February 23rd, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, February 9, 2010 
| Dealer: South
Vul: N/S |
North |
|
| ♠ |
K 8 6 5 4 |
| ♥ |
Q 8 5 4 |
| ♦ |
A J |
| ♣ |
Q 7 |
| West |
 |
East |
| ♠ |
A 9 |
♠ |
10 3 |
| ♥ |
10 3 |
♥ |
J 7 6 2 |
| ♦ |
9 6 2 |
♦ |
10 7 5 4 3 |
| ♣ |
A K J 10 4 2 |
♣ |
9 3 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
Q J 7 2 |
| ♥ |
A K 9 |
| ♦ |
K Q 8 |
| ♣ |
8 6 5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 NT |
2♣ |
3♣ |
Pass |
| 3♠ |
Pass |
4♠ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♣K
“All that a man hath will he give for his life; and while all contribute of their substance the soldier puts his life at stake, and often yields it up in his country’s cause.”
— Abraham Lincoln
In today’s deal, when West intervened with a natural call of two clubs, North cue-bid rather than double, not being keen on looking for a penalty against nonvulnerable opponents.
That got him to the spade game — but incidentally, had the two-club call been artificial, North would have doubled, using that call as Stayman, with three clubs now being natural and forcing.
West led the club king and, on inspecting dummy, appreciated that partner was bereft of points. Even more disconcerting was to see five trumps in dummy, which meant that the defensive trumps were splitting 2-2. Where was he to go for the fourth defensive trick? West could see just one chance — which involved playing East for the spade 10 or jack.
He cashed his second top club, then played a third. Having seen East’s high-low in clubs, denoting a doubleton, South trumped with dummy’s spade king, then guessed to lead a spade to his jack. West captured this with the ace and played a fourth round of clubs. East did indeed have the spade 10 and cooperatively ruffed West’s club with it. South had no choice but to overruff, promoting West’s spade nine to the setting trick.
If declarer believed West had the spade ace, his only legitimate chance would have been to find East with both the spade nine and 10 by leading a trump to his seven, not to his jack. It would not have worked, but he would have gone down fighting.
ANSWER: This is a tough problem. You are too good to rebid three clubs, you cannot raise diamonds, and you would prefer better heart support than the doubleton 10. The choice is to bid two no-trump with only one spade stop (far from unreasonable) or to bid two spades. Using the fourth suit here not only suggests doubt about which strain to play in, but also suggests a little extra in high cards, so it would be my choice.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A 9 |
| ♥ |
10 3 |
| ♦ |
9 6 2 |
| ♣ |
A K J 10 4 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♣ |
Pass |
1♥ |
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].
February 22nd, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Monday, February 8, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: E/W |
North |
|
| ♠ |
Q J 8 3 |
| ♥ |
J 7 |
| ♦ |
8 5 2 |
| ♣ |
J 8 6 5 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
10 6 2 |
♠ |
9 7 5 4 |
| ♥ |
9 4 2 |
♥ |
K Q 10 8 |
| ♦ |
K J 9 |
♦ |
10 7 6 3 |
| ♣ |
Q 10 7 2 |
♣ |
4 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A K |
| ♥ |
A 6 5 3 |
| ♦ |
A Q 4 |
| ♣ |
A K 9 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 2♣ |
Pass |
2♦ |
Pass |
| 2 NT |
Pass |
3♣* |
Pass |
| 3♥ |
Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♣2
“Certain phrases stick in the throat, even if they offer nothing that is analytically improbable.”
— John Russell
“A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” is a fair statement to make. But what if you need two birds? Would you be prepared to grab the first and not go after the second?
Today’s deal saw a greedy declarer go for the maximum and finish up with less than he needed. Declaring three no-trump after an auction in which North had used Stayman to look for a 4-4 major fit, he was delighted to receive the lead of the club two. He won cheaply in hand with the nine, cashed the two top spades to unblock the suit, then tried the club ace. When the suit split 4-1 — as he should have known that it probably would have — he could no longer reach dummy to take the two spade winners there. Eventually, he had to lead hearts and diamonds out of his hand, ending up with only seven tricks.
The prudent declarer who looks ahead appreciates that the club jack in dummy is his passport to the winning spades. But he can only utilize that card if he preserves both small clubs in his hand. Accordingly, he avoids the false economy of winning the first trick cheaply in hand. Instead, he captures the club lead with his king, unblocks the A-K of spades, and later uses the club jack as an entry to the board to take dummy’s spade winners.
