September 27th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, September 13, 2009 
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
With ♠ Q-4, ♥ A-Q-9-3, ♦ Q-3, ♣ K-Q-8-3-2, would you open one no-trump? Would vulnerability or position influence you?
— Fast and Loose, Richmond, Va.
ANSWER: A 15-count with this pattern and guarded honors in the doubletons can qualify for one no-trump, both for tactical reasons (to close out the opponents) and strategic ones (to protect the tenaces). Some might chicken out and open one club if vulnerable at pairs, planning to rebid one no-trump to show 12-14 points. But as my guru used to say, “Who gets to no-trump first wins the board.”
Dear Mr. Wolff:
I opened one heart and when my partner bid two no-trump, Jacoby, to show a forcing heart raise, I jumped to four hearts to show a minimum with no shortage. Over that, my partner bid five hearts. What does that bid mean?
— Raising the Bar, Sunbury, Pa.
ANSWER: Five hearts says, “I hear you have nothing extra, but I’m prepared to try slam if your trumps are better than expected.” Your partner’s trumps should be no better than 10-fourth for this auction; hence, he will have all the side-suits controlled plus a source of tricks.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
In third seat you hear partner open one spade and the next hand doubles. You hold ♠ A-8-4-3, ♥ 9-7, ♦ K-J-7-3, ♣ 10-6-4. Your methods only allow you to raise to two or three spades, the latter being pre-emptive, or to bid two no-trump as a limit raise. Which is the least lie?
— Augean Stables, Houston, Texas
|
|
ANSWER: I agree nothing fits, but a limit raise is not such an unreasonable bid, so go for two no-trump. May I make a suggestion? Use a jump in the OTHER major to be this hand — too good for a pre-empt but not enough for a limit raise, with four trumps.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
If your opponents lead third and fifth against you, what is the rule that you should substitute for the rule of 11?
— Algebra Class, St. Louis, Mo.
ANSWER: If your opponents lead a fourth-highest card against you, subtract that card from 11 to work out how many higher cards the other three players have among them. As defender or declarer you can see dummy and your own hand and can do the math. If you believe the lead is fifth highest, the number is 10; if third highest, the number is 12.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
With ♠ A-J-9-4, ♥ A-9-5-3, ♦ 3, ♣ A-Q-10-3, I opened one club in second seat. When my partner responded one diamond, I bid one heart. What does one spade from my partner mean now, and what should I do next?
— Fancy Footwork, Dayton, Ohio
ANSWER: There is not much agreement among the experts whether one spade guarantees length, or even invitational values or better. But since most of the time, with 6-9 points and spades, partner will simply bid one no-trump, it looks best to play one spade as either invitational values and four spades, or any game-force. Either way, you can describe this hand nicely by jumping to three spades to show your three-suiter and extra values. |
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 26th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, September 12, 2009
| Dealer: North
Vul: None |
North |
|
| ♠ |
K Q 10 8 5 |
| ♥ |
Q 8 5 3 |
| ♦ |
K J 6 |
| ♣ |
6 |
| West |
 |
East |
| ♠ |
J 9 2 |
♠ |
A 7 6 4 3 |
| ♥ |
K J 10 4 2 |
♥ |
9 7 |
| ♦ |
Q 4 |
♦ |
8 7 3 |
| ♣ |
Q 9 3 |
♣ |
A J 10 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
— |
| ♥ |
A 6 |
| ♦ |
A 10 9 5 2 |
| ♣ |
K 8 7 5 4 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♠ |
Pass |
| 2♦ |
Pass |
2♥ |
Pass |
| 3♣ |
Pass |
4♦ |
Pass |
| 5♦ |
All Pass |
|
|
Opening Lead:♦4
“How hard to make a man appear a fool, a blockhead, or a knave, without using any of those opprobrious terms!”
— John Dryden
Good players make fewer mistakes than bad ones, but sometimes playing against experts becomes easier because you know what they are supposed to have for the bidding and play thus far.
Sometimes these inferences about the opponents’ hands can be overdone — although in the deal that follows I do have sympathy for South, declaring five diamonds in the European Women’s Championships. Cover the East and West cards and decide how you might play that contract on the lead of the diamond four.
