April 11th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, March 28, 2010 
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
Must utilization of Jacoby transfers be announced at the start of the game, or can it be announced at the moment this convention is being used? It seems to me this second procedure would be equivalent to talking across the board.
— TMI, Saint John, Newfoundland
ANSWER: No pre-alert is required for these bids. But the ACBL regulations do require announcements for two conventions — forcing no-trump and transfers — where the partner of the bidder actually SAYS “transfer” or “forcing.” All other artificial bids require the partner to say “Alert,” then the other side can ask if interested.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
I held ♠ 9-3-2, ♥ A-Q-7-4, ♦ K-J-2, ♣ J-10-7 and in third seat opened one heart to keep the opponents out and to direct the lead. My LHO overcalled one no-trump, and my partner doubled. As a passed hand, can this really be for penalties, or is it negative?
— Shadow of a Doubt, Woodland Hills, Calif.
ANSWER: Just because your partner is a passed hand does not mean he cannot have a better hand than you. (This would not be hard here!). He has shown 9-11 points, and either a decent suit of his own to lead or some heart fit. You may not feel like passing, but anything else would be worse.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
North opened two no-trump, East passed, South responded two hearts (a transfer), and West called the director and refused to accept the insufficient two-heart bid. The director permitted South to correct to three hearts and the auction continued. Was that correct? I thought that after an insufficient conventional call, the opener should have been barred from the auction. Has there been a change to the Laws?
— Enforcer, White Plains, N.Y.
|
|
ANSWER: Law 27 has been recently changed. (See http://www.acbl.org/play/DuplicateLawsChanges.pdf.) The director may permit an insufficient bid to be corrected without penalty (i.e., bidding restriction) by another call that has, in the director’s opinion, the same meaning or a more precise meaning. Here the three-heart bid can replace the two-heart bid since both are transfers. So your director was right.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
My hand was ♠ A-J-4-3-2, ♥ K-Q-7-4, ♦ 9, ♣ A-Q-9. I opened one spade and rebid two hearts over my partner’s two-diamond call. Now my partner jumped to three no-trump. In our system, two no-trump would have shown a better hand, so am I justified in bidding on? And if so, with what call?
— Upwardly Mobile, Elkhart, Ind.
ANSWER: You have extras (about a king better than a minimum), but have no fit. Your lack of intermediates in both of your long suits suggests slam would be an uphill struggle, so pass. If you had both the spade and heart 10s, you could consider bidding four no-trump because now both major suits would be easier to develop.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Over the opponents’ strong no-trump we play a defense called DONT, which allows us to come in with two-suiters quite freely. I know I need nine points or so to act, but should I count only high-card points, or can I also count short-suit values? And do I have to be in direct seat over the no-trump, or does it also apply in balancing seat?
— Points Shmoints, Twin Falls, Idaho
ANSWER: Points are irrelevant; shape is all that matters. To bid with 5-4, you need a moderate hand, but almost any 5-5 will suffice at suitable vulnerability, whatever the points. And yes, it applies in both direct and balancing seats. I do not think it essential for all the points to be in the long suits — within reason. |
If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, e-mail him at [email protected]. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2009.
April 10th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, March 27, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: N/S |
North |
|
| ♠ |
Q 3 2 |
| ♥ |
A K 7 4 |
| ♦ |
Q 2 |
| ♣ |
Q J 10 9 |
| West |
 |
East |
| ♠ |
10 8 7 |
♠ |
9 |
| ♥ |
Q 9 6 |
♥ |
J 10 8 3 2 |
| ♦ |
7 5 |
♦ |
K J 9 8 |
| ♣ |
K 7 5 4 3 |
♣ |
8 6 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A K J 6 5 4 |
| ♥ |
5 |
| ♦ |
A 10 6 4 3 |
| ♣ |
A |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
2♣ |
Pass |
| 3♦ |
Pass |
3♠ |
Pass |
| 4♣ |
Pass |
4♥ |
Pass |
| 6♠ |
All Pass |
|
|
Opening Lead:♥6
“Sometimes I think
I’ll tell him how he’s fooled,
But when I see his eyes, I shrink,
My purpose cooled.”
