August 26th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, August 12, 2009 
| Dealer: South
Vul: E/W |
North |
|
| ♠ |
K Q 10 |
| ♥ |
J 8 4 3 |
| ♦ |
K 8 2 |
| ♣ |
K 4 2 |
| West |
 |
East |
| ♠ |
A 8 6 5 |
♠ |
J 4 3 |
| ♥ |
Q 10 9 |
♥ |
7 |
| ♦ |
J 10 6 |
♦ |
Q 9 7 5 4 |
| ♣ |
Q 10 7 |
♣ |
9 6 5 3 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
9 7 2 |
| ♥ |
A K 6 5 2 |
| ♦ |
A 3 |
| ♣ |
A J 8 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
3♥ |
Pass |
| 4♥ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♦J
“By using accurate details to imply a misleading picture of the whole, the artful propagandist, it has been said, makes truth the principal form of falsehood.”
— Christopher Lasch
I have seen my fair share of bridge problems during a long and misspent life. As a result I can generally work out the right approach to a declarer-play problem. So on today’s deal I followed what I considered to be the normal bridge-player’s approach. If you want to enjoy the problem fully, cover up the East-West cards.
Declaring four hearts, I won the opening diamond lead in hand and cashed the heart ace. All followed, so I cashed the second top heart and discovered West had the heart length. I took dummy’s top diamond, ruffed a diamond, then exited with a heart. West won and played back a spade. Dummy’s queen won, but when I took the club finesse, it lost. Now I was forced to guess spades to make the game. Unfortunately, I got it wrong.
My inquisitor smugly remarked that I was not the first person to go down on the deal. Can you see my mistake?
After the second top heart, I should have led a spade to dummy’s queen. Then I take the diamond ace, ruff a diamond, and play a second spade. Let’s say I misguess and put the 10 in. East wins and shifts to a low club to the eight, 10 and king. Now I play a third spade, and West is in with his ace. He can cash a heart, but must now lead from his club queen into my ace-jack.
ANSWER: Your miserable 12-count has suddenly blossomed after the opponents guarantee a big heart fit and partner shows a good hand with both minors. My guess is to jump to six clubs. I would like to cue-bid four spades, but that might inconveniently set diamonds as trump.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K Q 10 |
| ♥ |
J 8 4 3 |
| ♦ |
K 8 2 |
| ♣ |
K 4 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♣ |
1♥ |
| 2 NT |
3♥ |
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].
August 25th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, August 11, 2009
| Dealer: North
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
K 10 7 2 |
| ♥ |
8 4 |
| ♦ |
8 5 4 2 |
| ♣ |
8 7 2 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
J 6 4 3 |
♠ |
Q 9 8 5 |
| ♥ |
7 5 |
♥ |
Q 6 2 |
| ♦ |
K Q J 9 |
♦ |
10 7 |
| ♣ |
J 9 4 |
♣ |
Q 10 5 3 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A |
| ♥ |
A K J 10 9 3 |
| ♦ |
A 6 3 |
| ♣ |
A K 6 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
Pass |
Pass |
| 2♣ |
Pass |
2♦ |
Pass |
| 2♥ |
Pass |
3♣* |
Pass |
| 4♥ |
All Pass |
|
|
Opening Lead:♦K
“No man chooses evil because it is evil; he only mistakes it for happiness, the good he seeks.”
— Mary Shelley
All this month I am running deals from Ron Klinger’s excellent new book, “ Right Through the Pack Again.” The playing cards have come to life and are fighting to revive the Old Master. This four-heart deal features a dialogue between the six and eight of hearts.
“If it wasn’t for me,” said the heart eight, “the Old Master would almost certainly have failed. If you and I swapped places,” he said to the heart six, “declarer figures to lose a heart, two diamonds and a club.”
“Why doesn’t South lose those tricks anyway?” asked the heart six.
“Because the Old Master was playing it, dummy.”
“Well, you needn’t get nasty,” said the heart six and walked off in a huff.
“The lead was the diamond king,” shouted the heart eight after him. “The Old Master took it, cashed the spade ace, and played the heart jack next. What was East to do? If he did not take the heart queen, he would lose, so he took it and returned the diamond 10.
