November 6th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Friday, October 23, 2009 
| Dealer: West
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
A J 8 5 3 |
| ♥ |
A 10 8 6 4 |
| ♦ |
10 |
| ♣ |
5 2 |
| West |
 |
East |
| ♠ |
Q 7 6 4 |
♠ |
— |
| ♥ |
K J 7 5 |
♥ |
9 3 |
| ♦ |
A K J 5 4 |
♦ |
Q 8 7 6 2 |
| ♣ |
— |
♣ |
Q 10 9 8 7 4 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
K 10 9 2 |
| ♥ |
Q 2 |
| ♦ |
9 3 |
| ♣ |
A K J 6 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♦ |
2♦* |
3♦ |
| 4♠ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♦K
“But, for the unquiet heart and brain,
A use in measured language lies;
The sad mechanic exercise,
Like dull narcotics, numbing pain.”
— Alfred, Lord Tennyson
The most painful way I know to record a small loss in a team game is for both partnerships to reach a high-level but makable contract, and to fail in both instances, as in today’s deal.
Against South’s four spades, West started with two rounds of diamonds. Declarer ruffed in dummy and played ace and another heart. (A low heart to the queen initially would have preserved communications.) West won and continued with a low trump. Declarer won this trick in her own hand and now needed to draw trumps while ruffing a heart high in hand, followed by taking a club finesse. But she tried to cash the club ace. This was ruffed by West, and a second round of trumps left her one down.
In the other room North led a trump against five diamonds doubled. West won in dummy and led a heart to the jack, optimistically hoping to find both honors with South. This line produced only 10 tricks.
A better plan simply needs South to hold at least two of the three high clubs. Win the trump lead in East and lead out the club queen. When South covers, West ruffs, then ruffs a spade, and plays the club 10, covered and ruffed high. After West draws the last trump, another spade ruff to dummy allows the play of the club nine, again covered and ruffed. West can reach dummy with a spade ruff to run the clubs and takes eight trump tricks and three club winners.
ANSWER: Two hearts is fourth-suit forcing, and your choice is to rebid two no-trump to show a heart stop, or to repeat your clubs to guarantee at least a decent five-card suit. I prefer the latter, but if your heart stop were slightly better and your clubs a little worse, bidding two no-trump would make good sense.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K 10 9 2 |
| ♥ |
Q 2 |
| ♦ |
9 3 |
| ♣ |
A K J 6 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♣ |
Pass |
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 5th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, October 22, 2009
| Dealer: South
Vul: E/W |
North |
|
| ♠ |
A Q 10 6 3 |
| ♥ |
A Q 4 |
| ♦ |
7 4 |
| ♣ |
Q 7 4 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
2 |
♠ |
— |
| ♥ |
J 9 8 6 2 |
♥ |
K 5 |
| ♦ |
Q 9 8 3 2 |
♦ |
A K J 10 5 |
| ♣ |
K 8 |
♣ |
A 10 9 5 3 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
K J 9 8 7 5 4 |
| ♥ |
10 7 3 |
| ♦ |
6 |
| ♣ |
J 6 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 3♠ |
Pass |
4♠ |
4 NT |
| Pass |
5♦ |
5♠ |
Pass |
| Pass |
6♦ |
6♠ |
Pass |
| Pass |
Dbl. |
All Pass |
|
Opening Lead:♣K
“And time remembered is grief forgotten,
And frosts are slain and flowers begotten.”
— Algernon Swinburne
There may be only one major team-event left that still uses aggregate scoring and not IMP scoring. The Hubert Phillips Bowl in England is a mixed, pivot, knockout teams competition. Here is a deal from a recent final of this tournament, where both tables had done well to sacrifice in six spades over the cold six diamonds.
At one table West led the club king and a second club. East won the ace, laid down the diamond king (on which West signaled to show five diamonds), then continued with a third club, which South ruffed high. Declarer drew the outstanding trump, after which she knew that East could not hold more than two hearts. So South cashed the heart ace, ruffed a diamond back to hand, and led a heart. When West played low, South put up the queen, knowing that if East won with the king, he would have to give a ruff and discard. That held the loss on the board to 500 points.