— Charles Frederick Johnson
During the last 80 years, one of the most testing areas of the game for experts has been to compose and solve par hands — deals for which there is a correct line in abstract. These can be either single-dummy problems, when you see just your hand and dummy, or double-dummy, when you see all four hands.
Today’s deal is a single-dummy problem in six spades, but the published solution was not best. It said that rather than trying to ruff out the diamonds, you should establish the club suit.
It claimed that you should win the lead of the heart jack, pitch the club ace on the heart king, and run the clubs, pitching diamonds. Even if the club king is offside, the solution suggested that you can get all four of your diamond losers away.
But this line would fail if West had started with a doubleton club. Also, given today’s lie of the cards, if West were devious enough to duck the club king twice, he would take the third club and return the suit for East to ruff, killing a vital discard.
The correct line, after you take two successful ruffing finesses, seems to me to draw one trump from hand, then lead the diamond ace and another diamond, planning to ruff your last diamond with the spade queen and claim. Unless trumps are 4-0 and some other bad things happen, this line is virtually guaranteed to bring home the contract.
ANSWER: Your partner has suggested about 10-11 points with four spades. It is not clear whether he has club length, but since you have a little extra and decent club intermediates, as well as help in diamonds, you seem to have enough to bid three no-trump.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q 3 2 |
| ♥ |
A K 7 4 |
| ♦ |
Q 2 |
| ♣ |
Q J 10 9 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
1♦ |
| Dbl. |
2♦ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| 2♥ |
Pass |
2NT |
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 2009. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
April 9th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Friday, March 26, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
Q J 3 |
| ♥ |
J 7 5 |
| ♦ |
A K 10 4 |
| ♣ |
J 9 6 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
8 |
♠ |
10 6 5 2 |
| ♥ |
K 9 8 6 4 2 |
♥ |
Q 10 3 |
| ♦ |
7 3 |
♦ |
J 9 6 2 |
| ♣ |
A K Q 4 |
♣ |
5 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A K 9 7 4 |
| ♥ |
A |
| ♦ |
Q 8 5 |
| ♣ |
10 8 7 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♠ |
2♥ |
3♥ |
Pass |
| 4♠ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♣K
“To throw away the dearest thing he owned
As ’twere a careless trifle.”
— William Shakespeare
Against four spades West led out the three top clubs, East discarding a low heart. West continued with a fourth club, ruffed in dummy with the spade queen as East discarded the heart 10. Now the spade jack and a spade to the ace brought the 4-1 trump split to light. The heart ace was followed by a diamond to the king; then came a heart ruff, East shedding a diamond. South now carefully cashed the diamond queen before entering dummy with the diamond king. A red-suit lead from dummy completed the trump coup, East’s trump 10-6 being powerless in front of South’s K-9.
East’s choice of discards was not best, though I suspect many would have done the same. With 12 points on display in dummy and West having shown nine points in clubs, South had to have the heart ace for his opening bid and the acceptance of the game-try. Also, West would have cashed the heart ace before leading the fourth club if he held that card. Since West surely held six hearts, that left just one for declarer.
See the difference if East discards two diamonds on the clubs. Now when South tries to reach dummy via the third round of diamonds, East ruffs in for the setting trick.
Does that mean declarer cannot make the contract? No; the winning line is to finesse against the spade 10 on the second round of the suit – -not such an unreasonable line if West has six hearts and four clubs.
ANSWER: Standard expert practice these days is to play all doubles under the opponents’ trumps as takeout or card-showing. You may think you would be unhappy if your partner passed now, but bear in mind he would likely have trump tricks and short spades. If so, how bad would it be to defend two hearts doubled?
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A K 9 7 4 |
| ♥ |
A |
| ♦ |
Q 8 5 |
| ♣ |
10 8 7 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♣ |
Pass |
| 1♠ |
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 2009. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
April 8th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, March 25, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: None |
North |
|
| ♠ |
9 8 2 |
| ♥ |
K Q 10 9 4 |
| ♦ |
8 5 |
| ♣ |
A Q 8 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
10 3 |
♠ |
Q 5 |
| ♥ |
8 |
♥ |
A 7 6 5 2 |
| ♦ |
A J 9 4 3 2 |
♦ |
Q 10 6 |
| ♣ |
J 9 7 6 |
♣ |
10 5 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A K J 7 6 4 |
| ♥ |
J 3 |
| ♦ |
K 7 |
| ♣ |
K 4 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
2♥ |
Pass |
| 3♠ |
Pass |
4♠ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♥8
“The wretched have no friends.”
