The Aces on Bridge: Monday, August 24, 2009

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!

LEAD WITH THE ACES

South Holds:

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].

The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, August 23, 2009

September 6th, 2009  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, August 23, 2009 

If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, e-mail him at [email protected]. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2009.

The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, August 22, 2009

September 5th, 2009  ~  admin  ~  1 Comment 

Dealer: South Vul: All		North
		♠	9 3 2
		♥	A K Q
		♦	Q 8 7 6
		♣	A K Q
West				East
♠	6			♠	K 7 5 4
♥	J 9 8 7 5 2			♥	—
♦	K 10 5 4 3			♦	J 9 2
♣	7			♣	J 10 9 4 3 2
		South
		♠	A Q J 10 8
		♥	10 6 4 3
		♦	A
		♣	8 6 5

 

South	West	North	East
1♠	Pass	2♣	Pass
2♥	Pass	2 NT	Pass
3♣	Pass	5 NT*	Pass
6♠	All Pass

*Offering a choice of slams

Opening Lead:♥7

“Defeat doesn’t finish a man — quit does. A man is not finished when he’s defeated. He’s finished when he quits.”

— Richard M. Nixon

Against six spades, West hit on the lead of his fourth-highest heart. He was both pleased and surprised to find his partner ruffing the trick and returning a club.

Declarer won in dummy and advanced the spade nine, letting it run, and repeating the finesse when it held.

When trumps turned out to be 4-1, South knew he could not ruff his heart loser on the board. So he drew the last trump and tried to build up a picture of the hand by cashing the diamond ace, going back to dummy in clubs to ruff a diamond, then cashing a second top heart and a second top club. When West was shown to have only one club and one spade, the whole position was known. Since he had started life with six hearts, he must have five diamonds.

Declarer had reduced to a four-card ending after three trumps and two tricks in each of the other suits. Dummy had a top club, a top heart and the doubleton diamond queen. Declarer had a club, a trump and two hearts. (East’s hand was irrelevant, having one diamond and three losing clubs.)

When the club ace was cashed, West had to bare his diamond king (in which case declarer would ruff a diamond and dummy would be high) or pitch a heart. In that case declarer would take dummy’s heart, ruff a diamond to hand, then cash his long heart at trick 13.

BID WITH THE ACES

South Holds:

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].

The Aces on Bridge: Friday, August 21, 2009

September 4th, 2009  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Friday, August 21, 2009 

Dealer: South Vul: N/S		North
		♠	9
		♥	Q 6
		♦	J 9 5 4 2
		♣	A K J 7 3
West				East
♠	J 6 5 4			♠	K 10 3 2
♥	9 7 5 2			♥	J 10
♦	K 10 7 3			♦	Q 8
♣	8			♣	10 9 5 4 2
		South
		♠	A Q 8 7
		♥	A K 8 4 3
		♦	A 6
		♣	Q 6

 

South	West	North	East
1♥	Pass	2♦	Pass
2♠	Pass	3♣	Pass
3♦	Pass	3♥	Pass
4 NT	Pass	5♦	Pass
6 NT	All Pass

Opening Lead:♣8

“The cutting of heads is become so much a la mode, that one is apt to feel of a morning whether their own is on their shoulders.”

— Thomas Jefferson

Today’s deal cropped up at the Senior Pairs at the 2006 World Championships.

At one table North and South showed their red suits in the auction shown, and South became declarer in six no-trump. When West led the club eight, declarer could see that if hearts broke 3-3 and clubs were no worse than 4-2, there would be 12 tricks, with the spade finesse for the overtrick.

On winning the club lead with the queen, declarer cashed the top three hearts, then played a fourth to West, establishing the fifth heart. Back came the diamond three to the nine, queen and ace. South cashed the last heart, and to keep the clubs intact, East was forced down to the king-doubleton spade.

When declarer continued by running dummy’s clubs, West had to retain the diamond king and thus came down to to two spades. This meant that when declarer successfully finessed the spade queen, then cashed the ace (her last spade), the eight, was her 12th trick.

At another table, defending against the same contract, Paul Hackett had the West cards. The play also replicated that of the other table for the first five tricks. In with the heart nine, Hackett returned a spade instead of a diamond, and South ended one down.

The logic of the spade switch is that declarer can take the spade finesse for himself if necessary. But Hackett’s switch to a spade might (and indeed did) cut communications for a squeeze.

BID WITH THE ACES

South Holds:

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].

