Bobby WolffWikipedia: Robert S. (Bobby) Wolff(born October 14, 1932, San Antonio, Texas) is an American bridge player, writer, and administrator. He is the only person to win world championships in five different categories.
Wolff was an original member of the Dallas Aces team, which was formed in 1968 to compete against the Italian Blue Team which was dominant at the time. The Aces were successful and won their first world championship in 1970. Wolff has won 11 world championships, over 30 North American championships, and was the president of World Bridge Federation (WBF) 1992–1994, and served as president of American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) 1987. He is the author of a tell-all on bridge chronicling 60 years on the scene, entitled The Lone Wolff, published by Master Point Press. His column, The Aces on Bridge has been appearing daily for over 32 years, is syndicated by United Feature Syndicate in more than 130 newspapers worldwide and is available online two weeks in arrears.
IMPs Dealer South. Both Vul
8 7 2
5 4
K 8 6
A 10 9 7 5
A K Q J 10 6
Q 6 2
A 7 5
3
West
North
East
South
1
Pass
2
Pass
4
Pass
Pass
Pass
“The man who is a pessimist before 48 knows too much, if he is an optimist after it, he knows too little” Mark Twain.
West led the J. East win his A and returns a heart, trapping South’s queen. West win the second trick and continues with a third heart.
How would you advise South to play from here?
The optimist plays today’s hand with no fear of an overrruff and goes down. Since the pessimist “knows” that an overrruff is coming, he has a better shot at finding the winning play.
East won his A and returned a heart to trap South’s queen. West continued with a third heart, ruffed with dummy’s 7 and overruffed with east’s 9. Later, the defenders collected a diamond trick as well, and the game fell one short.
“The odds against a 6-2 heart split are nearly 5-1”, alibied South. Moreover, the overall odds against an overrruff are halved when you consider that the 9 might be with West”.
There was little wrong with South’s arithmetic, but there was plenty wrong with his play. Instead of ruffing the third heart in dummy, he should have discarded a diamond. When he wins the next lead, he can draw two rounds of trumps and play three rounds of diamond ruffing the third for his game going trick.
Would your advice have helped South?
8 7 2
5 4
K 8 6
A 10 9 7 5
