Hand of the day #292
You can now play the hand of the day on BBO+ and compare how you get on with the...
You can now play the hand of the day on BBO+ and compare how you get on with the players in the article.
The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff
North-South would probably not want to get to six hearts, but several tables at the Cavendish teams were unable to resist the temptation.
Opening Lead: ♣K
On the auction shown, South was fairly confident that he was going to buy a singleton club opposite, and right he was. Michael Seamon led a top club and continued the suit to tap the dummy. Declarer, faced with the choice of what he deemed to be an unlikely squeeze or a trump break, played off the top diamonds, then ruffed a diamond, went to the heart jack, and ruffed another diamond. The 3-1 heart split doomed him to down one.
The same fate beckoned John Kranyak and Gavin Wolpert; they also reached slam, and the defenders also led and continued clubs, but this line of defense persuaded Kranyak that hearts would not split.
Accordingly, he decided to follow a different approach. He ruffed the club, crossed to a heart, ruffed another club, came to the spade ace, and ran the hearts. His luck was in — the spade-diamond squeeze materialized when West had sole control of those two suits, and 12 tricks were duly recorded.
Nicely defended by an unlucky expert? Yes and no! In fact, after the top club lead, the defense must shift to a red-suit (either will do). Declarer can only bring in the diamonds by drawing three rounds of trump without taking a club ruff. Four diamonds, six hearts and the spade ace make only 11 tricks.
Bid with the aces
Answer: 1♦
At any vulnerability, open this hand one diamond, not two. You are playable in both majors, so you don't want to lose a fit there, and your partner will never expect you to hold such a good hand if you pre-empt. When deciding what level to open, add two points for a six-carder and one for any additional four-carder to your hand's HCP. If the number exceeds 13, open unless you have no aces.
This Hand of the Day was originally published on aces.bridgeblogging.com.
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