James Jacoby

Beware of Greek Gift.

From James Jacoby

When a good opponent seemingly gives you a present – stay alert!

Watch for a trap! Beware bridge players bringing gifts!

James Jacoby is the son of the famous Oswald Jacoby, who played a leading role in the ‘Bridge Battle of the Century’.

Ozzie, of course, was a master of many games and had written fine books on poker and backgammon as well as bridge; so son Jim had everything in his favor when he began his career.

Jim, a Texan, was one of the original Dallas Aces. He was world champion in 1970 and 1971 and has a long string of successes in the Spingold and Vanderbilt. He was one of the most professional of North American player-writers, sharing a widely syndicated bridge column with his father.

‘You bridge players do a lot of humdrum and routine work. Consequently it’s very easy for you to be lulled into that well-known false sense of security. Of course, in theory you should play your heart out at every deal – but as a practical matter you just don’t.

‘It helps to get the adrenalin going – but how do you do it? This is a problem you must solve individually. But perhaps I can help some of the time with a tale from an old legend.

‘In Virgil’s Aeneid the soothsayer Cassandra warned the Trojan warriors: "Timeo danaos et dona ferentes". (I fear the Greeks, even bearing gifts.) Nevertheless, when they saw the retreating Greeks and left behind them a large wooden horse, they couldn’t resist taking it into their city – and we know what that led to! Virgil, or Homer before him, little knew that the story of the Trojan horse could assist bridge players thousands of years later. Yet, with due acknowledgement to those ancient poets, my Bols tip is: "Beware bridge players bringing gifts".

‘There is a wealth of deals with Trojan horse themes. Here is one from a recent team-of-four final at a U.S. regional tournament:

East dealer

Both sides vulnerable

ª K2

¨ JT2

§ KQ42

ª Q93 ª JT754

¨ 65 ¨ AKQ9

§ J985 § 6

ª A86

¨ 8743

§ AT73

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH

Pass 1§ Pass 1©

Dbl Pass 1ª 2ª

Pass 2NT Pass 3NT

Pass Pass Pass

‘The opening lead was the ª3. Declarer won with dummy’s king and played off §K-Q. When East showed out on the second club lead there were only eight tricks in sight. But declarer sent his wooden horse to the gates of Troy. He led the ¨J from dummy. East disappointed his admirers watching on Vu-Graph by cashing four rounds of diamonds. He might as well have leaned across the table and strangled his partner. West threw two spades on the diamonds but had no good discard when the ace of spades was played.’

As astute readers will have noted, West is always going to be a loser on this deal, because of his minor tenace in clubs; however, the defensive point is sound and has wide application. Jacoby continued:

‘Next we have a similar theme:

East dealer

Both sides vulnerable

ª JT98

¨ 432

§ 432

ª K ª 32

¨ JT9 ¨ 8765

§ JT9 SOUTH § 8765

ª AQ7654

¨ AKQ

§ AKQ

‘South plays in 6ª after West has overcalled in hearts. West leads ©A and continues with a second heart, putting the lead in the North hand so that declarer can (hopefully) take a losing trump finesse. But now that you are aware of the clever traps these bridge players set, you of course simply play the ªA – and sneer as the king comes clattering down.

‘An exciting demonstration of the wooden horse ploy occurred in the 1971 world team championship, held in Taiwan. Bobby Wolff was the star. The hopeless victims were Svarc and Boulenger, of France,

South dealer

Neither side vulnerable

ª K85

¨ AQJ32

§ J7

ª AT6 ª J942

¨ 86 ¨ 9754

§ K952 SOUTH § AT84

ª Q73

¨ KT

§ Q63

‘Wolff became declarer in four hearts after this bidding:

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH

Svarc Jacoby Boulenger Wolff

1© Pass 2¨ Pass

2© Pass 4© Pass

Pass Pass

‘West led the §2 to his partner’s ace. After brief reflection Boulenger returned a low club. Svarc won with the king, cashed ªA and led another spade.

‘From South’s angle there was no certainty that a bridge gift had been offered – and yet, would Svarc had cashed the ªA unless he felt there was some good chance of taking the setting trick later? (Without such expectation he might, for example, have played a low spade, hoping to find East with the queen; the ace of spades would also be a mistake if South held something like ª Q-x © A-Q-J-x-x-x ¨ 10-x § Q-x-x).

‘So there were good reasons already to place West with the guarded queen of hearts. At any rate, Wolff won the spade in hand with the queen and led ©J, which was covered by West and won in dummy. Declarer came back to hand with ¨10 and led ©8. When Svarc played low, Wolff called for the 3! How did it all happen?

‘Simple enough. Declarer decided, first, that the prompt play of the ace of spades marked West with the queen of hearts. Then, when West covered the jack, there was a further deduction that he did not hold Q-x or Q-x-x, since a player with that trump holding would not reveal the queen. So the play of the © Q was a gift: a gift that tested the declarer. Fortunate for the Aces’ world championship aspirations that year, Wolff passed the test.

‘Let this be your Bols tip to win: When a good opponent seemingly gives you a present – stay alert! Watch for a trap! Beware bridge players bearing gifts’

Note how Bobby Wolff’s play of this deal accorded with his own tip, ‘Do not be content simply to work out the high cards a defender is likely to hold: try to assess his distribution as well’.

Jacoby describes, in his first deal, how a defender is tricked into squeezing his partner. Here the declarer plays on the opponents’ best suit for a different reason:

East dealer

Both sides vulnerable

ª 753

¨ K7532

§ JT4

ª QT8 ª J964

¨ 6 ¨ JT4

§ AQ852 § 976

ª AK2

¨ AQ98

§ K3

South opens 2NT and North raises to 3NT. West leads the §5, described as fourth best, and dummy’s jack holds the first trick. South immediately returns a club!!

West must not cash even one more club, for this will give South a chance to dispose of the obstructing ¨8 West must switch to a heart (or, as the cards lie, a spade) and declarer, with the diamonds blocked, will be unable to develop a ninth trick.

Note that it is good play for South to return the club immediately. If he first tests the diamonds, then the intention of his ‘Trojan Horse’ play is more evident to the defense.

In his second deal Jacoby illustrated the free offer to take a finesse – an offer which declarer should refuse. Somewhat similar is the situation in a trump contract when a side suit is divided in this way:

K J 7 4

10 9 8 6 3 Q 5 2

West leads the 10 to declarer’s ace, and as soon as he gains the lead West advances the 9 in the same suit. You will often see a declarer finesse, on the grounds that this is mathematically the best chance to win an extra trick; but it is much more likely that the defender is seeking to deflect the declarer from playing king and another, bringing down the queen.