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].
March 22nd, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Monday, March 8, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: E/W |
North |
|
| ♠ |
A K J 8 6 3 2 |
| ♥ |
A J 6 4 |
| ♦ |
Q 6 |
| ♣ |
— |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
7 |
♠ |
Q 10 9 5 4 |
| ♥ |
8 2 |
♥ |
7 |
| ♦ |
10 8 5 3 |
♦ |
K J 9 |
| ♣ |
10 9 6 4 3 2 |
♣ |
A K J 8 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
— |
| ♥ |
K Q 10 9 5 3 |
| ♦ |
A 7 4 2 |
| ♣ |
Q 7 5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
2♠ |
Pass |
| 3♥ |
Pass |
4♣ |
Pass |
| 4♦ |
Pass |
5 NT |
Pass |
| 7♥ |
All Pass |
|
|
Opening Lead:♥2
“I planned her a nest in a leafless tree
But the passers eyed and twitted me,
And said: ‘How reckless a bird is he….’”
— Thomas Hardy
How often have we all received the advice to plan the whole deal at trick one — and ignored it, to our ultimate regret?
Today’s declarer carefully played the whole heart grand slam through in his head before touching a card, and that care paid off when his contract rolled home despite the unfavorable lie of his opponents’ cards.
When West led the heart two, declarer calculated that he could make his grand slam as long as spades did not split 6-0. If the spades split 3-3 or 4-2, it would not matter where the first trick was won, but if spades were 5-1, four entries to dummy were needed — three for spade ruffs and a fourth to access the set-up spades.
So, essentially, as it transpired, declarer won the trump lead in dummy, then ruffed a spade. A heart to dummy drew all the trumps, and this was followed by a second spade ruff. Now South’s care at trick one was rewarded when the 5-1 break came to light. A club ruff and another spade ruff set up four spade tricks in dummy, and they could be accessed by a club ruff with dummy’s last trump. Cashing spades from the top allowed South’s three losing diamonds and losing club to be discarded.
In the end declarer drew two rounds of trump, scored his remaining six trumps separately, and took four spade tricks and the diamond ace.
(Try winning the first trump in your hand; you will find the contract is unmakable.)
ANSWER: Declarer has shown a balanced 18-20 with a good club stop. Dummy looked for heart support or a spade suit, and East denied a fit. I can see that a club lead might work (especially if declarer has long diamonds and just one club stop). Equally, it might concede the game-going trick. I am torn between the majors; on balance, I’d be swayed by my heart intermediates to lead the heart nine.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
10 6 2 |
| ♥ |
9 8 |
| ♦ |
Q 4 3 2 |
| ♣ |
K 9 6 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♣ |
Dbl. |
| Pass |
1♥ |
Pass |
1 NT |
| Pass |
2♣ |
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 2009. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
March 21st, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, March 7, 2010
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
In standard bidding, if you double and then raise your partner’s response, is that a courtesy action or does it show real game-interest? And does it matter if the auction is competitive?
— Double Action, Boulder, Colo.
ANSWER: If opener does not re-enter the auction, a raise would be a game-try and promise real extras. If opener rebids his suit or bids a new suit, then the raise by the doubler suggests suitable shape but does not guarantee any extras. With a good hand and support, the doubler must cue-bid or double again.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
I held ♠ 9, ♥ 9-3-2, ♦ A-J-10-3-2, ♣ K-Q-7-4, and my partner opened two clubs. Our agreement is that two diamonds is a waiting bid, with a suit bid showing length and strength. Is there any upper limit to the two-diamond bid — and what would you do here?
— The Spin Room, Waterbury, Conn.
ANSWER: No, there is no upper limit. Partner can hardly double-cross you by passing two diamonds, so you can describe your hand accurately later. Your partner may not expect you to have a decent hand, but he will not discount that possibility. I would not bid an immediate three diamonds with this hand, as it pre-empts partner’s description of his hand.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
A recent column showed a bidding sequence that baffled me. I am a novice who doesn’t play tournament bridge, but this one sure took the cake. In response to South’s one-no-trump opening, North bid two hearts with only a low singleton heart and five spades! With eight points in an unbalanced hand, I could understand either a bid of two clubs or two spades, but not two hearts. Do you have a simple answer for me?
