November 26th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, November 12, 2009 
| Dealer: North
Vul: None |
North |
|
| ♠ |
A 9 8 7 6 |
| ♥ |
8 5 |
| ♦ |
A 6 |
| ♣ |
10 8 6 3 |
| West |
 |
East |
| ♠ |
K J 10 2 |
♠ |
Q 5 3 |
| ♥ |
6 4 3 |
♥ |
A 2 |
| ♦ |
Q 10 8 4 3 |
♦ |
J 9 7 5 |
| ♣ |
2 |
♣ |
Q J 9 7 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
4 |
| ♥ |
K Q J 10 9 7 |
| ♦ |
K 2 |
| ♣ |
A K 5 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
Pass |
Pass |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
1♠ |
Pass |
| 3♥ |
Pass |
4♥ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♣2
“We must laugh at man to avoid crying for him.”
— Napoleon Bonaparte
When this deal came up at the Dyspeptics Club, South very reasonably decided that there was no point in introducing his club suit opposite a passed hand. He just described the main features of his hand with a jump to three hearts, and his partner raised to four.
West led the club two to East’s seven and declarer’s ace. Can you see any likely traps when the trump queen is taken by East’s ace?
After winning the ace of trumps, East continued deviously with the club jack. Declarer, who could not envisage such deception, played his club king before the rats got at it. Alas for him, West ruffed in and there was now no way of avoiding two subsequent losers in the club suit.
I hope that if you had been in declarer’s shoes, you would have seen far enough ahead to sidestep this little trap. All that declarer needed to do was count his tricks — he could afford to lose two clubs, but not three. He should have played the club four under the jack. East would then have the club Q-9 left, and if he continued with the nine, declarer could play low from his hand, and West would be ruffing a loser. Declarer would then lose just two trumps and one club.
Suppose instead that East continued with the club queen. Declarer would cover with the king, and West would then be welcome to ruff. Dummy’s club 10 would be good for a trick on the fourth round.
ANSWER: North’s auction thus far suggests about a 17-count, since if he had any less he would surely have passed your weak-sounding bid. You have plenty in hand to raise two no-trump to three, and no reason to think that any contract other than no-trump will play any better.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A 9 8 7 6 |
| ♥ |
8 5 |
| ♦ |
A 6 |
| ♣ |
10 8 6 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♥ |
Pass |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
2♦ |
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].
November 25th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, November 11, 2009
| Dealer: West
Vul: None |
North |
|
| ♠ |
5 |
| ♥ |
A J 4 |
| ♦ |
A 9 3 |
| ♣ |
A 8 7 6 4 3 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
Q J 10 7 6 2 |
♠ |
9 8 4 |
| ♥ |
10 3 |
♥ |
K Q 9 5 |
| ♦ |
Q 2 |
♦ |
K J 10 7 |
| ♣ |
J 9 5 |
♣ |
Q 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A K 3 |
| ♥ |
8 7 6 2 |
| ♦ |
8 6 5 4 |
| ♣ |
K 10 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
2♠ |
3♣ |
Pass |
| 3 NT |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♠Q
“The best plan is, as the common proverb has it, to profit by the folly of others.”
— Pliny
The book “Planning the Play in No-trump” contains much challenging and thought-provoking material. It is from the Bridge Technique Series published by Master Point Press and, like all the others in this series, is written by David Bird and Marc Smith.
Today’s hand illustrates a failing that most of us must have been guilty of at some time or other — assuming that the opponents will unthinkingly continue the attack on their originally led suit at their next opportunity.
Against three no-trump West led the spade seven, and declarer took East’s four with the ace. The clubs had to break 3-2 for the game to make, so declarer led the club king, then the 10 to the ace, and a third club to West’s jack. At this point South was expecting to come to five club tricks, two red aces and two spades.
Alas for declarer, West had also been thinking and was aware that South held the spade king because East had played a discouraging spot-card at trick one. Therefore, he shifted to the heart 10, and the defense continued to play red suits at every opportunity. Consequently, declarer ended one down, the spade king languishing forlornly in his hand.
