May 24th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Monday, May 10, 2010 
| Dealer: South
Vul: N/S |
North |
|
| ♠ |
Q 10 6 |
| ♥ |
A Q 6 4 |
| ♦ |
J 10 9 3 |
| ♣ |
9 2 |
| West |
 |
East |
| ♠ |
— |
♠ |
A J 8 7 4 |
| ♥ |
K J 9 8 5 |
♥ |
7 3 |
| ♦ |
Q 5 2 |
♦ |
K 8 6 |
| ♣ |
K Q J 10 7 |
♣ |
6 5 3 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
K 9 5 3 2 |
| ♥ |
10 2 |
| ♦ |
A 7 4 |
| ♣ |
A 8 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♠ |
2♠* |
Dbl. |
2 NT |
| Pass |
3♣ |
3♠ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♣ King
“I long ago came to the conclusion that life is six-to-five against.”
— Damon Runyon
To celebrate the Cavendish Pairs tournament being played all this week in Henderson, Nev., this week’s deals all come from the event held 10 years ago.
After West had shown a two-suiter, Adam Zakrzewski (South) landed in three spades. On a top-club lead, Adam ducked and won the heart-jack shift with dummy’s queen.
He ran the diamond jack to West’s queen, took the top-heart return in dummy, and repeated the diamond finesse. Then he played a club to the ace and a spade to the queen and ace. Once the 5-0 trump break came to light, declarer knew he had three top losers, so must try to restrict East to just one more trump trick. That looks unlikely, doesn’t it?
At trick eight East returned the spade jack so that dummy would have to ruff declarer’s club loser with a significant trump. A less imaginative club return would have worked better.
Adam took the spade jack in hand, cashed the diamond ace, then ruffed his club loser in dummy with the spade 10. He had reduced to a three-card ending where both East and South were left only with spades. Adam led a red-suit winner from dummy, and when East ruffed in with the spade seven, he underruffed with the three. That left him with the trump 9-5 over East’s 8-4 for the last two tricks.
ANSWER: West has shown clubs and spades and about 17 points. Since neither of those suits seems to be behaving well for declarer, you should aim to find as passive a lead as possible. The choice is between the heart six (second from a bad suit) and the spade 10. I prefer the spade 10 partly because partner should find it easier to read.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
10 8 |
| ♥ |
9 6 4 2 |
| ♦ |
A 8 4 |
| ♣ |
Q 8 5 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♣ |
Pass |
1♥ |
| Pass |
1♠ |
Pass |
1 NT |
| Pass |
2 NT |
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].
May 23rd, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, May 9, 2010
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
You once wrote that you are not a huge fan of weak-jump responses. Can you suggest a better use for jump bids in competition?
— Jamming the Works, Augusta, Ga.
ANSWER: Weak-jump responses to openings in competitive auctions are sensible if made by an unpassed hand. I disapprove of weak-jump responses either to an opening bid in an uncompetitive auction, or to an overcall. Also, a jump by a passed hand makes no sense as weak. Since you did not open the hand, how can you need to show a decent long suit in a weak hand? I like strong-jump responses to opening bids in noncompetitive auctions, and fit-jumps (showing a decent side suit, values, and fit for partner) in the other sequences I mentioned.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
After a pre-empt of three clubs on your left and a double from partner, what should you bid with ♠ 10-9, ♥ K-J-9-5, ♦ Q-J-8-7-4, ♣ Q-7 if your RHO passes? And what action should you take if your RHO raises to four clubs ? Would doubling be appropriate?
— Russian Steppes, Holland, Mich.
ANSWER: I would bid four hearts in both instances. Minor suits are for the birds, and you have real extras in high cards and shape that suggest you should contract for game, taking the pressure off partner. In the second instance, double would be takeout, so you need more than two spades to make that call.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
My partner and I disagree on how to bid a hand that qualifies for a strong one-no-trump opening bid and also contains a five-card major suit. My preference is to open one no-trump, while he feels it is imperative to show the five-card major first. What do you advise, and does any factor such as position or quality of the suit affect the decision?
