June 13th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, May 30, 2010 
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
Please recommend a good text for a beginner in duplicate bridge. I’m finding the competitive elements of bidding especially challenging.
— First Rung, Collierville, Tenn.
ANSWER: Edgar Kaplan wrote a fine book about learning duplicate: “Winning Contract Bridge Complete.” Dorothy Hayden’s “Bid Better Play Better” is also excellent. And anything by Reese, Lawrence, Kelsey and Kantar (the latter is good fun to read, too) will surely help.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
I was in fourth chair with ♠ A-3-2, ♥ K-10-3, ♦ A-Q-8-4, ♣ J-9-4. My LHO had opened one club, which could have been a doubleton, and this was passed around to me. I could see that defending one club might be our best spot, but I thought it was too cowardly to pass. When I doubled, the opponents ran to spades and made eight tricks. Was I wrong to bid?
— Overbalanced, Eau Claire, Wis.
ANSWER: At pairs, most people would not pass out one club without length. Even if you can beat the contract a trick, you might still have a higher-scoring partscore. My impulse would be to reopen with a call of one no-trump, not a double, since I play that bid to be a balanced hand in the 11-15 range. The absence of a club stop would not worry me unduly.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
You’ve discussed your favorite conventions from time to time. Is there one you would be happy to see eliminated?
— Cleaning House, Palm Springs, Calif.
|
|
ANSWER: How interesting! Some people use a jump-overcall of pre-empts to show a two-suiter, which is sensible enough. Others use the bid of four of a minor over a pre-empt to show a two-suited hand with the unbid major and that minor, which they call Nonleaping Michaels. To my mind that is a pretty silly idea. Equally, in card-play, MUD from three small is not my favorite, and quite unplayable when combined with third-and-fifth leads.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
In a recent column you referred to a “loose club.” I have searched the Internet and asked my bridge-playing friends, but have been unable to learn what this is. If you would let me know, I will pass it on to the others in my bridge club.
— On the Loose, Gloucester, Va.
ANSWER: I was somewhat loose about my usage of a loose club. Let me tighten it up. Any one-club opening bid that might be based on a doubleton club in a balanced hand qualifies for me as a loose club. Some would even open one club with 4-4-4-1 pattern. One could also use the term “short club” for such bids. Let me emphasize that Standard American requires at least THREE clubs for a one-club opening.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
My partner opened one spade, allowing me an easy response of one no-trump with ♠ K, ♥ J-7-3, ♦ A-Q-7-6-5, ♣ 10-9-8-2, which we play as forcing. I could see no obvious call over his bid of two clubs, which might have been based on a three-card suit. Is there a right bid here? I can see passing, raising clubs, bidding diamonds or even no-trump as possibilities.
— Pick-One, Madison, Wis.
ANSWER: A pass is a little pessimistic. Just because the club bid might be short does not mean that it is. I’d make a gentle try for game, the choice being to raise to three clubs or two no-trump. One could come down on either side of the fence, but I vote for a bid of three clubs. |
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 12th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, May 29, 2010
| Dealer: North
Vul: E/W |
North |
|
| ♠ |
K J 6 |
| ♥ |
J 5 |
| ♦ |
K 7 3 |
| ♣ |
A 9 6 5 4 |
| West |
 |
East |
| ♠ |
Q 5 4 |
♠ |
7 |
| ♥ |
A 9 7 6 4 |
♥ |
K Q 10 3 2 |
| ♦ |
Q J 8 |
♦ |
9 6 4 2 |
| ♣ |
J 2 |
♣ |
Q 8 3 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A 10 9 8 3 2 |
| ♥ |
8 |
| ♦ |
A 10 5 |
| ♣ |
K 10 7 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♣ |
Pass |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
2♠ |
Pass |
| 4♠ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♦ Queen
“It was deja vu all over again.”
— Yogi Berra
The following deal proved too hard for a multiple World Champion in a 1999 Vanderbilt match. The contract in both rooms was four spades by South, and the lead in each instance was the diamond queen.
