September 15th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, September 1, 2009 
| Dealer: West
Vul: N/S |
North |
|
| ♠ |
K Q 2 |
| ♥ |
J 8 4 3 |
| ♦ |
K 8 7 |
| ♣ |
K 7 2 |
| West |
 |
East |
| ♠ |
J 8 6 4 |
♠ |
10 7 3 |
| ♥ |
K Q 10 |
♥ |
9 2 |
| ♦ |
A 10 9 6 5 |
♦ |
4 3 2 |
| ♣ |
3 |
♣ |
Q J 10 9 8 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A 9 5 |
| ♥ |
A 7 6 5 |
| ♦ |
Q J |
| ♣ |
A 6 5 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
Pass |
1♣ |
Pass |
| 1♥ |
Dbl. |
2♥ |
Pass |
| 4♥ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♠4
“He had softly and silently vanished away,
For the Snark was a Boojum, you see.”
— Lewis Carroll
Although there are plenty of points between the North and South hands, there are also four losers. (This deal is from the final of the Mixed Pairs at the 2006 World Championships.) Can you see which is the only loser that might reasonably go away, barring some huge luck in the heart suit?
West led a low spade against four hearts, won by dummy’s king. Declarer continued with a diamond to the queen, taken by West’s ace. Winning the spade return in hand, declarer cashed the diamond jack, then attacked trumps by leading low from hand. West won with the queen to return a third spade to dummy’s queen. A club went away from hand on the diamond king, then a heart to the ace set the scene. With no miracle in hearts, declarer’s only hope of eliminating her club loser was that the hand with three trumps held no more than two clubs.
So South cashed the club ace, then played a club toward dummy’s king. Ruffing this would not have helped the defense’s cause — West would only be ruffing a loser — so she discarded a diamond. But that only delayed the inevitable. South rose with dummy’s king, then exited with a trump.
West won the trick and, with no club to return, was forced to lead either a spade or a diamond in the two-card ending. Either way, declarer had a ruff and discard, jettisoning her club loser.
ANSWER: If you considered bidding three hearts, shame on you — your hand is far too good for a minimum action. You could be forgiven for simply bidding four hearts, but with such bad trumps and so many high cards you should bid three no-trump. After all, you might survive a bad heart break in that contract. Playing for penalties by passing could work, but it is a huge gamble.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K Q 2 |
| ♥ |
J 8 4 3 |
| ♦ |
K 8 7 |
| ♣ |
K 7 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
3♣ |
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].
September 14th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Monday, August 31, 2009
| Dealer: South
Vul: E/W |
North |
|
| ♠ |
A 6 |
| ♥ |
A 7 |
| ♦ |
7 5 4 |
| ♣ |
A K 7 6 3 2 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
9 7 4 2 |
♠ |
K 8 3 |
| ♥ |
10 9 6 |
♥ |
J 5 3 2 |
| ♦ |
8 6 3 |
♦ |
A Q J 10 9 |
| ♣ |
10 9 5 |
♣ |
8 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
Q J 10 5 |
| ♥ |
K Q 8 4 |
| ♦ |
K 2 |
| ♣ |
Q J 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♣ |
Pass |
2♣ |
2♦ |
| 2 NT |
Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♦3
“This was the most unkindest cut of all.”
— William Shakespeare
At the semifinals of the Life Master Pairs in Boston, I saw a deal that might go down in the annals as “The Final Insult.” Steve Landen sat West, and despite his meager assets, found he had a real part to play.
Landen led a diamond against three no-trump, and his partner won the ace and continued the suit to declarer’s king. Note that only a spade lead sets six no-trump (and six clubs is cold because declarer can ruff a diamond in the short hand for the 12th trick). After winning the diamond king, declarer ran six club tricks to put both opponents under pressure.
East had to discard all his diamonds early, hoping that West could guard the suit. In the five-card ending, East kept four hearts and bared his spade king. Meanwhile declarer also decided to save his hearts. He too came down to a singleton spade. West, who was under no pressure yet, kept two spades, a diamond and two hearts.
Declarer now played the heart ace and a heart to the king, then cashed the heart queen, reducing everybody to two cards. Both South and East were about to come down to one heart and one spade. Dummy, still to discard, had a doubleton spade ace and a losing diamond. Landen, with his Yarborough, had sole guard of both of those suits. Since he had to discard before dummy, he was squeezed. Accordingly, declarer finished with 12 tricks for plus 490 and a fine score.