— Partners at Odds, Houston, Texas
|
|
ANSWER: Briefly, upgrade any 17-count with a five-card major into an 18-19 count, adding one for the long-suit. With 15 and no small doubleton, open 1 NT unless all your honors are effectively in two suits, when you can if you want consider opening the suit, downgrading the hand to 14 points. With 16 always open one no-trump unless your honor structure suggests you should treat the hand as a two-suiter:
With regard to position (as opposed to suit quality), you might open your long suit at pairs if vulnerable with 15 HCP slightly more often than when nonvulnerable — particularly in third seat.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Does this hand qualify for an opening bid: ♠ Q, ♥ A-Q-9-7-3-2, ♦ 10-3-2, ♣ K-7-4? If so, what would you bid?
— Open for Business, Bellingham, Wash.
ANSWER: Let’s start from a Wolffian precept. No hand with a good six-card major should be passed. Open it one heart or two, since there is no gap between those two. This hand has a good six-card major, so open it two hearts if vulnerable, or perhaps in second seat if nonvulnerable. Otherwise, open it one heart.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
When you are playing in a major-suit contract and have eight trumps, is it better to have a 5-3 split or a 4-4 split?
— Small Bore, Pottsville, Pa.
ANSWER: Errors and omissions excepting (and there are far too many such for me to make the following statement with anything more than 90 percent confidence), a 4-4 trump fit is NORMALLY preferable. You can generate discards and extra ruffing tricks from a 4-4 fit far more easily than from a 5-3 fit. The only exceptions tend to come when you do not need discards — never easy to identify in advance. |
If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, e-mail him at [email protected]. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2009.
May 22nd, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, May 8, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
8 7 3 |
| ♥ |
4 2 |
| ♦ |
A K J 8 4 |
| ♣ |
J 9 5 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
Q J 9 6 |
♠ |
10 |
| ♥ |
J 6 |
♥ |
K 10 9 7 3 |
| ♦ |
10 |
♦ |
9 7 5 2 |
| ♣ |
A K 8 6 3 2 |
♣ |
Q 7 4 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A K 5 4 2 |
| ♥ |
A Q 8 5 |
| ♦ |
Q 6 3 |
| ♣ |
10 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♠ |
2♣ |
2♠ |
Pass |
| 3♥ |
Pass |
4♠ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♣ King
“Martin, if dirt were trumps, what hands you would hold!”
— Charles Lamb
In the duplicate game at the Cavendish Club in Manhattan, the following hand produced much discussion. The computer analysis showed that four spades can be made — but the play is especially entertaining.
After West leads two rounds of clubs, declarer can succeed by ruffing, drawing precisely one round of trumps, then crossing to dummy with a diamond and playing on hearts. But imagine declarer takes the more normal line of playing both top trumps as East discards a discouraging heart.
Now declarer plays the diamond queen and a second diamond. If West ruffs in, the defense is over. If he takes his last trump and then plays a third club, declarer can ruff, run the diamonds, and take a heart finesse. If West plays back a club immediately, declarer can ruff and lead his third diamond to bring about the same ending.
But there is a defense. West must discard, let’s say a heart, on the second diamond. Declarer now takes the heart finesse and cashes the heart ace. If West ruffs in, he can only collect his trump tricks.
So West discards a second time, and South tempts him again by leading a low heart, and West must discard a third time. Declarer ruffs his heart loser in dummy, but when he exits with a top diamond, West can ruff in, cash his spade queen, and lead a club. South ruffs, but must concede trick 13 to East’s heart king.
ANSWER: It is not clear that there is a right answer. Both double and an overcall of one spade are sensible, and both might work. But be aware that this hand, while close to a maximum for a one-spade overcall, is certainly not outside the range for the call. Bid one spade, expecting to be able to bid hearts or double for takeout at your next turn to show extras.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A K 5 4 2 |
| ♥ |
A Q 8 5 |
| ♦ |
Q 6 3 |
| ♣ |
10 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
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].
May 21st, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Friday, May 7, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
A K 5 3 2 |
| ♥ |
K Q |
| ♦ |
6 3 2 |
| ♣ |
7 5 4 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
— |
♠ |
Q 9 8 |
| ♥ |
J 9 7 2 |
♥ |
A 10 7 4 3 |
| ♦ |
Q 9 8 5 |
♦ |
J 10 7 |
| ♣ |
Q 10 8 3 2 |
♣ |
J 9 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
J 10 7 6 4 |
| ♥ |
8 5 |
| ♦ |
A K 4 |
| ♣ |
A K 6 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
2 NT* |
Pass |
| 3 NT |
Pass |
4♠ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| *Game-forcing spade raise |
Opening Lead: ♣3
“The serpent, subtlest beast of all the field.”