“West overtook, cashed another diamond, and played a fourth diamond. East discarded one card in each black suit, but it made no difference. The Old Master ruffed the fourth diamond, played the trump three to the dummy’s eight, and discarded the club six on the spade king. After a spade ruff, the missing trump was drawn and the Old Master had 10 tricks.”
ANSWER: Your first response denied holding a decent hand; your second action suggested a maximum of six HCP. If partner is still interested in game, you surely have enough to bid four spades. Just think how much worse your hand could be!
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K 10 7 2 |
| ♥ |
8 4 |
| ♦ |
8 5 4 2 |
| ♣ |
8 7 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♦ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
2♦ |
Pass |
| 2♠ |
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].
August 24th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Monday, August 10, 2009
| Dealer: North
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
7 6 4 |
| ♥ |
9 6 4 |
| ♦ |
A K 5 |
| ♣ |
10 7 5 3 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
A 9 5 3 |
♠ |
J 8 |
| ♥ |
8 5 3 |
♥ |
10 7 |
| ♦ |
J 8 7 |
♦ |
Q 10 4 3 2 |
| ♣ |
A K 4 |
♣ |
J 9 8 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
K Q 10 2 |
| ♥ |
A K Q J 2 |
| ♦ |
9 6 |
| ♣ |
Q 6 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
Pass |
Pass |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
1 NT |
Pass |
| 2♠ |
Pass |
4♥ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♣K
“Enemies’ gifts are no gifts and do no good.”
— Sophocles
Sitting West, you lead king, ace and a third club against four hearts. South ruffs the third round and plays a diamond to dummy, then a spade to the king and your ace. What next?
The answer is that it does not matter what you do next. You have already let the contract through! Say you switch to a diamond. Declarer wins in dummy, leads a spade to the jack and queen, then draws two rounds of trump and plays to trump the fourth spade in dummy. Since your partner is out of trumps, he can do nothing to stop this plan from succeeding. But you could have prevented it; the key to the deal is to duck the first spade.
Declarer’s general strength and distribution are clearly marked by the bidding and early play. Declarer must have the king-queen of spades, so winning the first spade cannot generate an extra trick for your side. The consequence of holding up the ace is that declarer now has the unpleasant choice of how many rounds of trump to draw before continuing the attack on spades. If none, you will win the spade ace on the second round and give partner a ruff with his heart 10. If South takes two rounds of trump, you will win the spade ace and play a third trump, leaving declarer with an eventual inevitable spade loser. By winning the spade ace, you gave declarer control over drawing trumps; by ducking it, you retained control yourself.
ANSWER: Against small slams, you should normally lead aggressively rather than passively, unless you think you have the contract set on passive defense. Here, a diamond lead may not work, but it is the huge favorite over a club lead (although I might lead a club if partner had had a chance to double a five-diamond response to Blackwood and had not done so).
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 7 2 |
| ♥ |
8 4 |
| ♦ |
K 8 6 4 3 |
| ♣ |
10 7 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♠ |
Pass |
2♥ |
| Pass |
3♥ |
Pass |
4 NT |
| Pass |
5♥ |
Pass |
6♥ |
| 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].
August 23rd, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, August 9, 2009
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
If one player describes his partner’s bid and it turns out that the player has something else, is there automatically a penalty, or an adjusted score?
— Out for Blood, Wilmington, N.C.
ANSWER: Imagine you jump to three clubs over one no-trump, explained as both majors. Let’s say you forgot, and just have clubs. If the call was properly explained, then you just got lucky — not yet a crime! — and it is unlikely the opponents will have their score adjusted. (I agree, equity may not be achieved this way.) But if your partner wrongly explained your bid and the opponents were damaged by that, it is likely an adjustment would be appropriate. In summary: You can psyche or forget your bid from time to time and you get to keep your result. But a wrong explanation will put you in jeopardy of a score adjustment.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
I was in fourth chair, holding ♠ 10 6-3, ♥ J-2, ♦ K-Q-7-5-3, ♣ Q-9-4. When my partner overcalled one spade over one heart, I raised to two spades. Now my partner bid two no-trump. What should I have done next?