ANSWER: Many people will try to persuade you to lead a major rather than a minor against no-trump. Admittedly, when the opponents have game-going values and choose not to look for a major, you may infer that dummy does not have a biddable major. But on an auction of this sort, either opponent can just as easily have four spades as four clubs. Your club sequence is a far more attractive lead than your broken spade suit.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 8 4 3 |
| ♥ |
A 8 3 |
| ♦ |
8 4 |
| ♣ |
J 10 8 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
1 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].
September 13th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, August 30, 2009
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
My RHO opened one club and raised his partner’s one-heart response to two hearts. Now if I double, or bid an unusual two no-trump, am I showing a good hand or merely the unbid suits?
— Unbalanced, Jackson, Miss.
ANSWER: My view is that IF your LHO is unlimited, then an action in a live auction as opposed to a balancing bid shows a good hand short in LHO’s suit, and probably long in RHO’s suit. After all, why would you pass, then bid in a live sequence, unless you had a good hand? And if you do have a good hand, it must have length in RHO’s suit or you would have acted at once.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
In second seat I held ♠ —, ♥ A-J-4-3-2, ♦ J-10, ♣ A-K-Q-10-4-2. After my RHO opened two clubs, what do you recommend I do now? I chose to bid up to five clubs on my own, but sold out to five spades. We could have made 11 tricks in clubs and 11 or 13 in hearts, depending on whether the opponents cashed their diamond tricks!
— Psyched Out, Holland, Mich.
ANSWER: When you see a two-club opening in front of you, you KNOW deep down that the call is based on long spades and not necessarily on high cards. Bid your clubs, then your hearts, and dare them to double you! I’d compete freely to the five-level — but let partner do more if he wants.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
What method do you recommend I use in response to a balancing no-trump call from my partner? We play a range of about 10-15 points for that call, so simply asking for high-card strength does not get the job done. Is it sound to use such a wide range for this call, by the way?
— Range-Finder, Miami, Fla.
|
|
ANSWER: Yes, a wide-range balancing no-trump is fine. A method of responses I learned 25 years ago suggests that a two-club response to a balancing no-trump gets the balancer to bid two diamonds with any hand in the 10-11 range. Any other call at the two-level shows 12-13 and is natural. With 14-plus, he makes a natural call at the three-level.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
My partner opened one club and my RHO passed. With 18 points and six diamonds, I bid one diamond, thinking that a new suit by responder was forcing unless there was interference from my LHO. My partner passed and we were stuck there, making 11 tricks. Should I have jump-shifted to let her know my count? I was trying to see if we had a slam.
— Left in the Lurch, Ketchikan, Alaska
ANSWER: As you said, a new suit by an unpassed responder in just about any auction is FORCING — not necessarily strong, but forcing nonetheless. Indeed, even if your RHO had bid, a new suit by you would be forcing (except if the intervention was a bid of one no-trump). The only rare exception to the concept of a new suit being forcing would be a natural call by opener or responder after their partner’s bid or rebid of one no-trump.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
I was dealt ♠ A K-J-3-2, ♥ Q-4-3, ♦ 5-3, ♣ J-10-4. My partner opened one club, to which I responded one spade. Over his reverse of two diamonds, I repeated my spades, which we play as forcing for one round, and now my partner bid three spades. Is my hand too good for a bid of four spades? If so, what are my options?
— Upward Bound, Torrance, Calif.
ANSWER: A simple raise to four spades looks like a slight underbid, but your options are limited since you do not really want to go past four spades under your own steam. Maybe a bid of four clubs just shows support here rather than a control. If so, that would really be the only mainstream choice. |
If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, e-mail him at [email protected]. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2009.
September 12th, 2009 ~ admin ~ 2 Comments
| Dealer: South
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
A 10 |
| ♥ |
A 9 8 5 3 |
| ♦ |
5 4 2 |
| ♣ |
K 7 5 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
Q 9 8 4 3 |
♠ |
6 5 2 |
| ♥ |
K 10 6 |
♥ |
J 4 |
| ♦ |
A 9 6 |
♦ |
K Q J 10 8 7 3 |
| ♣ |
9 8 |
♣ |
3 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
K J 7 |
| ♥ |
Q 7 2 |
| ♦ |
— |
| ♣ |
A Q J 10 6 4 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♣ |
1♠ |
Dbl. |
2♦ |
| 3♣ |
Pass |
3♦ |
4♦ |
| 5♣ |
5♦ |
6♣ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♦A
“A word to the wise is enough, and many words won’t fill a bushel.”
