January 11th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Monday, December 28, 2009 
| Dealer: South
Vul: None |
North |
|
| ♠ |
K 9 8 7 |
| ♥ |
9 4 |
| ♦ |
A Q 10 2 |
| ♣ |
6 5 3 |
| West |
 |
East |
| ♠ |
2 |
♠ |
A 6 5 3 |
| ♥ |
Q 7 6 5 |
♥ |
10 8 3 2 |
| ♦ |
J 8 5 4 |
♦ |
3 |
| ♣ |
A K Q 10 |
♣ |
9 8 7 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
Q J 10 4 |
| ♥ |
A K J |
| ♦ |
K 9 7 6 |
| ♣ |
J 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
2♣ |
Pass |
| 2♠ |
Pass |
4♠ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♣K
“Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man;
But soon or late the man who wins
Is the one who thinks he can.”
— Walter D. Wintle
Today’s deal is all about instant gratification and the need to refrain from taking your tricks prematurely. Contrast what might happen at two different tables. At one, East is a grabber; at the other, East has learned that everything comes to him who waits.
Look first at the bidding, where North and South have adequate high cards to bid game. A major-suit game with a 4-4 fit is usually safer than three no-trump. When North finds the spade fit, he has enough values in his long suits to drive to game, not just to invite game.
Against four spades the best defense is for West to lead a top club and continue clubs for a second and third round. Imagine declarer ruffs that and advances the spade queen. East takes that and exits optimistically with a heart. Declarer wins and draws trumps, then tests the hearts and determines that West, if anyone, must be the player with long diamonds. So he cashes dummy’s ace, leads to his king, takes the diamond finesse, and claims his contract.
At the other table, when declarer leads trumps, East withheld his spade ace for the first two rounds, thus insuring the defeat of the contract. If declarer now leads diamonds before drawing all the trumps, East can ruff in. But if declarer draws a third round of trumps, East wins and leads his fourth club. This forces dummy to ruff, leaving East with the master trump.
ANSWER: The form of scoring will affect your opening lead. At both rubber and team scoring, a case can be made for a heart lead. That suit is the one where you need least from partner to set the game. Conversely, at pairs scoring, you would perhaps lead a club. Both the two and six are acceptable choices, but the spade eight is the lead least likely to cost a trick.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
8 7 2 |
| ♥ |
A 6 5 |
| ♦ |
Q 10 2 |
| ♣ |
9 6 3 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
1 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 2009. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
January 10th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, December 27, 2009
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
Will the major World Championships ever come back to the United States? It seems a while since we had one in North America.
— America First, Detroit, Mich.
ANSWER: Do not forget that Montreal hosted a major event in 2002. And in October 2010, Philadelphia will play host to the World Championships. More details soon, but the ACBL website at acbl.org will tell you all you need to know.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
My partner told me that it was normal practice to double a loose club with a hand like ♠ A-Q-3, ♥ A-10-8-3, ♦ 7-3, ♣ A-10-3-2. He indicated that the likelihood of partner responding in a major suit was high enough that one should risk the occasional embarrassment from a diamond contract to ensure that you got into the auction.
— Purist, Union City, Tenn.
ANSWER: I agree with your partner. The Italians always doubled first and asked questions later, not requiring perfect shape, especially doubles of loose opening bids. I’m not averse to overcalling in four-card suits with enough high cards if the suit itself is good. Here that would be impractical — the double would be my best guess at a way to avoid being shut out.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
My partner, who held ♠ 9-8-7-5, ♥ A-Q-10-8-7, ♦ K-Q, ♣ Q-7, opened one heart. I held 12 points with three hearts and four very small clubs. What is the right way to show my hand and how should our bidding go?
— Stumped, North Little Rock, Ark.
ANSWER: In mainstream Standard American an initial response of two no-trump shows either a balanced game-force, or a good hand with trump support (at least four). You could bid two no-trump here if you play the former way. If not, you can either respond two clubs (planning to jump to four hearts to show a minimum) or you can underbid slightly by responding one no-trump, following up with a call of three hearts or four hearts. The former is invitational; the latter suggests 12-14 and three trumps. |
|
Dear Mr. Wolff:
I was taught that to respond to my partner, I need at least six points at the one-level and 10-plus at the two-level. My response of one heart to my partner’s opening promises only four cards, but my subsequent rebid of two hearts would guarantee six hearts. My partner says if he has 6-9 points, he must rebid his suit, however weak, to show five. Who is right?