— John Dryden
West led the heart eight against four spades, and East took his ace, South false-carding with the jack. East correctly surmised that his partner would not have led from a doubleton heart, but refrained from the knee-jerk reaction of giving his partner an immediate ruff. That would be two tricks for the defense, but there could not be two further tricks to come.
The defense also needed two fast diamond tricks, so the right card to play at trick two had to be a diamond. East saw that everything would be fine if he switched to a low diamond and South played the king; but what if South decided to duck? He might well decide that West had the diamond ace because East would surely have given his partner an immediate ruff if he had an ace as a re-entry. Then there would no longer be an entry to East for the heart ruff.
East decided that it must be better to shift to a high diamond to remain on lead if South were to duck. He then avoided the second trap: that of leading the diamond queen. Had he done so, West might have led three rounds of the suit, trying to give his partner an overruff in that suit.
Accordingly, East carefully played the diamond 10, covered by the king and ace. He then overtook his partner’s jack to give West his heart ruff. “What took you so long?” was all the thanks he got.
ANSWER: This is an impossible problem. If you bid no-trump, partner will have short diamonds. If you rebid hearts, partner will have a void. If you jump-raise clubs, partner will have only three trumps. All things considered, it looks best to force to game with a call of two diamonds, the fourth suit. You may get a little too high, but you will at least find the best strain.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
9 8 2 |
| ♥ |
K Q 10 9 4 |
| ♦ |
8 5 |
| ♣ |
A Q 8 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♣ |
Pass |
| 1♥ |
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 2009. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
April 7th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, March 24, 2010
| Dealer: West
Vul: N/S |
North |
|
| ♠ |
K 10 9 2 |
| ♥ |
Q 3 2 |
| ♦ |
J 6 5 |
| ♣ |
K 9 3 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
A 8 6 3 |
♠ |
Q J 7 |
| ♥ |
6 4 |
♥ |
J 5 |
| ♦ |
A Q 4 2 |
♦ |
K 9 8 7 3 |
| ♣ |
Q 4 2 |
♣ |
10 8 5 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
5 4 |
| ♥ |
A K 10 9 8 7 |
| ♦ |
10 |
| ♣ |
A J 7 6 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♦ |
Pass |
2♦ |
| 2♥ |
Pass |
3♥ |
Pass |
| 4♥ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♦A
“Question not, but live and labour
Till yon goal be won,
Helping every feeble neighbour,
Seeking help from none.”
— Adam Lindsay Gordon
Eddie Kantar, in his “Kantar on Kontract” (Kantarbridge.com), wonders why there are so many bridge books aimed at preventing you from making a mistake rather than preventing partner from making a mistake. Everyone knows that most mistakes at the bridge table are made by partner.
Assume you are West playing matchpoint pairs in four hearts with a partner weaker than yourself. This should be easy because everyone you play with is weaker than you. South ruffs the second diamond and continues with the heart ace and a heart to the queen, dropping your partner’s jack, and ruffs dummy’s last diamond. At this point you should know that South started with six hearts and one diamond. Declarer continues with a spade to the king as you play low, and now a spade from dummy, partner playing the jack. Which spade do you play?
It seems obvious to play low, but West regretted his play a moment later. His partner shifted to a low club, declarer played low, and West was forced to play the queen. Now the defenders’ club trick had vanished. What West should have done is overtake partner’s jack and play another spade to partner’s queen. Yes, South trumps and the spade 10 in dummy is high, but so what?
Declarer has four clubs (remember, West is counting and can tell from the way spades are being played that declarer has a small doubleton, leaving him with four clubs). One club discard on a spade won’t help. He still has a club loser.