In the other room, after a diamond lead to the king, East continued with ace and another club. West won and switched to a heart. With the club queen established for a discard, declarer could have guaranteed getting out for 500 by rising with the ace, but he got greedy and played the queen. East won the king and played a third round of clubs, killing the discard, so declarer had to lose another heart at the end. That meant a penalty of 800 and a swing of 300 aggregate points.
ANSWER: You have the perfect shape and values (albeit a minimum in both respects) with which to make a takeout double. You cannot guarantee that you will reach a good spot, nor can you be sure that pushing your opponents up a level will generate a good result for you. But you can be sure that failure to try in situations like this will make you an easy opponent to play against.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A Q 10 6 3 |
| ♥ |
A Q 4 |
| ♦ |
7 4 |
| ♣ |
Q 7 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
1♦ |
| 1♠ |
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].
November 4th, 2009 ~ admin ~ 2 Comments
| Dealer: East
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
A Q 8 6 |
| ♥ |
A K 9 8 7 2 |
| ♦ |
8 |
| ♣ |
10 6 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
K 9 5 |
♠ |
7 |
| ♥ |
6 4 |
♥ |
Q J 10 5 |
| ♦ |
Q 6 |
♦ |
A J 10 7 4 |
| ♣ |
A K J 9 4 2 |
♣ |
7 5 3 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
J 10 4 3 2 |
| ♥ |
3 |
| ♦ |
K 9 5 3 2 |
| ♣ |
Q 8 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
Pass |
| Pass |
1♣ |
Dbl. |
1♦ |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
3♠ |
Pass |
| 4♠ |
All Pass |
|
|
Opening Lead:♣K
“Accidents will occur in the best-regulated families.”
— Charles Dickens
In a recent European Championship, one of the pre-tournament favorites was taking on a less fancied team. The favorites had an accident here, selling out to two clubs by West and conceding eight tricks. This was hardly a triumph, with a spade partscore, and possibly a game, on for North-South.
Indeed, in the other room South became declarer in four spades on the auction shown. West cashed two clubs and switched to a heart. Declarer should now win the heart, ruff a heart, draw three rounds of trump via the finesse, and ruff another heart. However, declarer took his eye off the ball and played a diamond instead of a heart off the dummy at trick four. East won his ace and found the bright defense of playing a third round of clubs to give a ruff and discard. This left declarer with no winning play. He could ruff in dummy, ruff a heart, and then take a spade finesse, but if he failed to draw all the trumps, he would suffer an overruff, while if he did draw trumps, he would have no entry to the established hearts. So the board produced no swing.
Incidentally, best defense against four spades is to take the three minor-suit winners and then give a ruff and discard. Declarer must discard a heart from hand while he ruffs in the dummy. Now he can ruff hearts twice in hand without suffering an overruff, while drawing three rounds of trump ending in dummy.
ANSWER: This is an invitational sequence, and your extra shape and attractive honor-structure give you enough reason to bid on. The choice is to bid three no-trump (which seems unduly trusting), to commit unilaterally to four hearts, or to show your shape with a three-spade bid and let partner decide. I’d go for the third option, even though it reveals your hand-type to the opponents.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A Q 8 6 |
| ♥ |
A K 9 8 7 2 |
| ♦ |
8 |
| ♣ |
10 6 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
1 NT |
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 3rd, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, October 20, 2009
| Dealer: East
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
7 6 4 |
| ♥ |
J 9 4 |
| ♦ |
J 10 8 |
| ♣ |
K J 10 6 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
9 5 |
♠ |
A Q 10 3 2 |
| ♥ |
6 3 2 |
♥ |
A Q 10 8 |
| ♦ |
K 3 2 |
♦ |
7 5 |
| ♣ |
9 8 7 5 4 |
♣ |
3 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
K J 8 |
| ♥ |
K 7 5 |
| ♦ |
A Q 9 6 4 |
| ♣ |
A Q |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
1♠ |
| Dbl. |
Pass |
2♣ |
Pass |
| 2 NT |
Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♠9
“Heaven’s great lamps do dive
Into their west, and straight again revive.”