South’s auction had suggested significant length in both minors, and dummy was quite likely to put down its actual shape. Needing to be in dummy at trick two to play a club, and believing that East has the diamond queen, you carefully win dummy’s diamond king and play a club toward your hand. When East takes the club ace and switches to a heart, you rise with the ace, thoughtfully ruff a club high in dummy, and finesse in trumps. Then you draw the last trump and have 11 tricks whenever clubs are 3-3 and diamonds are not 4-1.
However, there is one other small snag, as you will see when you look at the defenders’ hands. Do you like Madeleine Swanstrom’s initial trump lead in this deal from Sweden-Italy in the 1989 European Championships? Try to beat the contract on any other defense! As it was, South almost fell off her chair when West produced the diamond queen — always a satisfying moment for any defender.
ANSWER: You may not like your prospects on defense, but your partner knows approximately what you have and has suggested defending. Since your side clearly has no fit in the majors, you would probably be best advised to pass rather than make matters worse by looking for a better place to play, when there clearly is none.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K Q 10 8 5 |
| ♥ |
Q 8 5 3 |
| ♦ |
K J 6 |
| ♣ |
6 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♣ |
Pass |
1♥ |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
1NT |
2♣ |
| Pass |
Pass |
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 25th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Friday, September 11, 2009
| Dealer: West
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
10 7 6 4 |
| ♥ |
A J 5 |
| ♦ |
A 7 4 |
| ♣ |
Q 10 5 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
K |
♠ |
Q 9 3 |
| ♥ |
10 9 7 3 |
♥ |
Q 8 4 2 |
| ♦ |
J 8 |
♦ |
Q 9 6 3 |
| ♣ |
A K J 8 7 3 |
♣ |
9 4 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A J 8 5 2 |
| ♥ |
K 6 |
| ♦ |
K 10 5 2 |
| ♣ |
6 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
2♣ |
Pass |
Pass |
| 2♠ |
Pass |
3♣ |
Pass |
| 3♦ |
Pass |
4♠ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♣K
“Life is short, the art long, opportunity fleeting, experiment treacherous, judgment difficult.”
— Hippocrates
Singleton trump honors can be a mixed blessing. If a defender holds the singleton trump ace, it is often clear that it should be unblocked as soon as possible, but such a play is harder when the singleton honor is the king or queen.
After his opening bid to show six clubs and fewer than 16 points, West led a top club, played a second top club, then a third club. On this trick East thought for a while, then ruffed with the nine and was overruffed. Declarer now cashed the two top hearts, ruffed a heart, took the king and ace of diamonds,s and led a low spade. When East followed low, declarer decided that East’s pause at trick three indicated he had started life with a top spade honor; therefore, whichever honor West had was singleton. So he played low, and West had to win and was endplayed. Whatever he led gave declarer a ruff and discard, and dummy’s last diamond disappeared.
West missed his chance to beat the game, though in practice few would have found the defense. He could have shifted to the spade king, leaving declarer with no chance as the cards lay. While it is true that unblocking the spade king would have worked well on this layout, West might have looked rather foolish if declarer had held better spades and weaker diamonds. However, perhaps a heart switch at trick two might have given West a chance to find the winning defense later on.
ANSWER: In this auction the call of two hearts is the fourth suit, asking you to describe your hand. You can show support for partner, or promise extra length in your own suits, or bid no-trump with hearts guarded. A single guard in hearts is more than sufficient here, so bid two no-trump. Do not jump to three no-trump, which should show extras, not a minimum.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A J 8 5 2 |
| ♥ |
K 6 |
| ♦ |
K 10 5 2 |
| ♣ |
6 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
2♣ |
Pass |
| 2♦ |
Pass |
2♥ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
For details of Bobby Wolff’s autobiography, The Lone Wolff, contact [email protected]. If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, please leave a comment at this blog. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2009. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
September 24th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, September 10, 2009
| Dealer: North
Vul: None |
North |
|
| ♠ |
8 5 4 2 |
| ♥ |
10 9 5 |
| ♦ |
10 9 |
| ♣ |
A K J 5 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
K 10 |
♠ |
Q |
| ♥ |
Q J 8 6 2 |
♥ |
A K 7 4 3 |
| ♦ |
A J 4 3 |
♦ |
Q 6 5 2 |
| ♣ |
9 7 |
♣ |
Q 6 4 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A J 9 7 6 3 |
| ♥ |
— |
| ♦ |
K 8 7 |
| ♣ |
10 8 3 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
Pass |
1♥ |
| 1♠ |
2♠ |
3♣ |
3♥ |
| 4♣ |
4♥ |
4♠ |
Pass |
| Pass |
Dbl. |
All Pass |
|
Opening Lead:♥Q
“We are bare. We are stripped to the bone and we swim in tandem and go up and up the river.”
