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The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff

Opening Lead: ♠2

There are almost as many different ways to assign conventional meanings to three-level responses to one no-trump as there are calculations of the World's Top Player. (Only kidding: everyone knows that he would be the world's top player if he could just find a competent partner.)

In today’s deal North-South was using three-level calls to show both minors, in different ranges, with specific shortages, and thus reached a delicate game. For the record, three diamonds would have been forcing with both minors, three hearts and three spades would have shown shortage in the other major, 5-4 in the minors.

On lead against three no-trump, Migry Campanile (West) led a natural but unfortunate spade against three no trump, and declarer’s trick count was now up to seven. South, Mark Bompis of France, then made the natural, if potentially unsuccessful, play of the diamond queen from hand, trying to establish his eight-card fit, and Campanile won the king. If she had routinely returned a heart or spade, as was the case at many tables, declarer would then have had no problems both establishing diamonds and returning to dummy to make use of them.

In fact, where the board was played between two world-class teams on Vugraph, one West played a spade, the other played back a diamond. But Campanile returned a club to disrupt the entries to dummy, and now declarer had no chance when neither minor behaved.

Bid with the aces

This Hand of the Day was originally published on aces.bridgeblogging.com.

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