April 1st, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, March 18, 2010 
| Dealer: East
Vul: E/W |
North |
|
| ♠ |
10 8 7 5 3 2 |
| ♥ |
K J 7 |
| ♦ |
J 8 4 |
| ♣ |
8 |
| West |
 |
East |
| ♠ |
K 9 6 |
♠ |
A J |
| ♥ |
10 3 2 |
♥ |
8 4 |
| ♦ |
Q 9 3 |
♦ |
K 10 7 5 2 |
| ♣ |
9 6 5 3 |
♣ |
K J 10 7 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
Q 4 |
| ♥ |
A Q 9 6 5 |
| ♦ |
A 6 |
| ♣ |
A Q 4 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
1♦ |
| Dbl. |
Pass |
1♠ |
Pass |
| 2♥ |
Pass |
3♥ |
Pass |
| 4♥ |
All Pass |
|
|
Opening Lead:♦3
“Honesty is a good thing but it is not profitable to its possessor unless it is kept under control.”
— Don Marquis
Neither of the major-suit games was really anything to write home about on this deal from the second qualifying session of the Silodor Open Pairs held at the U.S. Nationals in Houston last spring.
In four spades declarer would need to find a minor miracle in the trump suit to hold the losers to two. However, one South bid to four hearts after East had opened one diamond. West therefore led that suit, and declarer won the diamond ace to play a low spade from hand. What should you do as East after winning the spade jack?
If you play two rounds of diamonds, declarer will ruff, give up a spade, cross to the heart jack, and ruff the spades good. Declarer can then draw trumps ending in dummy and run the spades.
The best defense is to play back a club at trick three. If declarer rises with the ace and plays a second spade, you win the spade ace and lead the diamond seven (the count-card from your remaining four cards) to partner’s queen. You hope that this will encourage West to shift back to clubs now. Declarer can ruff the club in dummy, but his late entry to all the spades has gone, and his trump spots are not good enough to play a crossruff. West’s heart 10 comes into its own.
At the table, when East found the club shift, declarer did exceedingly well to take the “practice” club finesse, after which life was easy for him. Plus 420 was worth most of the matchpoints for South.
ANSWER: It is tempting to jump to three clubs now, but this hand is really not worth driving to game. Of the two plausible alternatives, the simpler one is to bid two no-trump, suggesting a balanced 17-19 or so. The second choice is to bid two clubs, planning to convert a preference bid of two hearts to two no-trump to show these values. You might play two clubs, I suppose — but who is to say that would be wrong?
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q 4 |
| ♥ |
A Q 9 6 5 |
| ♦ |
A 6 |
| ♣ |
A Q 4 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
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].
March 31st, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, March 17, 2010
| Dealer: North
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
K 6 3 |
| ♥ |
10 5 |
| ♦ |
A 7 6 4 3 |
| ♣ |
Q 9 2 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
Q 10 |
♠ |
8 7 2 |
| ♥ |
Q 8 6 3 |
♥ |
K 9 4 2 |
| ♦ |
K 9 8 |
♦ |
Q 10 2 |
| ♣ |
K 7 4 3 |
♣ |
J 10 5 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A J 9 5 4 |
| ♥ |
A J 7 |
| ♦ |
J 5 |
| ♣ |
A 8 6 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
Pass |
Pass |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♥3
“I know enough of the world now, to have almost lost the capacity of being much surprised by anything.”
— Charles Dickens
In today’s deal from the Vanderbilt Knockout Teams held in Houston last spring, Glenn Milgrim demonstrated some nifty footwork defending against three no-trump.
As West, he led a fourth-highest heart to the king and ace. Declarer now led a spade to dummy and a spade to the jack and queen. East’s spade plays were the two and seven. A high-low would have been conventional (the Smith Echo), suggesting either surprising extra heart length or an additional heart honor — in this case the jack.
What should West do now?
Glenn inferred that declarer’s decision to go after spades rather than diamonds argued strongly that he had five spades to the A-J together with A-J-third in hearts, plus the club ace.
The defenders could set up hearts, but that would only give them three quick tricks, while declarer would already be up to eight (the two minor-suit aces, two hearts and four spades). If declarer was left to his own devices, dummy’s club queen would represent his ninth trick; so desperate measures were called for.
