December 23rd, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, December 9, 2009 
| Dealer: East
Vul: E/W |
North |
|
| ♠ |
A K Q 7 |
| ♥ |
A Q 8 4 2 |
| ♦ |
K J |
| ♣ |
Q 6 |
| West |
 |
East |
| ♠ |
J 3 2 |
♠ |
10 4 |
| ♥ |
10 7 |
♥ |
J 5 |
| ♦ |
A 7 6 4 2 |
♦ |
Q 5 |
| ♣ |
9 5 3 |
♣ |
A K J 10 8 4 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
9 8 6 5 |
| ♥ |
K 9 6 3 |
| ♦ |
10 9 8 3 |
| ♣ |
7 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
3♣ |
| Pass |
4♣ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| 4♥ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: Can you guess?
“But search the land of living men,
Where wilt thou find their like agen?”
— Sir Walter Scott
The Alcatraz Coup is a deceptive but illegal play by which declarer exploited a loophole (now blocked) in the revoke law. No illegal subterfuge took place in today’s deal, but Tom Townsend and David Gold did break a seemingly unbreakable contract. How on earth could anyone defeat today’s heart game? It looks easier to make 11 tricks than 10.
The auction to four hearts was normal, though Townsend’s three-club pre-empt showed a respectable hand in their methods. Nonetheless, Gold, who was desperate for tricks against the heart game, tried the diamond four as his opening salvo! Declarer got the suit wrong, of course, putting in dummy’s jack. Townsend won and cashed the club king, on which Gold gave count to show that he had originally started with three clubs, and thus no more club winners were cashing.
Townsend now went back to diamonds, and West won with the ace and continued to conceal the diamond two by returning the diamond six, consistent with an original four-card holding.
Now what is declarer to do? South guessed wrong by ruffing with the eight (playing East to have begun with three diamonds, or any heart holding without an honor), rather than committing himself to the less likely 2-2 trump break. One down!
At the other table East led a mundane club against four hearts and very soon declarer wrapped up 11 tricks by guessing diamonds after drawing trumps.
ANSWER: This hand is far too powerful for a jump to four spades, which is consistent with a near-Yarborough. Far better even than a constructive raise to three spades is the splinter jump to four clubs. This shows a raise of spades with a singleton club and, in principle, either moderate values or at least one high-card control (here, the heart king).
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
9 8 6 5 |
| ♥ |
K 9 6 3 |
| ♦ |
10 9 8 3 |
| ♣ |
7 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
2♣ |
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].
December 22nd, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, December 8, 2009
| Dealer: South
Vul: N/S |
North |
|
| ♠ |
A J 2 |
| ♥ |
Q 6 4 2 |
| ♦ |
K 5 |
| ♣ |
A K Q 5 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
10 9 7 |
♠ |
Q 8 6 4 3 |
| ♥ |
K 10 9 7 |
♥ |
— |
| ♦ |
Q 7 2 |
♦ |
10 9 8 4 3 |
| ♣ |
10 4 3 |
♣ |
J 9 7 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
K 5 |
| ♥ |
A J 8 5 3 |
| ♦ |
A J 6 |
| ♣ |
8 6 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
3♣ |
Pass |
| 3 NT |
Pass |
5♥ |
Pass |
| 6♥ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♠10
“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”
— H.L. Mencken
The “Play With the Experts Pairs” at a recent Brighton Summer Congress contained many column-worthy hands. Today’s is one of them.
The auction to six hearts looks normal enough. North’s five-heart call asked his partner to bid slam with decent trumps, and South had just enough to accept. West led the spade 10, and South won with the king.
Although this was a pairs event, it was IMP scoring. Therefore, entering dummy and playing a heart toward hand in the hope of an overtrick if East held the singleton or doubleton heart king was not paramount, but making 12 tricks was of critical importance. Given that, how should you play?
To cater to four hearts with East, the right play is to lead a low heart toward dummy’s queen. If West shows out and the queen loses to the king, two further leads from dummy toward the A-J-8 picks up the 10 and nine.
However, at the table the trump queen would hold, with East showing out. It now appears that there are two trump losers, but there is one chance — a trump endplay on West. For this, West must follow suit to all (or most) of declarer’s plain suits.