— Stunned, San Ramon, Calif.
|
|
ANSWER: You bring up a delicate issue. As I understand it, most players are now taught Jacoby transfers when they learn the game (hence no footnote for this auction). Bidding a red suit in response to one no-trump SHOWS the major suit one step higher than the bid suit, hearts and spades respectively. In the example here, North’s bid showed spades. Please write to me if you need more help.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
I held ♠ A-Q-9-7-4, ♥ J-8-2, ♦ J-6-2, ♣ 9-5. When the opponents bid two clubs over my partner’s opening bid of one diamond, what is my best approach with this hand?
— Negative Thinker, Ketchikan, Alaska
ANSWER: First things first: Do not bid two spades, which vastly overstates your high-card strength, as it guarantees at least invitational values. One choice is to pass and hope that you get a chance to bid spades later (or not mention them at all). The second choice is to make a negative double. The problem here is that if partner responds two hearts, you do not know whether to pass or correct to two spades. I think I would double. (Give me the diamond queen instead of the jack, and you could sell me on the idea that I could not afford to pass.)
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Up to what level are second-turn doubles by opener for takeout as opposed to penalties? If I open one diamond, my LHO bids one heart, and my RHO bids two no-trump, what should my double mean now?
— Double, Double, Miami, Fla.
ANSWER: The general rule is that all doubles of suits at your second turn facing a passing partner are takeout. However, sometimes doubles of no-trump bids just show good hands — the sequence you quote is somewhere in between. I’d expect a really good hand for the auction you give — maybe a three-suiter with 17-plus HCP. |
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 20th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, March 6, 2010
| Dealer: East
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
A 7 6 |
| ♥ |
J |
| ♦ |
A J 5 3 |
| ♣ |
J 10 9 5 4 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
9 4 |
♠ |
K Q J 10 8 3 |
| ♥ |
K 9 3 2 |
♥ |
— |
| ♦ |
Q 7 6 |
♦ |
10 9 8 2 |
| ♣ |
A K 6 2 |
♣ |
8 7 3 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
5 2 |
| ♥ |
A Q 10 8 6 5 4 |
| ♦ |
K 4 |
| ♣ |
Q |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
2♠ |
| 4♥ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♣K
“Lookers-on see most of the game.”
— English proverb
One of my readers, Jim Beall, sent me a deal that had appeared in another bridge column, but he added a perceptive comment. See if you can match his analysis.
In a Vanderbilt tournament Ron Smith and his counterpart both played this deal in four hearts after East had opened two spades. Both received a top club lead and spade shift.
The unsuccessful declarer won the spade ace and let the heart jack run to West when East showed out. West continued spades and got a second heart trick via a trump promotion on the third round of spades — down one.
By contrast Smith, who foresaw what might happen if the opposing hearts were divided 4-0, immediately played the diamond king and ace, then advanced the diamond jack, pitching his spade to achieve a Scissors Coup before touching trumps. Now the defenders had no communication for the trump promotion.
As Beall pointed out, so long as the unsuccessful declarer believed East began with six spades, he should have been able to avoid losing a swing. To circumnavigate the trump promotion, once trumps are known to split 4-0, South must not let the heart jack run to West. Instead, declarer overtakes dummy’s heart jack with his ace, takes the diamond king, finesses in diamonds, pitches his losing spade on the diamond ace, and concedes two trump tricks. He risks going down two, but it is his only practical chance.
Incidentally, at trick three, running the club jack to pitch a spade should also be considered.
ANSWER: One possible start is to cue-bid two hearts to show a limit raise or better. (Remember, a jump to three clubs is WEAK, neither a limit raise nor a forcing raise.) Better, though, is a jump cue-bid to three hearts, showing a game-forcing hand in clubs and a singleton heart — a splinter-bid. That lets partner decide on which game to play, with a good idea about your primary support and heart shortage.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A 7 6 |
| ♥ |
J |
| ♦ |
A J 5 3 |
| ♣ |
J 10 9 5 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♣ |
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 2009. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
March 19th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Friday, March 5, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: E/W |
North |
|
| ♠ |
A K Q 8 |
| ♥ |
Q 7 4 |
| ♦ |
4 |
| ♣ |
A 10 9 7 3 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
10 7 5 3 |
♠ |
J 4 2 |
| ♥ |
K 10 6 2 |
♥ |
9 8 5 |
| ♦ |
J 8 2 |
♦ |
K 10 9 7 3 |
| ♣ |
5 4 |
♣ |
6 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
9 6 |
| ♥ |
A J 3 |
| ♦ |
A Q 6 5 |
| ♣ |
K Q J 8 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♣ |
Pass |
1♠ |
Pass |
| 2 NT |
Pass |
4♦* |
Pass |
| 4♥ |
Pass |
4 NT |
Pass |
| 5♣** |
Pass |
7♣ |
All Pass |
| *Short diamonds, setting clubs as trumps |
| **Three aces, counting the trump king as an ace |
Opening Lead:♦2
“If there were dreams to sell
What would you buy?