— Benjamin Franklin
One of the delights of VuGraph commentating is spotting a beautiful deal and watching it unfold before your eyes. However, seeing it reach the critical point and then watching declarer fail is frustrating.
Such a hand arose in round 16 of the Open Championships during the match between Germany and England. I was a little surprised that West elected to pass South’s opening bid. A one-spade overcall would have been reasonable — although it would not have been a good idea today.
Declarer and the audience spotted the problem in six clubs relatively quickly. How does South avoid two heart losers? A simple way is to lead up to the heart queen, but the auction made that relatively unattractive. An alternative approach is to take what Gabriel Chagas dubbed the intrafinesse: lead a heart to your seven to drive out the jack or 10, then advance the queen from your hand to pin the remaining intermediate honor on your right.
Both declarers had the chance to make this play, but the English declarer’s opening bid was not overcalled, so he had less information than the declarer in the closed room. Though he thought for a long time (indicating that he clearly understood his options for the intrafinesse), he eventually played up to the heart queen and went down.
In the other room the English West had made a one-spade overcall, giving declarer all the information he needed. Michael Gromoeller showed why Germany led their qualifying group — he played the hearts perfectly to make his slam.
ANSWER: A double from you now would show extras and ask your partner to describe his hand more fully. There is a case for assuming your side is unlikely to make game and that your best chance to go plus would be to defend three diamonds. But I’d still be looking to make game somewhere here.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A 10 |
| ♥ |
A 9 8 5 3 |
| ♦ |
5 4 2 |
| ♣ |
K 7 5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♠ |
2♦ |
| 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].
September 11th, 2009 ~ admin ~ 1 Comment
| Dealer: East
Vul: E/W |
North |
|
| ♠ |
J 10 4 3 |
| ♥ |
A K 8 3 |
| ♦ |
8 4 |
| ♣ |
10 6 3 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
— |
♠ |
A 9 7 6 |
| ♥ |
6 4 |
♥ |
Q 10 9 5 2 |
| ♦ |
A J 10 7 3 |
♦ |
5 2 |
| ♣ |
A K 9 7 5 4 |
♣ |
J 8 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
K Q 8 5 2 |
| ♥ |
J 7 |
| ♦ |
K Q 9 6 |
| ♣ |
Q 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
Pass |
| 1♠ |
2 NT |
3♠ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♣K
“Equal opportunity means everyone will have a fair chance at becoming incompetent.”
— Laurence J. Peter
To commemorate the Bermuda Bowl now being held in Sao Paulo, today’s deal comes from last year’s World Championships.
Results for this deal from the quarter-finals were all over the place. One East bought the hand in two clubs (don’t ask!); one West drove to five clubs down 200; one West was doubled in four clubs, also for minus 200.
One North-South pair played four spades, down two; but the most interesting popular contract was three spades, a Goldilocks contract — not too low, not too high, just right! Where I was watching, the Italian World Champions were defending. West led three rounds of clubs, ruffed and overruffed. That neutralized East’s potential trump trick. Declarer could arrange to ruff hearts low in hand and diamonds high in dummy, making nine tricks.
In another room the Chinese West also overcalled two no-trump and balanced with a double of three spades, which his partner passed as a gamble. After three rounds of clubs, ruffed and overruffed, declarer played the side-suits, ruffing diamonds high and spades low for plus 530.
In England vs. Romania, both Wests led three rounds of clubs against three spades, and both Easts ruffed in and were overruffed. In each case declarer handled the trump spots sensibly to bring home nine tricks.
In retrospect it is a little surprising that none of the Easts noticed they had a sure-fire way to set three spades. Discarding a diamond on the third club allows them to collect their ruff.
ANSWER: In this auction your partner’s call of two hearts is not natural. It suggests a good hand in context and asks you to describe your hand more fully. You have extra high-cards so bid two no-trump, but you need much better intermediates to do any more.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K Q 8 5 2 |
| ♥ |
J 7 |
| ♦ |
K Q 9 6 |
| ♣ |
Q 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
1♥ |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
1 NT |
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].
