Board 59

Board 59 (Click to download pbn file)
Neither vulnerable

♠ 8 6 ♥ 9 7 5 4 ♦ 6 3 2 ♣ K 10 7 3

I pass, and LHO opens one notrump. RHO bids two clubs, then four notrump (natural) over his partner's two spades. West goes on to six notrump, and partner leads the four of diamonds.

	NORTH ♠ Q 10 4 ♥ A K 8 6 ♦ J 10 5 ♣ A Q 8
		EAST ♠ 8 6 ♥ 9 7 5 4 ♦ 6 3 2 ♣ K 10 7 3

West	North	East	South
		Pass	1 NT
Pass	2 ♣	Pass	2 ♠
Pass	4 NT	Pass	6 NT
(All pass)

Partner has either four or five high-card points, and I doubt he's leading from an honor on this auction. That means he must have either the queen of hearts or a high spade honor. Declarer is likely to be 4-3-3-3, since he didn't rebid spades or introduce a new suit over four notrump.

Dummy plays the ten of diamonds, I play the deuce, and declarer wins with the king. He plays the deuce of hearts--ten--king.  I play the five.  If partner does have the queen of hearts, it's dropping. 

Declarer leads the four of spades from dummy. As I've mentioned in an earlier post, the right way to card in a suit in which declarer might need to guess the jack is to give correct count when you don't hold the jack and false count when you do--not as a deceptive maneuver but as a matter of agreement. This method allows you to give count to partner without giving the suit away to declarer. From declarer's point of view, if West plays up the line and East echos, the suit could be either

WEST ♠ J x x x

EAST ♠ x x

or

WEST ♠ x x x

EAST ♠ J x x

Similarly, if West echoes and East plays up the line, the suit could be either

WEST ♠ x x

EAST ♠ J x x x

or

WEST ♠ J x x

EAST ♠ x x x

If you don't have this agreement, it is dangerous to give count routinely in suits like this, since declarer just might decide to believe you.  Since Jack and I don't have this agreement, I play the six.  Declarer wins with the ace and partner plays the deuce.  If we were carding properly, that would be from three small, king-jack third (not king-empty third, else declarer would have finessed), or jack fourth. But I suspect what partner actually has is three spades with or without the jack. That means declarer is 5-3-3-2 or 5-2-3-3, probably the former, since it appears partner has queen-ten doubleton of hearts.  So declarer has five spade tricks, three diamonds, two hearts, and the club ace--eleven tricks.  The has a third heart trick he doesn't know about yet.  If he has the club jack, he can drive my club king for twelve tricks, so I must assume partner has it, and we must offer declarer some alternative to dropping partner's heart queen. 

Declarer plays the three of spades--five--queen--eight. He plays the six of hearts. I play the four--queen--jack. Didn't I decide declarer can't have that card? Ace-king of spades, ace-king-queen of diamonds, queen of hearts. That's eighteen high-card points. No wonder he accepted the invitation. Declarer plays the nine of diamonds, another card he can't have, since we "know" he has ace-king-queen tight. Perhaps he's 4-3-4-2 and partner did give false count with jack fourth of spades. Partner plays the seven of diamonds--jack--three. Declarer plays the ten of spades to his king as I pitch the three of clubs. Partner plays the spade jack. Declarer lead the spade seven, and partner pitches the deuce of clubs.

So declarer does have five spades. What's going on? And why isn't declarer claiming seven? The only thing I can figure out is that partner must have underled the diamond ace at trick one, then ducked the ace on the lead of the nine. That means declarer's hand is

♠ A K x x x ♥ Q x x ♦ K Q x ♣ J x

He accepted with a minimum in high cards because of his fifth spade. If I'm right, he has eleven tricks, and he has me caught in a strip squeeze. If dummy and I both come down to two hearts and two clubs, declarer can cash the ace of hearts, and, when he discovers hearts don't break, he can toss me in with a heart to lead into the ace-queen of clubs. To stop the endplay, I must save a diamond and stiff my king of clubs.

On the fourth round of spades dummy pitches the five of diamonds, and I pitch the seven of clubs. Declarer cashes his last spade and everyone pitches clubs: five--eight--ten. Declarer, apparently realizing the endplay won't work because I still have a diamond, plays a club to the queen. I win with my singleton king and play a diamond to partner. Partner cashes his long diamond. Down two.

	NORTH ♠ Q 10 4 ♥ A K 8 6 ♦ J 10 5 ♣ A Q 8
WEST ♠ J 5 2 ♥ J 10 ♦ A 8 7 4 ♣ 9 6 5 2		EAST ♠ 8 6 ♥ 9 7 5 4 ♦ 6 3 2 ♣ K 10 7 3
	SOUTH ♠ A K 9 7 3 ♥ Q 3 2 ♦ K Q 9 ♣ J 4

Was partner right to duck the second diamond? What if he wins and shifts to a club? If he does that, declarer's percentage play is to hop with the ace and cash his tricks. If hearts break, he has twelve tricks. If they don't, he has a squeeze, provided the hand with the long heart has the king of clubs. Ducking the diamond avoids correcting the count for the simple squeeze. Declarer can still make his contract, but he has to guess who has the club king. Nice play, partner.

At the other table, the auction and lead are the same. But East pitches his last diamond on the run of the spades, leaving himself exposed to the strip squeeze. Declarer works it out and makes six.