Had declarer led the club 10 at trick two and ducked, giving up the club trick that had to be lost sooner rather than later, the club king would have remained as an entry to the otherwise orphaned spade king, and nine tricks would have been there for the taking.
ANSWER: In this sequence, a call of three hearts suggests values there and is looking for game in hearts, diamonds, or no-trump, depending on what you can produce. With all your points in the black suits, there is little reason to look beyond three no-trump. You may not make it, but if you cannot, you do not rate to make any other game either.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A K 3 |
| ♥ |
8 7 6 2 |
| ♦ |
8 6 5 4 |
| ♣ |
K 10 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♦ |
Pass |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
2♦ |
Pass |
| 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].
November 24th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, November 10, 2009
| Dealer: South
Vul: E/W |
North |
|
| ♠ |
A J 8 |
| ♥ |
4 3 |
| ♦ |
A K Q 4 3 |
| ♣ |
A 7 6 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
6 5 3 2 |
♠ |
7 4 |
| ♥ |
J 10 9 2 |
♥ |
Q 8 7 |
| ♦ |
J 5 |
♦ |
10 9 8 6 |
| ♣ |
K J 9 |
♣ |
10 5 3 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
K Q 10 9 |
| ♥ |
A K 6 5 |
| ♦ |
7 2 |
| ♣ |
Q 8 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
2♦ |
Pass |
| 2♥ |
Pass |
3♠ |
Pass |
| 4♠ |
Pass |
6♠ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♥J
“Tricks and treachery are merely proofs of lack of skill.”
— Francois de la Rochefoucauld
The probably apocryphal story associated with today’s deal is that the joker who held the South cards put the club eight into the spades before passing the hand on to the next player to hold them.
The second South, whose eyesight was not the greatest, did not notice, bidding six spades via the auction shown. Only when dummy came down did he spot his error because of the duplicated eights. Still, six spades, in the 4-3 trump fit, was by no means a hopeless contract. After West leads the heart jack against the slam, how you would play the contract?
Declarer won the opening lead in hand and weighed the options. Others might have attempted to ruff two hearts in dummy, then discovered that there was no convenient route back to hand to draw the rest of the trumps. Leading a club to the queen also fails, since West holds the king.
What declarer did worked far better: at trick two he ducked a diamond from both hands, catering for that suit breaking no worse than 4-2.
East won and returned a trump, but South took this in hand, and played king and another heart, which he ruffed with the spade ace. He then overtook the spade jack to draw the rest of the trumps. Now dummy’s four diamonds tricks allowed him to discard his losing heart and his two small clubs. He took four spades, three hearts, four diamonds and one club trick.
ANSWER: Now is not the moment to worry about going for a penalty. Your objective is to make the opponents guess at an uncomfortable level what they should do, before they have had a chance to exchange information. You must jump to four hearts (no pussyfooting around with a pass or a raise to three hearts!) and let them sort out what to do from there.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
6 5 3 2 |
| ♥ |
J 10 9 2 |
| ♦ |
J 5 |
| ♣ |
K J 9 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
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].
November 23rd, 2009 ~ admin ~ 2 Comments
| Dealer: North
Vul: None |
North |
|
| ♠ |
A Q 6 |
| ♥ |
7 6 5 |
| ♦ |
K 8 7 3 |
| ♣ |
K Q J |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
J 9 |
♠ |
K 8 7 4 3 |
| ♥ |
K J 8 |
♥ |
Q 10 4 3 |
| ♦ |
Q 10 6 5 |
♦ |
4 |
| ♣ |
A 10 6 2 |
♣ |
7 4 3 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
10 5 2 |
| ♥ |
A 9 2 |
| ♦ |
A J 9 2 |
| ♣ |
9 8 5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♦ |
Pass |
| 1 NT |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♣2
“When a scholar goes to seek out a bride, he should take along an ignoramus as an expert.”
— The Talmud
One no-trump has been described as the contract for the connoisseur, and on this deal from the 2008 Lederer Invitation Trophy, Ian Pagan justly won the best-played-hand award for an unusual but well thought-out play.
