Hand of the day #366
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The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff
Opening Lead: ♠A
Partner opened with a weak two-spade bid, North could visualize a grand slam if South held the ace and king of trump. His leap to five no-trump passed exactly this message: "Please bid the grand slam if you hold two of the three top honors." Note that it would not have solved North's problem had he used Roman Key-card Blackwood instead, since the heart ace would have been worthless.
Since South held only one of the three top trump honors, the bidding stopped in a small slam. How would you play this when West leads ace and another trump?
There are 11 tricks on top, including one heart ruff. Which minor suit should you play first?
Declarer decided to play two top clubs, intending to ruff the suit good if a 4-2 break came to light. When West showed out on the second round of clubs, declarer took a diamond ruff, hoping for a 3-3 break in that suit. No luck came his way and he had to go one down.
Curiously, it is better to play on diamonds first. If that suit breaks 5-1, you still have the one (ruffing) entry that you need to take advantage of a 4-2 break in clubs. Diamonds break 4-2, in fact, so you can easily establish a long card in that suit.
The general principle is to play first on the suit that may need more entries to establish and reach the long cards.
Bid with the aces
Answer: 3♦
There is no need to panic and pass; your partner has shown a very good hand with 5-6 pattern, and longer diamonds than spades. You have very little to offer him, but you know diamonds rate to play better than spades because of the extra trump. So just bid three diamonds now, and let your partner decide where to go from there.
This Hand of the Day was originally published on aces.bridgeblogging.com.
You can now play the hand of the day on BBO+ and compare how you get on with the players in the article.
For the hand in "Bid with the Aces", does the North's bidding also constitute a reverse showing more than 17 points; apart from the fact that he has a 5 - 6 distribution in the 2 suits?
If he had just 12 points and the same distribution, would it be advisable to bid the Spades first, then bid and rebid the Diamonds?