September 10th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, August 27, 2009
| Dealer: North
Vul: E/W |
North |
|
| ♠ |
A 8 5 |
| ♥ |
J |
| ♦ |
J 9 6 4 |
| ♣ |
A 7 5 4 2 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
Q J 10 4 |
♠ |
9 2 |
| ♥ |
Q 10 5 3 |
♥ |
A 9 7 6 2 |
| ♦ |
10 |
♦ |
8 7 5 |
| ♣ |
K Q 9 3 |
♣ |
J 8 6 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
K 7 6 3 |
| ♥ |
K 8 4 |
| ♦ |
A K Q 3 2 |
| ♣ |
10 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
Pass |
Pass |
| 1♦ |
Dbl. |
2 NT |
Pass |
| 3♠ |
Pass |
4♣ |
Pass |
| 4 NT |
Pass |
5♥ |
Dbl. |
| 6♦ |
All Pass |
|
|
Opening Lead:♥3
“A prudent mind can see room for misgiving, lest he who prospers should one day suffer reverse.”
— Sophocles
In the world championships last autumn, USA’s elimination by Poland was something of a surprise. This was a deal that could have changed the match result.
Against the aggressively bid diamond slam, West led a heart. East took the ace and thoughtfully switched to the diamond five. Declarer’s prospects had improved considerably. Maybe that caused him to take his eye off the ball for just a moment. South let the diamond run to West’s 10 and dummy’s jack — and the contract could no longer be made.
Declarer cashed the club ace, ruffed a club, took the heart king (while pitching a spade), and ruffed a heart. Then he trumped a club high, played the spade king and a spade to the ace, ruffed a club, and cashed the diamond queen.
So far so good, but in the three-card ending, dummy was left with the diamond 9-6, East with the 8-7 and South had only one high trump in hand. Declarer could not ruff a spade low in dummy without being overruffed, and if he ruffed the spade high, East’s diamonds would be good enough to win trick 13.
The winning line for South was to go up with a top trump at trick two. Then declarer can play the hand in identical fashion but be left with the diamond J-9 in dummy. Now the crossruff cannot be prevented.
Only an initial trump lead defeats six diamonds, as East can play a second round of trump when he gets in with the heart ace.
ANSWER: If you feel inclined to enter the auction, the right way to do that is to bid two no-trump, suggesting both minors. The call is risky but not unreasonable. With king-third of spades, you might feel less happy about coming in.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A 8 5 |
| ♥ |
J |
| ♦ |
J 9 6 4 |
| ♣ |
A 7 5 4 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♠ |
Pass |
1 NT |
| Pass |
2♠ |
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].
September 9th, 2009 ~ admin ~ 1 Comment
| Dealer: South
Vul: E/W |
North |
|
| ♠ |
A K |
| ♥ |
8 6 5 3 2 |
| ♦ |
8 6 4 |
| ♣ |
K 8 4 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
8 7 5 2 |
♠ |
6 4 |
| ♥ |
J 9 7 |
♥ |
K Q 10 4 |
| ♦ |
Q J 9 7 |
♦ |
A 5 3 |
| ♣ |
10 2 |
♣ |
Q J 9 6 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
Q J 10 9 3 |
| ♥ |
A |
| ♦ |
K 10 2 |
| ♣ |
A 7 5 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
1 NT |
Dbl. |
| 2♣ |
Pass |
3♠ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♦Q
“Success is a consequence and must not be a goal.”
— Gustave Flaubert
In today’s deal from the World Individual Championships held last year, South, Gay Keaveney from Ireland, would have raised three spades to four. But at matchpoints, he decided to protect his plus score. He was theoretically correct, but in practice wrong.
Against three spades West led the diamond queen, and East won with his ace and returned a diamond. Now declarer played in textbook fashion. He won with his king and played three rounds of clubs. He could not be stopped from ruffing a club in the dummy with one of dummy’s top trumps. So he won 10 tricks: five spades, one heart, one diamond, two clubs and the club ruff. Plus 170 was worth just under average for him: 7 matchpoints out of 16.
