June 10th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, May 27, 2010 
| Dealer: North
Vul: N/S |
North |
|
| ♠ |
Q 3 2 |
| ♥ |
A 3 |
| ♦ |
K 6 5 |
| ♣ |
A 6 5 4 2 |
| West |
 |
East |
| ♠ |
9 6 |
♠ |
7 4 |
| ♥ |
J 4 |
♥ |
K Q 10 9 8 7 2 |
| ♦ |
Q 8 7 3 |
♦ |
J 10 9 2 |
| ♣ |
K Q J 9 7 |
♣ |
— |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A K J 10 8 5 |
| ♥ |
6 5 |
| ♦ |
A 4 |
| ♣ |
10 8 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♣ |
4♥ |
| 4♠ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♣ King
“A mind not to be changed by place or time,
The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a heav’n of hell, a hell of heav’n.”
— John Milton
In a perfect world, you and I would bid the North-South cards to four no-trump. But the world is not perfect, and when this deal came up in the rubber bridge game at the Dyspeptics Club, South had a straightforward bid of four spades over East’s pre-emptive call of four hearts.
The play of the cards was also slightly less than perfect. Before we criticize declarer too highly, consider how you would play four spades when West hits upon the lead of the club king. I too might have made the mistake that South did. Acting on autopilot, he called for dummy’s ace. As a friend of mine would say in such situations, “Up went the ace; down went the contract!”
East ruffed away the club ace and played a top heart, leaving declarer with three apparently inescapable side-suit losers. Declarer did his best by winning the heart ace, ruffing out the diamonds, then drawing two rounds of trump ending in dummy and leading a low heart. But East could see that if he won the trick, he would have to concede a ruff and sluff. He ducked the heart, and West won his jack to cash two club tricks.
South ought to have known that he had 10 sure tricks unless East ruffed the club ace. South should have ducked dummy’s club ace — four times if need be — and ruffed the fourth club in hand. Then he could discard his losing heart on the club ace after drawing trumps.
ANSWER: If ever a hand could be found to demonstrate the WRONG holding for an overcall, this is it. Your clubs and hand are too weak, the overcall takes up no space, your partner is a passed hand, etc. I can’t guarantee that if you do overcall you will get into trouble. I can say that you deserve to!
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q 3 2 |
| ♥ |
A 3 |
| ♦ |
K 6 5 |
| ♣ |
A 6 5 4 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
Pass |
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].
June 9th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, May 26, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
Q 10 6 |
| ♥ |
A 8 5 4 |
| ♦ |
5 3 2 |
| ♣ |
A J 8 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
K J 2 |
♠ |
A 9 5 4 |
| ♥ |
10 9 |
♥ |
7 |
| ♦ |
K J 9 6 |
♦ |
A Q 10 7 4 |
| ♣ |
Q 7 6 4 |
♣ |
9 5 3 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
8 7 3 |
| ♥ |
K Q J 6 3 2 |
| ♦ |
8 |
| ♣ |
K 10 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 2♥ |
Pass |
2 NT |
Pass |
| 3♣ |
Pass |
3♥ |
Pass |
| 4♥ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♠2
“Whence are we, and why are we? Of what scene
The actors or spectators?”
— Percy Bysshe Shelley
Today’s deal highlights one of my favorite players in the women’s game, Catherine D’Ovidio of France.
The point of the deal is that even at the top levels of the game, declarers may be prepared to invest a trick by making a deceptive play, assuming that no defender will believe they are capable of such deviousness. Witness this deal from the 1997 Venice Cup quarterfinals.
D’Ovidio was playing a disciplined weak-two style, which persuaded Veronique Bessis to make a constructive rather than a pre-emptive try for game. Now South was never going to reject that invitation.
She made 10 tricks, but the way she did so was interesting. On West’s low spade lead, D’Ovidio played low from dummy. As the cards lay, this was a play that might well have required some embarrassing explanations to her teammates.
D’Ovidio had reasoned correctly that this play would put East under a great deal of pressure if she had ace-king-nine, and that East was never going to be able to read the position and put in the nine if she was looking at her actual holding.
