Hand of the day #570
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: ♦3
If you just looked at the North-South cards in four hearts ,you would expect 10 tricks to be a cakewalk, especially as East's opening bid suggests the diamond ace rates to be onside.
However, the fly in the ointment was the opening lead of the diamond three. Imagine that as declarer you were faced with that situation. You would let East win the diamond ace, cover the return of the diamond queen, and West would ruff and exit with a spade.
With two diamond losers to get rid of, you would ruff a club, go back to the heart nine to ruff another club, and try to put some pressure on the opponents — but nothing would materialize.
Instead, declarer must duck the second trick. No harm will come to South in the unlikely event that diamonds were originally 3-2: he will simply have invested an overtrick as insurance. But if the cards lie as in the diagram, at trick three East will lead a third diamond, covered and ruffed. When West exits with a spade, you win in dummy and ruff a club. Then you play a heart to the nine, ruff a second club, and run the hearts, pitching dummy’s diamond, followed by low clubs. First you squeeze West out of a spade (as he has to guard clubs), then, when you throw dummy’s club queen, East must pitch spades to keep the diamond guard. So trick 13 will be won with dummy’s spade seven.
Bid with the aces
Answer: 2♠
In this sequence at your second turn the "impossible" two-spade call shows a good raise to three clubs, while a simple raise to three clubs would suggests more shape and fewer high cards, so take the more aggressive route. For the record, had partner responded two diamonds, not two clubs, a simple raise would have sufficed.
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.