At every other table South declared a spade contract, five times at the two-level, once at the three-level and three times in game. The diamond queen was led every time, and eight of the nine declarers won 10 tricks. The only East to find the killing defense was Patrick Huang from Chinese Taipei. (At his table, the auction was as shown, except that West threw in a sporty two-diamond advance over South’s two-club rebid.)
Huang won the first trick and shifted to a trump. Then, when he got in with a club, he played another trump to kill the ruff. Plus 100 was a deserved cold top. As usual, once you see the point of the deal, it does look as if this defense can never cost.
ANSWER: With a hand like this, you have no idea what strain to play in or at what level. Best is to set up a game-force by bidding two diamonds, the fourth suit. Then raise clubs if you do not find spade support, and take it from there. Raising clubs or bidding no-trump directly is premature — and misleading.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q J 10 9 3 |
| ♥ |
A |
| ♦ |
K 10 2 |
| ♣ |
A 7 5 3 |
| 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].
September 8th, 2009 ~ admin ~ 1 Comment
| Dealer: South
Vul: E/W |
North |
|
| ♠ |
8 |
| ♥ |
9 8 3 2 |
| ♦ |
A J 6 |
| ♣ |
10 9 8 7 4 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
A K 2 |
♠ |
Q 10 6 5 |
| ♥ |
A 10 7 |
♥ |
5 |
| ♦ |
K 9 7 4 2 |
♦ |
8 5 3 |
| ♣ |
K J |
♣ |
Q 6 5 3 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
J 9 7 4 3 |
| ♥ |
K Q J 6 4 |
| ♦ |
Q 10 |
| ♣ |
A |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♠ |
1 NT |
Pass |
Pass |
| 2♥ |
Pass |
4♥ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♥7
“Lord, … I’m hopeful thou’lt recover once my dust,
And confident thou’lt raise me with the just.”
— Marquis of Montrose
This week’s deals are all from recent world championships, marking the Bermuda Bowl now taking place in Sao Paulo.
Russ Ekeblad’s U.S. squad were 36 IMPs down to Kiran Nadar’s Indian team in the 2006 Rosenblum knockouts, but their rally began with this board.
Against four hearts, the best lead of a trump was found at both tables. When South next led spades, both Wests won and played ace and another heart, the Easts throwing a club and a diamond.
Declarer for India continued with the diamond queen to the king and ace, returned to the diamond 10, ruffed a spade with dummy’s last trump, then discarded a spade on the diamond jack. But he still had two spade losers, so ended one light.
At the second table, play followed the same route for the first four tricks. However, Eric Greco found an extra chance, which was to prove crucial. At trick five he cashed the club ace. Only then did he lead the diamond queen, covered and won. Then he ruffed a club, and when the second club honor dropped from West, this, coupled with East’s early club discard, convinced Greco that clubs were originally 5-2.
A spade ruff was followed by the club 10, on which Greco discarded a spade. Another club was covered and ruffed, setting up dummy’s eight, and dummy was accessed by overtaking the diamond 10 with the jack. That gave him 10 tricks, Greco’s only other loser being a diamond.
ANSWER: Your delayed sequence to one no-trump showed 18-20 points. (With 15-17, you would have made a one-no-trump overcall, while with less, you would have passed one spade.) So you have shown your range, and your partner has asked you to pick a major. You have no reason not to go back to two spades but, equally, no reason to do any more bidding. You have shown what you have. Let partner decide which level to play at.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A K 2 |
| ♥ |
A 10 7 |
| ♦ |
K 9 7 4 2 |
| ♣ |
K J |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
1♣ |
| Dbl. |
Pass |
1♠ |
Pass |
| 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].
September 7th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Monday, August 24, 2009
| Dealer: East
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
Q 9 7 |
| ♥ |
K Q J 8 |
| ♦ |
J 7 3 |
| ♣ |
A K 4 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
K 10 6 |
♠ |
J |
| ♥ |
7 6 |
♥ |
10 9 5 |
| ♦ |
8 5 4 |
♦ |
A K Q 10 6 |
| ♣ |
Q 8 7 3 2 |
♣ |
J 10 9 6 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A 8 5 4 3 2 |
| ♥ |
A 4 3 2 |
| ♦ |
9 2 |
| ♣ |
5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
1♦ |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
2♦ |
Pass |
| 2♥ |
Pass |
4♥ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♦4
“We must try to trust one another. Stay and cooperate.”