— Thomas Campion
Today’s deal comes from Ron Klinger’s latest book, “Right Through the Pack Again.” Unusual for a bridge work of fiction, the characters are credible and possess lifelike emotions.
The plot of the book concerns the real hero, the Old Master, who is in a coma and is not sure if he wants to die, because both his children have passed away before him. The playing cards are trying to bring him back because they love him, so they are telling the stories of his greatest triumphs. Here the heart queen has taken center stage.
“This experience was special for me. Against three no-trump West led the spade nine and the Old Master won with the ace. He paused for just a moment. His thoughts had gone to his daughter Jenny. ‘She was the queen of his heart and so he played me,’ said the queen of hearts. ‘Declarer covered with the king, played the club ace, followed by the club queen. He overtook with the club king and led the diamond jack: this went to the five, four and king. West returned a heart and the Old Master collected three heart tricks to take the contract one down.
“‘For me this deal epitomized the Old Master’s life. Jenny was the one and only for him and I was the one and only card at trick two to beat the contract. Jenny surrounded her family with love and I was needed to surround dummy’s jack to beat the contract.’”
ANSWER: In this sequence a call of two no-trump shows 18-19 points, not 12-14. With a minimum balanced hand, you would simply pass and await future action — if any. Although your hand is at the top of your range, there is no harm in having a maximum from time to time. Simply bid two no-trump and let partner move on if he wants.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K J 8 |
| ♥ |
K 7 5 |
| ♦ |
A Q 9 6 4 |
| ♣ |
A Q |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♦ |
Pass |
1♥ |
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 2nd, 2009 ~ admin ~ 2 Comments
| Dealer: South
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
J 10 8 5 |
| ♥ |
J 6 |
| ♦ |
10 6 |
| ♣ |
K Q J 5 4 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
A 7 |
♠ |
Q 6 3 |
| ♥ |
A 10 5 4 3 |
♥ |
K 9 8 7 |
| ♦ |
Q J 9 4 2 |
♦ |
8 7 3 |
| ♣ |
9 |
♣ |
10 8 3 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
K 9 4 2 |
| ♥ |
Q 2 |
| ♦ |
A K 5 |
| ♣ |
A 7 6 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 NT |
2♦* |
2♥ |
Dbl. |
| 2♠ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♣9
“Yabba dabba doo!”
— Hanna and Barbera
In this deal from last summer’s first qualifying session of the Von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs, the field generally defended spade contracts, with four spades requiring the spade queen onside, and rather more.
However, with a fairly friendly lie of the cards, 10 tricks were made more often than not. At our featured table, North-South stopped in two spades after North had made a cue-bid of two hearts as a takeout of the red-suits. When South bid two spades, North saw no reason to jeopardize his plus score. And that turned out to be a good idea because West, Dick Hanna, led his singleton club. Declarer won in dummy to run the spade jack.
Dick now kept his partner from error by immediately underleading the heart ace. If he had cashed the ace before leading a heart to the king, his partner might have shifted to a diamond, even though any diamond losers were relatively unlikely to get away.
The immediate underlead left Larry Hanna on lead with the heart king, and he knew that if his partner was that desperate to get him on lead, it must be because he wanted a ruff. A club return left declarer needing to take a second spade finesse just to get back to plus 140.
While this was not a complete top for East-West, since some pairs had defeated their opponents’ game, it was the best that they could do on this deal.
ANSWER: It is better to lead the diamond two, suggesting you have only a four-card suit, than an honest diamond four. Since your partner has a Yarborough, confusing him will not matter. But if declarer believes you have only a four-card suit, he may take an unsuccessful line by knocking out your aces, rather than taking a heart finesse, which he might do if he thinks you have five diamonds.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A 8 5 |
| ♥ |
Q 9 7 |
| ♦ |
A 6 5 4 2 |
| ♣ |
A 10 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♠ |
Pass |
1 NT |
| Pass |
2 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 1st, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, October 18, 2009
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
Playing Chicago for uncomfortably large stakes, I was delighted to pick up ♠ A-J-2, ♥ A-K-9-7-6, ♦ A-9-7-4, ♣ Q. Naturally, my partner, vulnerable against not, opened three clubs. What should I bid now?