— Over the Rainbow, Laredo, Texas
ANSWER: You are right and your partner is wrong. The point is that at his second turn opener will always raise partner with four, but will also often raise with three and an unbalanced or semibalanced hand. Therefore, if he does not receive a raise, responder will go out of his way NEVER to repeat a five-card suit unless it is so good it looks like six. As responder, support partner or bid no-trump, or pass his minimum action if you have five in your original suit and 6-9 points.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
You open one club with ♠ A-J-8-3, ♥ K-7-3, ♦ Q-J-3, ♣ K-10-3. Your partner responds one heart. Should you introduce the spades, raise hearts, or bid no-trump?
— Patterned Out, Mitchell, S.D.
ANSWER: While it is acceptable to raise partner with three trumps, one should not do so with completely balanced hands of this sort. So the choice is to bid one no-trump (which would be my preference because this hand has a proper stopper in each minor) or to bid one spade. I’d prefer to have at least four clubs for the latter action — and even then, I might rebid one no-trump if my diamond stopper was solid. |
If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, e-mail him at [email protected]. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2009.
January 9th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, December 26, 2009
| Dealer: North
Vul: None |
North |
|
| ♠ |
A K 9 8 3 |
| ♥ |
Q 8 |
| ♦ |
8 6 2 |
| ♣ |
A K Q |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
Q 4 |
♠ |
J 7 5 |
| ♥ |
A 9 7 6 2 |
♥ |
J 10 3 |
| ♦ |
J 10 |
♦ |
K Q 5 |
| ♣ |
9 6 4 3 |
♣ |
10 8 5 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
10 6 2 |
| ♥ |
K 5 4 |
| ♦ |
A 9 7 4 3 |
| ♣ |
J 7 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♠ |
Pass |
| 2♠ |
Pass |
3♣ |
Pass |
| 3 NT |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♥6
“When there is no peril in the fight, there is no glory in the triumph.”
— Pierre Corneilless
Applying the Rule of 11 brought defensive success to Bruce Ferguson, East, in this deal from a long-ago North American Nationals in Chicago. But it also needed the cooperation of Brenda Keller, his partner, to defeat the game.
The Rule of 11 states: Subtract the value of the card led from 11 to give the number of higher cards not held by the opening leader. Seeing four hearts higher than the six, Ferguson calculated that South held just one card higher than the six. But he also knew that this rule could be applied by declarer. If Ferguson followed with his three, then, when he gained the lead to play the heart jack, South could cover that card with the king, which would result in the hearts being blocked. Accordingly, Ferguson unblocked the heart jack under dummy’s queen.
South continued with the spade king, and now Keller did her part by getting rid of her queen. If South held the spade jack, she knew her queen would drop, but if partner held that card, she needed to clear her queen out of harm’s way so that East would be able to win the third round of spades and play hearts through.
This precaution turned out to be necessary, as now declarer could not set up either spades or diamonds without letting East on lead to take his side’s heart tricks and defeat the contract.
ANSWER: A coward would say, “I have only eight points” and bid three hearts. The average player correctly commits to game because of his fit for diamonds, knowing partner has length in that suit and needs help. The expert bids four diamonds — just in case partner was interested in slam and has four diamonds. That way he might get to the best slam — six diamonds — not six hearts.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
10 6 2 |
| ♥ |
K 5 4 |
| ♦ |
A 9 7 4 3 |
| ♣ |
J 7 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♥ |
Pass |
| 2♥ |
Pass |
3♦ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
For details of Bobby Wolff’s autobiography, The Lone Wolff, contact [email protected]. If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, please leave a comment at this blog. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2009. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
January 8th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Friday, December 25, 2009
| Dealer: South
Vul: None |
North |
|
| ♠ |
J 5 |
| ♥ |
A 4 |
| ♦ |
K Q J 7 |
| ♣ |
Q 10 7 4 2 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
Q 10 7 6 |
♠ |
9 4 3 2 |
| ♥ |
J 5 2 |
♥ |
K 8 |
| ♦ |
8 6 5 3 |
♦ |
10 9 2 |
| ♣ |
K 5 |
♣ |
J 8 6 3 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A K 8 |
| ♥ |
Q 10 9 7 6 3 |
| ♦ |
A 4 |
| ♣ |
A 9 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
2♣ |
Pass |
| 2♥ |
Pass |
3♦ |
Pass |
| 4 NT* |
Pass |
6 NT |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| *Quantitative; 17-18 with six hearts |
Opening Lead: Guess!
“Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.”
— The Book of Daniel 5:27
The opening lead can determine the success or failure of a contract. And sometimes, as in today’s deal from the 60th Lederer Memorial Trophy, declarer’s assessment of the opening leader’s capabilities played its part.
In action were the Hackett twins, Justin and Jason, playing against their English teammates, David Gold and Tom Townsend. Both pairs were part of the English team that won the silver medal in the World Championships in 2008.
No slam is especially good, since making 12 tricks requires the heart suit to play for just one loser — and the chance of that is only just over 50 percent. If there is only one heart loser, it appears that six no-trump will make as many tricks as six hearts, but that is not so. Consider declarer’s dilemma on a club lead. He has to guess correctly which club to play from dummy, or the defenders will take a club trick and a heart trick.
A glance at the West cards will indicate how unlikely an opening club lead might be, but David Gold found the fine opening lead of the club five — and Justin Hackett made the equally fine play of the club queen from dummy! Ace and another heart sorted out that suit, and 12 tricks were there.
When asked why he had played the club queen rather than the 10, Justin explained that top-class players are more likely to underlead a king than a jack.
ANSWER: Your first thought might be that game your way is a long way off and that you would rather defend, but in fact all your cards rate to be working on offense. Since a two-level overcall will deliver about an opening-strength hand — normally with six hearts — bid four hearts, planning to double four spades if the opponents continue. If partner bids five hearts in front of you, he may well be right to do so!
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 5 |
| ♥ |
A 4 |
| ♦ |
K Q J 7 |
| ♣ |
Q 10 7 4 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♠ |
2♥ |
3♠ |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
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].
January 7th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, December 24, 2009
| Dealer: North
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
A Q |
| ♥ |
9 8 7 5 |
| ♦ |
Q 6 3 2 |
| ♣ |
Q J 8 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
10 9 7 4 2 |
♠ |
K J 8 6 5 3 |
| ♥ |
Q 6 2 |
♥ |
J 10 3 |
| ♦ |
10 8 7 |
♦ |
A K 9 5 |
| ♣ |
9 7 |
♣ |
— |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
— |
| ♥ |
A K 4 |
| ♦ |
J 4 |
| ♣ |
A K 10 6 5 4 3 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
Pass |
1♠ |
| Dbl. |
2♠ |
3♥ |
3♠ |
| 5♣ |
Pass |
6♣ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♠10
“First love is only a little foolishness and a lot of curiosity: no really self-respecting woman would take advantage of it.”
— George Bernard Shaw
Should West have selected a suit other than a spade for his opening lead against six clubs? After all, his partner had bid and rebid spades, yet the opponents had still climbed to slam, so surely spades was the one suit declarer had covered in this deal from a recent U.S. Summer Nationals.
Luckily for declarer, West settled for the mundane spade lead, reasoning that partner might have doubled for an unusual lead if that were called for. South tried dummy’s queen — if by a miracle the spade king was onside, both of South’s losing diamonds could be shed. But East covered with the king, and after ruffing, declarer next led a club to the queen. On the spade ace, South correctly discarded, not a diamond, but the heart four.
At this point, the only chance for the contract was a 3-3 heart break. Since dummy’s only entries were in trumps, declarer delayed drawing a second round of clubs until the ace and king of hearts were cashed. Then after a trump to the jack came a heart ruff, East and West both obligingly following suit.
Dummy’s last entry, the club eight, was the access to the 13th heart for a diamond discard, and declarer could now claim his precarious slam.
One further thought: if East had doubled the slam, would West have worked out that he was expected to lead a diamond, not a heart? I think so; the argument might reasonably have been that if East had heart tricks, they could hardly get away.
