Hand of the day #557
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: ♣K
Against four hearts West began with three top clubs, South ruffing the third round. This hand boils down to playing the trumps for one loser, which is best done by assuming East has the heart queen.
West could have defeated four hearts after cashing the club ace and king by shifting to a diamond to dislodge an entry from dummy.
But West played the third club — as I suspect we all might do. With no particularly deep plan in mind, South ruffed and cashed the spade ace, overtook the spade queen with the king, and led the heart three to the 10. When it held, he crossed to dummy with the diamond 10 and ruffed a spade, then went back to dummy with a second diamond to the queen and led the heart eight. If East played low, declarer would let the heart eight hold, then lead out dummy’s top spade and remain in dummy for a trump coup. If East covered the eight with his ace, he would have to lead a diamond, and declarer could take dummy’s ace and be in dummy for the trump coup.
There is one trap in the deal (though I do not think many defenders would get this right for the right reasons). If declarer leads the heart eight from dummy at trick six, instead of the low trump, East can defeat the game by winning his ace and returning a diamond. Then declarer does not have enough entries to dummy for the trump coup.
Bid with the aces
Answer: Double
Here a double by you is emphatically not penalties. Few low-level doubles are penalty-oriented, especially when the opponents have found a fit. This double suggests the unbid suits and values. You should be content to have a doubleton in partner's suit as a fallback for him if he does not have four cards in either black suit.
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.