Dummy’s top clubs are safely cashed, then the spade ace and a spade ruff stand up. West must also follow to the king and ace of diamonds and a diamond ruff. Finally, a low heart from both hands leaves West on play, forced to lead a trump from his king into South’s ace-jack.
ANSWER: A simple raise to four spades might look sufficient, but it is also acceptable to bid four clubs. (You cannot have just clubs, or you would not have bid two no-trump, and you would have rebid three no-trump at your third turn.) The four-club call is an advance cue-bid, setting spades as trumps and implying suitability for slam.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A J 2 |
| ♥ |
Q 6 4 2 |
| ♦ |
K 5 |
| ♣ |
A K Q 5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♣ |
Pass |
1♠ |
Pass |
| 2 NT |
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].
December 21st, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Monday, December 7, 2009
| Dealer: South
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
A J 10 9 |
| ♥ |
10 6 3 |
| ♦ |
10 9 5 2 |
| ♣ |
10 8 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
— |
♠ |
5 4 2 |
| ♥ |
Q 9 8 7 5 4 |
♥ |
J |
| ♦ |
Q 7 4 |
♦ |
K 8 6 |
| ♣ |
A Q J 7 |
♣ |
K 6 5 4 3 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
K Q 8 7 6 3 |
| ♥ |
A K 2 |
| ♦ |
A J 3 |
| ♣ |
9 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♠ |
Dbl. |
3♠ |
Pass |
| 4♠ |
Pass |
Pass |
Dbl. |
| Rdbl. |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♥7
“Man is the only animal that blushes. Or needs to.”
— Mark Twain
In today’s deal, from an online tournament, South’s redouble was far from unreasonable — but as matters progressed, declarer was pleased he could not see the faces of the other three players at the end of the deal!
West led the heart seven against four spades doubled and redoubled. South played low from dummy and East played the jack — a card to which declarer paid too little heed. Declarer could have drawn trumps ending in dummy and taken a diamond finesse. Later he could cross back to dummy with another trump for a second diamond finesse. That would work if the diamond honors were divided, but South thought he could see a way to do better. If he could eliminate the clubs and hearts before diamonds were played, he would succeed even if West held both diamond honors.
So at trick two South played a trump. When West showed out, declarer realized he could not draw all the trumps before playing a club, as he might run out of entries to dummy. So at trick three he played a club. West won and surprised South by giving his partner a heart ruff. Now East switched to a diamond, and declarer could not afford to duck because he would lose another heart ruff. So he rose with the ace, belatedly drew the last trump, and eventually had to lose two diamond tricks for one down.
The flaw in South’s plan was failing to draw a second trump before playing the club. That would have prevented the defenders from getting two ruffs.
ANSWER: You would normally lead your long suit here, but your opponents’ auction does strongly suggest concern over clubs. Unless East is the sort of smart aleck who might be trying to put you off a diamond lead, I would go with the club 10 and apologize to partner later if declarer has fooled you.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K J 3 |
| ♥ |
J 4 2 |
| ♦ |
Q 9 7 6 |
| ♣ |
10 9 5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♥ |
Pass |
1♠ |
| Pass |
2♥ |
Pass |
3♦ |
| Pass |
3♠ |
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].
December 20th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, December 6, 2009
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
I opened a strong two clubs and my partner gave the weak response of two diamonds. I had 22 high-card points but no long suit, so I bid two no-trump. At this stage, can my partner use the conventions of Stayman or Jacoby Transfers, just as if I had opened the bidding in no-trump?
— Goldfinger, Worcester, Mass.
ANSWER: What a sensible question! Yes, after this start, one plays exactly the same as over a two-no-trump opening bid. And the same applies when you overcall a weak-two bid with a natural two-no-trump call. As soon as one player has made a natural call, though, transfers no longer apply.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
I’ve played bridge for 40 years, but I still cannot keep track of all 52 cards! When it’s a suit contract, I keep track of the trump cards, especially the honors. In no-trump, I remember the high cards, but have difficulty in accounting for the intermediates, which are sometimes crucial in making the game or defending successfully. Any ideas?
