May 18th, 2009 ~ admin ~ 7 Comments 
| Dealer: South
Vul: E/W |
North |
|
| ♠ |
A 7 5 |
| ♥ |
5 3 |
| ♦ |
K J 10 8 6 |
| ♣ |
6 5 3 |
| West |
 |
East |
| ♠ |
J 10 9 8 |
♠ |
6 3 2 |
| ♥ |
Q 10 9 2 |
♥ |
J 7 4 |
| ♦ |
7 3 2 |
♦ |
A Q 5 |
| ♣ |
Q 7 |
♣ |
J 10 9 8 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
K Q 4 |
| ♥ |
A K 8 6 |
| ♦ |
9 4 |
| ♣ |
A K 4 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♣ |
Pass |
1♦ |
Pass |
| 2 NT |
Pass |
3 NT |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♠K
“The multitude is always in the wrong.”
— Earl of Roscommon
It is easy to predict the defense to today’s three no-trump at most tables. West will lead the spade jack, won by declarer’s queen. (The queen is more deceptive than the king, letting East think that West might have the king.) Next will come the diamond nine to East’s queen for a second round of spades. Declarer will win in hand and clear the diamonds, leaving the defenders to take the last trick if they defend accurately. East-West will record their minus 430 and move on to the next deal without realizing that they had the opportunity to alter destiny. Can you see how?
East should realize that if he wins the first diamond lead, declarer will be able to establish three diamond tricks. Since declarer has only one entry card to dummy, West can limit declarer to only one diamond trick by ducking the first diamond; proper defense from that point on will hold declarer to eight tricks.
The key to the successful defense is the number of side entries to dummy. If it had two or more entries, this defense would not work. Declarer could establish diamonds even after the holdup. If there were no dummy entries, East simply has to win the second or third round of diamonds to prevent South from taking more than one trick in the suit. When there is just one entry to dummy, the holdup must come on the first round of the suit.
ANSWER: Do you go active with a spade lead, or passive with a diamond lead? I doubt if anybody could say for sure that one play was right and one wrong, but your trump and club holdings suggest no great need to be a hero. Lead a diamond and let the defensive tricks come to you rather than forcing the pace.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
J 2 |
| ♥ |
K 7 3 |
| ♦ |
10 6 4 2 |
| ♣ |
Q 9 5 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♣ |
Pass |
1♥
|
| Pass |
2♥
|
Pass |
4♥
|
| 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].
May 17th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces On Bridge: Sunday, May 3, 2009
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
What is the advantage of leading third and fifth (or third and low) as opposed to fourth highest?
— Fearless Leader, Columbia, S.C.
ANSWER: The benefits are relatively small, but in bridge one wants to differentiate between similar holdings. Leading fourth highest, but also lowest from three, makes those holdings hard to tell apart. Leading a higher card from two or four cards, but low from three or five, means that any ambiguity should be between holdings that are two cards apart. You are thus less likely to have that confusion.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
If you were dealt ♠ A-J, ♥ K-9-6, ♦ K-10-6-4-2, ♣ 6-3-2, would you open in fourth seat, and would the vulnerability affect the decision?
— Lightweight, Wausau, Wis.
ANSWER: Playing pairs, I tend to open my 11-12 point hands when vulnerable (even when relatively short in spades, a criterion others take seriously). My logic is that my partner is likely to be close to an opener since he passed in second seat. As for my RHO, anyone who passes in third seat nonvulnerable is surely weak, so it rates to be our hand.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Can you explain what is supposed to happen in a tournament if a pair cannot play a board, either because of an accident in the movement or because of a late play.
— Lost in Space, Janesville, Wis.
ANSWER: I’m not an experienced director, but I think if you cannot play a deal because of something to which you contributed (by playing the deal at the wrong table), you get an average or average minus. Your real opponents — who did nothing wrong — get an average plus. |
|
Dear Mr. Wolff:
If you open a major suit and your partner responds one no-trump, are you allowed to invite by bidding two no-trump with a good 16-count, or do you have to pass? What is the minimum you need to rebid two no-trump or even three no-trump?
— A Little Extra, Augusta, Ga.