Glenn therefore shifted to the diamond king. As you can see from the full hand, after that play, declarer could do nothing to avoid his fate. He ducked the diamond, won the continuation, and led up to the club queen, but the defenders had sufficient communications to take two diamond tricks and one trick in each of the other suits. Three no-trump was made on less challenging defense at the other table.
ANSWER: Did you consider trying for game? Remember that partner probably has only three spades and has opted for the weakest way to raise spades. He did have a cue-bid of two clubs with any hand interested in higher things. Even if partner gives you the missing trump honors and the diamond ace, you’d be worried about five possible losers — and he might be a LOT weaker than that. Pass and hope to make two spades.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A J 9 5 4 |
| ♥ |
A J 7 |
| ♦ |
J 5 |
| ♣ |
A 8 6 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
Pass |
1♣ |
| 1♠ |
Dbl. |
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].
March 30th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, March 16, 2010
| Dealer: East
Vul: E/W |
North |
|
| ♠ |
9 8 5 2 |
| ♥ |
K 5 |
| ♦ |
K 8 |
| ♣ |
A 6 5 4 3 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
J 10 6 4 |
♠ |
A 7 3 |
| ♥ |
8 |
♥ |
Q 10 4 2 |
| ♦ |
Q 9 7 3 2 |
♦ |
J 10 4 |
| ♣ |
Q 10 2 |
♣ |
K 9 7 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
K Q |
| ♥ |
A J 9 7 6 3 |
| ♦ |
A 6 5 |
| ♣ |
J 8 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
Pass |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
1♠ |
Pass |
| 2♥ |
Pass |
3♥ |
Pass |
| 4♥ |
All Pass |
|
|
Opening Lead:♦3
“The public…demands certainties …. But there are no certainties.”
— H.L. Mencken
In this deal from the Houston North American Pairs last spring, the field played four hearts on a diamond lead. It looks normal to play three rounds of diamonds, ruffing in dummy. Now you cash the heart king, play a spade to your king, and cash the heart ace, finding out the bad news.
Your only chance now is a trump endplay, and you need to reduce trumps twice to achieve that. When you exit with your spade queen, East must win and should not exit with a spade. If he does, you ruff, cross to the club ace to ruff a spade, then exit with a club to collect one of the last two tricks. Instead, East plays a club at the critical moment, and you can no longer ruff two spades in hand.
You may be able to do better, although protecting against 4-1 hearts onside with West having a low singleton trump may be against the odds. Win the opening diamond lead in dummy and play a spade to the king. If it holds the trick, exit with the spade queen. The defenders rate to return a diamond. After that you can ruff a diamond, cash the heart king, then ruff a spade. When you take the heart ace to find the 4-1 break, you can then enter dummy with the club ace and ruff another spade.
You have nine of the first 10 tricks in the bag, can exit with a second club, and will collect a trump trick from your J-9.
ANSWER: Bidding a major suit in response to an overcall suggests either a five-carder or better, or a really good four-card suit. Your spades do not qualify, so simply bid one no-trump and rely on partner to introduce the spades if that is the right strain for your side to declare.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
9 8 5 2 |
| ♥ |
K 5 |
| ♦ |
K 8 |
| ♣ |
A 6 5 4 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♣ |
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].
March 29th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Monday, March 15, 2010
| Dealer: North
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
4 |
| ♥ |
10 9 |
| ♦ |
8 6 5 |
| ♣ |
A K J 7 6 5 4 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
K J 10 9 |
♠ |
Q 8 3 2 |
| ♥ |
J 6 |
♥ |
7 5 4 3 |
| ♦ |
A 7 2 |
♦ |
K Q J 9 4 |
| ♣ |
10 9 3 2 |
♣ |
— |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A 7 6 5 |
| ♥ |
A K Q 8 2 |
| ♦ |
10 3 |
| ♣ |
Q 8 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
3♣ |
Pass |
| 3♥ |
Pass |
4♥ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♠J
“All tragedies are finished by a death;
All comedies are ended by a marriage.”
— Lord Byron
To mark the spring nationals now taking place in Reno (you will be able to follow some of the action on bridgebase.org), all the deals this week come from last year’s spring nationals at Houston.
When Kit Woolsey gives you a deal, you can be sure there is either a fine technical point or a good joke. This deal falls into both categories. Kit, South, after his partner had opened three clubs, produced the technically correct response of three hearts, which was raised to game. How should you play on a spade lead?