— Inventory Clerk, New Orleans, La.
ANSWER: Most expert declarers count only the suits that matter to them. When dummy comes down, I strongly recommend thinking only about trumps and ONE other suit. With trumps, add up the number in your hand and dummy and subtract that from 13; then ONLY count the opponents’ trumps from there on. With a side-suit, you can do that too, or focus on the total count.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
I am in third seat with ♠ A-8-4-3, ♥ A-9-7-3, ♦ Q-7-3, ♣ 10-3 and hear the bidding start with a weak two hearts from my partner and a double on my right. Should I pass, or should I raise hearts? If the latter, to what level?
— Excelsior, Grenada, Miss.
|
|
ANSWER: Raising to three hearts looks right to me. I’d expect game my opponents’ way to be unmakable. Taking away one round of bidding makes it much harder for them to get their act together, and the raise exposes our side to virtually no risk, given our good fit.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
In defending against three no-trump and on lead holding spades K-Q-10-4, I say lead the king. My partner says it is right to lead the 10. What do you say?
— High-Middle-Middle, Trenton, N.J.
ANSWER: Your choice from K-Q-10-4 depends on what your agreed style of honor leads is. Let’s say your agreement (like that of most partnerships) is that at trick one against no-trump, the ace or queen asks partner to unblock an honor (or to give count if he lacks an honor), and the king asks for attitude. OR you play that the king asks for an unblock (or count) while the ace or queen asks for attitude.
Depending on which agreement you have, you lead either the queen or king from this holding, NEVER the 10. Only very rarely would you lead low.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Is it appropriate to open with a pre-empt in third seat holding ♠ 4-3, ♥ K-7-3, ♦ K-Q-9-7-3-2, ♣ K-3? I assume you would never pass, but do you prefer to bid one diamond, two diamonds, or three diamonds?
— How High the Moon?, Jackson, Tenn.
ANSWER: You are right that I would not pass. Nonvulnerable, I might mix it up with a call of three diamonds, but a simple opening of one diamond may prove even more obstructive, since the pre-empt can be a confession of weakness sometimes. |
If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, e-mail him at [email protected]. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2009.
December 19th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, December 5, 2009
| Dealer: West
Vul: None |
North |
|
| ♠ |
J 10 3 |
| ♥ |
Q 5 4 |
| ♦ |
A J 7 6 |
| ♣ |
J 9 2 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
K |
♠ |
7 6 5 2 |
| ♥ |
A K 9 7 6 |
♥ |
10 3 2 |
| ♦ |
K Q 10 4 |
♦ |
9 8 5 2 |
| ♣ |
8 6 3 |
♣ |
A 5 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A Q 9 8 4 |
| ♥ |
J 8 |
| ♦ |
3 |
| ♣ |
K Q 10 7 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♥ |
Pass |
Pass |
| 1♠ |
2♦ |
2♠ |
3♥ |
| 4♠ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♥K
“He can run. But he can’t hide.”
— Joe Louis
Against four spades West led the heart king and switched to the diamond king, East playing the nine to show an even number. Declarer won in dummy and played a second heart. West won the ace and led the diamond queen. Declarer ruffed and played a club to dummy’s jack, which East won with the ace to play a trump. Declarer rose with the ace, dropping West’s singleton king, and thus made his contract. Where did the defense go wrong?
The defenders should not have allowed declarer to place all their high cards. South knew that East could not have the trump king, because he had passed the one-heart opening bid and had shown up with the club ace.
Should East have ducked his club ace? I think so: he should have realized that if his partner did not have a black-suit trick, the contract would be laydown (and a club loser would not go away). However, West should also have taken steps to protect his singleton king. The initial diamond switch was fine, but when he got the lead with the heart ace, he knew his diamond queen would not stand up. (If East had only two diamonds, declarer would have tried to draw trumps and not let the defenders take a diamond ruff.)
A third round of hearts would have put the lead in dummy, and now the best declarer can do is to advance the club jack. If East ducks that smoothly, declarer would probably take the spade finesse.