D’Ovidio had calculated accurately, East duly winning the spade ace at trick one. That meant 10 tricks for North-South in due course, when declarer guessed clubs.
Incidentally, if you want to play in, or watch, a world championship in the United States, an opportunity will present itself in Philadelphia this October. The events are open to everyone. For more information check out http://www.usbf.org.
ANSWER: You rate to be facing a minimum balanced hand (one that cannot raise hearts or repeat clubs) and so you have no source of tricks. It feels right if just a little pessimistic to rebid one no-trump rather than trying for game with a call of two no-trump. Partner may not expect you to hold quite so much, but there is more to the game than just counting points.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q 10 6 |
| ♥ |
A 8 5 4 |
| ♦ |
5 3 2 |
| ♣ |
A J 8 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♣ |
Pass |
| 1♥ |
1♠ |
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].
June 8th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, May 25, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: None |
North |
|
| ♠ |
K 8 2 |
| ♥ |
J 10 |
| ♦ |
K Q 7 6 5 4 |
| ♣ |
Q 3 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
J 7 5 |
♠ |
Q 10 6 3 |
| ♥ |
Q 9 6 5 4 |
♥ |
8 7 2 |
| ♦ |
10 3 |
♦ |
A J 9 |
| ♣ |
K 9 5 |
♣ |
A 10 6 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A 9 4 |
| ♥ |
A K 3 |
| ♦ |
8 2 |
| ♣ |
J 8 7 4 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♣ |
Pass |
1♦ |
Pass |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♥5
“It is the talk, and not the intrigue, that’s the crime.”
— George Granville
Today’s deal comes from Patrick Jourdain’s “Problem Corner,” a collection of puzzles that have appeared on Britain’s Channel Four Teletext, or in Bridge Magazine, where Jourdain has been offering a monthly problem for the last decade.
In today’s deal how should you play three no-trump on a low heart lead won by dummy’s jack?
With five tricks in the majors, you will need to set up diamonds to have any chance of getting close to nine tricks. The natural play seems to be to lead up to the diamond honors twice, hoping that the ace is well placed for you; but there are breakers ahead.
You will need diamonds to be 3-2, but even then, communications are problematic. Imagine that you win the second heart in hand and lead a diamond to the king, come back to the spade ace, and lead a second diamond. When East wins his ace and returns a spade, you can no longer establish and enjoy the diamond suit.
Nor can you play a high diamond from dummy at trick two: East may duck, leaving dummy short of entries in just the same way.
Instead, lead a low diamond from the table at trick two. You can win any major-suit return in hand and lead a second diamond to set up the suit. Because you left the majors intact, you can ensure reaching the diamonds later by using the spade king.
ANSWER: In this auction the call of three hearts, giving preference to partner’s first-bid suit, is consistent with either a decent doubleton heart or three hearts. The point is that you sometimes will have initially raised hearts with three, rather than rebid a moderate six-carder. So partner should not expect the earth from you in the way of heart support. And you can still get to three no-trump if appropriate.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K 8 2 |
| ♥ |
J 10 |
| ♦ |
K Q 7 6 5 4 |
| ♣ |
Q 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♦ |
Pass |
1♥ |
Pass |
| 2♦ |
Pass |
3♣ |
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].
June 7th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Monday, May 24, 2010
| Dealer: North
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
A K 6 4 3 |
| ♥ |
K 7 5 3 |
| ♦ |
A 5 |
| ♣ |
K Q |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
Q 8 5 2 |
♠ |
J 10 |
| ♥ |
A J 8 4 |
♥ |
10 6 |
| ♦ |
J 10 9 3 |
♦ |
8 7 6 4 2 |
| ♣ |
4 |
♣ |
J 6 5 3 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
9 7 |
| ♥ |
Q 9 2 |
| ♦ |
K Q |
| ♣ |
A 10 9 8 7 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♠ |
Pass |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
3♥ |
Pass |
| 3 NT |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♦ Jack
“In baiting a mouse-trap with cheese, always leave room for the mouse.”