Some cost a passing-bell;
Some a light sigh.”
— Thomas Beddoes
Sabine Auken of Germany would be many people’s choice for the title of Best Woman Bridge Player in the World. Look at her in action in today’s deal from a world championship.
Auken, South, was declarer in the uninspiring contract of seven clubs. However, the play justified the bidding.
West led a diamond to the king and ace. Declarer ruffed a diamond, crossed to the club queen, and ruffed another diamond. She now drew another round of trumps, cashed the spade ace, and had arrived at the moment of truth. The simple line is to take a heart finesse, and indeed this is what happened at several other tables. But Auken decided that given East’s likely diamond length (West’s jack had fallen on the third round), she also had a good chance of success if West held the heart king. She reasoned that West was more likely to hold the heart king than East because with neither red king, she might have led a heart. Leading from an honorless heart suit almost certainly would have been more attractive than leading a diamond from three to the jack.
So declarer played a club to hand and cashed her last club, her heart ace, her diamond queen and the last trump. Dummy held only K-Q-8 of spades, while declarer had a spade and J-3 of hearts in hand. West could not keep three spades as well as the heart king, so Auken landed her grand slam.
ANSWER: Nobody can say there is a right or wrong bid here, but I strongly believe that when the opponents pre-empt, as here, you cannot allow them to talk you out of playing for penalties by redoubling. It is up to your partner to run from two diamonds if he does not want to defend. So cross your fingers and pass — you do have quick tricks after all.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A K Q 8 |
| ♥ |
Q 7 4 |
| ♦ |
4 |
| ♣ |
A 10 9 7 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
2♦ |
| Dbl. |
Rdbl. |
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 18th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, March 4, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: None |
North |
|
| ♠ |
6 3 |
| ♥ |
A 6 2 |
| ♦ |
A 7 5 2 |
| ♣ |
J 7 3 2 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
J 10 8 4 2 |
♠ |
Q 5 |
| ♥ |
J |
♥ |
10 9 3 |
| ♦ |
K Q J 4 |
♦ |
9 8 6 3 |
| ♣ |
9 6 4 |
♣ |
Q 10 8 5 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A K 9 7 |
| ♥ |
K Q 8 7 5 4 |
| ♦ |
10 |
| ♣ |
A K |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
2♥ |
Pass |
| 2♠ |
Pass |
4♥ |
Pass |
| 4 NT |
Pass |
5♥ |
Pass |
| 6♥ |
All Pass |
|
|
Opening Lead:♦K
“Show me a hero and I will write you a tragedy.”
— F. Scott Fitzgerald
When this deal occurred at the Dyspeptics Club, South, in possession of his usual rock-crusher, tried a subtle and well-thought-out approach in the auction. His two-spade call was a help-suit try, ostensibly for game. When North admitted to extras or a suitable spade holding, South used Blackwood and bid the heart slam.
Alas, South’s declarer play did not match his bidding. He won the opening diamond lead, cashed the heart king, then played three rounds of spades, ruffing in dummy. Disaster! East overruffed and played back his last trump, killing the second spade ruff: down one.
North quite rightly took his partner to task for following a line of play that might have been appropriate in a grand slam. He suggested that it would have been better to cash the heart ace, then play on the crossruff. He had conveniently overlooked the fact that East would still have defeated the contract by overruffing the third spade in this variation.
The right line of play is to win the diamond lead, cash the heart queen, take the two top spades, ruff a spade high, then cross to the club ace and ruff the last spade low. East can overruff and return a minor suit, but declarer wins, draws the last trump, and can claim the balance.
It also works perfectly well to go after spades without touching trumps. You can ruff the third spade low, and, if necessary, ruff the fourth spade high, losing just one trump trick.