ANSWER: The range for a nonforcing response of one no-trump to an overcall of one spade is 7-11. With a balanced 5-6 points, you can pass. (Game will not make if partner cannot start by doubling the opponents, then bidding a suit.) Equally, to jump to two no-trump requires a full opening bid, since an overcall could easily have fewer than 10 high-card points. So this hand is a normal maximum for a call of one no-trump.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A Q |
| ♥ |
9 8 7 5 |
| ♦ |
Q 6 3 2 |
| ♣ |
Q J 8 |
| 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].
January 6th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, December 23, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: All |
North
♠ 8 4
♥ 10 8 7
♦ 10 9 7 2
♣ A 10 9 5 |
|
| West
♠ Q 10 9 7 3
♥ K 4 3
♦ K 5
♣ 7 4 3 |
|
East
♠ J 6 5
♥ Q 6 5 2
♦ 6 4 3
♣ K 8 6 |
| |
South
♠ A K 2
♥ A J 9
♦ A Q J 8
♣ Q J 2 |
|
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 2 NT |
Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♠ 10
“But society has now fairly got the better of individuality; and the danger which threatens human nature is not the excess, but the deficiency, of personal impulses and preferences.”
— John Stuart Mill
Some deals that require nothing more subtle than basic technique nonetheless can be surprisingly difficult until you see the point.
In today’s deal from the Dyspeptics Club, South was at the helm in three no-trump. He started well when he ducked the opening spade lead and won the second. Then he took the club finesse, won the spade continuation, and ran off his club winners before taking the losing diamond finesse. Alas for him, West had two spades to cash — down one.
North snapped his pencil and muttered something uncharitable about bridge in the slow lane. Was he right to be upset?
I can understand his frustration, although I suspect I might have been sympathetic to an inexperienced partner who had made the same mistake. Nevertheless, South had a blind spot, the point being that he needed to establish both minors, but also had to keep the danger hand (West) off lead once spades had been established.
The right approach on winning the first top spade is to play the diamond ace followed by the diamond queen, not caring who takes the trick. As it happens, West wins the diamond king and plays a third spade to your ace. Now South can run the club queen; East can take his king when he likes, but cannot prevent declarer from scoring three clubs, three diamonds, two spades and one heart.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
8 4 |
| ♥ |
10 8 7 |
| ♦ |
10 9 7 2 |
| ♣ |
A 10 9 5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♣ |
1♥ |
| Pass |
2♥ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| 3♣ |
Pass |
3♦ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
ANSWER: When you passed initially and made a minimum raise of clubs at your second turn, you essentially denied holding more than about a six-count. Now that partner has made a try for game, you cannot treat your hand as a minimum anymore. In context, your values must be enough to give partner a play for game, so bid five clubs.
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].
January 6th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, December 23, 2009
| Dealer: North
Vul: None |
North |
|
| ♠ |
Q 8 4 |
| ♥ |
10 8 6 |
| ♦ |
8 5 2 |
| ♣ |
J 10 9 3 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
J 10 9 7 5 2 |
♠ |
6 3 |
| ♥ |
4 2 |
♥ |
9 5 |
| ♦ |
3 |
♦ |
K Q J 10 9 6 4 |
| ♣ |
K 6 4 2 |
♣ |
Q 5 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A K |
| ♥ |
A K Q J 7 3 |
| ♦ |
A 7 |
| ♣ |
A 8 7 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
Pass |
3♦ |
| 6♥ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♦3
“Nothing, I am sure, calls forth the faculties so much as the being obliged to struggle with the world.”
— Mary Wollstonecraft
When West leads his singleton diamond three against your heart slam, what is the best approach to making 12 tricks?
You win the diamond ace, and cash the trump ace, followed by the ace and king of spades. You now need to reach dummy twice to take two finesses in clubs. You could play for trumps to be 2-2, but this is not so likely after one opponent has pre-empted. So maybe finessing dummy’s trump eight might generate that extra entry? Alas, here East wins the trump nine and cashes a diamond for two down — how unlucky!
Better is to cash the spade ace-king at tricks two and three, then carefully lead the heart seven to dummy’s 10. Now you run the club jack to West. If he returns a spade, East may ruff, but you still succeed if he began life with the missing club queen (which you now know to be doubleton since East has shown two spades, two hearts and seven diamonds). You overruff with a top trump, draw the last trump, and lay down the club ace. When the club queen falls, you make two spades, six hearts, a diamond and three clubs.