ANSWER: You have a decent hand, but your heart queen looks wasted. Your first thought might be to jump to five diamonds — but might partner have only a three-card diamond suit? The simple action is to raise to four diamonds and let partner decide which minor he wants to play in.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 10 3 |
| ♥ |
Q 5 4 |
| ♦ |
A J 7 6 |
| ♣ |
J 9 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♥ |
2♣ |
2♥ |
| 3♣ |
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].
December 18th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Friday, December 4, 2009
| Dealer: West
Vul: N/S |
North |
|
| ♠ |
J 4 |
| ♥ |
J 9 5 4 2 |
| ♦ |
Q 8 7 6 |
| ♣ |
8 2 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
9 7 |
♠ |
8 6 |
| ♥ |
K 8 |
♥ |
A Q 10 7 6 3 |
| ♦ |
A J 10 9 5 |
♦ |
3 2 |
| ♣ |
A 7 6 5 |
♣ |
Q 10 9 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A K Q 10 5 3 2 |
| ♥ |
— |
| ♦ |
K 4 |
| ♣ |
K J 4 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♦ |
Pass |
1♥ |
| 4♠ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♥K
“A man of genius makes no mistakes. His errors are volitional and are the portals of discovery.”
— James Joyce
Peter Weichsel was declarer in this deal from the U.S. International Trials of 1973.
What should West lead against the spade game?
It is difficult for West to know whether to be aggressive or passive on defense. I’m sure many of you would have settled for the quiet trump lead, which, as it happens, would defeat the contract. The heart lead did not cost a trick, but it did allow declarer to threaten club ruffs. After the heart lead there was still plenty of work to do in four spades. Can you see declarer’s best play?
Weichsel ruffed the heart lead and immediately led a low diamond from his hand. When John Swanson (West) ducked, North’s diamond queen won the trick. Declarer could lead a club to the jack, and eventually a club could be ruffed in dummy for the 10th trick.
It would have done West no good to take his diamond ace at once. If Swanson had risen with the diamond ace and shifted to a trump, Weichsel could have won in hand and cashed the diamond king. Now a spade to the jack draws all the trumps. The diamond queen is good for one discard of a club, and declarer can lead a club to the jack and ace, establishing his club king for the 10th winner.
ANSWER: When you responded only one heart, you showed a bad hand (no more than nine points), and your partner’s jump to three hearts was a strong raise. I’d expect about a 20-count and four or five hearts opposite. I think you have just enough to bid four hearts since your fifth trump and side-suit pattern look to be useful, though I would not redouble!
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 4 |
| ♥ |
J 9 5 4 2 |
| ♦ |
Q 8 7 6 |
| ♣ |
8 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♣ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| 1♥ |
1♠ |
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].
December 17th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, December 3, 2009
| Dealer: East
Vul: N/S |
North |
|
| ♠ |
A 6 5 |
| ♥ |
K |
| ♦ |
K 5 3 2 |
| ♣ |
K 9 7 6 5 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
9 4 |
♠ |
K Q J 7 3 |
| ♥ |
Q J 8 7 5 3 |
♥ |
10 6 4 |
| ♦ |
8 7 |
♦ |
Q 9 6 |
| ♣ |
A 8 4 |
♣ |
J 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
10 8 2 |
| ♥ |
A 9 2 |
| ♦ |
A J 10 4 |
| ♣ |
Q 10 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
Pass |
| Pass |
2♦* |
Dbl. |
2♥ |
| 3 NT |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| *Weak-two in hearts or spades |
Opening Lead:♥7
“Which came out of the opened door — the lady or the tiger?”
— Richard Stockton
At the finals of the World Championships in Beijing, the ladies from England won their first-ever world title, beating the hosts, China. The following deal arose very early in the match and set the tone for the early encounters.
When the Chinese were East-West, the English sold out to three hearts, and the incisive trump lead led to a penalty of 150. That was good, but was it enough?
In the other room, when North doubled the artificial two-diamond opening to show a semibalanced 13-16 points, South jumped to the most practical game (three no-trump).