— Anne Sexton
Today’s deal shows a useful if rather underutilized concept of modern bidding: any time that you pass initially or fail to bid a suit at a cheap level as an overcaller, then when partner acts, a subsequent re-entry by you into the auction will normally be based on fit for partner and be lead-directing. So North’s three-club bid showed good clubs and a spade fit, enabling North-South to find what they hoped would be a cheap sacrifice over four hearts.
Did I say cheap? South ruffed the heart lead, cashed the spade ace, then visited dummy with the club ace to ruff a second heart. A club to the king saw a third heart ruff; a spade came next.
In with the king, West was endplayed, forced either to lead a diamond or to give declarer a ruff and discard. All South lost was a trick each in spades, clubs and diamonds.
Notice that if declarer takes a club finesse at any point in the hand or fails to strip off the hearts before throwing West in with his trump trick, then the defense can prevail. Even given declarer’s accurate play, could the defense have done any better against four spades? Yes, though it is hard to blame West for his lead. But an initial black-suit lead would have left declarer one dummy entry short for his endplay, since he could not arrange to strip off the hearts before putting an opponent on play.
ANSWER: Your partner’s redouble as a passed hand shows a maximum pass, but not necessarily a heart fit. You have extra shape, but an unremarkable hand in high cards. Still, there is no reason to be ashamed of your hand; simply bid two diamonds, making the reasonable assumption that partner can probably fit one red suit or the other.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K 10 |
| ♥ |
Q J 8 6 2 |
| ♦ |
A J 4 3 |
| ♣ |
9 7 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
Pass |
1♣ |
| 1♥ |
Dbl. |
Rbl. |
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].
September 23rd, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, September 9, 2009
| Dealer: West
Vul: N/S |
North |
|
| ♠ |
K Q 4 |
| ♥ |
9 8 4 |
| ♦ |
A 9 5 4 |
| ♣ |
K 9 6 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
A 9 6 |
♠ |
8 5 |
| ♥ |
7 5 |
♥ |
A Q J 10 2 |
| ♦ |
Q 8 6 2 |
♦ |
J 7 |
| ♣ |
Q J 8 3 |
♣ |
10 7 5 4 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
J 10 7 3 2 |
| ♥ |
K 6 3 |
| ♦ |
K 10 3 |
| ♣ |
A 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
Pass |
1♦ |
1♥ |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
2♠ |
Pass |
| 4♠ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♥7
“The high that proved too high, the heroic for earth too hard.”
— Robert Browning
Sitting East, plan the defense to four spades on partner’s lead of the heart seven. When you have made up your mind, look at the full deal to see why playing the heart ace at trick one is a bad idea.
It might be hard to explain to partner why you violated the rule of third hand high if your partner has led a singleton or if declarer has a bare king. Equally, if declarer has the doubleton king, you will score one trick sooner or later, whatever you do. However, if declarer has three cards in the suit, you need to put in the 10 now; if you take the ace and return the suit, you have lost your entry to cash the third round.
Declarer will take the second heart and drive out the trump ace, then can lead a diamond to his 10 to establish a diamond discard for his heart loser. However, if you put in the heart 10 at the first trick, declarer is immediately dead in the water.
Admittedly there are two positions where playing the ace wins, and only one where playing the 10 does, but that does not take into account the significance of partner’s spot-card lead. If the seven is only consistent with a doubleton or singleton, the odds change dramatically in favor of playing the 10 at trick one.
(Incidentally, this sort of deal is further justification for leading low and not MUD from three small in partner’s suit, unless you have supported him.)
ANSWER: Some people would argue that with an opening bid you should always get into the auction. Indeed, facing an unpassed partner, I can see the merits of doubling here. But with so many of your values in spades and with partner having passed, it might be too risky to act. Your side might miss a partscore, but surely never a game.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K Q 4 |
| ♥ |
9 8 4 |
| ♦ |
A 9 5 4 |
| ♣ |
K 9 6 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
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].