It looked as if South would probably go down in his contract of one no-trump on a club lead, as the textbook play in diamonds (cashing the king and finessing the jack on the second round) only makes six tricks. (If declarer finesses the jack on the first round, he can recover if he guesses which defender began with four cards.)
However, Pagan looked more deeply into the position on the normal club-two lead, won in dummy. West had led from a broken club suit, and a four-card one at that, on an auction that would typically call for a major-suit lead, or so he surmised. Surely, therefore, West was either 3-3-3-4 with four clubs, or had four diamonds.
Declarer backed his judgment by playing a diamond to the ace and running the diamond jack on the next round, thereby collecting three diamond tricks in due course, and coming to seven tricks in total.
This produced a deserved swing, as North had opened a strong no-trump in the other room. Now South could hardly do less than invite game, and in fact he elected to drive all the way to three no-trump, down three.
ANSWER: Given that everyone will lead a spade (won’t they?), the issue is whether to lead the spade queen or a low one. The spade queen will gain if dummy has a doubleton and declarer three spades to the king with the 10 in one hand or the other. A low spade will work if partner has the doubleton 10 or doubleton king, and also if declarer has four spades facing a doubleton king, so it is the better play. The deal comes from Krzysztof Martens’ “University of Defence: Opening Leads.”
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A Q J 5 2 |
| ♥ |
9 4 |
| ♦ |
9 7 2 |
| ♣ |
10 8 5 |
| 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].
November 22nd, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, November 8, 2009
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
I hear the ACBL is planning to move. Are there any details available?
— GPS Owner, Phoenix, Ariz.
ANSWER: Yes, the ACBL will be moving fairly soon from Memphis to a location about 20 miles south, into Mississippi, where they will have a far larger area with some leasing and tax breaks. The extra space will let them expand their library and Hall of Fame display.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
As dealer I picked up ♠ Q-J-9-7-5-2, ♥ A-K-7, ♦ 3, ♣ Q-8-3 and naturally opened one spade. My partner jumped to four clubs, showing a singleton club, game values and spade support. Do I have enough to cue-bid, and if so, should I cue-bid diamonds or hearts?
— Fractured Logic, Milwaukee, Wis.
ANSWER: Both cue-bids have their problems, since you would normally cue-bid four diamonds (but then you know partner will sign off without a heart control). If you bid four hearts, you are almost denying a diamond control unless you plan to bid again. I’d go for a less subtle approach. Keycard Blackwood asks about the missing aces and trump king. If I find three of those cards opposite, I’ll worry about my slow heart loser when I see the dummy, and meanwhile just bid the slam.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
If I make a natural bid and my partner mistakenly alerts it and explains it as conventional, what should I do, and when?
— Human Error, Bristol, Va.
ANSWER: As a defender you should say or do nothing until the hand is over and then explain the position to declarer. As declarer or dummy, explain before the opening lead what the position is. You should always correct a mistaken explanation by your partner in this way. Incidentally, if you have forgotten your agreements and have misbid, you will sometimes, though rarely, get a good result from doing so — that’s the rub of the green. |
|
Dear Mr. Wolff:
We play penalty doubles if our opponents open a weak no-trump. Up to what high-card maximum should we play this way, and what ranges should we treat as a strong no-trump? And how should we play if either we or the opponents remove the double?
— Ad Infinitum, Casper, Wyo.
ANSWER: A simple and efficient way to play is to treat all no-trumps that go up to 13 points as weak. If you remove your partner’s double of a weak no-trump, it is as if HE had opened one no-trump. Two clubs is Stayman; other calls are transfers. If the opponents remove your partner’s double, again treat it as if they had made that call over his no-trump. So your full methods (perhaps Lebensohl and takeout doubles?) remain in place.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
You hold ♠ Q-2, ♥ A-Q-7-3, ♦ K-J, ♣ A-Q-8-3-2. After a four-spade bid on your right, you double to show a good hand, and partner bids four no-trump. Please explain that call, and tell me what to do next.