You could rely on the heart jack coming down in three, but if that does not happen, you have a raft of diamond and spade losers. Instead, why not duck a heart at trick two? You should be able to draw trumps easily enough now. This line runs into trouble only if clubs are 4-0 … but look at the East-West cards!
Suppose West plays a spade at trick three. Declarer ruffs and tries to cross to hand with a low club. Alas for him, the defenders ruff in, cash two diamonds and two spades, get another club — down four!
The good news for Woolsey was that West won the heart jack and, played back a trump for minus 680. In the other room, South responded three no-trump to the pre-empt and played there on a spade lead for plus 720. One IMP to Woolsey’s opponents.
ANSWER: The four-diamond call is a cue-bid, showing slam interest. Best practice here would be for this sequence to DENY a club control. West’s sign-off suggests no club control, so you need to cash club tricks at once. The lead of a low club is normal, but just in case dummy has king-third of clubs, the lead of the queen might be best.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
7 6 5 |
| ♥ |
Q 8 2 |
| ♦ |
J 10 9 3 |
| ♣ |
Q 8 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♥ |
Pass |
1♠ |
| Pass |
3♠ |
Pass |
4♦ |
| 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 2009. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
March 28th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, March 14, 2010
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
At a duplicate last week, I experienced one of the oddest deals I have ever seen. Each hand had a suit of at least seven cards, facing a void in that suit. I think the odds against it must be pretty huge.
— Wacky Splits, Tupelo, Miss.
ANSWER: You are right; this particular mesh of a long suit facing a void is unusual. But if you play enough hands, you never know what you will see! (Recently my LHO opened two hearts and bought a 12-count with no hearts. On the next deal my RHO made a four-heart call over one spade and bought a 12-count with no hearts. She should have been expecting it. To complete the symmetry both contracts went one down when they should have made!)
Dear Mr. Wolff:
I held ♠ K-J-2, ♥ Q-9, ♦ J-9-3-2, ♣ A-10-3-2 and passed initially. When my partner opened one club, how would you rate the choice of an inverted raise as opposed to a jump to two no-trump? And if you do bid two clubs to show a limit raise or better, would you raise partner’s two-no-trump continuation to game?
— Passing Fancy, Staten Island, N.Y.
ANSWER: Yes, if I made the inverted raise, I would expect partner to pass some of the time that game was going to be hopeless, so the two-no-trump call sounds constructive, and I would bid game. I actually prefer the direct jump to two no-trump, but if I had major-suit holdings that suggest it might be better for me to declare the hand, I’d like the inverted raise to be less balanced than this.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Under what the circumstances should I lead an unsupported ace against a slam in a suit contract, or indeed at no-trump?
— Wild Thing, Houston, Texas
|
|
ANSWER: If I knew the answer to that question, I’d be a far richer man than I am. There is no good answer — but ace leads are rare against no-trump slams. At a suit slam it depends somewhat on the caliber of your opponents, the holdings in the other suits, and the likelihood of dummy having discards for declarer’s losers. Also, the stronger the declarer’s hand, the more likely the ace lead will cost.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Recently I held ♠ Q-9-2, ♥ A-2, ♦ K-Q-7-4 ♣ J-6-3-2. My RHO opened one heart. I did not double, because I only had three spades, but when my LHO bid a forcing no-trump and my RHO bid two hearts, I decided to balance with a double. An 800 penalty later I was told forcefully by my partner that it was cheaper to act on the first round. What do you think?
— The Late Bird, Bremerton, Wash.
ANSWER: Two things apply here. Yes, bidding on the first round is better (a double suggests short hearts, not a guarantee of length in the other major). And if you pass initially, you cannot back into a live auction — technically, you were not balancing, because your LHO might still have been about to invite game.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Holding ♠ A-Q-7-4, ♥ 3, ♦ 7-2, ♣ K-Q-10-7-4-3, I responded one spade to my partner’s one-diamond opening bid. Over her two–diamond rebid, I tried three clubs, and passed her bid of three no-trump. She thinks I should have bid two clubs and then three clubs, never showing my spades. Do you think I should have reversed by bidding two clubs and then three spades?)
— First Responder, Kenosha, Wis.