ANSWER: This auction should not dissuade you from leading a club. When the opponents bid like this, they do not announce a lock on the club suit. Partner may or may not have length or strength there, but no other lead looks remotely attractive. So you might as well lead from what you know to be length, rather than hit one of declarer’s suits.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
10 3 |
| ♥ |
J 7 6 2 |
| ♦ |
Q 9 6 |
| ♣ |
K J 9 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♥ |
Pass |
1♠ |
| Pass |
2♦ |
Pass |
2 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].
February 21st, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, February 7, 2010
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
You recently presented a hand where opener raised his partner’s one-level response with three trumps, rather than introducing a second suit. How does the partner ever find out how many trumps he will be facing if the raise can be made with either holding? And why not rebid one no-trump with only three trumps, if the hand is almost balanced?
— Doubting Thomas, Galveston, Texas
ANSWER: Raising partner is the best way to get to game when you have a fit — and to stay low when you know you don’t have a fit. If responder wants to find out about the range of the opening hand after a raise, a sophisticated way is to ask with a relay of two no-trump. Responses are by steps: three trumps, minimum hand; three, maximum; four, minimum; four, maximum.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
I held ♠ 9, ♥ J-9-3-2, ♦ A-10-3-2, ♣ K-Q-7-4. As a passed hand I responded one no-trump to one spade, and the next hand butted in with two diamonds. What did my partner show by doubling? Was it extra values, takeout or penalty?
— No Compass, Atlanta, Ga.
ANSWER: While there is no firm agreement on what a double means here, I like it to be takeout, and this is what your hand suggests it to be. Partner’s typical shape would be a 5-3-1-4 pattern. (With both majors one might simply bid hearts, not double.) So with your actual hand, passing would not be absurd, but maybe cue-bidding three diamonds also works. You plan to bid no-trump over a three-spade call, raise hearts, or cue-bid your diamond ace over a club call, looking for a club slam.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
I play rubber bridge every week with the same group. One of the players tends to win more often than the others. Some say it’s because he gets all the cards. Over the years, would you not expect the cards to average out?
— Lucky Charms, Montreal, Quebec
|
|
ANSWER: Unless your friend is good at dealing himself aces (but you would have noticed that!), I’d say the luck evens out. But beware: the better players always seem lucky. As Gary Player said, “The more I practice, the luckier I get.”
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Holding ♠ Q-10-9-5-3, ♥ 2, ♦ 10-3, ♣ A-K-Q-7-4, the young Turks in our neighborhood open one spade, planning to rebid the suit after a two-level red-suit response. The old-timers, like me, prefer one club, planning to rebid spades twice, with the partnership agreement that this does not promise extras. What say you?
— Show and Tell, Durham, N.C.
ANSWER: My first instinct is to go along with you, bidding suits I want my partner to lead. The problem auctions sometimes come at your third turn after opening clubs and bidding spades: How do you distinguish a minimum 5-5 from one with an extra ace? It is not an easy problem! But perhaps you open one spade with much better spades than clubs, or with a stronger hand — and open one club with this hand.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
I assume you would open one club, planning to rebid one no-trump over any one-level response, with ♠ K-J-9, ♥ J-10-2, ♦ 10-8, ♣ A-K-Q-7-4. That was what I did. I heard one diamond on my left, a negative double from partner, and now I had to guess what to do. The deal came up at pairs, with no one vulnerable.
— Gerry Meandering, Sioux Falls, S.D.
ANSWER: I agree with your decision to open one club, although in playing strength the hand resembles a strong no-trump. Now you have to decide what to rebid. If partner has a diamond stop, you may be best off in no-trump; but I would guess to bid one heart because even facing one diamond stopper, you may find you need to take diamond ruffs in the short trump hand. |
If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, e-mail him at [email protected]. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2009.