ANSWER: Partner has shown a strong no-trump, so you have enough to invite to game, but is it worth looking for a spade fit via Stayman or a forcing call of two clubs? I think not. The danger of ruffs in one minor or the other — even if partner does have four spades — is so large that you should just bid two no-trump and let partner take it from there.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K 10 9 2 |
| ♥ |
Q 3 2 |
| ♦ |
J 6 5 |
| ♣ |
K 9 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
1♣ |
| Pass |
1♦ |
1 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 2009. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
April 6th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, March 23, 2010
| Dealer: North
Vul: E/W |
North |
|
| ♠ |
7 3 |
| ♥ |
J 7 5 3 2 |
| ♦ |
Q 8 4 |
| ♣ |
A 7 3 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
6 4 |
♠ |
A Q 10 |
| ♥ |
Q 10 8 |
♥ |
K 9 |
| ♦ |
10 5 3 |
♦ |
A J 9 6 2 |
| ♣ |
Q J 10 9 5 |
♣ |
K 8 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
K J 9 8 5 2 |
| ♥ |
A 6 4 |
| ♦ |
K 7 |
| ♣ |
6 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
Pass |
1 NT |
| 2♠ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♣Q
“It is far safer to know too little than too much.”
— Samuel Butler
One mark of an expert is knowing when to duck and when to win a trick. Even if he has no definite plan in mind, it generally helps interfere with the opponents’ communications to duck tricks early when a loser cannot be avoided. However, this strategy is not always best.
Against two spades, West led the club queen. South routinely ducked and won the second round with dummy’s ace. He then played a spade to East’s 10 and his jack, then wished he had won the first club so that he would have had an exit card!
Let’s roll back the play. Suppose declarer wins the first club, plays a spade to the 10 and jack, then exits with a club. Best is for East to continue with a third club, which can be ruffed in hand. Now declarer plays ace and another heart. East wins and has a problem. All he can do is exit with the ace and another diamond, but South unblocks his king, wins the second diamond in dummy, and leads another spade, picking up East’s queen: two spades made.
Given the actual line, South was stuck in hand at trick three. He played the ace and another heart, but the defense was in control. East won and played a third club. Declarer ruffed and played a third heart, West winning with the queen and playing the diamond ten. Now, whatever South did, he could not reach dummy to pick up East’s spades — down one.
ANSWER: This is a rare position where you can double, suggesting that you are happy to defend, even though lacking trump tricks. You have already passed the transfer response to show five hearts, but limited your hand to 8 HCP. With a maximum, you would consult partner as to whether to defend or bid on.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
7 3 |
| ♥ |
J 7 5 3 2 |
| ♦ |
Q 8 4 |
| ♣ |
A 7 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1 NT |
Pass |
| 2♦ |
Pass |
2♥ |
Pass |
| Pass |
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 2009. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
April 5th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Monday, March 22, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
A 5 3 |
| ♥ |
J 5 |
| ♦ |
A J 9 7 6 2 |
| ♣ |
K Q |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
K J 10 8 4 |
♠ |
9 7 2 |
| ♥ |
K 9 6 3 |
♥ |
Q 8 4 |
| ♦ |
3 |
♦ |
Q 10 8 |
| ♣ |
A J 6 |
♣ |
8 7 5 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
Q 6 |
| ♥ |
A 10 7 2 |
| ♦ |
K 5 4 |
| ♣ |
10 9 4 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♠ |
2♦ |
Pass |
| 3♦ |
Pass |
3♠ |
Pass |
| 3 NT |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♠J
“(Studies) perfect nature and are perfected by experience.”
— Francis Bacon
Today’s deal contains points of expert technique in both the auction and the play. To start with, when North’s overcall is raised, he should visualize making three no-trump if South can solidify the diamond suit or has a second spade stopper. The three-spade bid should deliver a whole or partial spade stopper and is superior to a direct three-no-trump bid. With the right hand, which he has, South can bid three no-trump and make it. But note that North would go down if he played three no-trump and received a spade lead.
As it is, South declares three no-trump and is happy to receive a spade lead into his tenace. He wins the first trick cheaply in hand and now must focus on what can go wrong in his game.
The obvious hitch will come if diamonds do not split. To neutralize the spade attack, South should lead a club at once, developing one trick there in case the diamonds do not run. If West ducks, declarer establishes the diamond suit. If West wins and plays spades, then South ducks the spade to cut defensive communications. Now it would not help West to play on either hearts or clubs. Assuming he continues the attack on spades, South can set up diamonds without allowing West on lead to run the spade suit.
Note that if East’s diamond entry is knocked out first, a spade return leaves the contract dead in the water when diamonds do not behave.
