Aces on Bridge
Dear Mr. Wolff: Recently at my club, someone claimed their contract on a marked finesse, stating that they would “play the queen” from an ace-queen combination in dummy. The next player put the king up, saying declarer now had to call for the queen. Who was right?
— Taking Advantage, Newark, N.J.
Answer: Technically, the defender might have been correct, but it absolutely is not in the spirit of the game to take advantage of such things. People should try to win by merit rather than calling the rules to their aid. For declarer to make the suggested play would be irrational.
Dear Mr. Wolff: What is the percentage play for all the tricks with a holding of king-jack-nine-low facing ace-third?
— Deep Nine, Springfield, Mass.
Answer: Technically, it is best to cash the ace and then finesse the jack. However, Edgar Kaplan wrote an article in The Bridge World suggesting that it depends on who is sitting over the king-jacknine-low. If that player is a crafty type who would be expected to falsecard with the 10 from 10-doubleton or 10-third, the odds favor finessing the nine on the second round, picking off queen-10-fourth in the slot. That seems too deep to me!
Dear Mr. Wolff: My partner and I had a misunderstanding about the meaning of a two-club cue-bid by fourth hand after his left-hand opponent opened one club and his right-hand opponent responded one heart. How would you interpret that?
— Michaels Mix-up,
Holland, Mich.
Answer: I play (and would recommend) that you use the call as natural, with three clubs as preemptive.
However, some play this call as showing at least 5-5 shape in the other two suits even if the one-club opening could be short. If so, maybe two no-trump should denote both minors. In that style, one would have to bid clubs later.
Dear Mr. Wolff: I got a bad result when I held ♠ 6, ♥ J-9-8-3-2, ♦ A-8-5,
♣ A-10-6-3. My partner opened one spade and rebid two hearts over my one-notrump response. I raised to three hearts, and my partner passed, missing a good game. Was I culpable?
— Chicken Little, Rockford, Ill.
Answer: The singleton in your partner’s suit is not a bad holding when you have an extra trump to ruff out the opponents’ winners, and the aces in partner’s short suits are sure to be working cards. I think you have to take the bull by the horns and raise to game. Not all 9-counts are created equal, and this one is more equal than others.
Dear Mr. Wolff: How would you play a three-no-trump response to a one-heart or one-spade opening?
— Choose Your Poison, Milwaukee, Wis.
Answer: If you play that direct splinters show 1215, then over a one-spade opener the three-no-trump call can be used to show an unspecified splinter with the lower range (say 10-12). Over a one-heart opener, three spades shows all hands in the lower range, and three no-trump shows a spade splinter in the higher range. Another approach is to use the call to show a minimum game force and a balanced hand. However, this seems to preempt your own auctions for no reason.