ANSWER: A jump to three no-trump is very unusual and suggests six decent cards in your major. With a good 17-19 and a balanced hand, you can raise to two no-trump. So what do you do with a balanced 15-16 count? Open one no-trump, temporarily concealing the major in return for showing your high cards at one go. If you have a 5-4 pattern, just bid the second suit and take it from there.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Say you picked up ♠ Q-2, ♥ Q-6-4-3-2, ♦ 10-7-4, ♣ A-3-2 in third seat and heard your partner open three clubs at favorable vulnerability. Would you pass, bid five clubs, or try to steal the hand at four clubs?
— Bouncing Bob, Mason City, Kan.
ANSWER: My philosophy here is simple. I’ve no idea who can make what, so I want to give my opponents the hardest problem I can. I suspect they can make a game, so let’s see them work out what to do over my jump to five clubs. Yes, we might go for 800, but maybe I can give my partner a spade ruff, or he can set up the hearts and get out cheaply — or the opponents might overbid. I would do this at pairs, teams, or rubber. |
If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, e-mail him at [email protected]. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2009.
May 16th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, May 2, 2009
| Dealer: South
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
K 7 5 4 |
| ♥ |
K 8 6 4 |
| ♦ |
Q 7 |
| ♣ |
K 8 4 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
9 8 |
♠ |
J 10 6 2 |
| ♥ |
10 |
♥ |
Q J 2 |
| ♦ |
A 10 8 5 4 |
♦ |
K 9 6 3 |
| ♣ |
Q J 10 6 2 |
♣ |
9 3 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
A Q 3 |
| ♥ |
A 9 7 5 3 |
| ♦ |
J 2 |
| ♣ |
A 7 5 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
3♥ |
Pass |
| 4♥ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♣K
“There are horrible people who, instead of solving a problem, tangle it up and make it harder to solve for anyone who wants to deal with it.”
— Friedrich Nietzsche
Against four hearts, West led the club queen to dummy’s king. Declarer then cashed dummy’s heart king and exited with a low diamond. Once East played low on this trick, the defense was dead.
West won his ace and continued with a second diamond, which was best for the defense. East won and played the heart queen. However, declarer won the heart ace and tried the spades. When they broke 4-2, he ruffed the fourth round in his hand, cashed the club ace, and exited with a trump. East had to win and give declarer a ruff and discard. Note that the line chosen would never fail when the simple line succeeded. It was all about increasing the chances.
Note that if declarer cashes both top trumps before trying the spades, careful defense would now beat the contract. And curiously, on the line declarer actually selected, East could have prevailed by rising with the diamond king and continuing clubs.
At double-dummy, though, declarer can always succeed by winning the opening lead with the ace and playing a diamond. East wins the king and plays a second club. Declarer wins with dummy’s king, plays a heart to his ace, and tries spades. When they do not break, he discards a diamond from his hand on the fourth round.
East plays a trump back to dummy’s king, but now a diamond is ruffed and declarer exits with a trump, forcing East to give a ruff and discard.
ANSWER: Do not be tempted to do more than jump to three spades, an invitational sequence to show four trumps and 10-11 points. Partner might have enough for game, but if so, he will be able to look at his 13 cards and appreciate them just as well as you can. Tell him what you have, and let him decide for himself.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K 7 5 4 |
| ♥ |
K 8 6 4 |
| ♦ |
Q 7 |
| ♣ |
K 8 4 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♣ |
Pass |
| 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].
May 15th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Friday, May 1, 2009
| Dealer: South
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
A J 10 5 2 |
| ♥ |
A 10 9 5 4 |
| ♦ |
K 8 5 |
| ♣ |
— |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
Q 8 6 |
♠ |
K 9 7 4 3 |
| ♥ |
K Q 7 6 2 |
♥ |
J 3 |
| ♦ |
A Q 9 |
♦ |
J 10 7 2 |
| ♣ |
K J |
♣ |
A 7 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
— |
| ♥ |
8 |
| ♦ |
6 4 3 |
| ♣ |
Q 10 9 8 6 5 4 3 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 5♣ |
Dbl. |
All Pass |
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♥K
“A society so riven that the spirit of moderation is gone, no court can save.”
— Judge Learned Hand
When this deal occurred in the European Open Tournament in Menton, the South players were split between opening three clubs, four clubs and five clubs. Where the opening bid was five clubs, West doubled and East sat it out, collecting 200.