— Saki
If you were to look only at the North-South cards, you would like your chances in six clubs. If you can ruff out the spades without losing a trump trick, you have excellent chances of 12 tricks.
All well and good, but you have bid your cards only to the pedestrian contract of three no-trump, so you had better not go down, given your side’s combined 30 high-card points!
At some tables South might win the diamond lead in dummy and cash the two top clubs, finding the bad news, then try his luck with either hearts or spades. He could try to come to hand with the heart queen (a 50 percent chance) or he could play three rounds of spades, hoping for an even break, roughly a one-third shot. Today neither of these lines would work; the defenders would win and clear the diamonds, and declarer would go down.
At teams-scoring or rubber bridge, overtricks do not really count for much; the objective is to make your contract. The best line to do that is to win the diamond ace and play the club king, then the club queen, overtaking with your ace. That may turn your six club winners into five, but it does ensure that you have the entries to set up the club suit without the loss of a tempo. You concede a trick to the club jack, then win the diamond return, and cash out your nine winners.
ANSWER: Just because you do not know what you should lead is no reason to abnegate responsibility by leading a trump (which rates to lose a trick when partner has an honor). When in doubt, lead from your long suit. A club could cost a trick, but it is also quite likely to set up a trick or allow you to cash club winners before they go away.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 6 2 |
| ♥ |
J 7 4 |
| ♦ |
Q 4 3 |
| ♣ |
K 9 6 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
1♥ |
| Pass |
3♥ |
Pass |
4♥ |
| 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].
June 6th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, May 23, 2010
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
You recently wrote that no revoke penalty would be assessed if your side did not win a subsequent trick. However, you also state that in rubber bridge, if you did not bid game, adding the extra penalty trick(s) would not entitle you to the game bonus. Is the situation therefore different for duplicate bridge or in Chicago scoring?
— Shifting Sands, New Smyrna Beach, Fla.
ANSWER: Apologies! I did not write clearly enough, and you read more into my words than I intended. Let me restate the law and its impact. The revoke law never does anything except change the number of tricks TAKEN. It never changes the tricks CONTRACTED FOR. The contract always remains the same. Hence revoke tricks simply produce over- or under-tricks (or change a making contract into one going down or vice versa) no matter what form of bridge you play.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Would you open the bidding with ♠ A-J-9, ♥ A-Q-7, ♦ 10-7-3-2, ♣ J-7-4? I thought that despite my minimum point-count and flat hand that the two aces were enough to demand an opening bid. My partner did not agree, although the traveling score-slip at our duplicate suggested that nobody else passed either!
— Golden Silence, Detroit, Mich.
ANSWER: Flat 12-counts do not have to be opened — particularly if you would be bidding a bad suit, as here, which may get partner off to the wrong lead. I do not feel strongly on this one, but for sure if I had two four-card suits, I would open the bidding here.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Suppose you are 5-5 or 5-6 in the majors and hear your RHO, a solid citizen, open one spade. Should one trap-pass, hoping to hear your partner balance with a takeout double? Or should you ignore the five-card spade suit and overcall in hearts?
— Lurk Theory, Austin, Texas
|
|
ANSWER: Much depends on suit quality. No one would overcall with five bad hearts and five good spades; most people WOULD bid with the majors reversed. It is clearer when you have length in your RHO’s bid minor, when the opening does not guarantee length and you may never get a second chance if you don’t bid at once.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
In a recent column you posed the problem with ♠ 8-6, ♥ J-2, ♦ A-J-8-5, ♣ A-J-9-4-2, where your partner overcalled two hearts over one spade. I see reason no not to advance with a natural and forcing three-club call. Am I right?
— Up and Over, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
ANSWER: I’m worried that raising clubs may get us past three no-trump rather too often. And my view of two-level overcalls is that a doubleton and a ruffing value is decent enough support. I try not to come in on bad suits and expect my partner to do the same!
