BRIDGE NOTES: Attack is the best defence

Today's deal takes us back to the US prestigious Bridge National Championship - the 1978 Reisinger National Championship played in Denver, Colorado in 1978 where east west cards were held by the America's world famous pair of its time Bobby Wolf and Bob Hamman - two of the America's leading bridge experts known all over the world for their imaginative defence. A classical example of which was the following deal, giving you only the east cards held by Bobby Wolf: 5, 72, AQJ98743, 63.
The bidding proceeded as under:
The opening lead is the KD. Sitting east, what in the first instance do you do on the first trick? It is pointless to duck and be cut off from the scene altogether if the KD is a singleton. The overtaking of KD with AD is a marked one followed by the QD, which also holds. The vital question for defence is what to do next after the following dummy has opened up on west's right:
West could see at once that unless and until, his partner notched up a trump trick besides the sure AC he held for his double of 4H and 4S, the contract could not be beaten. But he could also foresee that if at all his partner held the K of trumps or queen of trumps tripleton, it was bound to be finessed under dummy's ace of trumps clearly visible to east.
Let us put you in the east seat held by the great American Champion of Bridge Bobby Wolff and allow you to find a way to beat the contract of 4S doubleton, which looks almost ice cold with the KC placed favourably and the 4 heart tricks winning, adding to south's 5 trumps plus the KC for 10 tricks. There being no loser in hearts, with declarer almost certain to hold a singleton, with the diamonds now exhausted all the declarer needs would be to ruff a club in dummy for the tenth trick.
Defence in bridge undoubtedly is the hardest part to comprehend, conjure and put up in clear and bold terms. But for that, the defenders are bound to assume a certain lie of the cards in their favour without which there would hardly be any chance for it to break the contract. Let us proceed to think on logical lines by first visualising what would be declarer's hand in lieu of his bidding 4S over partners 4H doubled running to 4S and sticking with it even after the double. If we give the declarer the minimum 5 trumps he advocates by his 4S bid, and the likely singleton heart and doubleton diamonds shown it would give the declarer 5 card club suit. But what is more apparent is that the contract of 4S doubled looks sound and fool proof on reverse dummy with the fifth heart likely to be ruffed in hand and the king of clubs good with partner's likely honour in trumps to be crushed by a finesse.
After a long pause, Wolff realized Hamman's double of 4H merely on a 5 carder and his double of 4S on the fact that he held AC, a singleton KD and a trump king tripleton, which naturally be assumed safe for a downing trick, giving 3 minor tricks to the defence.
The only last resort and hope lay in promoting a trump trick for the defence and this could come about perhaps by a ruff and sluff. So Wolff brilliantly led the third diamond deliberately. Unless south ruffed high Hamman's 9S would drive out the AS. Declarer ruffed with the 10S. The 4 times World Champion Hamman knew enough to refuse the over ruff. There was now no way out for south to smother Hamman's trump holding of K92 for Hamman now had a natural trump trick thanks to Wolf's belief that in bridge attack is the best defence.

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W         N      E       S

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-        -      4D    Pass

Pass     4H    Pass   Pass

Double   Pass   Pass    4S

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Double

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North (Dummy)

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A843    AKQJ6

102        K9

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