West led the heart seven to dummy’s king. With some good guesses, 11 tricks can be made, but when declarer started with a club to the queen, Heather Dhondy as West made the critical play when she ducked. Naturally, declarer took the club finesse of the jack next, allowing East to win cheaply. East now played the spade king, but then went back to hearts. Declarer ducked, won the next heart, and knocked out the club ace. She imagined that all she needed to do now was locate the diamond queen and she would have nine tricks — except that it was West who produced the ace and proceeded to cash her heart tricks for three down, and a 10-IMP gain for England instead of 10 IMPs the other way.
Had Dhondy won the first club and switched to spades, the defenders might still have prevailed. But this was a far better defense since once declarer had misguessed clubs, her fate was sealed.
ANSWER: The range for a call of one no-trump in balancing seat is considerably lower than in the direct seat, where the expected strength is 15-17. In protective position over a minor, your partner should expect you to hold 11-14. (Over a major-suit opening, the range would be 13-16 perhaps.) Therefore, you have just enough to balance with a one-no-trump call.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
10 8 2 |
| ♥ |
A 9 2 |
| ♦ |
A J 10 4 |
| ♣ |
Q 10 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♣ |
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].
December 16th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, December 2, 2009
| Dealer: North
Vul: None |
North |
|
| ♠ |
A K 8 4 2 |
| ♥ |
Q 10 7 2 |
| ♦ |
K |
| ♣ |
8 4 2 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
10 7 3 |
♠ |
J 6 5 |
| ♥ |
A 8 5 |
♥ |
J 6 4 3 |
| ♦ |
5 4 |
♦ |
A 9 8 |
| ♣ |
Q J 6 5 3 |
♣ |
10 9 7 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
Q 9 |
| ♥ |
K 9 |
| ♦ |
Q J 10 7 6 3 2 |
| ♣ |
A K |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♠ |
Pass |
| 2♦* |
Pass |
2♥ |
Pass |
| 3♦ |
Pass |
3♠ |
Pass |
| 3 NT |
All Pass |
|
|
Opening Lead:♣Q
“I could as easily bail out the Potomac River with a teaspoon as attend to all the details of the army.”
— Abraham Lincoln
Most of the deals that run in this column are from teams play. Today’s deal, from a pairs game, emphasizes the difference in strategy between the two games. Put yourself in East’s chair to see if you can duplicate his thinking.
Against three no-trump West leads the club queen to declarer’s king. At trick two, declarer leads a diamond to dummy’s king, West playing the diamond four and East winning with the ace. What do you lead at trick three?
If you make the routine play of a club continuation, declarer will take 12 tricks without breathing hard. If you play back a heart, you hold declarer to 11 tricks. That may feel like a victory — but bear in mind that if declarer did not have the spade queen, he was going to make only 10 tricks had you persisted in clubs.
How do you know what to do? You don’t! But you don’t have to guess — just play low on the diamond king. When declarer returns to hand with the spade queen, West follows low and now you know that declarer will have a large number of tricks to cash when he regains the lead. Therefore, you know to switch to a heart (you can count 12 tricks for declarer if you don’t) after winning the diamond ace.
The point is that even if the clubs had been running for the defense, with partner holding the club ace-queen, your duck of the diamond king will not give declarer his ninth trick.
ANSWER: Once in a while I mount my hobbyhorse in this feature and recommend a convention. A defense to one no-trump such as Landy, where two clubs would show both majors, is a good idea. It is far better to be able to show the majors than to pass, or have to bid two spades and cross your fingers. Ideally you would have equal length or longer hearts, I admit; but it is still better to show both suits than just one.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A K 8 4 2 |
| ♥ |
Q 10 7 2 |
| ♦ |
K |
| ♣ |
8 4 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
1 NT |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
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].
December 15th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, December 1, 2009
| Dealer: South
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
A K |
| ♥ |
K 9 8 4 3 |
| ♦ |
5 2 |
| ♣ |
Q 9 4 3 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
6 |
♠ |
7 3 |
| ♥ |
Q 10 7 6 2 |
♥ |
A J 5 |
| ♦ |
J 10 4 |
♦ |
9 7 3 |
| ♣ |
10 7 6 2 |
♣ |
A K J 8 5 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
Q J 10 9 8 5 4 2 |
| ♥ |
— |
| ♦ |
A K Q 8 6 |
| ♣ |
— |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 5♠ |
Pass |
7♠ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♠6
“Narrow minds think nothing of importance but their own favorite pursuit, but liberal views exclude no branch of science or literature ….”