— John Milton
Sometimes imagination is called for when your contract seem hopeless. Some positions are difficult unless you have seen them before, so maybe reading about this one will help you make an apparently impossible hand in the future.
Cover up the East and West hands before reading on.
You, South, reach four spades after electing to open one spade (a strong no-trump is a viable alternative despite the small doubleton heart). You don’t expect to have any problems making your game,since your partner responded two no-trump to your opening spade bid, showing a game-forcing hand with primary spade support.
West leads a club, which you win in hand. However, when you play a spade toward dummy, West shows out, discarding the club two. It now looks as if you are going to lose one trick in each suit. Can you think of any way to avoid this?
Would you be surprised if I told you that, assuming clubs to be 5-2 (which West’s discard has strongly suggested), all you need is for East to hold the heart ace?
Win the spade ace and duck a diamond, the idea being to cut the defenders’ communications. Say East wins and plays another club, which is as good a defense as any. You win and play a heart. East wins and continues with, say, another heart. You win, cash your red-suit winners, and play ace and another spade. East must win and give you a ruff and discard.
ANSWER: Your partner has strongly suggested at least six hearts, and thus a hand better than a weak-jump overcall. Imagine he has six hearts to the ace, the king-queen-third of clubs, and two doubletons: only a nine-count! You are still heavily favored to make game, since any minor-suit finesses rates to succeed. Accordingly, up and bid four hearts.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A K 5 3 2 |
| ♥ |
K Q |
| ♦ |
6 3 2 |
| ♣ |
7 5 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♣ |
1♥ |
Pass |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
2♥ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
For details of Bobby Wolff’s autobiography, The Lone Wolff, contact [email protected]. If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, please leave a comment at this blog. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2010. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
May 20th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, May 6, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: N/S |
North |
|
| ♠ |
A 8 7 5 |
| ♥ |
Q 2 |
| ♦ |
8 6 3 |
| ♣ |
A K 9 7 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
Q J 10 2 |
♠ |
K 4 |
| ♥ |
3 |
♥ |
J 9 5 4 |
| ♦ |
Q J 7 5 4 |
♦ |
A 9 |
| ♣ |
Q 4 3 |
♣ |
J 10 8 6 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
9 6 3 |
| ♥ |
A K 10 8 7 6 |
| ♦ |
K 10 2 |
| ♣ |
5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
1♠ |
Pass |
| 2♥ |
Pass |
4♥ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♠ Queen
“We will now discuss in a little more detail the struggle for existence.”
— Charles Darwin
The trump coup is a way to recover from a bad trump split by reducing your own trumps. Consider declarer’s line from a match between two U.S. teams in a recent Bermuda Bowl — and what the defense might have done about it.
Declarer for the USAII team ducked the top spade lead against four hearts. West now led a diamond to East’s ace and East continued the suit. Declarer won his king, then drew two rounds of trump to find the bad news.
The winning line is now to cash the top clubs (pitching a diamond), ruff a club, then go to the spade ace to ruff a diamond. Declarer exits with his spade loser at trick 11 and is left with the A-10 of hearts for the last two tricks.
In fact, declarer tried to ruff a diamond at trick six before ruffing a club, and East, Nick Nickell, astutely pitched his spade king. Nickell could now ruff away the spade ace, leaving declarer with a spade loser at the end.
Even if Nickell had reverted to spades at trick three, thus removing an entry from dummy, declarer could still have succeeded by playing three rounds of clubs at once, then cashing the diamond king and drawing two trumps to finish in dummy. Now declarer ruffs another club and exits with his spade loser, taking the last two trump tricks.
A spade continuation at trick two might have been more challenging, but declarer could still have prevailed with perfect play.
ANSWER: Your nonforcing three-spade bid showed 12-14 points and three or four trumps. Your partner’s cue-bid then suggested slam interest and short diamonds — improving your hand. In context, you have a moose. Cue-bid five clubs now and consider whether you have enough to move on to slam, even opposite a sign-off in five spades. The answer may depend on how much you trust your partner!
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A 8 7 5 |
| ♥ |
Q 2 |
| ♦ |
8 6 3 |
| ♣ |
A K 9 7 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♣ |
2♦ |
2♠ |
3♦ |
| 3♠ |
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].