The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, August 20, 2009

September 3rd, 2009  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, August 20, 2009 

Dealer: East Vul: All		North
		♠	Q J 5 2
		♥	A
		♦	Q J 10 7
		♣	A K 4 3
West				East
♠	A 3			♠	6 4
♥	J 10 9 8 2			♥	7 6 5 4 3
♦	A K 9 8			♦	4 3 2
♣	J 6			♣	Q 5 2
		South
		♠	K 10 9 8 7
		♥	K Q
		♦	6 5
		♣	10 9 8 7

 

South	West	North	East
			Pass
Pass	1♥	Dbl.	Pass
2♠	Pass	4♠	All Pass

Opening Lead:♦K

“Had it been his sister,

No one would have missed her.”

— Anon.

At the Dyspeptics Club neither North nor South did anything outrageous to reach four spades. But the unfortunate duplication in the heart suit meant that the defenders appeared to have the upper hand.

At trick two West could think of nothing better to do than try to set up a club winner for his side after East had followed with a small diamond at trick one. So he switched to a low club, and declarer won in dummy and played a trump. Since West had no way to reach his partner’s club winner, declarer could draw trumps and set up North’s diamond winners to discard his clubs.

At the end of the deal East inquired whether West was expecting to use a secret passage to reach their club winner. Neither defender noticed that there was a way to set the game. Can you see it?

The bidding should have made it clear to West that he could not hope for more than the club queen from East. After cashing his second high diamond (there was also a chance that East had a singleton diamond), West must try to prevent declarer from getting two discards on dummy’s high diamonds. He should lead a third diamond at trick three, win the first round of spades, and lead a fourth diamond so East could trump. The only hope is that South started with four clubs and that one discard would do him no good. As the cards lie, this would set the game.

BID WITH THE ACES

South Holds:

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].

The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, August 19, 2009

September 2nd, 2009  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, August 19, 2009 

Dealer: North Vul: All		North
		♠	A K Q 5
		♥	A K Q 10 4
		♦	10
		♣	Q 7 6
West				East
♠	J 6			♠	10 3 2
♥	8 5 3			♥	9 7 6 2
♦	K 6 4 2			♦	A 9 8 7 3
♣	K 8 4 2			♣	9
		South
		♠	9 8 7 4
		♥	J
		♦	Q J 5
		♣	A J 10 5 3

 

South	West	North	East
		1♣*	Pass
2♣	Pass	2♥	Pass
2♠	Pass	3♠	Pass
4♠	Pass	4 NT	Pass
5♦	Pass	6♠	All Pass

*16-plus, any hand

Opening Lead: Over to you!

“Was it a vision, or a waking dream?

Fled is that music: Do I wake or sleep?”

— John Keats

You might think that best defense to a slam is difficult enough to envisage even with the dummy on view. But there are players who can work out the full story before seeing dummy. Today’s deal arose in the qualifying stages of the 1982 Rosenblum Teams, in a contest between India and Pakistan.

Zia Mahmood, West, thought it likely that North-South were missing an ace and it was most likely to be the diamond ace. Accordingly, a diamond lead looked called for. He further deduced that North must have a singleton diamond; otherwise, he would not have used Blackwood. If North had a singleton diamond, there was a lot to be said for leading the king. This would leave West on play at trick two to find the killing continuation through dummy’s strength. So Zia led the diamond king, the only lead to beat the slam.

As you can see, if West leads anything but a diamond, declarer simply draws trumps, discards his diamonds on dummy’s hearts, and concedes a club to West. On the other hand, if West leads a low diamond to East’s ace, declarer should win the club return with the ace and run the diamond queen, taking the ruffing finesse for his 12th trick. All declarer’s clubs go on dummy’s hearts. But as the play went, after leading the diamond king, Zia simply exited passively, and declarer had to concede a club trick at the end.

BID WITH THE ACES

South Holds:

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].

The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, August 18, 2009

September 1st, 2009  ~  admin  ~  1 Comment 

Dealer: West Vul: None		North
		♠	A K 5 4
		♥	A Q 7
		♦	A 8
		♣	8 7 5 2
West				East
♠	2			♠	10 9 7
♥	K 8 4 2			♥	J 10 6
♦	K Q 10 9 5 3			♦	J 7 4
♣	K 9			♣	Q 10 6 3
		South
		♠	Q J 8 6 3
		♥	9 5 3
		♦	6 2
		♣	A J 4

 

South	West	North	East
	1♦	Dbl.	Pass
2♠	Pass	4♠	All Pass

Opening Lead:♦K

“To the question ‘What shall we do to be saved in this world?’ there is no other answer but this: ‘Look to your moat’.”

— George Savile

In this week’s deal from Ron Klinger’s new and most entertaining book, “Right Through the Pack Again,” which gives the playing cards distinct personalities as well as a voice, three no-trump would have been easier to make than four spades. West began with the diamond king, ducked in dummy. East played the diamond four, showing an odd number. The Old Master (the real hero of the book) won the second diamond, drew trumps with the spade ace and king, then led the spade four to his queen.