— Moving Experience, Corpus Christi, Texas
ANSWER: Partner’s call suggests a two-suiter, and you respond to this by bidding your better minor. Incidentally, it is possible to bid higher if you want to play slam facing a quite limited hand with shape. (Change the spade two into the ace and you might bid six clubs.) Be aware, though, that your partner might have the red suits, planning to correct five clubs to five diamonds to offer you a choice. You would bid five hearts of course, if that happened. |
If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, e-mail him at [email protected]. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2009.
November 21st, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, November 7, 2009
| Dealer: East
Vul: None |
North |
|
| ♠ |
8 5 2 |
| ♥ |
10 6 |
| ♦ |
10 4 |
| ♣ |
10 8 7 6 3 2 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
Q 10 7 6 3 |
♠ |
J 9 4 |
| ♥ |
9 5 3 2 |
♥ |
4 |
| ♦ |
— |
♦ |
Q J 8 7 6 5 3 |
| ♣ |
K Q J 5 |
♣ |
9 4 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A K |
| ♥ |
A K Q J 8 7 |
| ♦ |
A K 9 2 |
| ♣ |
A |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
3♦ |
| Dbl. |
Pass |
4♣ |
Pass |
| 6♥ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♣K
“Hope tells a flattering tale,
Delusive, vain, and hollow.
Ah! Let not hope prevail,
Lest disappointment follow.”
— Miss Wrother
West leads the club king against your heart slam. Can you see any way of making 12 tricks?
Curiously, your best chance is that East has no more than two clubs. After winning the club ace, you should cash the ace of trumps, then lead a low trump to dummy’s 10. Next you ruff a club and play two more rounds of trump.
When you play your last trump, throwing a club from table, East is in trouble. You know he began with seven diamonds, a trump and, hopefully, two clubs. If East reduces to three diamonds, you will play the ace, king and another diamond. East wins the trick and has to return a spade, allowing you to take the last three tricks with the spade ace-king and the diamond nine. Whenever East keeps four diamonds, and so only two spades, you will counter by cashing the spade ace-king, reducing East to his four top diamonds. This allows you to make three of the last four tricks by leading the diamond two to dummy’s 10. When East takes it with the jack or queen, he will be forced to lead a diamond, allowing your nine to take a trick, and you will have the rest.
It was vital to ruff a club; otherwise, East would defeat you by coming down to two spades, three diamonds and a club on the last trump. After winning his diamond, he would be able to play a club to his partner.
ANSWER: You may hate the idea of putting down a void in trumps in dummy, but any further action you take now would likely make matters worse. You are playing in partner’s long suit (he has at least six). Making a call in a new suit is forcing and shows at least invitational values. So pass, and let partner suffer undoubled!
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q 10 7 6 3 |
| ♥ |
9 5 3 2 |
| ♦ |
— |
| ♣ |
K Q J 5 |
| 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].
November 20th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Friday, November 6, 2009
| Dealer: East
Vul: N/S |
North |
|
| ♠ |
K Q J 10 2 |
| ♥ |
7 2 |
| ♦ |
6 5 4 |
| ♣ |
K 10 9 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
A 9 8 7 5 |
♠ |
6 4 3 |
| ♥ |
9 5 4 |
♥ |
8 |
| ♦ |
2 |
♦ |
K Q J 10 8 7 |
| ♣ |
8 7 5 3 |
♣ |
J 6 4 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
— |
| ♥ |
A K Q J 10 6 3 |
| ♦ |
A 9 3 |
| ♣ |
A Q 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
3♦ |
| Dbl. |
Pass |
4♠ |
Pass |
| 6♥ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♦2
“A true friend is one who overlooks your failures and tolerates your success.”
— Doug Larson
In today’s deal, after partner’s leap to four spades the least you could do was to bid six hearts. How do you plan to make 12 tricks after West leads the diamond two, an obvious singleton?
Your best chance is to hope that West holds the spade ace. After winning the diamond lead with the ace, you draw trumps, discarding diamonds from dummy. The only way to make 12 tricks is to utilize dummy’s spade suit, but there appears to be only one club entry to the dummy. One possibility is to seek a second club entry by leading the club two, intending to finesse dummy’s 10. This would rely on luck, since you would need West to hold the club jack. In any case, though, in this column an alert West would always spoil your plan by playing that card at his first opportunity!
