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: ♥10
How should you play six clubs on a heart lead? Does this deal require card-play technique or elements of psychology?
The best mathematical chance of success is to win the heart ace. Next play the diamond ace and ruff a diamond high. You can cash the club ace, lead the club 10 to the jack, then ruff another diamond. If the diamond king has fallen, you will have created a home for your heart loser. If not, you can always fall back on the spade finesse. This line allows you to take your chances in echelon; but the extra chance that you have built for yourself is less than 10 percent.
Contrast this approach with winning the heart ace at trick one and looking for a more psychological line. Simply call for the spade queen, then use your bridge judgment to gauge East’s reaction to this play.
Even if East is a real expert, he would have to be truly inspired not to cover this card, or at least to consider doing so. If East ducks the spade queen without thought, then you should assume that West has the spade king. If so, you should rise with the spade ace, draw trump, and try to take the diamond finesse to discard your heart loser. Against any but the very best defenders (and there are precious few of them!), this line has a 75 percent chance of success.
Bid with the aces
Answer: 2♣
It would be extremely dangerous to pass for penalties here. And to jump to three no-trump could prove extremely embarrassing if your partner has a singleton or void in clubs. Start by cuebidding two clubs and you will always be able to follow up with a three-no-trump call at your next turn, suggesting a little more doubt about the final contract.
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.
