The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, June 13, 2009

June 27th, 2009  ~  admin  ~  1 Comment 

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

 

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

Opening Lead:♥9

“No man ever followed his genius till it misled him.”

— Henry David Thoreau

To mark the the U.S. trials currently taking place, I am using one of my favorite deals from the finals of the 2005 trials. This deal, which came up in the last segment of a very close match, shows both sides making noteworthy plays.

First, consider how you would play in six spades. Since everything comes down to the play of the trumps, do you cash the ace early, or take two finesses? The percentage play is to take two finesses and make the contract as the cards lie.

However, put yourself in Fred Gitelman’s shoes. Fred was sitting West and knew that if the spade ace was to his left, the slam would go down, but what if it were to his right? To try to prevent declarer from following the percentage line in trumps, he led the heart nine to the first trick!

Surely declarer would not now risk a losing spade finesse, given the threat of a heart ruff. Would that induce him to play spades from the top? No sale! Michael Rosenberg, smelling a rat, won the heart lead in hand to pass the spade jack. Well-done, both sides, but the swing went to Gitelman’s opponents.

Still, Gitelman had the last laugh when his squad won the event and went on to take the bronze medal in the World Championships.

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, June 12, 2009

June 26th, 2009  ~  admin  ~  2 Comments 

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

 

South	West	North	East
			Pass
Pass	2♠	3♠*	Dbl.
3 NT	All Pass

*Suggesting a solid suit somewhere, looking for a spade stop for 3NT

Opening Lead:♠10

“You, for example, clever to a fault,…

Read somewhat seldomer, think perhaps even less.”

— Robert Browning

Today’s deal from the 2008 open trials is a complicated one. Look at the play in three no-trump, and note in passing that four hearts may need the hearts to split, while the no-trump game has extra chances.

Declarer was Babu Koneru, whose RHO doubled the three-spade cue-bid. This gave Koneru a good clue that the spade ace was on his right.

The opening lead was the spade 10, promising the nine and a higher honor. East knew declarer could not run the hearts. To keep communications open in spades, he craftily inserted the jack at the first trick, breaking one of the cardinal rules about finessing against partner. His plan was to get the lead in hearts, play spade ace, and lead another spade to his partner. But Koneru was too clever for him: he ducked the first trick, playing for this precise lie of the cards.

The defenders might still have prevailed if they had seen all four hands. They needed to shift to diamonds early, so that West could regain the lead for a club play. That way, the defenders take one trick in each suit and two in spades. But after East continued the attack on spades at the second trick, declarer could take one spade trick, six hearts and the two minor-suit aces for the contract.

Whether or not you agree with declarer’s play, you must congratulate East and South on their play to the first trick.

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, June 11, 2009

June 25th, 2009  ~  admin  ~  1 Comment 

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

 

South	West	North	East
1♥	2♦	Pass	Pass
3♠	4♣	Dbl.	Pass
4♥	Pass	4♠	All Pass

Opening Lead:♣K

“My dear old grandfather Litcock said, just before they sprung the trap, you can’t cheat an honest man. Never give a sucker an even break or smarten up a chump.”

— George Marshall and Eddie Cline

Today’s deal from the 2008 Open Trials was a deathtrap for both sides. West might expect to make a large number of tricks in one minor or the other, but he can take only eight tricks in diamonds against best defense. Meanwhile, how does North-South do in the majors? Quite a few pairs attempted slam and were unsuccessful. Even the pair playing four spades could not quite bring that home.

But that contract is makable on best play. What might happen to declarer after two rounds of clubs?

Declarer trumps the second club, leads a spade to dummy, and finds the exceptionally bad news. He follows up by finessing the heart queen. Now the heart ace is followed by a ruff with the trump king, establishing the hearts.

At this point, even though East has more trumps than South does, declarer simply draws three more rounds of trump and plays good hearts.

When East trumps in at his first opportunity, everyone is down to three cards. Declarer has eight tricks in the bag while the defenders have two tricks. East has only diamonds left, while dummy has the diamond K-J and a master club. East is forced to lead a diamond into North’s tenace, and dummy will have the good club queen and diamond king for the last two tricks.