September 22nd, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, September 8, 2009
| Dealer: South
Vul: E/W |
North |
|
| ♠ |
K 7 5 |
| ♥ |
J 9 2 |
| ♦ |
J 9 7 3 2 |
| ♣ |
Q 5 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
A J 6 4 2 |
♠ |
10 8 3 |
| ♥ |
6 4 |
♥ |
8 7 3 |
| ♦ |
10 |
♦ |
K Q 8 |
| ♣ |
K 10 8 6 3 |
♣ |
J 9 4 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
Q 9 |
| ♥ |
A K Q 10 5 |
| ♦ |
A 6 5 4 |
| ♣ |
A 7 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♥ |
1♠ |
2♥ |
Pass |
| 4♥ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♦10
“Metaphysics is the finding of bad reasons for what we believe upon instinct, but to find these reasons is no less an instinct.”
— F.H. Bradley
Sometimes the knee-jerk reaction to cover the card led can be a mistake. Take this deal, for example, a combination of tempo and avoidance issues.
South played in four hearts after West had overcalled in spades. When West tabled his singleton diamond 10, apparently marking East with the top diamonds and West with the club king, South reached automatically for dummy’s jack. Everybody covered, and South wasted no time in drawing trumps. Then he played a second diamond to East. All would have been well for declarer had East made the knee-jerk shift to a spade now, but East accurately switched to a club. West was sure to score his club king and spade ace, and that added up to a one-trick set.
Do you see the point of the deal? If South plays low from dummy and his own hand at trick one, West remains on lead. Now South will have no difficulty in setting up dummy’s fifth diamond as a discard for his losing club, while keeping East off lead until it is too late for the club shift to hurt.
The other attraction in ducking the diamond 10 is that you get to find out at once if diamonds are 2-2 or 3-1. If East produces the eight, you know diamonds are 3-1; if he overtakes the 10, diamonds must be 2-2. On a different deal, that particular piece of knowledge might impact declarer’s strategy (for example, deciding whether to take a safety-play or not).
ANSWER: Your partner’s double shows extras, short hearts, and suggests four diamonds along with good clubs. It would be simple to bid only three clubs or three diamonds, but I would take a slight gamble and bid four diamonds. After all, if you are facing a singleton heart, you might easily get your slow spade losers away on partner’s clubs and just lose the major-suit aces.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K 7 5 |
| ♥ |
J 9 2 |
| ♦ |
J 9 7 3 2 |
| ♣ |
Q 5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♠ |
2♣ |
Pass |
| Pass |
2♥ |
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 21st, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Monday, September 7, 2009
| Dealer: South
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
J 10 4 2 |
| ♥ |
10 5 4 |
| ♦ |
A 10 9 6 |
| ♣ |
8 5 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
Q 9 7 5 3 |
♠ |
8 6 |
| ♥ |
K 3 2 |
♥ |
A J 9 6 |
| ♦ |
Q 7 4 3 |
♦ |
J 5 2 |
| ♣ |
9 |
♣ |
Q 10 6 3 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A K |
| ♥ |
Q 8 7 |
| ♦ |
K 8 |
| ♣ |
A K J 7 4 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 2♣
|
Pass |
2♦ |
Pass |
| 3♣*
|
Pass |
3♦* |
Pass |
| 3 NT |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♠5
“An umbrella is of no avail against a Scotch mist.”
— James Lowell
Today’s deal, from the Senior Teams at the 2006 World Championships, featured a textbook defense by two English players, Ian Panto and Irving Gordon. Gordon, irreverently known throughout the bridge world as “Haggis” because of his Scots origins, was the winner of the 1998 World Senior Pairs in partnership with Boris Schapiro, who was then 90 years old.
Against three no-trump West led his fourth-highest spade to the two, eight and ace. South immediately set about clubs, the ace fetching the nine from West. The diamond eight to the ace for a finesse of the club jack brought good news — the jack held — but also bad news, that there would eventually be a club loser.
Declarer cashed the club king, then led a fourth round of the suit to Panto’s 10, who now found the only defense to set the hand when he wisely returned the heart jack. This is known as a surrounding play, and it forced South to cover with the queen, captured by West’s king. The heart return through dummy’s 10 gave the defenders the four heart tricks they needed to set the contract, whatever declarer did.