In addition, the above plan would be disastrous on the actual lie of the cards, as East would win the club jack and cash a couple of diamonds. But there is no need to rely on such a dubious approach. You should lead the club queen and overtake it with dummy’s king. You then play the spade king, discarding a diamond.
West wins with the spade ace and has no good return. A spade will give the lead to dummy, allowing you to throw a diamond and a club. Similarly, a club exit will promote the 10-9 to an entry, no matter who holds the club jack.
ANSWER: When you bid only three spades over your partner’s double, you showed a poor hand. Now that your partner has cue-bid in support of spades and is looking for slam, he must have a very good hand indeed. In context therefore, you are well worth a cue-bid of four diamonds. If partner continues with four hearts, you may even be too good to sign off in four spades!
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A 9 8 7 5 |
| ♥ |
9 5 4 |
| ♦ |
2 |
| ♣ |
8 7 5 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| Pass |
3♣ |
Dbl. |
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].
November 19th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, November 5, 2009
| Dealer: North
Vul: None |
North |
|
| ♠ |
K Q J |
| ♥ |
K 10 7 3 2 |
| ♦ |
A 8 7 |
| ♣ |
A J |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
10 9 7 |
♠ |
4 |
| ♥ |
J 5 |
♥ |
Q 9 8 4 |
| ♦ |
J 9 4 2 |
♦ |
10 6 5 3 |
| ♣ |
K Q 10 9 |
♣ |
7 6 4 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A 8 6 5 3 2 |
| ♥ |
A 6 |
| ♦ |
K Q |
| ♣ |
8 5 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♥ |
Pass |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
2 NT |
Pass |
| 3♠ |
Pass |
4♣* |
Pass |
| 4 NT |
Pass |
5♣ |
Pass |
| 5♦ |
Pass |
5♥ |
Pass |
| 7♠ |
All Pass |
|
|
Opening Lead:♣K
“Doing easily what others find difficult is talent; doing what is impossible for talent is genius.”
— Henri Frederic Amiel
In today’s spade grand slam you have 12 top tricks. The best plan for a 13th is to set up a long heart. As the only way to reach any established long card in hearts is with a trump, you will need the trumps to break no worse than 3-1. How will you go about setting up the hearts, though? If West is short in hearts, as in the diagram, you need to be careful.
After winning the club lead with dummy’s ace, you should cash the diamond king-queen, followed by the heart ace. You then cross to dummy with a trump and play the diamond ace, throwing the heart six from hand. Now you can afford to ruff a heart in your hand with a low trump. You return to dummy with a second round of trumps and lead another low heart, ruffing it with the ace to circumvent any potential overruff. Next you play another trump to dummy, drawing West’s remaining trump in the process. All that remains to do is to cash the heart K-10, discarding the club 8-5 from hand and leaving you with a trump to take care of dummy’s club jack. You make six trumps, three hearts, three diamonds and a club.
With the cards lying as shown, if you do not discard a heart on the diamond ace, you would end up promoting a trump trick for West. In fact, the recommended line loses only when West has a doubleton diamond, a far less likely holding than a doubleton heart.
ANSWER: In this sequence it is current expert practice to play a call of two spades as natural. The question is whether this hand is good enough for that call. I would reserve it for a better hand or suit. So pass and plan to back in later in spades when and if the opportunity presents itself.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A 8 6 5 3 2 |
| ♥ |
A 6 |
| ♦ |
K Q |
| ♣ |
8 5 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♥ |
Pass |
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].
November 18th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, November 4, 2009
| Dealer: South
Vul: None |
North |
|
| ♠ |
J 9 5 |
| ♥ |
A Q 10 9 |
| ♦ |
J |
| ♣ |
J 10 5 4 2 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
A 8 2 |
♠ |
Q 7 6 4 3 |
| ♥ |
J 8 |
♥ |
K 7 6 5 |
| ♦ |
9 8 7 6 2 |
♦ |
5 4 3 |
| ♣ |
K 7 3 |
♣ |
9 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
K 10 |
| ♥ |
4 3 2 |
| ♦ |
A K Q 10 |
| ♣ |
A Q 8 6 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♦ |
Pass |
1♥ |
Pass |
| 2 NT |
Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♠2
“One problem after another presents itself and in the solving of them we can find our greatest pleasure.”