May 19th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, May 5, 2010
| Dealer: East
Vul: E/W |
North |
|
| ♠ |
J 10 9 7 3 |
| ♥ |
K 7 4 3 |
| ♦ |
2 |
| ♣ |
K 9 4 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
6 |
♠ |
K 5 4 |
| ♥ |
A J 10 9 5 |
♥ |
Q 2 |
| ♦ |
K J 8 7 3 |
♦ |
A 10 5 4 |
| ♣ |
10 8 |
♣ |
Q J 5 3 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A Q 8 2 |
| ♥ |
8 6 |
| ♦ |
Q 9 6 |
| ♣ |
A 7 6 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
1♦* |
| 1♠ |
2♥ |
4♠ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♦7
“The line, often adopted by strong men in controversy, of justifying the means by the end.”
— Saint Jerome
The overcall made by Jovanka Smederevac of Austria in today’s deal might not have been strictly textbook, but it did guide her side to a very playable contract.
But once there, she needed to find an elegant play in four spades for at least two reasons. First, she had to justify her rather sporting bidding; second, she was seated opposite Maria Erhart, not the most tolerant partner of less than perfect play.
Put yourself in the South seat and consider what your secret weapon is going to be.
(Incidentally, her opponents did not look to sacrifice in five diamonds because East’s opening bid guaranteed only two diamonds, but West’s final pause before passing did not escape declarer.)
On the lead of the diamond seven to East’s ace for a spade return, Smederevac took two trump finesses. The 3-1 trump split meant that she had only six trump tricks, and thus needed both the heart ace onside and something nice from the clubs. But her gut reaction was that West had five diamonds, and thus only two clubs. Accordingly, she led a low club to the eight, nine and jack. She then won the heart return in dummy with the king, cashed the club king, and led to the club seven. When that held the trick, she had her 10th winner.
This maneuver, known as an intrafinesse, combines taking a finesse with a subsequent pin of the card against which you originally finessed — one of the most elegant trick-generating plays in the book.
ANSWER: An out-of-the blue cuebid in a sequence like this (where your partner could not bid over one spade) suggests four-card diamond support and a maximum hand — perhaps a 4-1-4-4 pattern, or one with three spades and five clubs. Your high cards look to be well-placed and you have too much extra shape to be happy bidding only three diamonds. So bid four diamonds to show your extras.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
6 |
| ♥ |
A J 10 9 5 |
| ♦ |
K J 8 7 3 |
| ♣ |
10 8 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♣ |
Pass |
| 1♥ |
1♠ |
Pass |
Pass |
| 2♦ |
Pass |
2♠ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
For details of Bobby Wolff’s autobiography, The Lone Wolff, contact [email protected]. If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, please leave a comment at this blog. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2010. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
May 18th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, May 4, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: None |
North |
|
| ♠ |
8 7 3 |
| ♥ |
9 4 3 |
| ♦ |
9 5 |
| ♣ |
A 10 9 8 2 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
K J 6 5 2 |
♠ |
10 9 |
| ♥ |
K 7 5 2 |
♥ |
Q 8 6 |
| ♦ |
J 10 3 |
♦ |
Q 8 7 4 |
| ♣ |
7 |
♣ |
Q 6 5 3 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A Q 4 |
| ♥ |
A J 10 |
| ♦ |
A K 6 2 |
| ♣ |
K J 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 2♣ |
Pass |
2♦ |
Pass |
| 2 NT |
Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♠5
“Syllables govern the world.”
— Sir Edward Coke
One of my favorite collections of deals this year comes from the fertile imagination of Patrick Jourdain, who is president of the International Bridge Press Association.
For many years he has written sets of problems for Bridge Magazine in the U.K. and contributed a weekly problem for Teletext on Channel Four Television. I shall be running some deals from his book “Problem Corner” all this month. In today’s deal, consider how you should play three no-trump on a spade lead.
If clubs split, you have no problem, so you have only to protect yourself against a 4-1 break. One solution is to lead the club king, then the jack, which works fine if West has length. But if East has the length, he may duck the jack, just as he would if you had started by running the jack as your first play in the suit. Now you have only three club tricks and few chances to get the hearts going.
