Hand of the day #402
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
Opening Lead: ♠Q
West leads the spade queen against six hearts. After winning the spade ace, you cash the ace and king of trumps. If both defenders follow, cash the club ace and continue with the club queen. If clubs are 3-2, life is easy; if they are not, you may have to cross to dummy with the trump 10 and take the diamond finesse.
When one defender discards on the second round of trumps, what should you do next? Obviously, you could cross to dummy with the trump 10 and take the diamond finesse. However, it is far better to develop dummy’s club suit.
One way is to draw the last trump and continue with the ace and queen of clubs. But East will hold up the king until the third round. You do no better by playing the club ace and queen while you still have the trump 10 as an entry to dummy. On this layout, East will win the second round of clubs and give his partner a club ruff.
Far better is to lead the club queen from hand first! If East takes the king, you will win his return, draw the last trump, and enjoy the club suit. If instead East ducks, you will continue with ace and another club. Then, after winning East’s return, you will cross to the dummy with the trump 10 and run the clubs.
This plan will succeed around two-thirds of the time, making it far more attractive than the diamond finesse.
Bid with the aces
Answer: Pass
Your partner's decision to reopen with a call of two clubs and not a takeout double suggests extra shape and perhaps unsuitability for defending (since he wasn't prepared to give you the option to defend). If that is so, you certainly don't want to double now — that would show much better trumps. The choice is to raise to three clubs or pass, and with the singleton in partner's long suit, I'd opt for defense.
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.