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Do you have any comments about leading from a three-card suit such as Q-10-2? When if ever would it be right to lead the queen to try to unblock the suit?
— Unorthodox, Olympia, Wash.
ANSWER: The answer depends on the strength of the rest of your hand (and thus how many entries your partner may have), and also what sort of stop declarer has promised. I’d lead low unless I could see that my partner was sufficiently weak so that I’d need to lead the high card to help protect his entries. Leading the honors costs a trick more often than one would realize. |
If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, e-mail him at [email protected]. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2009.
June 5th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, May 22, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: E/W |
North |
|
| ♠ |
10 4 3 2 |
| ♥ |
Q J 8 |
| ♦ |
A 8 3 |
| ♣ |
A K Q |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
Q 8 |
♠ |
K J 7 6 |
| ♥ |
10 9 4 |
♥ |
5 |
| ♦ |
Q 4 |
♦ |
10 9 7 6 2 |
| ♣ |
J 9 5 4 3 2 |
♣ |
8 7 6 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A 9 5 |
| ♥ |
A K 7 6 3 2 |
| ♦ |
K J 5 |
| ♣ |
10 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
1♠ |
Pass |
| 3♥ |
Pass |
4 NT |
Pass |
| 5♣* |
Pass |
5 NT |
Pass |
| 6♦** |
Pass |
7♥ |
All Pass |
| *Three of the five aces, counting the trump king as an ace |
Opening Lead: ♥10
“So many worlds, so much to do,
So little done, such things to be.”
— Alfred, Lord Tennyson
It is not normally a good idea to bid a grand slam with only 12 top tricks, but today’s declarer found two extra chances without taking a finesse. The substantial extra chance did not materialize, but at the end South was able to claim victory.
When North heard his partner show extras and six hearts, he found out about the key-cards and the diamond king and knew that his partner ought to have at least one other honor for his jump-response. His leap to the heart grand slam was a little sporting, but he figured the contract had to have play and might be cold.
The defenders led a trump — always sensible against a grand slam reached via Key-Card Blackwood, since declarer is unlikely to be off a finessible trump honor. Declarer won in hand, cashed the spade ace, then played three top clubs, discarding spades from hand. He crossed to the heart jack to ruff a spade high, then went back to the heart queen to ruff another spade.
Had spades split, he would have had his 13th trick, but as it was, he simply cashed his last trump, pitching a diamond from dummy. In the three-card ending, he led a diamond to his ace, and (knowing that East’s last two cards included the spade king) led a diamond back to his king, playing for his only remaining chance that West had started life with a doubleton diamond queen. When the queen appeared, the slam had come home.
ANSWER: On this sequence East has passed his partner’s takeout double, suggesting a heart stack. You should redouble for rescue, hoping that spades, diamonds or no-trump will play better for your side. When they announce they’ve got you, it is best to believe them!
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K J 7 6 |
| ♥ |
5 |
| ♦ |
10 9 7 6 2 |
| ♣ |
8 7 6 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♣ |
1♥ |
Pass |
| Pass |
Dbl. |
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].
June 4th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Friday, May 21, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: E/W |
North |
|
| ♠ |
K 7 6 3 2 |
| ♥ |
9 7 |
| ♦ |
A J 9 |
| ♣ |
A K 7 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
J 8 5 |
♠ |
10 |
| ♥ |
K J 4 2 |
♥ |
10 6 5 3 |
| ♦ |
7 6 |
♦ |
Q 10 5 3 |
| ♣ |
10 9 8 3 |
♣ |
J 6 5 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A Q 9 4 |
| ♥ |
A Q 8 |
| ♦ |
K 8 4 2 |
| ♣ |
Q 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
2♥ |
Pass |
| 3♠ |
Pass |
6♠ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♣10
“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.”
— Albert Einstein
The auction to six spades might have been unsophisticated, but the play was interesting.
As South you received a club lead to your queen, then lead a trump to the king to protect against a possible 4-0 break. You drew trumps in three rounds, intending to cash the top clubs next. But what do you plan to discard from hand and what is your plan?