Note that East’s shift to the jack is the only card to prevent declarer from making a heart trick, “surrounding” dummy’s 10. If East plays a low heart, declarer might guess to duck and thus build a heart trick for himself. (Of course, if East had the ace-king, he might do best to underlead them, but would an untrusting declarer now guess to rise with the queen?)
ANSWER: It feels right to lead a spade rather than a heart, in the hope that partner can win and lead hearts through declarer. My choice would be to lead the nine, which may temporarily mislead partner into thinking I have only two, but will not mislead him about the honor location.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
9 6 3 |
| ♥ |
K J 5 3 2 |
| ♦ |
Q 7 3 |
| ♣ |
A 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
1♣ |
| 1♥ |
Dbl. |
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].
September 20th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, September 6, 2009
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
We play a direct cue-bid over the opponent’s opening bid as Michaels (both majors if the opening was a minor, the other major and an unspecified minor over a major opening). If you are in fourth chair and hear the opponents bid one suit and respond in another suit at the one-level, then how should the cue-bid be played — two-suiter, or something else?
— Sandwich Spread, Hartford, Conn.
ANSWER: I recommend that fourth hand’s bid of either his LHO’s or RHO’s suit be treated as natural. Since you have double and two no-trump for the unbid suits, you do not need a third such call. Thus suit-bids and one no-trump all remain natural, showing good hands.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
I bid one diamond over one club, holding ♠ A-J-3, ♥ K-Q, ♦ A-Q-7-3-2, ♣ 10-3-2. Could I have bid one no-trump instead? In any event, having bid one diamond, I now heard my partner respond one heart. What is the best way forward now, and does it depend on whether the one-heart response was forcing?
— Making Haste, Phoenix, Ariz.
ANSWER: This is a complex hand, no matter what your agreements are. Either the diamond or no-trump overcall is fine by me. (You do not need a club stop to overcall an opening of one club if the rest of your shape is suitable.) I’d cue-bid two clubs at my second turn, hoping to reach game in diamonds, hearts or no-trump, depending on my partner’s next action.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Do you enjoy having your column on the internet? Is it more work for you? And does the column change when you post it online?
— Solicitous, Troy, N.Y.
|
|
ANSWER: Thank you for giving me the opportunity to mention again that my column now appears (almost) live on the internet. You can read it at http://aces.bridgeblogging.com/. Yes there is some extra work, mainly finding any errors that crept past me the first time I reviewed the column. But it is certainly worth it to widen the column’s readership and get responses from all over the world. And my wife, Judy, lightens the load too.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
If faced with the choice of a blind lead against either one no-trump or three no-trump, how do you feel about leading a major as opposed to a minor?
— Major League, Boise, Idaho
ANSWER: When deciding on your lead, look at your suit quality first, then at whether it is a major or a minor. I’d lead from Q-10-x-x rather than A-9-x-x, no matter which was the major and which the minor. In case of a tie, pick the major.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
With ♠ —, ♥ A-Q-9-7-6-3-2, ♦ Q-9-7-6-5-3, ♣ —, I responded one heart to my partner’s one-club opening bid. Now LHO joined in with one spade. My partner bid one no-trump, and after RHO’s raise to two spades, I saw no future anywhere but four hearts. My partner had four small clubs and enough red-suit cards to have a play for six hearts. Should I have been more optimistic?
— Falling Short, Jackson, Tenn.
ANSWER: Any time a freak hand comes up (and 0-7-6-0 certainly qualifies), do NOT worry about any normal action you took that could be improved on double dummy. If you plan to wait to see this hand again, don’t hold your breath. You did sensibly enough here — and if I could bid all my balanced hands sensibly, I’d pay off to misguessing the freaks. |
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 19th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, September 5, 2009
| Dealer: West
Vul: E/W |
North |
|
| ♠ |
Q 9 6 5 |
| ♥ |
8 7 2 |
| ♦ |
A K J |
| ♣ |
K 5 3 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
A 3 |
♠ |
4 2 |
| ♥ |
Q J 10 5 |
♥ |
K 4 3 |
| ♦ |
10 9 4 |
♦ |
8 7 5 3 2 |
| ♣ |
A J 9 7 |
♣ |
8 4 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
K J 10 8 7 |
| ♥ |
A 9 6 |
| ♦ |
Q 6 |
| ♣ |
Q 10 6 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♣ |
Pass |
Pass |
| 1♠ |
Pass |
2♣ |
Pass |
| 2♠ |
Pass |
3♠ |
Pass |
| 4♠ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♥Q
“A newspaper is a device for making the ignorant more ignorant and the crazy crazier.”