February 20th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, February 6, 2010
| Dealer: East
Vul: E/W |
North |
|
| ♠ |
K Q 4 |
| ♥ |
K Q 9 |
| ♦ |
10 9 6 4 |
| ♣ |
10 4 2 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
8 7 |
♠ |
J 10 9 6 2 |
| ♥ |
J 4 3 2 |
♥ |
— |
| ♦ |
J 7 3 2 |
♦ |
A Q 8 |
| ♣ |
J 7 6 |
♣ |
A K Q 9 5 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A 5 3 |
| ♥ |
A 10 8 7 6 5 |
| ♦ |
K 5 |
| ♣ |
8 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
1♣ |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
2♣ |
2♠ |
| 4♥ |
Pass |
Pass |
Dbl. |
| All Pass |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♣6
“Things that would have made the frame of a less clever man seemed tricks in his hands. It is a mistake to do things too easily.”
— H.G. Wells
When West led the club six against four hearts doubled, East played three rounds of clubs.
South ruffed the third club low and now felt he was in pretty good shape. A trump lead to dummy’s king revealed the 4-0 break, but it did not seem to be an insuperable problem. After he returned to hand with a top spade and finessed in trumps, it was only then that he realized what would happen if he cashed dummy’s remaining high heart and led a diamond from the board. East would take the diamond ace and play a fourth round of clubs, re-promoting the heart jack into the setting trick.
So, without cashing the heart queen, South tried a diamond. East had to duck, and declarer won his king and led another diamond. East took the trick to play yet a third diamond, and now declarer could no longer draw trumps. West ended up ruffing a spade for down one.
If declarer had led a diamond from dummy after getting the bad news in trumps, he creates another entry to his hand while there are still hearts in dummy to prevent an overruff by West, thus circumnavigating the trump promotion. The best East can do is rise with the diamond ace to play a fourth club. Declarer ruffs in hand, takes the trump finesse, unblocks the heart queen, comes back to the diamond king, and draws the last trump.
ANSWER: This double is for takeout. (You can pass only for a penalty double of diamonds.) Your choice is to rebid hearts to show six, or to raise spades, suggesting only three trumps or you would have supported already. Indeed, raising spades at your last turn was a possibility. Given your weak hearts, it looks better to support spades now; you may be able to emphasize the hearts later.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A 5 3 |
| ♥ |
A 10 8 7 6 5 |
| ♦ |
K 5 |
| ♣ |
8 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
1♠ |
2♦ |
| Pass |
Pass |
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].
February 19th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Friday, February 5, 2010
| Dealer: West
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
K 9 2 |
| ♥ |
A 9 2 |
| ♦ |
10 |
| ♣ |
A K J 9 4 2 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
Q 10 8 5 |
♠ |
A 7 6 3 |
| ♥ |
10 6 |
♥ |
Q J 5 4 3 |
| ♦ |
A J 8 5 4 3 |
♦ |
2 |
| ♣ |
8 |
♣ |
Q 6 3 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
J 4 |
| ♥ |
K 8 7 |
| ♦ |
K Q 9 7 6 |
| ♣ |
10 7 5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
Pass |
1♣ |
Pass |
| 1♦ |
Pass |
3♣ |
Pass |
| 3 NT |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♦5
“Some people are so fond of ill luck that they run halfway to meet it.”
— Douglas Jerrold
Today’s deal shows Geir Helgemo declaring a delicate three no-trump in a teams contest. The diamond five was led, and dummy’s diamond 10 took the first trick. Try to play it yourself before looking at the East-West cards.
It is important to remember that at teams or at rubber bridge, making the contract is paramount. At pairs, one should maybe consider trying for overtricks — but not today.
The point is that if clubs break in unfriendly fashion, the contract might be at risk. Imagine that after dummy’s diamond 10 holds, you cash the two top clubs. You will be in trouble if the queen does not fall, since although a third round of clubs sets up the suit, the opponents may find the killing switch to a heart. Declarer has only eight tricks, and communication between the North and South hands is terrible. Declarer will need to guess the position very well to come home now. But can you see a way to bring home nine tricks without guessing, or relying on good luck?
At the table the game contract was wrapped up in no time at all. At trick two Helgemo simply called for the club jack from dummy! Now the defenders could do whatever they wanted, but they could not find any way to give declarer a problem. He had created entries back to his own hand to drive out the diamond ace and collect another diamond trick, his ninth.
ANSWER: Your partner has invited game, and you have more than enough to accept, but it is not clear which game is best. (I’d be a little worried about a spade lead against no-trump). Cue-bid three clubs and settle for the heart game unless partner bids three no-trump or three spades to suggest values there.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 4 |
| ♥ |
K 8 7 |
| ♦ |
K Q 9 7 6 |
| ♣ |
10 7 5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♣ |
1♥ |
Pass |
| 2♥ |
Pass |
2 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].