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, June 10, 2009

June 24th, 2009  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Wednesday, June 10, 2009 

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

 

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

Opening Lead:♠4

“Preserve it as your chiefest treasure.”

— Hilaire Belloc

Bridge axioms aren’t always right, but more times than not, they are. Here is a perfect example of why “second hand low” makes sense.

Most tables got to six diamonds in this deal from the 2008 Open Team Trials. Unfortunately for North-South, two side-suits are mirrored so there is nowhere to throw the loser — unless East gets nervous and rises with his club ace.

In one quarter-final match,with both declarers in six diamonds, West led a spade to dummy’s ace. At trick two, desperate to ruff out the ace and king of clubs for 12 tricks, Joe Grue led the club three off dummy. East, unable to take the heat, rose with the ace. If declarer held the singleton club king and not the diamond queen, this play was necessary. Here, it was fatal to the defense.

East continued spades to dummy’s king, but Grue led a low club and ruffed in hand, played the diamond seven to dummy, ruffed another club, and claimed when the club king appeared. It was a big swing, since the slam was defeated in the other room.

In the same deal in another match, Zia Mahmood failed by a trick when he drew trumps before leading a club. Now East, Jeff Aker, ducked and hoped for a spade and a club trick. This was worth a swing to his side when his teammates stopped in three no-trump and the defense could not quite run the club suit, thanks to the club blockage and declarer’s seven.

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, June 9, 2009

June 23rd, 2009  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, June 9, 2009 

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

 

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

*Forcing Relay

Opening Lead:♠4

“Corruption wins not more than honesty.”

— William Shakespeare

In today’s deal from the 2008 Open Trials, three no-trump was made in both rooms. Both Easts led a fourth-best spade, and both declarers ducked. As you can see, winning the spade ace and leading the heart jack makes life easiest. However, is it the right play? That line really needs the heart queen well placed and in a holding of no more than three cards. Does that require too many cards to be well placed?

If West holds the heart ace and East the queen together with three spades, the contract is destined to fail on most lines of play. But consider the following:. Win the second spade in dummy and lead a heart toward the closed hand. Sure, we’re all geniuses and would rise with the queen from the East hand (if we held it). In real life East will almost always duck and the jack will lose to West’s ace. If West ducks his (hypothetical) ace, we lead back to the king, since West would never duck the queen. Of course on the actual lie of the cards, West wins the heart queen and continues spades. But the hand is still makable, if declarer reads the position correctly. He wins and continues hearts to East’s ace. Now he rises with the ace on East’s probable diamond return. He leads a club to dummy and runs the hearts. West will be forced to discard spades — pitching diamonds or clubs is immediately fatal. Now, in the three-card ending, declarer can work out to exit with a diamond and West is endplayed to lead away from his club queen.

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, June 8, 2009

June 22nd, 2009  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Monday, June 8, 2009 

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

 

South	West	North	East
			1♣
3♠	Pass	4♠	All Pass

Opening Lead:♣9

“The quality of decision is like the well-timed swoop of a falcon which enables it to strike and destroy its victim.”

— Sun Tzu

Since the Open Trials take place this week, this week’s deals all come from the week-long USA Trials for Beijing of 2008. Today’s deal sees a pair from the winning team bidding the cards up, and playing them well too.

Jeff Meckstroth’s decision to raise three spades to game looks extremely aggressive.

How would you play the game on the lead of the club nine? The opening lead was covered by the 10, jack and ace. Only one card was good enough at the next trick and Eric Rodwell duly found it — the club five, to establish the club suit. East won with the club king and switched to the heart jack. What now?

If you win the first round of hearts with the ace, you will go down. You will have no way to avoid the loss of two hearts and a trump trick. Rodwell allowed the heart jack to win and that was the end of the road for the defense. East chose to play another heart, but now Rodwell could win, cash the diamond ace, ruff a diamond to hand, and then ruff a heart in dummy.

Suppose instead that East had played a trump (high or low) instead of switching to hearts. Declarer would then have been able to persist with the trump suit, eventually drawing trumps and discarding his heart losers on the established club suit. The key move was to duck the first round of hearts. Look out for that theme — it comes up surprisingly frequently.