ANSWER: If you think this hand is worth a force to game (and we both do, don’t we?), it is a pretty good principle ALWAYS to respond in your longest suit — especially where, as here, you have a two-card disparity. Bid clubs, then spades, the latter delivering a four-card suit most, if not all, of the time. The spade call does not say anything about extras, beyond your initial statement of game-forcing values. |
If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, e-mail him at [email protected]. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2009.
March 27th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, March 13, 2010
| Dealer: West
Vul: E/W |
North |
|
| ♠ |
10 4 |
| ♥ |
A 7 5 3 2 |
| ♦ |
A Q 4 3 |
| ♣ |
A K |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
A 8 7 5 2 |
♠ |
Q J 9 3 |
| ♥ |
— |
♥ |
J 10 8 6 |
| ♦ |
J 9 6 2 |
♦ |
— |
| ♣ |
J 10 8 2 |
♣ |
9 7 6 5 4 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
K 6 |
| ♥ |
K Q 9 4 |
| ♦ |
K 10 8 7 5 |
| ♣ |
Q 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
Pass |
1♥ |
Pass |
| 2♦ |
Pass |
3♦ |
Pass |
| 4♥ |
Pass |
5♣ |
Pass |
| 5♦ |
Pass |
5♥ |
Pass |
| 6 NT |
All Pass |
|
|
Opening Lead:♣J
“If it had grown up, … it would have made a dreadfully ugly child; but it makes rather a handsome pig, I think.”
— Lewis Carroll
In today’s deal it may look as if South was hogging the contract, but he did remarkably well in both the bidding and the play.
After South’s game-forcing response, North was able to produce a simple raise of diamonds, then cue-bid over the jump to four hearts, which had suggested good diamonds and hearts and no black-suit first-round control.
When North showed his extras by bidding five clubs, South realized he had control of all suits except spades and that both red suits did not require to be ruffed out, so there was no benefit to playing at trumps. To prevent an opening lead through his spade king, South bid the slam in no-trump. West did well to settle for the passive club lead, and now it was up to South to make his slam.
South worked out at once that the contract could easily be made if the suits split normally. As a 4-0 heart split would be fatal unless West had the void, South first cashed the heart ace. When the bad break was revealed, it was extremely unlikely that West also had a void in diamonds. So South led a heart to the jack and queen, then played the diamond king, protecting against East being void there.
Now South could finesse twice in diamonds and once more in hearts. He could cash out his diamonds, then cross to the remaining club honor in dummy to take the long heart, bringing home a hard-earned 12 tricks: five diamonds, five hearts and two clubs.
ANSWER: The opponents have come to a stop at a disappointingly low level, given the bad heart break on the deal. Give them a little push by bidding three clubs, and hope that they will advance further in hearts. You are not really worth this call, but a small investment may pay big rewards if the opponents misjudge the deal.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A 8 7 5 2 |
| ♥ |
— |
| ♦ |
J 9 6 2 |
| ♣ |
J 10 8 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♣ |
Pass |
| 1♠ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
1 NT |
| 2♣ |
2♥ |
Pass |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
For details of Bobby Wolff’s autobiography, The Lone Wolff, contact [email protected]. If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, please leave a comment at this blog. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2009. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
March 26th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Friday, March 12, 2010
| Dealer: East
Vul: None |
North |
|
| ♠ |
10 3 |
| ♥ |
K Q 8 3 |
| ♦ |
K 7 3 |
| ♣ |
J 8 7 3 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
Q 9 8 6 2 |
♠ |
K 5 4 |
| ♥ |
6 5 4 2 |
♥ |
A 9 |
| ♦ |
5 2 |
♦ |
Q 9 8 6 4 |
| ♣ |
9 5 |
♣ |
A 6 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A J 7 |
| ♥ |
J 10 7 |
| ♦ |
A J 10 |
| ♣ |
K Q 10 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
1♦ |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
2♣ |
Pass |
| 2♦ |
Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♠6
“We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren, till she transforms us into beasts.”
— Patrick Henry
In today’s no-trump game declarer was beguiled by the fact that he could make two tricks in spades. Taking them, however, meant the demise of the contract.
West led the spade six to East’s king, and seeing that the jack and 10 would provide a second spade stopper, declarer won with the ace, then set about dislodging the club ace. East returned the spade five, but West withheld the queen, knowing that East had a third spade. (South’s response to Stayman denied that he held four spades.)
Successfully locating the diamond queen brought the trick tally to eight, but as soon as South led a heart, East pounced with the ace to return the spade that set the contract.