February 18th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, February 4, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: None |
North |
|
| ♠ |
7 4 3 2 |
| ♥ |
J |
| ♦ |
A K J 4 2 |
| ♣ |
6 4 2 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
A Q 9 8 |
♠ |
J 6 5 |
| ♥ |
Q 6 2 |
♥ |
10 9 8 4 3 |
| ♦ |
9 7 6 |
♦ |
8 3 |
| ♣ |
9 8 3 |
♣ |
K Q 7 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
K 10 |
| ♥ |
A K 7 5 |
| ♦ |
Q 10 5 |
| ♣ |
A J 10 5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
2♣ |
Pass |
| 2♥ |
Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♣9
“Alas! Our pleasant moments fly
On rapid wings away,
While those recorded with a sigh,
Mock us by long delay.”
— Edward Coate Pinkney
Congratulations to the current world champion Nickell team. In their period of dominance in bridge at the start of the last decade, Meckstroth-Rodwell and Hamman-Soloway may have grabbed the headlines, but Nick Nickell, the captain, and Dick Freeman played their part too.
The late Dick Freeman had been a quiz kid on the radio and was a former tournament director known to be the fastest scorer in the world! Here he is, producing a nice line for his three-no-trump contract.
How likely is it that a competent defense will beat three no-trump by South, if they find the passive club lead? The point is that so long as East wins the second club and shifts to a spade, the defenders should find a way to cash their four spade tricks. Declarer will put up the king on the first round, and then West can underlead his queen, or East can unblock his jack under the queen.
It did not happen like that at the table. After a strong no-trump and a Stayman sequence, West led the club nine, which was either top of a sequence denying a higher honor, or from a 10-nine holding with a higher honor. East put up the club queen, and Freeman ducked impassively! He knew that the lead was top of nothing, but East did not. That player thought the layout was consistent with West’s holding A-10-9, so he continued with the king, and Freeman now had 11 tricks rather than eight.
ANSWER: Your hand seems to me too good to pass three no-trump despite the lack of an obvious fit. A simple raise to four no-trump should be quantitative (bid on if you have maximum, partner) since no suit has been set as trumps. The general rule is that if the last call was in no-trump, a raise to four no-trump is invitational, not Blackwood.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
7 4 3 2 |
| ♥ |
J |
| ♦ |
A K J 4 2 |
| ♣ |
6 4 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
2♣ |
2♥ |
| 3♦ |
Pass |
3 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].
February 17th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, February 3, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: E/W |
North |
|
| ♠ |
10 6 2 |
| ♥ |
Q 9 5 4 |
| ♦ |
A K 9 3 |
| ♣ |
8 5 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
8 |
♠ |
A J 3 |
| ♥ |
K 10 7 2 |
♥ |
A J 8 6 |
| ♦ |
Q 10 8 5 4 |
♦ |
J |
| ♣ |
10 9 2 |
♣ |
Q J 7 4 3 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
K Q 9 7 5 4 |
| ♥ |
3 |
| ♦ |
7 6 2 |
| ♣ |
A K 6 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
2♠ |
Pass |
| 3♣* |
Pass |
3♦ |
Pass |
| 4♠ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♣10
“I only took the regular course … the different branches of Arithmetic – Ambition, Distraction, Uglification and Derision.”
— Lewis Carroll
Today’s deal, from a tournament in Australia, showed that the demise of a contract is frequently due to declarer’s taking his eye off the ball when things look too easy. That is precisely the moment to concentrate, trying to work out what might go wrong.
First let’s look at what happened to South in four spades. The opening lead of the club 10 went to the ace. Declarer could see that unless he lost two spade tricks, he would be home. He led a diamond to dummy’s ace and a spade back to his king. He then cashed his second top club and ruffed a club. Now, when he led a second trump from dummy, East rose with the ace and thoughtfully underled his heart ace to put his partner in with the king. West returned the diamond queen, and East ruffed away dummy’s diamond king and exited with a club, forcing declarer to ruff in hand. As there was still another diamond to lose, declarer finished down one.