By contrast, after a three-club opening, West could double, bid three hearts, or bid three no-trump. There is a lot to be said for the winning action of three no-trump because the pre-emptive opening has warned about poor breaks, and here West has very soft values.
But the sure winner, as an opening bid, was four clubs. West had little choice but to double. As this double is usually more takeout oriented than a double of a five-level contract, all the Easts bid four spades. This resulted in 500 in the other direction.
Had the East players passed the double, they would have scored even worse, since four clubs would have scored plus 710 for North-South, but only if South was careful. On a top-heart lead, South wins and must ruff a spade rather than a heart to hand, then lead out the club queen (just in case there is a bare jack). Now declarer can ruff another major-suit card to hand to draw trump, losing just two clubs and a diamond. Note that if South ruffs a heart to hand at trick two, West can win the first trump and lead a third heart to score his side’s remaining trumps separately.
ANSWER: Which did you open with, one heart or one no-trump? It is a fair rule of hand valuation to treat a five-card suit as worth an extra point. On that basis this hand might equate to an 18-count and be worth a one-heart bid. But the hand has two significant negatives: there are no intermediates in the long-suit, and the doubleton club honors are not pulling their full weight. That puts you back to a one-no-trump bid.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
Q 8 6 |
| ♥ |
K Q 7 6 2 |
| ♦ |
A Q 9 |
| ♣ |
K J |
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].
May 14th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Thursday, April 30, 2009
| Dealer: South
Vul: E/W |
North |
|
| ♠ |
K Q 8 3 |
| ♥ |
5 2 |
| ♦ |
J 8 3 |
| ♣ |
A 7 6 3 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
A 9 2 |
♠ |
J 7 5 4 |
| ♥ |
J 10 4 3 |
♥ |
K |
| ♦ |
Q 5 |
♦ |
K 10 9 7 6 2 |
| ♣ |
K 10 9 5 |
♣ |
8 4 |
|
South |
|
| ♠ |
10 6 |
| ♥ |
A Q 9 8 7 6 |
| ♦ |
A 4 |
| ♣ |
Q J 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
1♠ |
Pass |
| 2♥ |
Pass |
3♥ |
Pass |
| 4♥ |
All Pass |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♣10
“Even brothers should keep careful accounts.”
— Chinese proverb
In three years out of four, World Championship fields are restricted to qualifying teams, but in even-numbered non-leap years, such as 2002, each country can send as many participants as wish to compete.
Today’s deal is from the 2002 teams event in Montreal, showing the Hackett brothers of England at work.
Against four hearts (reached after characteristic aggression from North), West started with the club 10. Declarer, Justin Hackett, ran this to his queen, East playing the eight to show a doubleton.
Now declarer played a spade to dummy, a heart to the king and ace, and a second spade. West went in with the ace and exited with what seemed to be a passive spade. Declarer won in dummy, discarding his certain diamond loser, crossed to hand with the diamond ace, and played the heart nine. West won and got off play with his only remaining exit card, the diamond queen. Hackett ruffed and played the heart queen and another heart. Now, with nothing but clubs left, West had to lead away from his king, and four hearts was made.
Do you see how declarer could have made the hand if West had exited with a diamond instead of a spade? Declarer takes the ace, crosses to the club ace to cash his spade winner, ruffs a diamond, then gets off play with his club loser. He ruffs the return, and exits with the heart nine, end-playing West to lead trumps into declarer’s tenace at trick 12.
ANSWER: Your partner’s call of one spade is constructive, but not forcing. With your extra heart length, a simple call of two hearts should suffice. To jump to three hearts, you would need an extra trick (say, the heart jack instead of the six). A spade raise would require a third trump.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
10 6 |
| ♥ |
A Q 9 8 7 6 |
| ♦ |
A 4 |
| ♣ |
Q J 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
|
|
1♦ |
| 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].
May 13th, 2009 ~ admin ~ 2 Comments
| Dealer: South
Vul: All |
North |
|
| ♠ |
9 8 5 4 |
| ♥ |
K 7 |
| ♦ |
J 10 9 |
| ♣ |
A 8 4 3 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
Q 6 3 |
♠ |
A K 10 2 |
| ♥ |
J 9 6 3 2 |
♥ |
Q 10 8 4 |
| ♦ |
K 8 4 |
♦ |
7 6 |
| ♣ |
J 5 |
♣ |
10 7 2 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
J 7 |
| ♥ |
A 5 |
| ♦ |
A Q 5 3 2 |
| ♣ |
K Q 9 6 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♦ |
Pass |
1♠ |
Pass |
| 2♣ |
Pass |
3♣ |
Pass |
| 3NT |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♥3
“People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading.”