— Stumped, Twin Falls, Idaho
ANSWER: Your hand is closer to a maximum than a minimum, so do not pass. With all your points outside spades, simply raise to three no-trump, though if feeling intellectual, bid three hearts to let partner choose which game he wants to play.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
When is it right to overcall with 5-4 or 4-5 in the majors, and when is it right to do something else?
— Major Nuisance, Corpus Christi, Texas
|
|
ANSWER: After the opponents open a minor at the one-level, you would normally bid a five-card spade suit with 5-4 in the majors, unless the spades looked like a four-card suit and the hearts were good. By contrast, you might elect to double with five hearts and four spades, unless you were strong enough to bid twice or the hearts were very good. And you might double a two-level minor-suit opening.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
My hand was ♠ Q-3, ♥ J-9-4-3-2, ♦ K-7-3, ♣ A-10-4 and I elected (rightly or wrongly) to overcall one heart over one club. My LHO raised to two clubs, my partner bid two diamonds, and the next hand bid three clubs. Should I pass, or should I raise to three diamonds despite my minimum?
— Poised for Action, Staten Island, N.Y.
ANSWER: Although you have a minimum, you have your honors in the right places. (Partner’s failure to raise hearts suggests he may be short there.) So raising to three diamonds looks like the right action — support with support.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
I dealt myself ♠ K-9, ♥ A-4-2, ♦ 10, ♣ A-K-J-10-8-7-4 and opened one club, jumping to three clubs over my partner’s one-spade response. My partner now bid three hearts. What are my options?
— New Directions, Casper, Wyo.
ANSWER: Three hearts is forcing to game, so your options are to bid three spades (for which you would like three trumps though it would be my choice), to raise hearts (which might show four), or to repeat your clubs. If you do bid clubs, then a jump to five should show a solid suit, so you would have to bid four clubs. |
If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, e-mail him at [email protected]. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2009.
August 22nd, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, August 8, 2009
| Dealer: South
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
K Q J 10 4 |
| ♥ |
A 6 4 2 |
| ♦ |
Q 6 |
| ♣ |
10 2 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
6 5 3 |
♠ |
A 7 2 |
| ♥ |
K Q 3 |
♥ |
9 8 5 |
| ♦ |
J 9 7 3 |
♦ |
K 10 5 |
| ♣ |
8 6 5 |
♣ |
K 9 7 3 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
9 8 |
| ♥ |
J 10 7 |
| ♦ |
A 8 4 2 |
| ♣ |
A Q J 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♣ |
Pass |
1♠ |
Pass |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
2♦* |
Pass |
| 2 NT |
Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| *New Minor, a forcing inquiry |
Opening Lead:♦3
“We’re not blind and we’re not fools. We’re just plain, sensible people who refuse to be fooled by a lot of supernatural nonsense.”
— Eric Taylor
In today’s deal (originally from “More Hocus-Pocus” by Julian Pottage and Erwin Brecher) I underestimated the subtlety of the spot cards. See whether you can do better.
In three no-trump on a diamond lead, declarer plays the queen from dummy and East covers with the king. I decided that declarer must win the diamond ace in case East switches to hearts. The defenders duck the spade nine, win the next spade, and cash some diamonds before switching to a heart. South wins the ace, cashes dummy’s spades, and leads the club 10, intending to take two finesses in the suit and succeeding whenever the king is with East. If West has the king, there is nothing to be done.
In fact, you need to look more closely at the club suit. If you take this line, you will have to find three discards on dummy’s spades. Two hearts are easy, but then which club do you discard from hand? If you throw a small club, you can take only one finesse since you end up in the wrong hand, while if you discard a higher one, you can never make more than two tricks in the suit. (This position is called a one-suit squeeze, by the way.)
That darned club 10 is a snare and a delusion. Without it, it would be clearer that you need to overtake the spade nine at trick two and take a club finesse at once. With the club 10 in dummy, the need to overtake the spade is much less obvious.