While a low diamond lead would have defeated the game, declarer should have considered the risk of the defenders getting a ruff, even on a club lead. To prevent this, the winning line is to start cutting the defenders’ communications by leading a low heart at trick two. Declarer wins the club return, crosses to the diamond ace, and plays a trump as before, then takes the club ruff for the second trump play, and East is helpless.
ANSWER: It cannot be right to bid three spades — if your partner had extra shape, he would have acted himself already. So the choice is to pass or double; and since a double here simply shows a good hand with decent defense, it looks reasonable to me — so long as you can be sure partner is on the same wavelength. If not, pass out three clubs and avoid disaster.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
10 6 2 |
| ♥ |
Q 9 5 4 |
| ♦ |
A K 9 3 |
| ♣ |
8 5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♠ |
Pass |
| 2♠ |
3♣ |
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].
February 16th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, February 2, 2010
| Dealer: North
Vul: E/W |
North |
|
| ♠ |
K 6 3 2 |
| ♥ |
J 8 3 |
| ♦ |
9 7 |
| ♣ |
Q 9 6 4 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
5 |
♠ |
Q 9 8 7 |
| ♥ |
A K 10 4 2 |
♥ |
Q 7 6 5 |
| ♦ |
10 8 2 |
♦ |
Q 6 5 |
| ♣ |
A K 8 3 |
♣ |
7 5 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A J 10 4 |
| ♥ |
9 |
| ♦ |
A K J 4 3 |
| ♣ |
J 10 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
Pass |
Pass |
| 1♦ |
1♥ |
Dbl. |
2♥ |
| 3♠ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♣K
“It is not worthwhile to go round the world to count the cats in Zanzibar.”
— Henry David Thoreau
No great mathematical aptitude is needed to play bridge well. Sometimes, if you are totaling up points, you need to be able to count to 40, but more often than not, being able to add up to 13 is high enough.
Today’s play in three spades is all about locating the trump queen. North’s double was negative, promising four spades and a few values. South showed good appreciation of his assets when he jumped to three spades, but North had nothing to spare for his previous bidding, so passed. Note that the jump to three spades is invitational — it is not a jump in a new suit, which would be forcing, because North’s negative double implies spade length so South is supporting North..
At the table the defenders started by taking the top clubs and getting their ruff. Now, after East played back a heart, West tried to cash a second heart, which was ruffed by declarer. The fate of the contract boils down to finding the trump queen. West is known to be shorter in clubs than his partner, but does that mean declarer should finesse in spades, or play for an original 3-2 break?
Curiously, South did not have to guess. Before touching trumps, declarer cashed the ace and king of diamonds and ruffed a diamond in the dummy. When West followed three times, his distribution was known to have been 1-5-3-4. Declarer now cashed the spade king before taking the spade finesse, certain that it would work.
ANSWER: You have a nice hand, though not a spectacular one, enough to feel like competing again. Because your partner has taken no positive action, a double from you here would be takeout, suggesting some spade length and extra values. You cannot be sure that you have a fit, but if you do want to bid again, this is the safest and most descriptive way to proceed.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A J 10 4 |
| ♥ |
9 |
| ♦ |
A K J 4 3 |
| ♣ |
J 10 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
Pass |
Pass |
1♣ |
| 1♦ |
1♥ |
Pass |
2♣ |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
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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].
February 15th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Monday, February 1, 2010
| Dealer: South
Vul: None |
North |
|
| ♠ |
9 2 |
| ♥ |
8 4 2 |
| ♦ |
K J 9 5 4 |
| ♣ |
6 5 2 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
K 10 8 7 4 |
♠ |
J 5 3 |
| ♥ |
Q 9 5 |
♥ |
J 10 7 3 |
| ♦ |
A 8 6 |
♦ |
7 2 |
| ♣ |
8 4 |
♣ |
K 10 9 3 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A Q 6 |
| ♥ |
A K 6 |
| ♦ |
Q 10 3 |
| ♣ |
A Q J 7 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 2 NT |
Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
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Opening Lead:♠7
“Unfold thy face, unmaske thy ray,
Shine forth, bright Sunne, double the day.”
— Christopher Harvey
When you have the opportunity to take two chances for your contract, you should go after them both, rather than relying on just one of them.
