The Aces on Bridge: Tuesday, September 21, 2010 | Bobby Wolff

by Bobby Wolff on October 5th, 2010North
? A J 6 4
? A 9 7
? J 9 5
? 6 5 2West
? Q 10 9
? J 5 2
? K Q 7
? J 9 7 3East
? K 8 3 2
? 10 4
? A 6 4 3 2
? 10 8South
? 7 5
? K Q 8 6 3
? 10 8
? A K Q 4

Opening Lead: ? 10

“Among all forms of mistake, prophecy is the most gratuitous.”

– George Eliot

When responder to a major-suit opening bid has a 10-count with three trumps, he has three ways to describe his hand. If he has extra shape (say a side-suit singleton or extra length in a side-suit), he might jump directly to three of partner’s suit. More typical, though, is to downgrade the hand into a constructive raise to two of partner’s suit, or to upgrade the hand via the forcing no-trump to a balanced limit-raise.

This was what today’s North did. South, with concentrated values in his two suits and decent high cards, had an easy acceptance of the invitation.

In four hearts, declarer must not pin all his hopes on a 3-3 split in clubs, since he can make provision against a 4-2 split as well. West leads the spade 10, which South allows to hold the trick. After winning the spade continuation, what next?

After taking the heart ace and king, declarer should next lead out the three top clubs. If the clubs split 3-3, he can draw the last trump and claim. If the clubs split 4-2 and the third round is ruffed, dummy will have a trump to ruff the fourth club. Nothing has been lost, since the contract would always have gone down one.

However, if the clubs split 4-2 and the defender who is long in clubs also has the last heart, the contract can be made by ruffing the fourth club before pulling the last trump.

South Holds:

ANSWER: Your partner’s use of the fourth suit is conventional. It is artificial and game-forcing and asks you to describe your hand further. With no real support for your partner and no diamond stop, the cheapest call of two hearts is the least lie. It does not promise six hearts, merely a rebiddable five-card suit, or better.For details of Bobby Wolff’s autobiography, The Lone Wolff, contact theLoneWolff@bridgeblogging.com. If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, please leave a comment at this blog. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2010. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact reprints@unitedmedia.com.

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The Aces on Bridge: Monday, September 20, 2010 | Bobby Wolff

by Bobby Wolff on October 4th, 2010North
? A 10 8 4
? A Q
? A 10 8
? A 9 4 3West
? K J
? K 9 5 2
? Q 9 2
? K 10 8 7East
? Q 9 6 2
? 10 8 6 4 3
? J 7 5 4
? —South
? 7 5 3
? J 7
? K 6 3
? Q J 6 5 2

Opening Lead: ? 2

“Life is the art of drawing sufficient conclusions from insufficient premises.”

– Samuel Butler

Your partner opens one club and you hold five clubs and 6-9 points. What is your response? You know that a jump would be pre-emptive and a simple raise would be inverted (showing a limit raise or better). What’s left?

Today’s South compromised sensibly enough with a response of one no-trump. With such a strong hand and secure stoppers in every suit, North saw no reason merely to invite game but went all the way. Thus the partnership ended up in the no-trump game from the wrong seat.

Declarer had his first reprieve on a heart lead, when dummy’s queen held the trick. What next? South rejected the idea of crossing to hand with his diamond king to take the club finesse. Instead, he laid down the club ace and scowled when East discarded. There was no way back: the defenders could establish their five winners before declarer had nine.

Needing only four club tricks to make his contract, South should have taken a safety-play in clubs to guard against any adverse split. Admittedly, cashing the club ace suffices if East has all four clubs. However, the low lead toward the South hand wins if either player has all four clubs, for it gives declarer the extra entry to dummy needed to finesse against West’s club 10. If declarer wastes his diamond entry to take the club finesse, the entries to defend against the 4-0 split will also be fatally scrambled.

South Holds:

ANSWER: This is the sort of club-holding where leading an honor rates to block the suit or worse. If either partner or dummy has a doubleton club honor, be it the ace, king. or even the 10, you may need to lead a low club to unscramble the suit to best effect. Typically, fourth highest is right from any two honors unless they are supported by a large intermediate — here, the 10 or nine.For details of Bobby Wolff’s autobiography, The Lone Wolff, contact theLoneWolff@bridgeblogging.com. If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, please leave a comment at this blog. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2010. If you are interested in reprinting The Aces on Bridge column, contact reprints@unitedmedia.com.

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