— Logan Pearsall Smith
One popular defensive signal these days is the Smith Echo. This applies only in no-trump contracts and the idea is that an echo — i.e. a high-low signal — on the first suit that declarer plays indicates a liking for the opening lead (assuming that a count signal is irrelevant to your partner).
Against South’s three no-trump you lead your fourth-highest heart — the three. Declarer plays the king from the dummy, and partner encourages with the 10. You let the diamond jack hold and take the diamond 10 with your king, partner contributing the six followed by the seven.
So partner, who clearly started with a doubleton diamond, has played his cards upwards, suggesting you switch. If he held a club honor, he would surely have suggested that you continue with hearts (since he can see that the defenders will have time to set up and enjoy the hearts), so you should switch to a spade; but which?
If partner does not have a club honor, then declarer has 10 tricks when he regains the lead (two hearts, four diamonds and four clubs), so your side must take four spade tricks immediately. Therefore partner’s spades need to be at least as good as A-K-10-x.
If so, you can make life easy for him by switching to the spade queen. If you switch to a low one he may cash his ace-king, playing declarer for queen-doubleton of spades and hoping you have a club stopper (or worse yet, switch back to hearts on winning the spade).
ANSWER: Facing a minimum hand with five hearts and four diamonds, you should pass. This is not so much because diamonds will always play better, but because if you correct two diamonds to two hearts, you suggest you hold 9-10 points and three hearts (too good for a simple raise, but not enough for a cue-bid to suggest a limit raise). Let sleeping dogs lie and keep partner low.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
9 8 5 4 |
| ♥ |
K 7 |
| ♦ |
J 10 9 |
| ♣ |
A 8 4 3 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
1♥ |
1♠ |
| Dbl. |
Pass |
2♦ |
Pass |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
For details of Bobby Wolff’s autobiography, The Lone Wolff, contact [email protected]. If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, please leave a comment at this blog. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2009. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact [email protected].
May 12th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, April 28, 2009
| Dealer: East
Vul: None |
North |
|
| ♠ |
A K 10 8 6 3 |
| ♥ |
A K 8 7 5 3 |
| ♦ |
7 |
| ♣ |
— |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
2 |
♠ |
Q J 7 5 |
| ♥ |
J 10 6 |
♥ |
4 |
| ♦ |
10 9 |
♦ |
K Q J 6 3 |
| ♣ |
A K Q 9 7 4 3 |
♣ |
J 10 5 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
9 4 |
| ♥ |
Q 9 2 |
| ♦ |
A 8 5 4 2 |
| ♣ |
8 6 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
|
|
Pass |
| Pass |
3♣ |
4♣ |
Pass |
| 4♥ |
Pass |
6♥ |
All Pass |
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♣K
“Slight not what’s near through aiming at what’s far.”
— Euripides
Although your partner could have explored for a grand slam, he made the sensible bid of six hearts. How do you plan to make 12 tricks on the lead of a top club?
When both opponents follow to a top trump from dummy, the aim should be to make 12 tricks even when West has a small singleton spade. You must try to set up the spades without letting West ruff away a spade honor. So take just one top spade, then cross to your hand in diamonds and lead a spade toward dummy.
West cannot help the defense by ruffing on air, so he correctly discards a club and you win dummy’s king. Now you ruff a third spade with your trump queen. (If you ruff with the nine, West will overruff and lead another round of trumps, leaving you with a spade loser.) You can now ruff a diamond in dummy and lead a fourth round of spades, ruffing it with the trump nine.
West can overruff now, but you will win his return, draw the last trump, and claim. If West had been unable to overruff, you would ruff a club back to dummy, cash the trump king, and run the spades, losing a trick only if trumps did not split.
Incidentally, if West were able to ruff the diamond ace, you would need the spades to be 3-2. You would ruff the club return, cash a second trump honor, and play on spades.