At this point, the narrator of the deal, the spade three, points out that South was careful to preserve this card in his hand, while he followed with the spade six and eight. Meanwhile, West discarded two diamonds.

When a heart to the queen held, the Old Master cashed the heart ace, then exited with dummy’s heart seven. West allowed East’s jack to hold. When East switched to the club three, the Old Master rose with the club ace. Seeing the endplay looming, West ditched the club king, but that did not help. The Old Master led the carefully preserved spade three to dummy’s five and played the next club from dummy. East could take the club queen, but the club jack was the 10th trick for declarer.

The club king now points out that if the spade three had not been preserved, he might just as easily have been the hero of the story — and right he is.

BID WITH THE ACES

South Holds:

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].

The Aces on Bridge: Monday, August 17, 2009

August 31st, 2009  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Monday, August 17, 2009 

Dealer: South Vul: All		North
		♠	Q 10 6 3
		♥	5
		♦	A K Q 10 9 5
		♣	10 4
West				East
♠	8 5 4			♠	J 7 2
♥	K Q J 9 6			♥	7 4 2
♦	3			♦	J 8 7 2
♣	Q 9 8 6			♣	A 7 2
		South
		♠	A K 9
		♥	A 10 8 3
		♦	6 4
		♣	K J 5 3

 

South	West	North	East
1 NT	Pass	2♣	Pass
2♥	Pass	3 NT	All Pass

Opening Lead:♥K

“Nothing’s better than more, more, more

Nothing’s better than more.”

— Stephen Sondheim

The two main forms of duplicate-bridge scoring are matchpoints (generally used in pair events) and IMPs (generally used in team events). At matchpoints, overtricks are important. At IMPs, like rubber bridge, making — or setting — the contract is vital.

That said, cover up the East-West cards and plan your play at the two different forms of scoring when West leads the heart king against three no-trump. It is clear to duck the opening lead, for at most you have 11 tricks. At trick two, West predictably continues with the heart queen. What now?

At matchpoints the chances of making 11 tricks are too great for it to be sensible to duck again. So you win the heart ace and test the diamonds, but when they do not break, you have to go one down. This is because East can win his club ace and lead a heart to his partner.

At IMP scoring, you should duck the second heart, discarding a diamond from the dummy. Now West’s best defense is to switch to a diamond (continuing hearts allows you to set up diamonds without letting West on lead). You win the ace and then play the club 10 from the dummy. You can later play another club to establish at least one club trick to bring your total up to eight. At this point you would you need either spades to break or a squeeze. Alternatively, East may rise with the club ace to play a third round of hearts, but either way all roads lead to nine tricks.

LEAD WITH THE ACES

South Holds:

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].

The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, August 16, 2009

August 30th, 2009  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, August 16, 2009 

If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, e-mail him at [email protected]. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2009.

The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, August 15, 2009

August 29th, 2009  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, August 15, 2009 

Dealer: South Vul: None		North
		♠	Q 8 3
		♥	7 6 5 4 2
		♦	K 6
		♣	A Q 8
West				East
♠	K J 7 2			♠	10 5
♥	A J			♥	Q 10 9 3
♦	8 4 2			♦	J 9 7 5 3
♣	J 6 4 2			♣	10 9
		South
		♠	A 9 6 4
		♥	K 8
		♦	A Q 10
		♣	K 7 5 3

 

South	West	North	East
1 NT	Pass	2♣	Pass
2♠	Pass	3 NT	All Pass

Opening Lead:♦8

“You don’t make a poem with ideas, but with words.”

— Stephane Mallarme

Sometimes it seems as if experts use magic to locate the missing cards, but there are often clear clues in the early play.

Incidentally, you may care to note North’s decision, with his poor hearts and strong side suits, to use Stayman rather than transfer, and only play in hearts if there was a 5-4 fit. All routes led South to three no-trump today, though.

West did well with his opening lead, choosing a passive diamond. Declarer won in hand and played a spade to dummy’s queen. When that held, he played a spade back to his ace and a third spade, knowing that West would have to win any spade trick and could not attack hearts.

West won his spade jack, cashed his spade winner (East pitching a heart, then a diamond), and continued with another diamond. Declarer won in hand and paused to consider. If clubs broke 3-3, there was no problem, but if not, he had to decide who held the heart ace. If it was East, then declarer must cross to dummy in clubs and lead a heart before setting up too many winners for the defense. If it was West, then an alternative line would be needed.

West’s decision to defend passively argued for his having a good hand — and thus knowing his partner was weak. Accordingly, declarer cashed all his minor-suit winners, ending in hand, then got out with a club. West could cash the club jack, but at trick 12 had to lead from his heart ace around to declarer’s king.

BID WITH THE ACES

South Holds:

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].