— Playing Safe, Salinas, Calif.
ANSWER: Partner is sure to deliver seven decent clubs at this vulnerability. If so, where do you want to play, facing that hand? It is not clear that you will make a slam on any lead (even assuming clubs split) unless partner produces a useful extra — but why should he? I’d just bid five clubs and apologize for my cowardice if I’m wrong.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
As a beginning player I find it very hard to count all the suits when I’m declaring. What would you advise?
— Toddling Tyro, Nashville, Tenn.
ANSWER: Don’t even try to count all the suits. When dummy comes down, add up the trumps in your hand and dummy, subtract that number from 13, and keep count ONLY of the opponents’ trumps from then on. If you decide there is another critical suit, try to keep count of that suit in the normal fashion, but go with your instincts for the rest of the hand. You’ll soon get the hang of counting automatically.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Holding ♠ J-7-6-5-3, ♥ 8-6, ♦ A-Q-4, ♣ 10-3-2, I bid one spade after my partner doubled one club. He now raised to two spades, which I took to be a real game-try, and I was not sure if I had enough to do more. If so, what should I bid now?
— Traffic Director, Madison, Wis.
ANSWER: If you trust your partner, he will have approximately 16-18 with four trumps. Since your hand is now clearly worth a game-try, three diamonds might get the message across. If partner temporizes with three hearts, I will go to game, but pass a three-spade response. |
|
Dear Mr. Wolff:
What are the main advantages of playing the convention called New Minor Forcing? How does the bid work?
— Learning Curve, Pueblo, Colo.
ANSWER: When opener bids a minor and rebids one no-trump at his second turn, responder, if using standard methods, has no convenient way to distinguish between weak, invitational and forcing hands. New Minor (responder’s bid of the unbid minor at his second turn in this sequence) guarantees invitational or better values and asks opener to show three-card support for him, or to introduce an unbid four-card major, or to make any other descriptive call. New (nonreverse) suits by responder at the two-level deny invitational values.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Holding ♠ J-2, ♥ A-7-6, ♦ A-Q-8-3, ♣ K-9-4-2, I opened one diamond and, over a one-heart response, bid two clubs. My partner told me afterwards that this sequence guarantees at least nine cards in the minors. Is this so — and if so, why?
— Minor Violations, Spokane, Wash.
ANSWER: With an essentially balanced hand like yours, you should not worry about stoppers when opening or rebidding one no-trump unless the opponents have put you on notice about a suit. Your hand is almost as balanced as can be, so do not tell partner you have a shapely hand by upping the auction unnecessarily. Mind you, if instead of bidding one no-trump you elected to raise to two hearts, you would get some sympathy from many people, especially me. |
If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, e-mail him at [email protected]. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2009.
October 31st, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, October 17, 2009
| Dealer: South
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
J 9 |
| ♥ |
K 4 |
| ♦ |
J 9 7 6 4 |
| ♣ |
A 10 8 4 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
K 4 |
♠ |
2 |
| ♥ |
Q 10 8 7 |
♥ |
A 9 6 5 |
| ♦ |
K 8 5 |
♦ |
Q 10 3 2 |
| ♣ |
K J 9 3 |
♣ |
Q 7 6 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A Q 10 8 7 6 5 3 |
| ♥ |
J 3 2 |
| ♦ |
A |
| ♣ |
5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
4♠ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♦5
“Se non e vero, e ben trovato. Even if it is not true, it is a good story.”
— Italian proverb
Italy’s Giorgio Belladonna was one of the greatest bridge players of all time. He won 13 Bermuda Bowls between 1957 and 1975, and 10 European Championships between 1956 and 1979.
The number of well-played hands attributed to him is legion. This is one of my favorites, though its attribution is hard to pinpoint. Belladonna, South, opened four spades and played there. West led the diamond five, and declarer’s ace won the first trick. Cover up the East and West hands and plan the play.