It seems that, in a worst-case scenario, declarer might have a loser in each suit, but the first declarer did not see any danger.
He won the diamond lead in hand, preserving entries to dummy’s club suit, and played ace then king of trumps, finding he had a loser there. Hoping to eliminate hearts, then somehow effect an endplay, declarer led a low heart from dummy. But East nipped in with the 10 to fire a diamond through. The end result was one off.
Declarer was beguiled by his array of nines and 10s. Try imagining that, apart from the aces and kings, all of North’s and South’s cards are insignificant, as John Solodar did in the other room. He appreciated that all he needed to do was to set up a club trick for a diamond discard, so he too won the diamond lead in hand. But he cashed just the spade ace before leading a club to the ace, another to the king, and a third club. East won and fired back a diamond, which Solodar took with dummy’s king. He then cashed the spade king and played an established club, discarding his diamond loser from hand. A heart and a trump were all that was now available to the defense: contract made.
ANSWER: Your partner has not taken leave of his senses. When you jumped to three no-trump, you could have had as much as a 14-count along with your five hearts. Your partner has a maximum plus a moderate fit for hearts and a source of tricks in clubs. Just in case you were in the slam zone, he is cooperating with you. Since you have no slam interest, sign off in four hearts.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q 5 4 |
| ♥ |
A 9 7 6 4 |
| ♦ |
Q J 8 |
| ♣ |
J 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1 NT |
Pass |
| 2♦ |
Pass |
2♥ |
Pass |
| 3 NT |
Pass |
4♣ |
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 11th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Friday, May 28, 2010
| Dealer: East
Vul: E/W |
North |
|
| ♠ |
K 10 7 4 3 |
| ♥ |
8 2 |
| ♦ |
6 5 3 2 |
| ♣ |
Q 7 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
Q J 5 2 |
♠ |
9 8 |
| ♥ |
Q 5 3 |
♥ |
10 4 |
| ♦ |
A K 10 |
♦ |
Q J 7 4 |
| ♣ |
9 8 4 |
♣ |
K J 10 6 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A 6 |
| ♥ |
A K J 9 7 6 |
| ♦ |
9 8 |
| ♣ |
A 5 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
Pass |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
1♠ |
Pass |
| 3♥ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♦ King
“This life is worth living, we can say, since it is what we make it….”
— William James
Today’s deal came up in a par contest. West might be tempted to act at his first turn, but with a balanced hand and a soft defensive trick in the suit opened on his right, pass is probably the correct action. At South’s second turn, he can hardly do less than jump to three hearts. Having responded with a weak hand, North should pass the jump-rebid, which is strongly invitational but not forcing.
I will speculate that most East-West pairs would let through this contract of three hearts, but let’s consider how an accurate defense should go.
West leads the diamond king, obviously promising the ace, and East should drop the diamond queen at the first trick, suggesting the queen-jack and a desire to obtain the lead.
So far so good, but when West plays the diamond 10, it is tempting to let that card hold. The right way for East to look at the diamond spots is that partner did not have to underlead his ace. He must want you to win the trick, and the 10 rates to be his only “small” diamond.
At trick three East finds the shift to a trump. Declarer must try to ruff a club in dummy to make his contract so he takes the heart ace and leads a club to the queen and king. A second heart lead by East now prevents the ruff and beats the contract.
Whatever declarer does, he must lose two diamonds, two clubs, and a trump.
ANSWER: There are plenty of people who will tell you with complete confidence that you require six points to respond to an opening bid. But a hand like this demands a response of one spade for many reasons. Clubs could be a silly contract, you might make a spade game, you help to keep the opponents out, and you assist partner in finding the right lead if necessary.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K 10 7 4 3 |
| ♥ |
8 2 |
| ♦ |
6 5 3 2 |
| ♣ |
Q 7 |
| 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].
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].
|
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