ANSWER: Your minimum rebid has limited your hand originally. Do you have enough to go on to game? Your honors are poorly located facing relatively short spades, and with weak trump spots and no side-suit shortage you really have no unexpected extras for partner. So pass three hearts.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K Q J 10 4 |
| ♥ |
A 6 4 2 |
| ♦ |
Q 6 |
| ♣ |
10 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♠ |
2♣ |
Dbl. |
Pass |
|
|
|
|
| 2♥ |
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].
August 21st, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Friday, August 7, 2009
| Dealer: East
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
Q 7 2 |
| ♥ |
A 9 7 3 2 |
| ♦ |
J 10 |
| ♣ |
A Q 3 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
8 5 4 3 |
♠ |
9 |
| ♥ |
J 5 4 |
♥ |
Q 8 |
| ♦ |
8 3 2 |
♦ |
K Q 9 6 5 4 |
| ♣ |
10 9 6 |
♣ |
J 7 5 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A K J 10 6 |
| ♥ |
K 10 6 |
| ♦ |
A 7 |
| ♣ |
K 8 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
2♦ |
| Dbl. |
Pass |
3♦ |
Pass |
| 3♠ |
Pass |
4♥ |
Pass |
| 5 NT* |
Pass |
6♠ |
All Pass |
Opening Lead:♦2
“As the power of endurance weakens with age, the urgency of the pursuit (in research) grows more intense…. And research is always incomplete.”
— Mark Pattison
One of the important early lessons we all learn is how to take a finesse, then in the advanced class we are told that we should avoid taking a finesse if we possibly can! Today’s six-spade contract seems to depend on a miracle in hearts, but declarer can do much better.
West leads the diamond two and East covers dummy’s 10 with his queen.
It will do declarer no good to draw trumps and play on hearts, unless East has a singleton heart honor or the doubleton queen-jack, as the defenders will have a diamond to cash when they get in. Declarer needs to throw East in while both the North and South hands have trumps left, hoping to force the defense to open up hearts for him.
So declarer carefully draws two rounds of trump with the jack and 10, leaving dummy’s queen in place, then cashes the three top clubs and exits with a diamond. East will have to win and either lead a heart or give a ruff and discard. Best is for East to exit with the heart queen, but if declarer plays for split honors in hearts, he will make his game no matter which heart East plays.
The name for declarer’s strategy in this deal is partial elimination — i.e., declarer was unable to draw all the trumps, so eliminated only part of them. It was West who was left with a potential exit card when East was thrown in.
ANSWER: Your partner’s jump-shift sets up an unequivocal game-force, so you do not need to show extra values yet. Best is to support diamonds, the most economical call (this is better trump support than three small cards) and wait to see why partner jumped. There will be time later on to head for slam.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q 7 2 |
| ♥ |
A 9 7 3 2 |
| ♦ |
J 10 |
| ♣ |
A Q 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♦ |
Pass |
|
|
|
|
| 1♥ |
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].
August 20th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, August 6, 2009
| Dealer: South
Vul: E/W |
North |
|
| ♠ |
9 7 4 |
| ♥ |
K 8 3 |
| ♦ |
A J 4 2 |
| ♣ |
Q 4 3 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
A Q 2 |
♠ |
K 8 6 5 |
| ♥ |
Q 7 4 2 |
♥ |
A 10 6 |
| ♦ |
9 8 5 |
♦ |
10 7 6 3 |
| ♣ |
9 7 5 |
♣ |
8 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
J 10 3 |
| ♥ |
J 9 5 |
| ♦ |
K Q |
| ♣ |
A K J 10 6 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♥2
“An act of God was defined as something which no reasonable man could have expected.”
— Sir Alan P. Herbert
For today’s defensive problem, sit West and look only at your hand and dummy’s. You are playing against competent opponents.
Against South’s three no-trump you lead the heart two. Declarer plays the king from dummy and your partner wins with the ace. He then returns the heart 10, covered by declarer’s jack and you win with the queen. What now?
The key to this problem lies in declarer’s play. What card would you usually play from dummy when you had king-third in dummy and a doubleton or tripleton heart jack in hand (with or without the heart nine)? Surely it would be normal to guarantee a trick in the suit by playing low from the dummy, wouldn’t it? So when declarer goes in with dummy’s king, it looks like a desperate attempt to gain the lead. He must have a pronounced weakness in another suit, and that can only be in spades. You should switch to the spade ace and, after an encouraging card from partner, continue with the queen.