Clearly the objective is to limit your losers either to one spade and two hearts, or to three heart tricks. The straightforward line is to play a heart toward dummy’s king. This loses to the ace and a trump comes back. If you finesse, it loses to the king. A trump is returned, and your only hope is to find East with the heart queen. Slightly better is to rise with the spade ace and play the heart jack. But West will win, cash the spade king, and take his heart winner.
Belladonna’s approach was far better than either of these lines. Can you see it yet? He crossed to dummy with the club ace and led a low heart! If East plays either the ace or the queen, then declarer can always build a heart trick. And if West wins the first round of hearts, he cannot attack spades successfully. Declarer cannot be denied a heart ruff in the dummy.
ANSWER: Did you consider bidding two no-trump? If so, be aware that this is a huge overbid. You need to have more than just a single stopper in the minors and a misfit for partner to try for game here. Your hand is actually very suitable for giving preference back to two spades, a partscore that is infinitely safer than no-trump.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 9 |
| ♥ |
K 4 |
| ♦ |
J 9 7 6 4 |
| ♣ |
A 10 8 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
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].
October 30th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Friday, October 16, 2009
| Dealer: South
Vul: E/W |
North |
|
| ♠ |
K 9 4 |
| ♥ |
A K 7 3 |
| ♦ |
10 6 3 |
| ♣ |
J 6 5 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
7 |
♠ |
Q 10 6 2 |
| ♥ |
10 9 8 6 5 |
♥ |
J 2 |
| ♦ |
9 8 2 |
♦ |
A J 5 |
| ♣ |
10 9 4 3 |
♣ |
A K 7 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A J 8 5 3 |
| ♥ |
Q 4 |
| ♦ |
K Q 7 4 |
| ♣ |
Q 8 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
2♣ |
Pass |
| 2 NT |
Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♥10
“And now the matchless deed’s achieved,
Determined, dared, and done.”
— Christopher Smart
Of all the hands that won a BOLS brilliancy prize, few, if any, can have been so close to a unanimous choice as the winner of the 1985 award.
Put yourself in East’s seat, defending against three no-trump. Declarer wins the first trick with the heart ace and leads a spade to the jack, as partner follows with the seven. Then South cashes the heart queen, partner suggesting an original holding of five cards, and leads the diamond king, partner showing an odd number of cards in that suit too.
Assuming that declarer has a 5-2-4-2 shape, what should today’s East, Anders Brunzell, do next? Clearly a spade or diamond lead will achieve nothing. The simple move would be to play ace, king and a third club. However, when declarer crosses to the spade king, finds the bad news, and then takes dummy’s heart winner, what would Brunzell discard then? If he pitches a spade or a diamond, it would cost two tricks, and a low-club discard would let declarer establish either the spades or the diamonds safely.
Accordingly, Brunzell switched to a low club at trick six, and West’s nine drove out declarer’s jack. Declarer duly cashed dummy’s spade king, as West threw a heart, and then took the heart king, on which Brunzell discarded his club ace! South now cleared the spades, hoping the defensive communications were broken. But since Brunzell could reach his partner with his carefully retained low club, West had a winning club and heart to cash for two down.
ANSWER: You have spun the roulette wheel once by suggesting both majors and having partner pick the right one. Do you feel lucky? If so, you can try for game by bidding three hearts. But I’d guess that, facing a relatively balanced 12-14 count, our side is high enough, so I would pass. And then there is the possibility that partner might only have three hearts!
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K 9 4 |
| ♥ |
A K 7 3 |
| ♦ |
10 6 3 |
| ♣ |
J 6 5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♦ |
2♣ |
| Dbl. |
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].
October 29th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, October 15, 2009
| Dealer: South
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
9 6 |
| ♥ |
J 8 6 5 |
| ♦ |
A Q 9 5 2 |
| ♣ |
Q 7 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
7 5 3 2 |
♠ |
K Q J 10 |
| ♥ |
Q 4 3 |
♥ |
K 10 2 |
| ♦ |
7 |
♦ |
10 8 3 |
| ♣ |
K J 6 5 4 |
♣ |
9 8 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A 8 5 |
| ♥ |
A 9 7 |
| ♦ |
K J 6 4 |
| ♣ |
A 10 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
2♣ |
Pass |
| 2♦ |
Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♠2
“I’d rather fight than switch.”