— H.L. Mencken
A “newspaper hand” is a slang term for a bridge play that is flashy or against the odds. Do you think today’s deal falls under that heading, or is it simply the percentage action?
Against four spades West leads the heart queen, placing East with the heart king, unless West is playing a very deep game. Accordingly, West must hold the balance of high cards for his opening bid to be legitimate.
As you don’t want East to gain the lead and play a club through, take your heart ace only if East covers his partner’s queen. Otherwise, play low at trick one.
Suppose East plays low. You duck, win the heart ace, and take the three top diamonds to shed your heart loser from hand. You now ruff a heart and play on trumps, leading the 10 to persuade West to duck. Assume West finds the best defense of winning the spade ace and returning a second spade. You win, draw any outstanding trumps, and now reach the critical moment.
To succeed in this contract, you must lead the club queen from your hand, an unnatural play based on the idea that West must have both of the missing high clubs.
If West ducks, you make two club tricks rather more easily than expected. If West takes the queen with his ace, he then has the choice of leading away from the club jack around to your 10, or conceding a ruff and sluff. Either way, you score 10 tricks.
ANSWER: It is hard to imagine any game but three no-trump being right, and it would be only marginally presumptuous to jump to that contract at once. But it costs very little to start by cue-bidding two clubs. You might find a spade fit, or it might become apparent that your side has a real weakness in hearts.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q 9 6 5 |
| ♥ |
8 7 2 |
| ♦ |
A K J |
| ♣ |
K 5 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♣ |
1♦ |
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 18th, 2009 ~ admin ~ 3 Comments
| Dealer: East
Vul: N/S |
North |
|
| ♠ |
A Q 7 |
| ♥ |
Q 7 6 4 2 |
| ♦ |
A Q 8 4 |
| ♣ |
10 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
K 8 2 |
♠ |
10 6 4 |
| ♥ |
K J 10 8 |
♥ |
— |
| ♦ |
K 9 7 6 |
♦ |
J 10 5 |
| ♣ |
A 7 |
♣ |
K Q J 8 5 3 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
J 9 5 3 |
| ♥ |
A 9 5 3 |
| ♦ |
3 2 |
| ♣ |
9 6 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
3♣ |
| Pass |
Pass |
Dbl. |
Pass |
| 3♠ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♣A
“Accidents will occur in the best-regulated families.”
— Charles Dickens
In today’s deal South responded three spades to his partner’s double, thinking that if he was forced to bid again, it would be more economical to have bid the higher suit first. However, it is surely better to bid hearts first, as partner might now conveniently introduce a spade suit, whereas it would be much harder to introduce hearts over three spades.
Against three spades West led the club ace, on which East dropped the king as suit-preference. West obediently switched to the heart jack, ruffed by East, who continued with the club queen.
South ruffed in dummy and played the ace and queen of spades. West won the king and played a diamond won by dummy’s queen. Now a heart to the ace was the entry to draw West’s last trump. Another heart was played, South eventually disposing of his losing club on dummy’s long heart. So three spades came home.
After the top club lead and heart shift, there are two implausible ways to set the hand: East can refuse to ruff the heart jack, or equally curiously, West can duck the spade queen.
In the other room South played in three hearts and received the lead of ace and another club. He ruffed, played the heart ace, and now instead of taking the diamond finesse, led another heart. West ducked, locking the lead in dummy. West could win his spade king to draw trumps, then collect a minor-suit winner at the end for down one.
ANSWER: You can simply raise to two spades, suggesting three or four spades and a minimum hand. Alternatively, bid two diamonds, planning to convert a preference to two hearts to two spades. That shows this pattern but guarantees a nonminimum opening bid. You could sell me on that action with as little extra as the heart jack, but as it is, I prefer the simpler choice of raising spades directly.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
A Q 7 |
| ♥ |
Q 7 6 4 2 |
| ♦ |
A Q 8 4 |
| ♣ |
10 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
1♠ |
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].
|
Subscribe to our feed
Bridge-related