There are a lot of possibilities in both red suits. You can pitch either a heart or a diamond on the clubs, and you have a whole range of finesses you might take. But so long as you make the right discard, then follow up correctly, you can claim your contract.
What you must do is pitch a heart from hand on the top clubs, then run the diamond jack. (Equally valid would be to run the diamond nine, but that gives up on overtrick chances.)
If West could win the diamond queen, a diamond return gives you an extra trick from your eight and nine of diamonds, allowing you to pitch a heart from dummy. But a heart or a ruff and sluff would be immediately fatal.
And if East covers dummy’s diamond jack, then again your eight and nine of diamonds build to a trick on which you can discard a heart from dummy.
ANSWER: This does not look like the right hand with which to bid two hearts. The opponents are highly unlikely to be raising the auction beyond two spades (you have three spades, your partner at least three) so at your next turn you may well be able to bid two hearts and get your limited values across nicely. I’d bid two hearts now if my heart jack were the queen.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 8 5 |
| ♥ |
K J 4 2 |
| ♦ |
7 6 |
| ♣ |
10 9 8 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♣ |
Dbl. |
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].
June 3rd, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, May 20, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
K J 8 |
| ♥ |
K Q 4 2 |
| ♦ |
5 4 |
| ♣ |
K 5 4 2 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
9 6 |
♠ |
10 7 5 4 3 2 |
| ♥ |
J 9 |
♥ |
8 6 |
| ♦ |
Q J 10 9 2 |
♦ |
K 8 7 3 |
| ♣ |
Q J 10 6 |
♣ |
8 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A Q |
| ♥ |
A 10 7 5 3 |
| ♦ |
A 6 |
| ♣ |
A 9 7 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
2NT* |
Pass |
| 3 NT** |
Pass |
4♥ |
Pass |
| 6♥ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| *Game-forcing trump raise |
Opening Lead: ♦ Queen
“The end of man is an action and not a thought, though it were the noblest.”
— Thomas Carlyle
A piece of advice that recurs in bridge columns is that if you reach a contract that you can see is excellent, you should go out of your way to consider what might go wrong, then protect yourself against that eventuality.
Today’s deal (surprise!) provides one such example. You play in six hearts on a diamond lead, which you win. You test trumps, protecting yourself against East’s having the length by leading to the heart king, but they break 2-2. Then you lead out your three top spades, discarding your diamond loser, and note that East turns up with six spades while West has only two. You ruff the last diamond to hand and now know that West is the only defender who can hold long clubs. If the suit is 3-2, you are home, of course, but what if the suit is 4-1?
You should lead a low club from hand and duck West’s card — a line that will ensure your slam unless West holds Q-J-10-8, in which case you were doomed anyway. If West plays his low club, then East must win the first club and give you a ruff and discard. If West plays a high club on the first round, then he can do no better than exit with a high club. You win in hand and are left with the 9-7 of clubs with the K-5 on the board and can finesse West out of his remaining honor.
ANSWER: In third seat with a marginal opening bid, your first thought should be to open with your best suit. Even if you play five-card majors, as most of us do, it will generally work better to bid one heart with a hand of this sort. You shut out diamonds (the suit LHO is most likely to be bidding) and get your partner off to what you assume to be the best lead.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K J 8 |
| ♥ |
K Q 4 2 |
| ♦ |
5 4 |
| ♣ |
K 5 4 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
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].
June 2nd, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, May 19, 2010
| Dealer: West
Vul: None |
North |
|
| ♠ |
Q J 4 |
| ♥ |
Q 6 3 |
| ♦ |
J 8 3 2 |
| ♣ |
A 8 3 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
8 7 6 5 |
♠ |
A K 10 |
| ♥ |
10 4 |
♥ |
8 7 5 2 |
| ♦ |
A 10 |
♦ |
9 7 5 4 |
| ♣ |
K 10 6 5 4 |
♣ |
9 7 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
9 3 2 |
| ♥ |
A K J 9 |
| ♦ |
K Q 6 |
| ♣ |
Q J 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
Pass |
Pass |
Pass |
| 1 NT* |
Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
| *14-16 |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♣5
“The truth is rarely pure, and never simple.”