ANSWER: There seems to be no rush to play spades. Declarer is surely very short in that suit and leading spades might just set up discards for him. If you WERE to lead a spade, the queen might be right, in case declarer has a bare jack or 10. It seems more likely that your side has heart ruffs coming. Lead the top of your doubleton and hope to build your diamond jack into a trick.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q 9 7 4 |
| ♥ |
9 2 |
| ♦ |
J 6 4 |
| ♣ |
K J 4 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♣ |
Dbl. |
1♦ |
| 1♠ |
1 NT |
2♠ |
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 2009. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
April 4th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, March 21, 2010
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
I dealt and opened one diamond. My LHO overcalled two clubs, and my partner doubled. I took her double to be takeout for the unbid suits, but she meant it as showing diamond support and at least two club stoppers. Needless to say, we got completely mixed up. What is your take on the double?
— Hoofbeats of Zebras, Torrance, Calif.
ANSWER: Partners can agree on the best use for a bid and have a different agreement from the rest of the world. Here, your agreement was the normal one — takeout for the majors. All cheap doubles of this sort are takeout, not because they will always be best, but because you probably want to describe a hand that is short in the suit the opponents are long in. With the hand your partner describes, a no-trump bid or a diamond raise sounds appropriate.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
In third seat you hold ♠ A-10-3-2, ♥ K-Q-7-4, ♦ Q-3, ♣ K-J-4. Would you consider opening one club to ensure you find a major-suit fit if partner has a minimum hand? If not, say you open one no-trump and partner bids Stayman, to which I assume you respond two hearts. What should you do when partner next bids two no-trump?
— Lost in Space, Casper, Wyo.
ANSWER: The French often open this sort of hand one club, but I prefer the simple route and open one no-trump. My preferred continuations over one no-trump are that a Stayman inquiry guarantees one major. Since my partner has spades and an invitation, and I have a minimum, I would sign off in three spades.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
A recent column contains a question about handling late plays when one pair wants to play a board and the other doesn’t. The approach we use in our club is to score the board as unplayed. This effectively awards each pair their overall percentage score on the board they didn’t play, which we think is fairer than rewarding a pair having a below-average game with an average score for not playing a board.
— Fair and Square, Greenville, S.C.
|
|
ANSWER: Thank you — that is very helpful, and sounds like an inherently fairer approach.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
I held ♠ J-9-3-2, ♥ A-K-Q-2, ♦ —, ♣ A-J-10-7-4. I opened one club and bid one heart over my partner’s one-diamond response. Now my partner bid one no-trump. Should I look for a spade fit, or settle for what I think to be a reasonable contract and not risk getting too high?
— Potted Plant, Midland, Mich.
ANSWER: This is a very hard hand to evaluate, but I suspect passing and trying to go plus at a low-level is the sensible view. Partner might have bid one spade (most play this sequence does not guarantee more than invitational values) if he had a hand that could get your side to game.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
I led from a holding of J-10-6-2 in an unbid suit against a suit contract. Dummy came down with the guarded king, and my partner had A-Q-fourth in the suit. After winning the queen, partner continued with the ace, thereby establishing the king in dummy. My partner argued that I should have led the jack when holding the J-10. Is it always correct to lead an honor from these sorts of holdings?
— The Leading Edge, Little Rock, Ark.
ANSWER: Just between us two, your partner made a rookie error — and you accepted part of the blame. Yes, J-10-6-2 is not the same as J-10-8-2 or J-10-9-2. Either low or high might be right. No generalizations are sensible here except that you do your best by drawing inferences about declarer’s and dummy’s lengths from the bidding, and leading accordingly. |
If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, e-mail him at [email protected]. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2009.
April 3rd, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, March 20, 2010
| Dealer: North
Vul: None |
North |
|
| ♠ |
10 6 3 2 |
| ♥ |
J 5 |
| ♦ |
A K 10 8 |
| ♣ |
A 7 3 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
A |
♠ |
K Q 9 8 4 |
| ♥ |
Q 9 8 |
♥ |
10 6 |
| ♦ |
9 |
♦ |
Q J 5 3 2 |
| ♣ |
K Q J 10 8 6 5 2 |
♣ |
4 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
J 7 5 |
| ♥ |
A K 7 4 3 2 |
| ♦ |
7 6 4 |
| ♣ |
9 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♦ |
1♠ |
| 2♥ |
3♣ |
Pass |
Pass |
| 3♥ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♠A
“The irresponsive silence of the land,
The irresponsive sounding of the sea,
Speak both one message of one sense to me…”
— Christina Rossetti
This deal from the first final session of the Silodor Open Pairs in Houston last spring shows the benefits of restraint in the auction and reveals the beauties of an unlikely ending.