If East cannot ruff the spade queen, you throw a diamond from hand. Then you repeat the club finesse, draw trumps, and claim 12 tricks.
If instead West returns a trump at trick six, you have a certain trump entry to dummy for the second club finesse and your contract.
ANSWER: Did you think about bidding five diamonds? You should not do so. You have already promised a seven-card suit and a weak hand — which you have — and should now leave any decision to your partner about whether to sacrifice. Once you make a pre-empt or a pre-emptive raise, you normally transfer captaincy to your partner. A raise by your partner does not invite you back to the party.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
6 3 |
| ♥ |
9 5 |
| ♦ |
K Q J 10 9 6 4 |
| ♣ |
Q 5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 3♦ |
Dbl. |
4♦ |
4♠ |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
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].
January 5th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, December 22, 2009
| Dealer: West
Vul: N/S |
North |
|
| ♠ |
10 4 2 |
| ♥ |
K 2 |
| ♦ |
A K Q J 8 |
| ♣ |
Q 3 2 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
A J 8 |
♠ |
Q 9 5 |
| ♥ |
J 10 9 8 7 4 |
♥ |
6 5 |
| ♦ |
10 6 |
♦ |
9 7 3 |
| ♣ |
K 7 |
♣ |
A 8 6 5 4 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
K 7 6 3 |
| ♥ |
A Q 3 |
| ♦ |
5 4 2 |
| ♣ |
J 10 9 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
2♥ |
3♦ |
Pass |
| 3 NT |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♥J
“The world of books is the most remarkable creation of man. Nothing else that he builds ever lasts.”
— Clarence Shepard Day
Today’s deal comes from my favorite bridge book of 2009, Larry Cohen’s “My Favorite 52,” published by Master Point Press.
As South you reach three no-trump after West has pre-empted. On the lead of the heart jack you count nine tricks, so long as diamonds split. What could go wrong?
Well, if you win the heart in hand and play a club, the defenders might meanly play three rounds of the suit (leaving the hearts blocked), and they may then have clubs to cash when they get in with the spade ace.
Say instead that you win the heart king, test diamonds, and then play a club to the jack and king. Back comes a heart. Now, if you cash your third heart, the defenders have set up their suit before you have established your club winner (if West has the spade ace). If you do not cash the third heart, but lead a club to the queen, hoping the defenders take the trick, they meanly duck it! Curtains, if East has the spade ace.
Far better is to take the heart king and lead the club queen. If the defenders duck, you cash out; if they win it, you can ensure a club re-entry to hand.
One more wrinkle: If you win the heart king and play the club queen, an unkind East might win and shift to the spade queen. Does he have Q-J-9, in which case you must cover the second spade, not the first? Or does he have his actual holding, when failure to cover the queen will be fatal? Fortunately, there are not many opponents who would be so unpleasant.
ANSWER: There is no reason to do anything outlandish here. Give preference to two diamonds and let partner decide whether he has any game interest. You have a maximum in high cards, but no fitting honors for your partner, so stay low until asked to do otherwise.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K 7 6 3 |
| ♥ |
A Q 3 |
| ♦ |
5 4 2 |
| ♣ |
J 10 9 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♦ |
1♠ |
| 1 NT |
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].
January 4th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Monday, December 21, 2009
| Dealer: South
Vul: E/W |
North |
|
| ♠ |
A J 5 3 |
| ♥ |
8 5 2 |
| ♦ |
K 5 |
| ♣ |
Q 9 6 5 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
7 |
♠ |
Q 9 6 4 |
| ♥ |
K Q 10 6 3 |
♥ |
J 4 |
| ♦ |
9 8 7 4 2 |
♦ |
Q J 6 |
| ♣ |
A 7 |
♣ |
8 4 3 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
K 10 8 2 |
| ♥ |
A 9 7 |
| ♦ |
A 10 3 |
| ♣ |
K J 10 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
2♣ |
Pass |
| 2♠ |
Pass |
4♠ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♥K
“I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it.”
— Harry S. Truman
“At least I guessed which way to finesse for the trump queen. It was only the 4-1 break that beat me,” claimed declarer.
“The choice of direction for the finesse was no guess, and the 4-1 break should not have been a problem,” retorted his partner.
West led the heart king against four spades, and declarer counted three losers in the side suits. South won the lead, then, after mentally tossing a coin, chose to play East for the trump queen, since the opening lead marked West with longer hearts than his partner.