One final thought: Was declarer right to play dummy’s king at trick one? It could have been right if you had underled the heart ace. But if he had played low, your partner might have put in the 10, or (on a different day) have won his queen and simply continued the suit. There would have been no reason for him to suspect the urgency of a spade switch. As it was, declarer’s strange play alerted you to the winning defense.
ANSWER: Horrible as it is to make a negative double without four hearts, your hand is simply too good to pass, and raising clubs on three does not feel right. By contrast, it would be clear-cut to raise clubs if the diamond two were in clubs. Just because partner MIGHT have three clubs does not mean he does!
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
9 7 4 |
| ♥ |
K 8 3 |
| ♦ |
A J 4 2 |
| ♣ |
Q 4 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♣ |
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].
August 19th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, August 5, 2009
| Dealer: West
Vul: N/S |
North |
|
| ♠ |
5 |
| ♥ |
A 10 4 |
| ♦ |
A K J 10 7 6 |
| ♣ |
J 7 2 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
Q J 9 7 6 3 |
♠ |
K 10 8 |
| ♥ |
9 |
♥ |
J 7 6 3 |
| ♦ |
5 4 3 |
♦ |
Q 9 2 |
| ♣ |
K 9 8 |
♣ |
10 5 4 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A 4 2 |
| ♥ |
K Q 8 5 2 |
| ♦ |
8 |
| ♣ |
A Q 6 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
2♠ |
Dbl. |
3♠ |
| 6♥ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♠Q
“As I look back upon my life, I see that every part of it was a preparation for the next.”
— Margaret Sanger
Pre-empting is a double-edged sword. It often warns declarer of bad breaks and lets him plan the play accordingly.
After the two-spade call, North might well have preferred to overcall in diamonds, but doubling allowed South to bid a heart slam, expecting to be facing known spade shortage and some heart length.
West led the spade queen, won by declarer with the ace. Declarer now cashed the heart king, observing West’s ominous heart nine, played a diamond to the ace, and ruffed a diamond. The simple line of play at this stage is to hope both red suits come in — cash the heart queen, cross to dummy with the heart ace, and run the diamonds.
However, declarer decided to play for bad breaks. So he continued with a heart to dummy’s ace, then cashed the diamond king, dropping the queen. Now East was likely to have a 3-4-3-3 pattern, so declarer took a losing club finesse.
West won the club king (had he ducked, declarer would have been able to survive by playing ace and another club). West did his best when he played a spade, ruffed in dummy. But declarer now simply played diamonds. If East ruffed in, declarer could overruff, draw trumps, and cross to dummy’s club jack to run the diamonds. East refused to ruff until the very end, so declarer discarded all his clubs before playing a club from the dummy at trick 12, thus ensuring tricks for both his queen and eight of hearts.
ANSWER: This hand is ideal for a call of two spades, suggesting this precise hand pattern and also showing better than a minimum hand. With the same pattern but no club queen, you might simply have raised one spade to two on the previous round.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A 4 2 |
| ♥ |
K Q 8 5 2 |
| ♦ |
8 |
| ♣ |
A Q 6 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
1♠ |
Pass |
|
|
|
|
| 2♣ |
Pass |
2♥ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
For details of Bobby Wolff’s autobiography, The Lone Wolff, contact [email protected]. If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, please leave a comment at this blog. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2009. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
August 18th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, August 4, 2009
| Dealer: South
Vul: None |
North |
|
| ♠ |
Q 9 7 5 4 3 |
| ♥ |
K 10 9 |
| ♦ |
Q |
| ♣ |
K Q 9 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
10 |
♠ |
A K J 6 |
| ♥ |
8 6 4 2 |
♥ |
5 3 |
| ♦ |
J 9 5 |
♦ |
K 10 6 3 2 |
| ♣ |
10 8 7 3 2 |
♣ |
J 5 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
8 2 |
| ♥ |
A Q J 7 |
| ♦ |
A 8 7 4 |
| ♣ |
A 6 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1 NT |
Pass |
4♥* |
Pass |
| 4♠ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| *Texas transfer to spades |
Opening Lead:♣3
“Kings and ministers are themselves always, and without any exception, the greatest spendthrifts in the society.”
