Hand of the day #111

The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff


One of the terms bandied about in the world of bridge is “strip and endplay.” It is a strategy in which declarer removes all the potentially inconvenient exit-cards from the defenders, then puts them on lead to open up a suit they would rather not have to play.

Opening Lead: ♣10

Sometimes, as today’s deal demonstrates, it may not always be possible to strip a side suit entirely from both your hand and dummy. Still, a partial strip is better than no strip at all.

For example, you arrive at a contract of six spades and West leads the club 10. How can you possibly avoid losing one trick in each red suit? The answer is that there are no guarantees, but you do have a play that will give you a sporting chance.

You draw trumps, strip off the clubs, play the two top hearts, and exit with a diamond. If the player with the diamond ace has no more hearts, a ruff and sluff will be coming your way. You will be able to discard your losing heart while ruffing in dummy.

To succeed in your slam, you needed a specific lie of the hearts. But note that if you do not cash the two top hearts, then when East wins his diamond ace, he exits in hearts, and you must lose a heart at the end.


Lead with the Aces

This Hand of the Day was originally published on aces.bridgeblogging.com.

Click here to play earlier Hands of the day ▶

Share this hand with a friend:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Hand of the day #265
The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff Today's deal shows how you can achieve remarka...
Hand of the day #264
The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff In today’s deal, game was bid and made seven...
Hand of the day #263
The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff In the finals of the 2011 NEC tournament in Yo...
Hand of the day #262
The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff This deal comes from the NEC tournament held i...
1 2 3 110
crossmenu