— Joseph Henry
If you are considering giving or receiving a bridge book for Christmas, you should put Larry Cohen’s “My Favorite 52” (Master Point Press) at the top of your list.
It is unusual for a book to have so many excellent problems both in bidding and play, but Cohen has given you many more deals than the advertised 52. He also tests you on variations in the bidding and play to give your mind a proper workout.
The very first deal of the book sees Cohen pick up today’s freak South hand. Question 1 asks, “With what should you open this hand?”
Cohen gives you the technical answer: a call of five spades shows a hand with two losers in the trump suit and asks your partner to bid on as appropriate with one or two of the top trumps.
The second question is “What should West lead against the spade grand slam?” A trump must be right. Next, “How should you play the grand slam on a trump lead?
The right answer is to shift to go after diamonds at once. If diamonds split 4-2, you will need to ruff a diamond in dummy.
And the final question: “How should you play six spades, if the defenders lead a club? You ruff and …?” Best is to cash one top diamond and duck a diamond. This way you survive against even a 5-1 diamond break. If instead you cash two top diamonds, a defender could set you by ruffing and playing a trump.
ANSWER: When the opponents double you for penalty at a low level, it is often right to run — if you can see a possible escape route. Here, you may be walking into a big heart-stack. Try three clubs, not expecting it to be any worse a spot than hearts, but prepared to apologize if wrong.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A K |
| ♥ |
K 9 8 4 3 |
| ♦ |
5 2 |
| ♣ |
Q 9 4 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
2♦ |
| 2♥ |
Dbl. |
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].
December 14th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Monday, November 30, 2009
| Dealer: South
Vul: N/S |
North |
|
| ♠ |
K J 9 3 |
| ♥ |
K 10 8 7 2 |
| ♦ |
9 |
| ♣ |
K J 4 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
10 5 |
♠ |
Q 8 4 2 |
| ♥ |
3 |
♥ |
A 4 |
| ♦ |
Q J 4 3 2 |
♦ |
K 8 7 5 |
| ♣ |
Q 9 7 5 2 |
♣ |
10 6 3 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A 7 6 |
| ♥ |
Q J 9 6 5 |
| ♦ |
A 10 6 |
| ♣ |
A 8 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
4♦* |
Pass |
| 4 NT |
Pass |
5♣ |
Pass |
| 6♥ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| *Splinter; short diamonds, setting hearts as trumps |
Opening Lead:♦Q
“Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves; they therefore remain bound.”
— James Allen
When South (playing a weak no-trump) opened one heart, North responded four diamonds, showing a singleton or void in diamonds, plus primary heart support in a game-going hand. South optimistically bid Roman Key-Card Blackwood. The five-club reply showed one key card — in this case either the ace or king of hearts.
South subsided in six hearts and West led the diamond queen. Declarer won this with the ace, then advanced the heart jack. East took his ace and returned a diamond, ruffed in dummy. A heart to the queen pulled the last trump, then South ruffed his last diamond.
Declarer could count 11 tricks, so it appeared that a black-suit finesse would be needed for the 12th. But which? The flimsy basis was that West had one fewer heart than East, and so was likely to have spade length if they broke 4-2. Since the queen was likelier to be with the longer holding, that was the finesse South took and went one down. Was this unlucky, or did declarer miss something? The answer is: a little of both.
Declarer has seven cards in spades and only five in clubs and wants to combine his black-suit chances by playing for the drop in one suit, then finessing in the other. If a queen is singleton or doubleton, it is more likely to be in spades. So, take the spade ace and king first, and if the queen fails to appear, the club finesse is the last resort.
ANSWER: It is perfectly acceptable to open one notrump with a balanced hand and a five-card major in the range of 15-16. With a 17-count you normally have discretion as to whether to open the suit or one notrump. The point is that if you do not open one notrump, you will never be able to describe your shape and these values.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A 7 6 |
| ♥ |
Q J 9 7 6 |
| ♦ |
A 10 6 |
| ♣ |
A 8 |
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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