— Jomo Kenyatta
The world championships have just started in Sao Paulo, so all the deals this week will come from the final stages of recent world championships.
To start with, let’s compare how well the top-class defenders coped with an apparently simple problem.
Antonio Sementa (South) followed the auction shown, while his counterpart made a weak jump overcall in spades and collected 170. At this vulnerability, I prefer Sementa’s route, although it got him to four hearts, the wrong game. Can you see how the defense should go?
Declarer would surely have ruffed the third round of diamonds, ruffed a club in hand, then drawn trumps and played a spade up toward the queen to make 10 tricks. But after two rounds of diamonds and a spade shift (Boguslaw Gierulski playing for the legitimate chance to set the hand), Sementa was stuck. He could not ruff a diamond and a club in hand and draw three rounds of trump ending in hand. He did his best by taking the ruffs and drawing two trumps, but West could win the spade king and give his partner the ruff.
Does that defense look easy to you? Well, at the six other tables where the deal was played, the final contract was four spades once (making 11 tricks) and four hearts five times. On each occasion but one, where four hearts was declared, the defenders led diamonds. Two of the four pairs of defenders got it right; the other two pairs did not. I suppose the defense is not that easy to find!
ANSWER: Lead a trump, trying to kill the spade ruffs in dummy. Your double was aggressive though not unreasonable — but you had better hope partner has some values and length in diamonds to prevent declarer from getting those ruffs or you will have some ‘splainin’ to do!
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q 10 6 5 |
| ♥ |
A 10 7 |
| ♦ |
8 5 3 |
| ♣ |
A J 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
1♠ |
| Pass |
Pass |
1 NT |
2♦ |
| Dbl. |
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].
September 6th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, August 23, 2009
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
Do you like the Sandwich No-Trump as a way to show the unbid suits?
— Hold the Mayo, White Plains, N.Y.
ANSWER: The Sandwich No-Trump refers to a one-no-trump overcall in fourth seat after both opponents have bid, to show 5-5 or more in the unbid suits. No, I do not like the idea. I want to keep the call to show a good strong no-trump, and since I have double and two no-trump for the unbid suits, I do not need a third call.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
I held ♠ 3, ♥ A-5, ♦ A-Q-8-6-5-3, ♣ K-10-4 2. When my RHO opened one spade, I bid two diamonds. My partner told me I should have doubled, but I disagree. This was passed back to my RHO, who bid two hearts. What is the right way forward?
— Marching Orders, Richmond, Va.
ANSWER: First things first: Two diamonds is the mandatory action here; you would need at least another ace to consider doubling first. When you hear two hearts on your right, the choices are to double for takeout or to bid two no-trump, suggesting diamonds and secondary clubs. A direct call of three clubs would suggest five of them. All three calls are better than passing, by the way!
Dear Mr. Wolff:
In rubber bridge, what is the protocol for who deals next after four initial passes? Is the next dealer the original one for that thrown-in hand, or does the next dealer simply follow in normal sequence?
— Taking Turns, Newark, N.J.
|
|
ANSWER: When a deal is thrown in, you should redeal, and the dealer remains the same. Incidentally, my record is three deals passed out in four hands.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Suppose you pick up ♠ K-Q-9-7-6-3, ♥ 2, ♦ A-10-5-3, ♣ K-4, and your partner opens one no-trump. Are you good enough to drive to slam, to invite slam, or just to settle for game?
— Level-Headed, Levittown, Pa.
ANSWER: Settling for game would be to count points while ignoring your excellent shape. However, driving to slam could get you to a hopeless spot. Your choices are to transfer to spades, bid diamonds next, then move on if you find a fit. Or, my preference, transfer to spades, then jump to four hearts to show a singleton heart and a one-suited spade hand. This sequence is only a try for slam, but gets partner focused on what matters.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
How do you recommend playing direct jump-responses to one no-trump?
— On the Spot, Bellevue, Wash.
ANSWER: Simplest (not necessarily best) is to use jump-bids in the minors to show a 5-5 pattern with both minors, invitational and forcing, and jumps in the majors for the same values but both majors. Somewhat better is to keep the minor-suit jumps with those meanings, but use the major-suit jumps to be game-forcing with 5-4 in the minors and a singleton in the bid major. |
If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, e-mail him at [email protected]. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2009.
|
Subscribe to our feed
Bridge-related