— Oscar Wilde
Today’s deal comes from the Carrousel Cup, a European junior event which was contested between eight national teams.
Playing in three no-trump, Maria Dam Mortensen as South won the club lead in her hand and could count eight tricks. Sensibly enough, she went after diamonds, leading the king out of her hand to try to establish her ninth trick. West took the king with the ace and returned a heart.
Declarer won in hand, and tested the diamonds. When they failed to break 3-3, Mortensen’s only realistic hope was spades. The most likely division of the top spade honors was one for each defender, but declarer realized that this would not help her cause. East would win the first spade, cash the winning diamond, then return a club. The other spade honor would then be the entry for the set-up clubs.
So South had to assume that both the ace and king of spades sat with one defender. But which? If West, then a spade toward dummy would suffice. However, West was already marked with the diamond ace and club king and would not have passed if holding the top spades.
Deciding to play East for both spade honors, Mortensen cashed the hearts and the club ace, stripping East of exit cards, then led a spade to dummy’s jack. East won and could cash the diamond nine and spade ace, but then had to give dummy the game-going trick with the spade queen.
ANSWER: You would not have committed your hand beyond two hearts without the opponents’ pre-emption, but as it is, you cannot afford to sell out. It is a good general rule with a fit to allow yourself to be pushed up one level but not two. So bid three hearts and tip your hat to the opponents if they have jockeyed you into trouble.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q J 4 |
| ♥ |
Q 6 3 |
| ♦ |
J 8 3 2 |
| ♣ |
A 8 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♣ |
1♥ |
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].
June 1st, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, May 18, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
K 10 9 3 |
| ♥ |
10 3 |
| ♦ |
Q 10 9 3 |
| ♣ |
K 4 2 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
A 8 7 6 5 |
♠ |
Q 4 |
| ♥ |
Q 5 4 |
♥ |
K J 8 7 2 |
| ♦ |
6 5 |
♦ |
A 8 |
| ♣ |
J 9 3 |
♣ |
10 8 7 5 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
J 2 |
| ♥ |
A 9 6 |
| ♦ |
K J 7 4 2 |
| ♣ |
A Q 6 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
2♣ |
Pass |
| 2♦ |
Pass |
2 NT |
Pass |
| 3 NT |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♠6
“Until you understand a writer’s ignorance, presume yourself ignorant of his understanding.”
— Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Today’s deal comes from Patrick Jourdain’s “Problem Corner,” a collection of excellent bridge problems with degrees of difficulty ranging from relatively simple to intriguingly difficult. This one ranks somewhere in the middle. How should South play three no-trump on a low spade lead?
The answer is that you should make the unnatural move of rising with dummy’s spade king at once. This is not your best play to maximize tricks in the spade suit. Rising with the king virtually ensures two losers sooner or later, but you need only one spade trick for your contract.
More to the point, your plan is to win the first trick and set up the diamonds for your nine winners. To succeed in this plan, you must obtain the lead before the defense has a chance to switch to hearts. By successfully putting up the spade king, you have gained a vital tempo. The defenders can win the diamond ace and unblock their spade winners, but still have only three fast winners. Meanwhile, you have nine tricks — four diamonds, three clubs, and one trick in each major.
Finessing in spades by playing low from dummy at trick one is an error because even if West has the queen and East the ace, a heart switch beats you. And if the cards lie as shown, East will find it easy to switch to a heart after winning his spade queen at trick one.
ANSWER: This is more of a problem of system than of judgment. You want to get to four hearts as fast as possible. (Who knows who can make what here?). Equally, you would jump to four hearts with a far weaker hand, so that action might easily miss a slam. The solution is to reserve the response of three no-trump to one heart as artificial, suggesting a shapely raise to four hearts with some defense.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q 4 |
| ♥ |
K J 8 7 2 |
| ♦ |
A 8 |
| ♣ |
10 8 7 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].
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