Bookworm Bridge Conundrums #51
This conundrum was written by Danny Roth and was originally published ...
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
Opening Lead: ♦4
The 1st World Mind Sports Games included three youth categories: Under 28, Under 26 and Under 21. The International Mind Sports Association was the brainchild of former World Bridge Federation President, Jose Damiani. The hope is that Mind Sports will form a separate Olympic category.
In the under-28 category Steven de Donder of Belgium had to deal with a tiresome trump break in his contract of four spades. West led a diamond to East’s ace. Back came a heart, taken in hand, and given a reasonable trump break, 11 tricks seem plain sailing. Even if one defender holds four spades to the jack, 10 tricks would still be there with the minimum of inconvenience.
But when de Donder cashed the spade ace, the 5-0 break meant that even game was in danger. However, he handled it like a veteran: he played a second diamond, won the heart return, then took the club king and ace, and cashed the diamond queen, discarding his heart nine from hand. On the diamond jack, which followed, East chose to ruff — and South overruffed. (It doesn’t help if East discards his last nontrump — a club — because then declarer pitches his last heart.) In the three-card ending, declarer has a high and low spade and the heart queen, dummy the spade 10-5 and a heart, and East has the spade J-9-8. De Donder exited with his heart, and East was forced to ruff, thus leaving himself endplayed in trumps.
It takes an initial heart lead to defeat four spades.
Bid with the aces
Answer: 2♠
It is a little tempting to bid more than two spades here, but your partner's double, while not in the balancing seat, does not necessarily promise a great hand. With a doubleton heart and an opening hand, he should double here, in what has been referred to as the "pre-balancing" seat. In other words, he assumes that his LHO will pass two hearts, and balances in expectation of that.
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.