ANSWER: Whether you are a passed hand or not, the modern style is to use a jump to three diamonds as pre-emptive and a cuebid of two spades to show a limit raise or better in diamonds. The reason is that you want to raise as high as possible with a weak hand and support, thus making your opponents’ lives much harder.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
9 4 |
| ♥ |
Q 9 2 |
| ♦ |
A 8 5 4 2 |
| ♣ |
8 6 2 |
| 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].
May 11th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Monday, April 27, 2009
| Dealer: South
Vul: None |
North |
|
| ♠ |
9 8 |
| ♥ |
A 9 4 |
| ♦ |
10 7 5 3 |
| ♣ |
A K Q 8 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
A Q 5 3 |
♠ |
J 10 7 6 4 |
| ♥ |
6 3 2 |
♥ |
7 |
| ♦ |
9 6 4 2 |
♦ |
Q J 8 |
| ♣ |
5 3 |
♣ |
J 10 9 6 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
K 2 |
| ♥ |
K Q J 10 8 5 |
| ♦ |
A K |
| ♣ |
7 4 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| 1♥ |
Pass |
2♣ |
Pass |
| 3♥ |
Pass |
5♥ |
Pass |
| 6♥ |
All Pass |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead:♥3
“The events in our lives happen in a sequence in time, but in their significance to ourselves they find their own order, … the continuous thread of revelation.”
— Eudora Welty
Put yourself in South’s shoes in this deal from a team game. Your partner’s intelligent call of five hearts suggested good hearts and clubs, but no controls in the unbid suits. Your excellent spade and diamond values allowed you to bid the heart slam. But how do you plan to make the contract after West leads a trump?
One declarer drew trumps, cashed the top clubs, and when they failed to break 3-3, led a spade back to his king and West’s ace. West now cashed the spade queen. South felt he had done his best by combining his chances in the black suits. However, at the score-up, he discovered he had lost a slam swing. Can you see why?
The declarer at the other table spotted an extra chance — namely, that the Q-J-x of diamonds would fall in three rounds. After drawing trumps, he cashed the A-K of diamonds, then crossed to dummy with a club to ruff the diamond seven. As you can see, dummy’s diamond 10 was established for the 12th trick.
Of course, if the diamond play had failed, the second declarer would have tested the clubs, and only when they failed to break would he have led up to the spade king.
Plays of this sort are sometimes called echelon plays. If you can, you want to exploit all of your chances in order before falling back on the play that will commit you to success or failure.
ANSWER: In auctions of this sort, there is no clear-cut reason to despair; your spades appear to be lying well enough, and your partner’s heart honors are over dummy. So simply lead a diamond (your long suit). Even if partner is not stacked in the suit, you may still be able to establish your long card.
LEAD WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
K J 4 3 |
| ♥ |
10 5 |
| ♦ |
10 7 5 4 |
| ♣ |
Q 7 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| Pass |
1♥
|
Pass |
1♠ |
| All Pass |
2♠ |
Pass |
3 NT |
| ? |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
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].
May 10th, 2009 ~ admin ~ 2 Comments
| Dear Mr. Wolff:
How should opener respond to a fourth-suit forcing bid when he has a balanced hand, with either two- or three-card support that he has not shown. In a typical auction, opener bids one diamond and rebids one spade over one heart. Responder now bids two clubs, artificial and game-forcing.
— Suited Up, Charleston, S.C.
ANSWER: On this sequence a call of two hearts by opener sounds like three-card support but might be made on honor-doubleton with three small clubs. With five diamonds I would probably repeat diamonds rather than raise hearts with two, but the quality of the red suits might affect my decision.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
I held ♠ A-10-8-6-3, ♥ Q, ♦ A-J-3, ♣ Q-10-4-2 and opened one spade. Over the game-forcing two-heart response, should I rebid two spades, two no-trump or three clubs?
— Fudging It, Cleveland, Ohio
ANSWER: Unless two hearts is a game-force, you cannot bid three clubs. That said, I like to keep my suit rebid to show six or a better five than this, and the two-no-trump bid as a balanced hand without a singleton in partner’s suit. A call of three clubs should deliver a good suit, or 5-5 shape, or extras in high cards. Since my hand fits none of these categories, I’ll go with two no-trump because a singleton honor is almost as good as two cards.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Please explain the term “par result.” Does it have to do with the best result possible in abstract, or on the actual lie of the cards?