Declarer led a low trump to the ace, then played a small spade from dummy back to the 10. The good news was that the 10 held; the bad news was that West showed out, leaving an inevitable trump loser to send the contract down one.
North was right in the post-mortem. If spades break 3-2, then it is a guess as to who has the queen. But what if trumps are 4-1? The key here is the location of the trump eight and nine: it is not possible to pick up Q-9-7-6 of spades with West, because the spade nine would lie over the eight, permitting just one finesse. But if East has that holding, declarer can take two trump finesses, first against the queen, then against the nine.
Thus, after declarer plays dummy’s spade ace, he must continue with the jack. East covers, the king wins, the club ace is flushed out, and dummy is re-entered for a finesse against the spade nine.
ANSWER: Declarer rates to have five or six clubs and be short in both majors. Partner’s failure to raise spades suggests he too may be weak in that suit. All of this argues for trying to set up tricks in diamonds before declarer can pitch his losers in that suit on dummy’s major-suit holdings. However, if I had the J-10 of spades, I might lead from the sequence.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 9 4 3 |
| ♥ |
A 10 8 6 |
| ♦ |
Q 5 2 |
| ♣ |
J 9 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♥ |
Dbl. |
1 NT |
| 2♠ |
Pass |
Pass |
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].
January 3rd, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, December 20, 2009
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
I was playing two hearts and one opponent revoked on the first round of trumps. When she discovered the revoke, she played her trump ace at her first opportunity. How many tricks should the revoke penalty be? If I had made 10 tricks, would that have given us game?
— No-Joke Revoke, Orlando, Fla.
ANSWER: The revoke penalty laws now say that if you win the trick on which you revoked and subsequently your side wins another trick, it is a two-trick penalty; if not, it is one trick, if your side wins a subsequent trick. If the penalty does not restore equity, the Tournament Director (or the other players in a social game) will try to do so. At rubber, if you did not bid game, you can never get the game bonus. If you play two hearts, you will get that score below the line, with overtricks above the line, as increased by the revoke.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
When your partner doubles an opening bid of three diamonds and you hold ♠ A-8-4-3, ♥ A-Q-9-7-3, ♦ 3, ♣ J-10-3, should you do more than bid four hearts? I could envisage this hand getting our side to slam, but I did not know how to find out.
— Reach for the Stars, Duluth, Minn.
ANSWER: I understand why you felt inclined to bid more than four hearts. Maybe if you cue-bid four diamonds, intending to pass a response in either major, you will get to the right trump fit most of the time. And if your partner has real extras, he may do more than settle for a four-level action, so you get the best of all worlds.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Is my opening bid of four clubs asking for aces? If not, what does it show?
— In the Clover, Monterey, Calif.
|
|
ANSWER: No, an opening four-club bid shows more clubs than a three-club opening bid but fewer than a five-club call. In fact, most experts will use a four-club bid as Gerber (ace-asking) only when the other hand has opened or rebid no-trump at his previous turn.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
You open one diamond, your LHO bids two clubs, and partner bids two hearts. What should you do with ♠ Q-9-6-4, ♥ A, ♦ A-Q-8-6-4, ♣ 10-9-8? Was two hearts forcing — and if so, what is the least lie now, since two spades would be a reverse?
— Confused, Boise, Idaho
ANSWER: Bidding spades at the two-level is not strength-showing. If partner had bid one heart and you had bid one spade, that would just show four spades and not promise extras. You did not boost the level of the auction here; your LHO and partner did that. Two spades is natural — it may contain extras but does not promise them.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
When reading your discussion of a safety play, I was reminded of sacrifice plays in baseball. The intentional walk, sacrifice bunt, and sacrifice fly all came to mind. Are these appropriate parallels?
— Club Manager, Austin, Texas
ANSWER: The difference, if there is one, comes from the fact that most safety plays at bridge definitely advance your side’s cause. The sacrifice bunt may not do so — but I agree that the suicide squeeze, safety squeeze and sacrifice fly all get a run in when well executed and now the comparison is indeed apt. From a defensive perspective, the situations with bringing the infield in or leaving it out for double plays are also tactically and strategically challenging and perhaps comparable. |
If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, e-mail him at [email protected]. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2009.
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