ANSWER: Your partner’s double suggests interest in penalties, but your hand is entirely unsuitable for defense. (You might have had four small diamonds and better spades and clubs for example.) Rather than risk a disaster, retreat to three diamonds and settle for a safer, if potentially less rewarding, spot.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 10 8 4 2 |
| ♥ |
J |
| ♦ |
K Q J 4 |
| ♣ |
9 6 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♦ |
Dbl. |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
1 NT |
Pass |
| 2♦ |
2♥ |
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 17th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, March 3, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
K 8 7 6 |
| ♥ |
K Q 9 3 |
| ♦ |
10 4 |
| ♣ |
7 6 5 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
4 3 |
♠ |
Q J 2 |
| ♥ |
10 8 4 2 |
♥ |
6 5 |
| ♦ |
A J 9 |
♦ |
K 8 7 6 5 |
| ♣ |
Q J 10 9 |
♣ |
8 3 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A 10 9 5 |
| ♥ |
A J 7 |
| ♦ |
Q 3 2 |
| ♣ |
A K 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 NT* |
Pass |
2♣ |
Pass |
| 2♠ |
Pass |
4♠ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♣Q
“I gave myself to him,
And took himself for pay.
The solemn contract of a life
Was ratified this way.”
— Emily Dickinson
This month I shall be featuring some of my favorite deals from “Kantar on Kontract.” Eddie Kantar has the deserved reputation of being not only one of the nicest and funniest people in the game, but also one of the best bridge writers. He states that when the following spade game was played in the Life Master’s Pairs, only one declarer managed to go down. Without looking at the East-West cards, try to avoid being the second! (Trumps split and neither opponent has a side-suit singleton.)
The unsuccessful declarer won the opening club lead, played the spade ace, led the spade five to the king, leaving one high trump outstanding, and began to run his hearts. He didn’t get very far. East, the player with the high trump, ruffed the third heart and returned a club. Dummy now had a winning heart, declarer a losing club and, you guessed it, declarer had no entry to dummy’s heart. He had cleverly left himself the 10-9 of spades while dummy had the 8-7. When he exited with a diamond, the defenders cashed two diamonds and a club — down one.
There are two much better ways to play the hand: Play the ace-king and a third spade. Now it is easy enough to discard a losing club on a heart without anybody ruffing. Alternatively, cash the spade ace and run the space nine. Assuming it loses, win the club return, draw the last trump, and play hearts.
ANSWER: It is easy to confuse a jump-shift rebid by opener — which is game-forcing — with jump support for your suit, which is invitational. Here you showed both majors and partner jumped to suggest some small extras in case you had game-interest. Because you have a bare minimum, pass two hearts.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K 8 7 6 |
| ♥ |
K Q 9 3 |
| ♦ |
10 4 |
| ♣ |
7 6 5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♣ |
1♦ |
| Dbl. |
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 16th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, March 2, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: E/W |
North |
|
| ♠ |
8 4 2 |
| ♥ |
9 8 3 2 |
| ♦ |
8 4 2 |
| ♣ |
A K Q |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
10 9 5 3 |
♠ |
6 |
| ♥ |
Q J 10 6 |
♥ |
A 7 5 4 |
| ♦ |
A 9 3 |
♦ |
Q J 10 7 5 |
| ♣ |
9 4 |
♣ |
8 5 3 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A K Q J 7 |
| ♥ |
K |
| ♦ |
K 6 |
| ♣ |
J 10 7 6 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
2♠ |
Pass |
| 4♠ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♥Q
“And over them triumphant Death his dart
Shook, but delayed to strike, though oft invoked.”
— John Milton
Today’s deal demonstrates how easy it is to fall victim to the idea that trumps be drawn as soon as possible. There are at least two good reasons not to do that. The first is that you will often need to ruff something in one hand or the other. The second is that there may be something more important to be done before playing trumps. That generally boils down to a question of timing and communication.
Let’s look at the likely sequence of plays in today’s deal. West leads the heart queen against four spades. East takes his ace — guarding against this specific distribution in the suit — and drops South’s king. When he continues with a heart, declarer ruffs the trick. A thoughtless declarer might now draw trumps in four rounds and then unblock dummy’s clubs. But he cannot reach his own hand. The best he can do is play a diamond to his king, but when it loses, the defenders have the rest.
A far better approach would be to draw two rounds of trump, then reassess the position. If trumps have split, declarer can draw them all, unblock clubs, and play for the overtrick. If trumps do not split, declarer must take the slight risk of cashing two rounds of clubs. Then he reverts to drawing trumps, but on the fourth round, he can unblock dummy’s remaining club honor. Now declarer has five tricks in each of the black suits, and can happily concede the last two tricks.
ANSWER: The jump to four spades is an unequivocal slam-try suggesting short spades. Your honors will be working overtime. Also you have trump support and a key third-round club control. Jump to six diamonds if you trust your partner’s bidding.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
10 9 5 3 |
| ♥ |
Q J 10 6 |
| ♦ |
A 9 3 |
| ♣ |
9 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♦ |
Pass |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
3♣ |
Pass |
| 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 2009. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
|
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