— Parboiled, Charlottesville, Va.
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ANSWER: The answer is based on the 52-card layout. The objective is to determine what is the largest plus-score or smallest minus-score North-South can achieve, assuming perfect bidding and play by their opponents. So one does look at the lie of the opponents’ cards in determining par.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
I held ♠ Q-6-3, ♥ K-9-7-4, ♦ J-7-3, ♣ A-10-4 and passed over a one-diamond bid on my right. My LHO responded one heart, my partner bid one spade, and the opener rebid one no-trump. Would you raise spades, cue-bid, or double?
— Looking for Action, Raleigh, N.C.
ANSWER: I do not like my shape and honor location. A simple bid of two spades seems enough, though I might double if my opponents compete to the three-level.
Dear Mr. Wolff:
Is it ever acceptable to open one no-trump with a singleton? The ACBL says that it is acceptable when “sound bidding judgment” dictates it. Some of the other directors state that they do not allow it. What is your opinion?
— Split Decision, Portland, Ore.
ANSWER: Unless I have precisely a 16-count and a singleton spade top honor, or perhaps 3-1-4-5 shape and a 16-count with a singleton heart honor, I do NOT need to open one no-trump. With 15, I’ll downgrade to 12-14; with 17, I’ll upgrade to a jump in no-trump or a reverse.
I opened one no-trump with a singleton only once in 2007 and not at all in 2008! |
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].
May 9th, 2009 ~ admin ~ Comments Off on The Aces on Bridge: Saturday, April 25, 2009
| Dealer: West
Vul: None |
North |
|
| ♠ |
6 2 |
| ♥ |
K 8 3 |
| ♦ |
A 7 5 |
| ♣ |
K Q 10 9 3 |
| West |
|
East |
| ♠ |
A K Q 10 4 |
♠ |
J 8 3 |
| ♥ |
6 |
♥ |
10 9 7 4 |
| ♦ |
J 9 6 4 |
♦ |
Q 10 8 3 |
| ♣ |
A 7 6 |
♣ |
8 4 |
| |
South |
|
| ♠ |
9 7 5 |
| ♥ |
A Q J 5 2 |
| ♦ |
K 2 |
| ♣ |
J 5 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
|
1♠ |
Pass |
Pass |
| 2♥ |
Pass |
4♥ |
All pass |
| |
|
|
|
Opening Lead: ♠K
“Heroism feels and never reasons and therefore is always right.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
This hand, which arose in the 2004 USA Spingold teams semifinals, appeared in Tim Bourke and David Bird’s book, “Defending Suit Contracts.”
Both Wests, Lorenzo Lauria of Italy and Bob Hamman of the U.S. team, opened one spade. After two passes the Souths introduced their heart suits. The contract at both tables was four hearts.
Both Wests made their natural lead of a top spade, and each received a count signal from East, indicating an initial holding of three spades. You see three defensive tricks — two top spades and the ace of clubs — but where will the setting trick come from?
At first you might think it is the diamond suit, should partner have the king. East, however, was unable to muster up a response in spite of holding three-card spade support, so the more likely candidate for the diamond king is South. Even if partner has the diamond queen and declarer has king-third, declarer’s slow diamond loser would disappear on dummy’s clubs.
Both Lauria and Hamman came to the conclusion that their only hope was for partner to hold exactly two clubs. So, at trick two, they both brilliantly switched to a low club, away from the ace. Now, if declarer played a spade preparatory to ruffing the third spade in dummy, ace and another club gives East a ruff. And if declarer draws trumps before playing a second club, West would rise with the ace to cash two more spades.
ANSWER: Your partner has four spades and five or more diamonds, with a moderate hand but not a great one. (He could have jumped to two spades with extras.) I would simply give preference to two diamonds now. Since you responded voluntarily, partner should be able to infer you do have some values. If game is making, he will be able to bid on.
BID WITH THE ACES
South Holds:
| ♠ |
9 7 5 |
| ♥ |
A Q J 5 2 |
| ♦ |
K 2 |
| ♣ |
J 5 2 |
| South |
West |
North |
East |
| |
1♣ |
1♦ |
Pass |
| 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].
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