— Advertisement for Tareytons
One of the hardest defenses to find against no-trump is to take a trick or two in one suit, switch to another suit, and then revert to the first suit.
But watch Fulvio Fantoni and Claudio Nunes, of the current Italian World Champions, at work. Against no-trump they lead fourth highest from suits with no honors, and third or fifth from suits with honors. So on this deal Nunes, West, led the spade two.
From East’s point of view, a five-card suit headed by the ace was a possibility, but it was rather more likely that West held four small cards. On the other hand, from declarer’s point of view, it was more likely that West held one of the spade honors and therefore that he held a five-card suit.
Accordingly, when East played the spade jack at trick one, declarer ducked. And he ducked again when East continued with the queen. But now East switched to a heart and declarer was sunk. If he won, the defenders would have two heart tricks to cash when West got in with the club king. If declarer ducked, West could win the queen and switch back to spades (knowing East had four spades from South’s Stayman response). That set up the defenders’ fifth trick to cash when West won the club king.
Notice that if West leads a fourth-highest spade two, declarer should win his ace at trick one. Now with the club king well placed, three no-trump should always make.
ANSWER: This is more a question of partnership agreement than of right or wrong. But I believe that the best way to play when the opponents intervene over one no-trump is to use a double by opener or responder for takeout. So I would double here, suggesting four hearts and values.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
9 6 |
| ♥ |
J 8 6 5 |
| ♦ |
A Q 9 5 2 |
| ♣ |
Q 7 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1 NT |
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].
October 28th, 2009 ~ admin ~ 2 Comments
| Dealer: North
Vul: E/W |
North |
|
| ♠ |
A Q 4 3 |
| ♥ |
K 7 4 |
| ♦ |
K J |
| ♣ |
K Q 6 3 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
J 7 6 5 |
♠ |
K 10 9 |
| ♥ |
10 9 5 |
♥ |
8 6 3 2 |
| ♦ |
A Q 5 4 |
♦ |
8 6 2 |
| ♣ |
9 8 |
♣ |
A 10 7 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
8 2 |
| ♥ |
A Q J |
| ♦ |
10 9 7 3 |
| ♣ |
J 5 4 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♣ |
Pass |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
2 NT |
Pass |
| 3 NT |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♥10
“How hard it is to make your thoughts look anything but imbecile fools when you paint them with ink on paper.”
— Olive Schreiner
In today’s deal, South, declarer in three no-trump, won the heart lead in dummy to advance the club king. East elected to win this and continued hearts. Declarer took this in hand and played a diamond, and West made the natural-looking play of going in with the ace to play hearts again.
However, declarer simply won the heart, took the diamond king, led the club six to his jack, and played the diamond 10. West won and finally switched to a spade, but declarer could win dummy’s ace, take the club queen, then cross with his carefully preserved three of clubs to his five, and cash the established diamond nine for his ninth trick.
The defense to beat three no-trump is not easy to find. West must duck the first diamond, rather than taking his ace. If he wins the diamond ace, a shift to a low spade may be of no avail, as declarer can duck and still establish the second diamond trick later on. Even a high spade shift is no good if South reads the position and ducks the trick, winning the second spade with the ace to play a third spade.
However, if West ducks the first diamond and wins the second, he might be able to work out that a spade shift is needed. The winning play is to lead the spade jack, establishing two spade tricks by force for the defenders. West still has the diamond queen as a re-entry for a second spade play if necessary.
ANSWER: You have a good enough hand to force to game, and almost certainly you will end in four spades since partner has virtually guaranteed length in both majors. But it does not cost anything to cue-bid two diamonds and then bid spades. You may find that your side can make slam, or that some other contract is superior.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A Q 4 3 |
| ♥ |
K 7 4 |
| ♦ |
K J |
| ♣ |
K Q 6 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♣ |
1♦ |
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].
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