Hand of the day #216
The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff Defense is one of the hardest aspects of the g...
This conundrum was written by Mark Horton and was originally published in the book, Misplay These Hands With Me - you can find out all about it further down the page.
My partner in the Grandmaster Pairs is of the highest class. Near the end, we are so far ahead of the field that we could retire to the bar for the rest of the event, when I pick up this powerhouse:
Dealer South
East-West Vulnerable
I open Two Clubs and partner responds 2♦, which we play as promising any positive response. I rebid 2NT and partner advances with an enquiry of 3♣, to which I respond 3♠, showing a five-card suit. Partner now bids 4♥, which I take to be a cuebid. I decide to check on this by bidding 4NT and partner replies 5♥, showing two of five ‘aces’. Since partner already knows that I am in the range of 23-24, I content myself with 6♠, which becomes the final contract:
West leads the jack of diamonds and partner reveals a bare minimum for his positive response:
This should not take long, as once I have drawn trumps I can ruff a heart in dummy.
I win the opening lead and cross to dummy with the king of spades. West discards the five of hearts on this trick and I can feel the room getting hotter. I play three rounds of hearts, ruffing, but East overruffs and in due course I have to lose a diamond.
This was the full deal:
Post-mortem
An unlucky deal to be sure, but my line of play can be improved upon. At Trick 2, I should cash a high spade in hand, claiming if everyone fol- lows. When West discards, I cross to the ace of hearts and play a trump. If East fails to split, I win with the eight and then ruff a heart with dummy’s king of spades. If East splits, I win, ruff a heart high and pick up East’s trumps via a finesse.
Horton leads the reader through a plausibly logical line of play on each instructive deal, but one that ends in failure. In each post-mortem, the 'expert' realizes how he could have improved on his play, and (usually) have made his contract. The deals are all from top-class events, which prove to be a remarkably fertile source of such material. A book filled with subtle humor and great bridge. Reviews Misplay with Me is the best written bridge book since Reese. I thoroughly enjoyed it. - Charles Lipman
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