South had focused on the small rather than the big picture. East was marked with both missing aces by his opening bid. When West chose to ignore his partner’s diamond call and led the spade six, it was almost certainly from a five-card or six-card suit — which left no more than three spades for East.
Had South sacrificed his second spade trick and withheld his ace until the third round, East would have had no spade to return when he subsequently came on lead with his aces. Even if the defenders had shifted to diamonds, declarer would have had enough time to set up hearts and clubs before the defenders got their suit going, spelling success for South’s game.
ANSWER: Your partner has shown a very good hand with five or more spades (say in the 17-20 range). You have enough to drive to game, but having jumped on the previous round, you do not need to do more than make a simple call of two no-trump, expressing your hand-type very nicely. Let partner describe his hand further at a convenient level.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
10 3 |
| ♥ |
K Q 8 3 |
| ♦ |
K 7 3 |
| ♣ |
J 8 7 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
1♣ |
| Pass |
1♦ |
Dbl. |
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 2009. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
March 25th, 2010 ~ admin ~ 2 Comments
| Dealer: West
Vul: None |
North |
|
| ♠ |
9 6 |
| ♥ |
A Q J 5 |
| ♦ |
Q 9 4 3 2 |
| ♣ |
J 4 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
J 5 2 |
♠ |
7 4 |
| ♥ |
9 7 |
♥ |
K 10 8 6 4 |
| ♦ |
A K 10 8 |
♦ |
7 5 |
| ♣ |
A 10 9 3 |
♣ |
Q 8 6 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A K Q 10 8 3 |
| ♥ |
3 2 |
| ♦ |
J 6 |
| ♣ |
K 7 5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♦ |
Pass |
1♥ |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
1 NT |
Pass |
| 2♠ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♦K
“‘Guess now who holds thee?’ –‘Death,’ I said, but there
The silver answer rang… ‘Not Death, but Love.'”
— Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Estoril in Portugal (the most westerly point of continental Europe) was the site of one of the more successful recent Bermuda Bowls. A pleasant and popular European bridge congress is held annually there, and the final round of last year’s Swiss Teams saw an England-Bulgaria squad face a Portuguese-Spanish one. This was the final board, and just one point separated the teams. Had the Spanish declarer made her contract, her team would have lifted the trophy, but her opponents collected the prize.
The contract was the same in both rooms — and yes, South might well have passed one no-trump. As you can see, there are seven top tricks in spades, and good chances for an eighth.
West led the diamond king, then switched to the heart nine to the queen and king. Back came the only card to beat the contract, a diamond to West’s king. Again the defenders found the key switch, back to hearts. This was won in dummy, and now declarer was faced with a choice of losing options: drawing trumps leaves three club losers; a winning heart is ruffed by West; and the diamond queen is ruffed by East.
See the difference if dummy’s heart ace is played at trick two. Trumps are drawn, then South exits with a diamond or a heart. Now the defense must either give declarer a red-suit trick for a club discard, or open the clubs, giving declarer the one trick he needs from that suit.
ANSWER: There are sound reasons for raising to three clubs. To start with, your hand offers decent chances for game facing club length, be it in three no-trump or five clubs. And you have no reason to let the opponents in cheaply by passing two clubs, since if your partner has a minimum, they may have play for a partscore in spades.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
9 6 |
| ♥ |
A Q J 5 |
| ♦ |
Q 9 4 3 2 |
| ♣ |
J 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
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 2009. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
March 24th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, March 10, 2010
| Dealer: North
Vul: N/S |
North |
|
| ♠ |
J 9 7 3 |
| ♥ |
9 8 5 4 |
| ♦ |
A J |
| ♣ |
Q 9 3 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
4 2 |
♠ |
— |
| ♥ |
A K 2 |
♥ |
Q 10 |
| ♦ |
Q 4 3 2 |
♦ |
10 9 8 7 6 |
| ♣ |
K J 4 2 |
♣ |
A 10 8 7 6 5 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A K Q 10 8 6 5 |
| ♥ |
J 7 6 3 |
| ♦ |
K 5 |
| ♣ |
— |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
Pass |
Pass |
| 4♠ |
Pass |
Pass |
4 NT* |
| Pass |
5♣ |
5♠ |
Pass |
| Pass |
Dbl. |
All Pass |
|
| *Two-suited takeout including diamonds |
Opening Lead:♥K
“We’ve trod the maze of error round,
Long wandering in the winding glade;
And now the torch of truth is found,
It only shows us where we strayed.”