A better line is to win the spade, play the club king, and (unless East shows out) lead a low club from hand to dummy’s eight! If the defense wins the second club, you can later overtake the club jack to ensure nine tricks. If, on the second club, dummy’s eight wins, but either defender still has the guarded queen remaining, then take a heart finesse. You will later use the club ace as your entry to dummy to take a second heart finesse.
ANSWER: In this sequence your double would be takeout, suggesting values and either both unbid suits or one unbid suit plus support for partner. You would normally require better fit for partner than a singleton, but here you would expect partner always to deliver a six-card minor, or to be able to bid a three-card major if he did not want to repeat his clubs.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K J 6 5 2 |
| ♥ |
K 7 5 2 |
| ♦ |
J 10 3 |
| ♣ |
7 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♦ |
2♣ |
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].
May 17th, 2010 ~ admin ~ 2 Comments
| Dealer: South
Vul: None |
North |
|
| ♠ |
8 7 6 |
| ♥ |
A 10 8 |
| ♦ |
8 |
| ♣ |
A K Q J 3 2 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
K Q 5 |
♠ |
10 9 4 3 2 |
| ♥ |
5 3 2 |
♥ |
6 |
| ♦ |
A Q J 10 9 7 |
♦ |
K 4 |
| ♣ |
10 |
♣ |
9 7 6 5 4 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A J |
| ♥ |
K Q J 9 7 4 |
| ♦ |
6 5 3 2 |
| ♣ |
8 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♥ |
2♦ |
4♦ |
Pass |
| 4♥ |
Pass |
5♣ |
Pass |
| 5♠ |
Pass |
6♥ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♠ King
“Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other.”
— Benjamin Franklin
We all know a few more-than-senior citizens who love to play bridge. But few couples have grown old as gracefully as Sidney and Lillian Matthews. A few years ago Sidney celebrated his 100th birthday in Marbella. At that dinner Sidney, still an enthusiastic golfer, announced his retirement as a bridge tournament director, but gave no indication he was ready to stop playing for the foreseeable future.
Matthews had recently played this hand in a duplicate pairs, which he was also directing. West led the spade king against six hearts. Matthews won with his ace, then led two rounds of trump to discover that the overcaller had started with three.
Having escaped a diamond lead, declarer appreciated that as long as clubs broke no worse than 4-2, he could discard his five losers in hand on dummy’s clubs. But Sidney thought that he should secure his slam against a 5-1 break, even at the expense of an overtrick. How right he was, for after cashing the club ace, then ruffing a club high in hand, he saw West discard a diamond.
A heart to dummy drew the last trump, and Sidney was home in a slam that few pairs had bid, and even fewer had brought home. The logic behind the successful line is that if making your contract will secure you a good score, the merits of playing for an overtrick are strictly limited.
ANSWER: Declarer has shown eight playing tricks in spades, and dummy will be very weak, so ask yourself which lead is least likely to give away a trick or take a finesse for declarer he could not take himself. Partner will probably have a balanced 12-14 points, and on that basis a trump rates to be least likely to cost a trick. A club is a VERY close second, though.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 4 2 |
| ♥ |
Q 8 5 |
| ♦ |
Q 10 6 3 |
| ♣ |
J 8 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♣ |
Dbl. |
| Pass |
1♥ |
Pass |
2♠ |
| 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].
May 16th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, May 2, 2010
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
When using Key-Card Blackwood, if my partner responds five diamonds, how do I know if he is showing one ace or the trump king? If I held two aces, I would need this information to know whether to bid slam.
— Key-Card Conundrum, Atlanta, Ga.
ANSWER: If you have agreed a trump suit, you do NOT want to play slam if you are missing two aces, OR missing one ace and the trump king, as slam could be no better than the trump finesse. Sometimes that finesse can work, but you will rarely be in a position to take advantage of that information. So the trump king is as good as an ace — and you do not need to differentiate. Whether you always need the trump QUEEN is more problematic — but we’ll discuss that another day!
Dear Mr. Wolff:
In third seat, after you hear partner open one diamond and your RHO bid one spade, what would you respond with ♠ J-9, ♥ A-Q-7-3-2, ♦ K-10-3-2, ♣ 10-4? It seems the choice is to raise diamonds, bid hearts, or make a negative double — but if I double, how do I cope with a pre-emptive raise to three spades on my left?