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, June 7, 2009

June 21st, 2009  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, June 7, 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, June 6, 2009

June 20th, 2009  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, June 6, 2009 

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

 

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

*A raise to three spades with a singleton diamond

Opening Lead:♥7

“He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it.”

— Ecclesiastes 10:8

In the ’70s and ’80s there was an annual competition for expert players sponsored by BOLS Royal Distilleries of the Netherlands. Each year several experts were invited to submit a ‘bridge tip. All tips were published, and the best received prizes. In 1989, Zia Mahmood’s winning tip was: “When they don’t cover, they don’t have it.”

However, when the following deal turned up in the Swiss teams at the U.S. Spring Nationals, he no doubt wished he had kept his ideas to himself.

Six spades was reached at both tables. On the auction shown, North knew that his side was missing a club control when South could not cuebid five clubs over four hearts, so did not look for a grand slam. In one room East doubled the final contract and ruffed the opening heart lead, defeating the contract.

In the other room Zia did not double, but Michael Rosenberg still led a heart. Zia ruffed and returned a diamond. Declarer, Jim Mahaffey, won with the ace, drew two rounds of trump ending in his hand, cashed the heart king, and led the club queen. When West played low, declarer decided that West did not hold the king. Accordingly, he played dummy’s club ace, cashed two hearts while discarding clubs from his hand, and led dummy’s club jack. Zia played the king and declarer ruffed. Now a diamond ruff in dummy and a second ruffing club finesse landed the slam.

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, June 5, 2009

June 19th, 2009  ~  admin  ~  Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Friday, June 5, 2009 

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

 

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

Opening Lead:♣5

“Remember that all tricks are either knavish or childish.”

— Samuel Johnson

The role of deception at the bridge table should not be underestimated. Deception does not mean misleading body language or demeanor. But you will frequently be able to mislead the opponents about your holding in a particular suit by sacrificing a potential trick.

South, in three no-trump, received a friendly club lead. He could see that if he allowed the lead to run around to his jack, then when a defender came on lead in diamonds, it would have been relatively clear that a rapid heart switch was required. How to persuade the defense otherwise? South won the opening lead with dummy’s ace and played a diamond to his nine and West’s jack.

Look at the position from West’s perspective. The play to trick one strongly suggested that East had to hold the club jack. So West returned the club two and was dismayed when South produced the jack. South continued with a diamond to the king and ace, and now it was East’s turn to be fooled.

By the club spots played, East knew that South held one further club. But declarer’s play of the club ace at trick one left East under the illusion that South was marked with an initial holding of Q-J-third, leaving his partner still in possession of the club king.

Whether East ought to have bought into the deception or not, the ploy worked, for a third club was led, and the contract rolled home.

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, June 4, 2009

June 18th, 2009  ~  admin  ~  2 Comments 

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

 

South	West	North	East
	Pass	4♦*	Pass
4♠	All Pass

*Strong spade pre-empt

Opening Lead:♥10

“Man is still the most extraordinary computer of all.”

— John F. Kennedy

People often complain about freakish computer-dealt hands. But those hands reflect the true odds, while the imperfect human method leads to unnaturally balanced hands. The following deal, though, from the National Women’s Teams in the UK, would have added to such paranoia.

At one table South became declarer in four spades after North’s Namyats opening bid to show a strong hand with spades. She received the opening lead of the heart 10. The two was played from the dummy, East began a high-low with the six, and Dhondy won with the king. Dhondy next led the heart four from her hand. West discarded, as did dummy, and East had to follow with the three. When did you last win the second round of a suit with the four?

At another table North decided to start with her system’s strong bid, two diamonds. South launched straight into Blackwood. North responded five diamonds to show one or four keycards with diamonds as trump, and South KNEW this must be four to justify the two-diamond opening. So she bid seven no-trump.

West first checked that she was on lead, then doubled and led the diamond ace. Seven no-trump was soon down 10 for a 2600 penalty.

Although North’s opening bid was ill-judged, South’s bidding was very wild. North might have shown three keycards, after which South would not have known if there was an ace missing. In addition, South should have bid seven hearts, not seven no-trump, because North might have had a heart void.

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].