A simple line to follow in your contract of three no-trump is to win the spade lead and advance the diamond queen, which would be ducked all around. Then you would try a diamond to your 10, and again you would have no luck. The defenders would hold up the diamond ace, and now, although you can take one club finesse, you would not be able to find a way home to nine tricks.
In essence, your line relied on the diamond ace being doubleton. But for a far better approach, decide how to cope with the possibility that the defenders may be able to hold up the diamond ace for two rounds. In that case you need to get cracking on the clubs to generate extra tricks from that suit — and that requires you to use your entries to dummy judiciously.
So you win the opening spade lead and play a small diamond from your hand to dummy’s nine at trick two. When this holds, you should lead a club to your queen and return the diamond 10 to dummy’s jack. If the diamond ace pops up, you are home; if the defenders can duck the second diamond, then you repeat the club finesse. You have taken five tricks in the minors and have four winners in the majors: contract made.
ANSWER: With what appears to be a natural trump trick and the chance to force declarer, you should lead a heart rather than a diamond. Your idea will be to force declarer by repeated heart leads. There is an argument for leading the heart jack, but since declarer may well have a doubleton or singleton heart honor, the lead of a low heart looks better.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q 8 4 2 |
| ♥ |
J 5 2 |
| ♦ |
6 |
| ♣ |
A 8 4 3 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
Pass |
1♥ |
1♠ |
| 2♥ |
2♠ |
All Pass |
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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].
February 14th, 2010 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, January 31, 2010
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
When your partner opens a weak-two in diamonds and you hold ♠ J-3, ♥ K-Q-10-6-4, ♦ A-Q-7, ♣ 10-3-2, what should you do? Do you pass, raise diamonds (and if so, how high?) or introduce the hearts?
— Pointed Question, Albuquerque, N.M.
ANSWER: I would bid two hearts, intending it as natural and forcing, not because I thought we could make four hearts. but because with my big diamond fit I’d want to try to keep the opponents quiet. Suggesting I have a good hand with hearts might just do that. I plan to give preference to diamonds at my next turn, unless partner raises hearts, and that would be nonforcing.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
I have a lot of problems when discarding in a suit contract. Does pitching an encouraging high card send a stronger message than throwing a discouraging low card in another suit? And what does it mean when you start with the discard of a neutral suit (one you cannot want to encourage in)?
— Discard Dilemmas, Corpus Christi, Texas
ANSWER: Pitching a neutral suit first always dilutes the message that follows. (If you felt strongly about one suit or another, you’d begin by sending that message.) But if you want to encourage a suit, it is sometimes clearer and safer to discourage the other suit. That way, you retain all your winners in the key suit.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
I assume that you would respond one heart to one diamond when you hold ♠ A-9-6-4, ♥ K-9-6-4, ♦ 2, ♣ 10-8-6-4. When partner rebids two clubs, should you pass or raise to three clubs? If you would pass, how much more might you need to bid three clubs?
— Gear Changer, Springfield, Mass.
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ANSWER: I would pass, expecting there was a fair chance that my heart king would not be pulling much weight (facing shortage). But change the heart king to the ace and I’d dredge up a raise to three clubs. I might even bid on at teams if I had as little additional as the jack in one of my long suits.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
You recently answered a letter about Gerber, restricting its use to no-trump auctions. Why not use it after a one-heart opening is raised to three, for example?
— All-Purpose Bid, Miami, Fla.
ANSWER: Four no-trump asks for aces, but if the call has another meaning, we need to ask for aces a different way. Sometimes the four-no-trump call is quantitative: bid on with a maximum or pass with a minimum. This happens only when the last bid was in no-trump. Accordingly, four no-trump is always available as Blackwood UNLESS the last call was one or two no-trump, when it is quantitative. Hence, Gerber is needed only in those auctions.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Say you elected to open one no-trump with ♠ A-J-7-4-3, ♥ 9-2, ♦ A-Q-7, ♣ A-Q-3. After two hearts on your left, I assume you balance with two spades, and now partner raises to three spades. What next?
— Lost in Space, Phoenix, Ariz.
ANSWER: This hand is deeply flawed for a one-no-trump opening. It is too strong, with both a five-card major and a weak doubleton. I’d open one spade and raise one no-trump to two no-trump, showing 18-19 or so. Having balanced with two spades (suggesting some of these extras), I guess I would bid game now. I’d hope to find nothing in hearts opposite and maybe a minor I could establish. |
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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