— Tough Choices, Saint John’s, Newfoundland
ANSWER: Raising diamonds seems wrong — you might all too easily miss a heart contract. Because of the diamond fit, you could take a rosy view of this hand and bid two hearts, planning to raise diamonds later. If your minor suits were switched, a double might be more advisable since you have no certainty of a fit. As it is, if you double — not my choice — and hear the raise to three spades, I’d double again at my next turn. This would be primarily for takeout.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
I find it easy enough to take care of the trumps when I am about to draw a few rounds, but find it more difficult when I’m playing to ruff things or scramble to score my small trumps. Any suggestions?
— Trump Manager, Grand Junction, Colo.
|
|
ANSWER: The key here is always to count trumps in the following fashion before playing to trick one. Add up your trumps and dummy’s, then subtract that number from 13. Count down from that number from now on. So if you are missing five trumps, when they ruff in, the number goes to four; you draw a round of trumps and if they both follow, that number is two, and so on.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
In fourth chair you hold ♠ J-4-2, ♥ A-10-3-2, ♦ K-J-7-4, ♣ Q-9 and have heard a weak two hearts on your left, doubled by partner. Next, RHO bid three hearts, and you make a three-no-trump call, over which partner bids four spades. Should you bid on now?
— Overpowered, Cartersville, Ga.
ANSWER: You have a pretty good hand but you already showed most of it when you contracted for game. Now the question is whether you should cue-bid five hearts, or pass. Go for the pessimistic pass because with a slam-drive, partner might have done more himself.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
My wife and I used to play a lot of bridge but then stopped for a number of years. Now I would like to explore getting back to playing, but I understand Goren is “history” and there are new bidding strategies. Could you recommend a book or two book that can familiarize us with the modern techniques?
— Rip Van Winkle, Houston, Texas
ANSWER: Congratulations on your return to the fold. Eric Rodwell and Audrey Grant have produced a book on two-over-one that might be at just the right level; “25 Bridge Conventions” by Seagram and Smith might also work. Max Hardy’s book on two-over-one is also still available. |
If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, e-mail him at [email protected]. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2010.
May 15th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, May 1, 2010
| Dealer: West
Vul: E/W |
North |
|
| ♠ |
Q 9 8 5 |
| ♥ |
A 7 3 |
| ♦ |
J 3 |
| ♣ |
A K 6 3 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
10 |
♠ |
K J 2 |
| ♥ |
K 10 9 8 6 5 2 |
♥ |
J 4 |
| ♦ |
A 8 5 |
♦ |
K 10 9 7 |
| ♣ |
Q 10 |
♣ |
9 8 7 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A 7 6 4 3 |
| ♥ |
Q |
| ♦ |
Q 6 4 2 |
| ♣ |
J 5 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
2♥ |
Pass |
Pass |
| 2♠ |
Pass |
4 ♠ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♥10
“Life grants nothing to us mortals without hard work.”
— Horace
Vincent Demuy of Canada, who is just out of the junior ranks, has achieved some spectacular results in national and international events.
He was in action on this deal from the 2005 Cavendish Teams. When Demuy ventured a balancing action of two spades over West’s weak two, he quickly found himself in game.
The lead was the heart 10, and since declarer thought he needed to find a home for his club loser (not knowing that West had a doubleton queen), Demuy ducked the opening lead to his queen.
At this point the hand hinged on losing no more than one trump trick, so Demuy set about locating the positions of the outstanding honor cards. He started with a diamond to the jack and king. Back came a club to the jack, queen and ace. Declarer exited dummy with a diamond to his queen and West’s ace. The heart return was taken by dummy’s ace, and declarer assembled the clues.
West had opened with a weak two-bid and had already shown up with an ace, a king and a queen. If West also held the spade king, he would have opened one heart, not two. So Demuy led the spade queen from dummy, hoping for an even trump split or for a significant spade singleton in West. When the spade 10 put in an appearance, Demuy had held his trump losers to one and made his game.
ANSWER: In our featured deal West treated this hand as a vulnerable weak two in hearts, not a three-level pre-empt. I agree with his choice: a three-level pre-empt requires a better suit and suggests less outside. Nonvulnerable, I would not do that. Even though the suit is a little too weak, I would open either three hearts or one heart. I am not in favor of passing such hands — one never can catch up.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
10 |
| ♥ |
K 10 9 8 6 5 2 |
| ♦ |
A 8 5 |
| ♣ |
Q 10 |
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].
|
Subscribe to our feed
Bridge-related