— Adam Smith
This month I shall be running a selection of deals from my favorite new book of the year. To call it a new book is slightly misleading since Ron Klinger has brought out an updated version of Robert Darvas’s classic, “Right Through the Pack.” The deals are excellent, and Klinger writes with sympathy and humor.
Here is Klinger’s story of the spade eight, who laments “Players tend to take me for granted. Instead of appreciating the value I bring them, they think nothing of wasting my strength. Look what happened to me here. My declarer was playing in four spades and West led the club three, which went to the nine, jack, and ace. You won’t believe what my declarer did next.
“Yes, my asinine South played ME next. What was the point of that? I was covered by the spade 10, and the spade queen lost to the king. East eventually made four trump tricks for one down.
All my South had to do was play the spade two at trick two and cover the spade 10. The right time to play me was on the second round of trumps, letting East win with the spade jack. Next time, the spade nine can knock out East’s top spade, and my brother, the spade seven, will do for the spade six. So simple, how could anyone get it wrong?”
ANSWER: Your partner’s three-club call is consistent with a very good hand so a jump to four hearts by you would be premature. Temporize with three diamonds and see if partner has real slam-interest (when he will cue-bid) or if he was just looking for game, when he will bid three hearts or four hearts.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
8 2 |
| ♥ |
A Q J 7 |
| ♦ |
A 8 7 4 |
| ♣ |
A 6 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♥ |
1♠ |
|
|
|
|
| 2♠ |
Dbl. |
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].
August 17th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Monday, August 3, 2009
| Dealer: West
Vul: None |
North |
|
| ♠ |
Q J 10 7 4 |
| ♥ |
K Q 8 2 |
| ♦ |
Q 6 2 |
| ♣ |
J |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
A 5 3 |
♠ |
9 6 2 |
| ♥ |
6 3 |
♥ |
7 |
| ♦ |
J 5 |
♦ |
K 10 9 3 |
| ♣ |
A K 9 7 6 3 |
♣ |
Q 10 8 5 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
K 8 |
| ♥ |
A J 10 9 5 4 |
| ♦ |
A 8 7 4 |
| ♣ |
4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♣ |
1♠ |
3♣ |
| 3♥ |
Pass |
4♥ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♣K
“This was the most unkindest cut of all.”
— William Shakespeare
There are many reasons for not taking a trick immediately. Today’s deal demonstrates two ways that ducking may cut the defenders’ communications. First, let’s look at four hearts. Against that contract West led the club king, then switched to the diamond jack.
Declarer had to hope that West, who opened the bidding, had the spade ace and that ducking in diamonds would cut East-West’s communications. He could cover the diamond jack with dummy’s queen, and then duck if East played the king, but this would risk losing a diamond ruff if West had started with a singleton. It looked better for declarer to duck the diamond jack completely. He then won the diamond continuation, drew trumps, and knocked out the spade ace. West could win but was unable to put his partner in to cash the diamond king.
In the other room West elected to sacrifice in five clubs over four hearts. Since four hearts had been made in the other room, West rated to pick up a swing; but for it to be significant, declarer needed to escape for one down.
North led the heart king and switched to the spade queen. South played the king and declarer ducked. He won the spade continuation, drew trumps, and led the diamond jack and let it ride. When South won the ace, he had no spades left. So declarer could repeat the diamond finesse and establish a spade discard for himself for down one.
ANSWER: On this auction declarer rates to be trying to ruff spades in dummy and to be very short in hearts. Your best bet might be to lead trumps at once; leading a heart might cost an important tempo and there does not appear to be anywhere for declarer to discard his heart losers. I would lead the eight rather than a smaller trump.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q 2 |
| ♥ |
J 7 |
| ♦ |
8 7 4 |
| ♣ |
K 10 8 6 4 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♥ |
1♠ |
|
|
|
|
| Pass |
Pass |
2♥ |
3♦ |
| 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].
|
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