— Karl Menninger
In today’s deal, from last year’s World Junior Pairs in Budapest, East had a difficult defensive problem. To his credit, he solved it at the table without giving the game away to his partner.
Three no-trump by North is far less attractive than three no-trump by South, but some pairs managed to make declarer in the South seat uncomfortable too. Witness Pavel Pekny and David Vozabal of the Czech Republic, who defended well against an Israeli declarer.
West had been put off the diamond lead by the auction since he knew South would have at least four cards in the suit. Which of the black suits would you prefer to lead?
My instinct is that there are more ways for a club lead to gain than a spade. That you have a certain entry on the side means that if a club lead sets the suit up, you have a sure way to get back on lead. The same is not necessarily true if a spade lead works well.
In fact, though, West elected to lead a low spade from his ace, and it is difficult to argue with success. Declarer did the best he could by putting up dummy’s jack (a nice play to encourage a defensive error), but East ducked, contributing an encouraging spot-card. West could not be prevented from getting in later on with his club king and cashing out the spades for down one.
ANSWER: Partner has doubled to bring you into the auction and you have a surprisingly good hand — indeed, you have enough to invite game by jumping to three hearts. With the same hand but one fewer heart honor you would bid two hearts, perhaps planning to compete to three clubs over two spades.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 9 5 |
| ♥ |
A Q 10 9 |
| ♦ |
J |
| ♣ |
J 10 5 4 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
1♠ |
| Pass |
1 NT |
Dbl. |
2♦ |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
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].
November 17th, 2009 ~ admin ~ 4 Comments
| Dealer: West
Vul: N/S |
North |
|
| ♠ |
6 |
| ♥ |
A 9 6 |
| ♦ |
8 7 4 2 |
| ♣ |
A K Q 8 3 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
K Q J 10 8 7 5 3 |
♠ |
9 |
| ♥ |
4 |
♥ |
Q J 10 8 7 3 |
| ♦ |
A Q 5 |
♦ |
J 10 9 3 |
| ♣ |
9 |
♣ |
J 6 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A 4 2 |
| ♥ |
K 5 2 |
| ♦ |
K 6 |
| ♣ |
10 7 5 4 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♠ |
Dbl. |
2♥ |
| 3♣ |
4♠ |
5♣ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♠K
“If history repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must Man be of learning from experience!”
— George Bernard Shaw
Today’s deal was sent in anonymously, thus sparing the feelings of the guilty. It is one of my favorites this year, even though declarer, who was in five clubs, totally missed the point. Try testing yourself to see if you can do better.
Everybody contributed quite actively to the auction except South, who might have been surprised to hold such a good hand on this bidding. Perhaps that explains why she rather tamely won the heart opening lead, drew trumps, led a diamond to the king, and quietly lost three tricks in the red suits.
If you believe the opponents, the chance of the diamond finesse working is slim to zero — and slim has just left the building. Instead you need to make use of your powerful spades, not to win tricks but to endplay West. Win the spade lead in hand and ruff a spade high in dummy, accepting the risk of the 3-0 trump break. Then cash the club ace-king, take the heart ace, cross to the heart king, and lead your third spade, pitching a heart from dummy.
West has to win this trick and can either concede a ruff-sluff, when you will pitch a diamond from hand, or lead ace and a diamond, in which case you have the rest.
Note: you need to ruff the spade before drawing trumps. If you win the spade lead, then cash the club ace-king and play the heart ace-king, you can then ruff a spade, but can’t exit from dummy conveniently.
ANSWER: Before you bid, remember that a jump to three clubs here would be shapely and pre-emptive. But in any event you do not want to make a limit raise with this hand. Start by doubling one no-trump, since you will be happy to defend that contract if allowed to. Should the opponents run, you would plan to compete to three clubs.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A 4 2 |
| ♥ |
K 5 2 |
| ♦ |
K 6 |
| ♣ |
10 7 5 4 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♣ |
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].
|
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