— George Crabbe
Eddie Kantar, in his book “Kantar on Kontract” (at kantarbridge.com) remarks that when almost every player in a championship event makes the same defensive error on the same hand, you begin to realize the game cannot be played mechanically; there is still a premium for clear thinking.
When this deal was played in the Blue Ribbon Pairs one year, many Souths bought the contract in four or five spades and invariably made five, even though there are three inescapable heart losers. What happened?
Apparently every West player who saw partner play the heart 10 at trick one couldn’t wait to cash the ace and try to give partner a ruff. What partner was supposed to ruff with remains a mystery. Surely South has seven spades for his vulnerable pre-empt, which leaves East with a void. If West leads any card other than the heart ace at trick two, the hand can be defeated, as South cannot avoid three heart losers.
There is a lesson here. Think before you play, and if the bidding tells you that partner is void in trumps, it is probably not a great idea to try to give him a ruff. Yes, partner might have had the Q-10 of hearts in a long suit, but where are declarer’s heart losers going? If declarer has four small hearts, he will not be able to discard all his losers on winners from dummy, so you can sit back and wait to collect your heart winners at the end of the hand.
ANSWER: Even as a passed hand you are not really worth more than a minimum action — but you surely intend to compete if the opponents join in again. That said, the best way to get both majors into play is to respond one spade, so you can bid hearts economically if the opponents compete in the minors.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 9 7 3 |
| ♥ |
9 8 5 4 |
| ♦ |
A J |
| ♣ |
Q 9 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| Pass |
1♦ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
For details of Bobby Wolff’s autobiography, The Lone Wolff, contact [email protected]. If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, please leave a comment at this blog. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2009. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
March 23rd, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, March 9, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
10 8 4 |
| ♥ |
A J |
| ♦ |
K 9 5 2 |
| ♣ |
K J 8 6 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
5 |
♠ |
9 6 3 2 |
| ♥ |
K 10 7 5 3 2 |
♥ |
Q 8 4 |
| ♦ |
8 6 3 |
♦ |
J 10 7 |
| ♣ |
Q 10 4 |
♣ |
7 3 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A K Q J 7 |
| ♥ |
9 6 |
| ♦ |
A Q 4 |
| ♣ |
A 9 5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
2♣ |
Pass |
| 3♣ |
Pass |
4♠ |
Pass |
| 6♠ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♥5
“Beware of desp’rate steps! The darkest day
(Live till tomorrow) will have passed away.”
— William Cowper
Today’s deal is from a recent major invitational teams event. If you reach six spades and the defenders do not lead hearts, then you will surely play on clubs after drawing trumps and will probably regret you did not play the grand slam.
On a heart lead things are more complex. After two top spades show the 4-1 split, you discard any thoughts of an endplay. You simply draw trumps, duck a heart, ruff the return, then cash a couple of top diamonds from hand.
The fall of the diamond 10 on your right gives you a real problem — you are now faced with a choice of approaches. Should you cash the diamond king, planning to fall back on the club finesse if diamonds do not break? This gives you about a two-thirds chance of success (basically 3-3 diamonds plus half the balance). Or should you rely on finessing the diamond nine? The chance that East has a doubleton honor compared to J-10-x is also about two to one. That is because there are twice as many doubleton-honor holdings as there are three-card holdings to the J-10. A third approach would be to cash the club A-K and then fall back on diamonds — the problem here being that a truly devious East might have false-carded in diamonds from J-10-8-7.
My gut reaction is that the first line is best. Opinions differ here, but since at least two world-class players disagreed (and went down), I’d better not say that too loud.
ANSWER: I can see a case, of sorts, being made for a minimum action in spades, no-trump or clubs. With better spades and worse hearts, one spade with the three-card suit might easily be right; a two-club call suggests, strongly, holding 5-4 in the minors, so is unattractive. That leaves a call of one no-trump, which at least limits the hand — never a bad thing.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
10 8 4 |
| ♥ |
A J |
| ♦ |
K 9 5 2 |
| ♣ |
K J 8 6 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♦ |
1♥ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
For details of Bobby Wolff’s autobiography, The Lone Wolff, contact [email protected]. If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, please leave a comment at this blog. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2009. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
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