possibility involves finessing the club jack — a straight 50-50 shot. A better plan is to cash hearts. As long as East holds three or more, dummy’s losing diamond is dispatched before East has the opportunity to ruff in.
An even better chance exists, which involves combining plays in clubs and hearts. Cash the two top clubs, and if the queen has not dropped, ruff a club. If the queen now drops, then dummy’s diamond is jettisoned on the club jack. And if the queen fails to fall, the heart play is probably still available.
This line of play succeeds not only on the layout of this hand, but also on about four out of five possible defensive distributions.
ANSWER: Yours not to reason why! Your partner has suggested defending and you are looking at a semibalanced hand with a weak spade suit. Thus there is no reason to consider doing anything other than following partner’s suggestion, and defending.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A 8 6 5 3 2 |
| ♥ |
A Q 9 |
| ♦ |
7 2 |
| ♣ |
K 6 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♠ |
Dbl. |
Rdbl. |
Pass |
| Pass |
2♦ |
Dbl. |
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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