At many tables, West, having heard his partner overcall one spade, chose to punt five clubs doubled — down 500. However, when Craig Huston held the West cards, he sold out to a three-heart contract by South. I marveled at his restraint, but Craig correctly pointed out that four clubs doubled would be set two and cost 300 points.
South’s three-heart contract is far from easy to bring home, and it was not managed at the table. West will lead his spade ace, then shift to the club king. As declarer, you’ll win dummy’s club ace and guess to play three rounds of hearts. West wins the third heart and plays a diamond, which you win in dummy.
You have now reached an ending as declarer where you have eight tricks in the bag and need to set up one more. Clearly, playing a spade or a diamond from dummy will lead to immediate failure. The winning line, a beautiful one, features two loser-on-loser plays. Lead dummy’s club seven and pitch a spade from your hand, then throw a diamond from hand when West leads the next club! You will ruff West’s next club lead, run your trumps, and squeeze East in spades and diamonds. That’s how to rectify the count!
ANSWER: Partner’s call is natural and forcing. Your most descriptive action (albeit a rather aggressive one) is to jump to four clubs as a splinter-bid, agreeing spades and showing a singleton club. Yes, you would rather have a trump honor larger than the jack, but the opportunity to reach the perfect-fit slam should not be passed up.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 7 5 |
| ♥ |
A K 7 4 3 2 |
| ♦ |
7 6 4 |
| ♣ |
9 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 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 2009. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
April 2nd, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Friday, March 19, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
Q 10 7 4 |
| ♥ |
9 4 2 |
| ♦ |
J 6 4 |
| ♣ |
K 8 4 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
J 5 |
♠ |
A K 9 6 |
| ♥ |
K 10 8 5 3 |
♥ |
Q 7 |
| ♦ |
5 |
♦ |
Q 9 7 2 |
| ♣ |
J 9 6 5 2 |
♣ |
10 7 3 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
8 3 2 |
| ♥ |
A J 6 |
| ♦ |
A K 10 8 3 |
| ♣ |
A Q |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♦ |
Pass |
1♠ |
Pass |
| 2 NT |
Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♥5
“We cannot bring ourselves to believe it possible that a foreigner should in any respect be wiser than ourselves.”
— Anthony Trollope
Bob Hamman always says that when you have to make a decision in bidding, if three no-trump is in the picture, bid it.
In this deal from the Houston Vanderbilt Knockout Teams, Hamman found himself in a decidedly dicey no-trump game, but you don’t get a reputation like Hamman’s by giving up.
West led a heart to the queen, ducked by Hamman. He inserted the jack on the heart continuation, losing to West’s king. Another heart cleared the suit as East discarded a club. Things looked bleak with the clubs and diamonds blocked, but Hamman cashed the diamond ace in case something nice happened, then took his two top clubs and played a spade to dummy’s 10. East won the king and started thinking — good news! Eventually, East returned a low spade to the jack and queen. Hamman cashed dummy’s club king as East pitched a spade. Now the diamond jack was covered all around as West pitched a club.
Hamman then played a spade to East, who was forced to lead a diamond from the 9-7 into Hamman’s 10-8: contract made!
East had more than one chance to set the contract, but his easiest was to win the spade king and play the diamond queen. Declarer is now blocked off from his own hand. (South could have avoided the possibility of this defense by not cashing the top diamond earlier.) Equally, had East pitched a spade instead of a club at trick three, the defenders would still have prevailed.
ANSWER: Although it might be right to defend two hearts here, it seems inappropriate to risk doubling the opponents into game with three small trumps. I’d try two spades now, without much confidence, hoping that partner knows from our failure to bid spades earlier that this could easily be bid on a four-card suit.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q 10 7 4 |
| ♥ |
9 4 2 |
| ♦ |
J 6 4 |
| ♣ |
K 8 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1 NT |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| Pass |
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 2009. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
|
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