Jack, like all bridge-playing programs I know of, defends by searching for plays that beat the hand double dummy. I'm not sure how he selects his plays once he concludes that the hand is cold double dummy. Human defenders can select plays that offer declarer a losing option, but computers seem unable to do that, except perhaps by accident. I suspect ducking the diamond ace was one such accident. West "thought" at the time that his play didn't matter and chose to play low either at random or because he always plays low when it doesn't matter.

If computers are ever to play as well as humans, they need to be able to analyze hands from their opponent's single-dummy point of view. The inability to do so was very costly on the deal.  I must confess, however, I can't even imagine how to design a program to do this. 

Me: +100
Jack: -990

Score on Board 59: +14 IMPs
Total: +138 IMPs

Board 58

Board 58 (Click to download pbn file)
Both sides vulnerable

♠ J 9 ♥ J 7 ♦ Q 10 6 5 2 ♣ A 7 5 3

RHO opens one notrump, I pass, and LHO bids two diamonds (transfer), RHO bids two hearts, LHO bids three clubs, and RHO bids four hearts.

There are a number of questions about this auction that each partnership needs to answer. First, what does opener need to pre-accept the transfer? In my partnerships, opener is expected to pre-accept with almost any hand with four trumps. This agreement has two advantages: (1) It takes some of the pressure off responder when he holds a hand where game might depend on finding a good fit. With such a hand he can transfer and pass without fear of missing anything. (2) Should responder hold slam interest, opener has a head start on describing his hand. Even when he doesn't pre-accept, the fact that he can't have a good fit for the major narrows the range of hands he needs to describe and adds clarity to the later auction. Occasionally this agreement results in your reaching the three level when you would rather not.  This is less of problem when you are playing weak notrumps, since in such cases you have a better chance that the hand belongs to the opponents and that you will be protected by the Law.

Second, how should opener bid when he pre-accepts? I play that jumping in responder's suit shows a minimum with four trumps and other bids show a concentration of strength and a maximum (with two notrump showing a maximum with no concentration). Other agreements may be equally good or even better. Some, for example, play that opener's new suit shows a doubleton.

Finally, what do opener's third-round actions mean when he doesn't pre-accept and responder bids a new suit? Since we have no need to show a good fit for the major, it suffices to use three or four of the major as the only bids that show support. (I would play four as showing the better hand. Fast-arrival cultists would play that four shows a minimum. Best just to ignore those guys.) This allows bids in new suits to be used to show a fit specifically for responder's second suit. If there are two suits below three notrump, you bid your better suit (better meaning the suit you would worry least about for notrump if partner held a singleton). If there is only one suit below three notrump, that bid is simply an artificial raise. Raising responder's minor to the four level should show a fit in both suits. For slam purposes, it's important to have some way to show that hand. Other four-level bids should be cue-bids showing a huge fit for the minor and prime values. They are rare, since opener needs to be fairly confident that three notrump is the wrong spot.

Back to the problem at hand. What should I lead against four hearts? I don't care for a passive diamond lead. The lack of intermediates in clubs suggests a more active defense. A low club, playing partner for a trump entry and a doubleton club, has some appeal. It would have more appeal if I had a better hand. As it is, I don't know enough about where our tricks are coming from to adopt such an inflexible plan. It seems best just to attack our likeliest source of tricks, simultaneously leaving open the possibility of obtaining a ruff myself. I lead the jack of spades.

	NORTH ♠ 10 ♥ K Q 8 6 2 ♦ K 4 ♣ K 10 9 6 2
WEST ♠ J 9 ♥ J 7 ♦ Q 10 6 5 2 ♣ A 7 5 3

West	North	East	South
			1 NT
Pass	2 ♦1	Pass	2 ♥
Pass	3 ♣	Pass	4 ♥
(All pass)
1Jacoby transfer

Dummy plays the ten; partner, the eight; and declarer wins with the ace. Partner has from four to six high-card points, at least two of which are useless, given his encouraging eight of spades. Spades are probably either five-five or four-six. Declarer cashes the heart ace--seven--deuce--four. He then plays the four of clubs. I presume he has a doubleton club and has stopped drawing trump so he can ruff the third round of clubs in his hand. I think partner can work this out for himself, so there is no reason to give count. I play the three of clubs. Declarer plays the nine and partner wins with the jack, surely from queen-jack doubleton. That's five high-card points. He has at most the jack of diamonds in addition. If he has the jack, that gives declarer a minimum in high cards, but a minimum that consists of ace-king, ace, ace--still a four heart bid in my opinion.

It seems the best we can do is to take two more club tricks, possibly only one if Jack's peripheral vision is good. Partner returns the three of diamonds--ace--six--four. Declarer plays the eight of clubs, I play the five--deuce--queen. Partner returns the deuce of spades--king--nine--six of clubs.

How should declarer play from here? One possibility is to play a trump to dummy. If they split, draw the last trump and concede a club. If they don't, ruff a club, hoping for a three-three club break. Is there any way declarer can cater to a bad break in both suits? He seems to want to give it try. He leads the three of spades. I ruff with the trump jack, and declarer overruffs with the queen. He plays the ten of clubs. Partner pitches a diamond, and declarer ruffs with the three. He ruffs the six of spades to dummy, and ruffs dummy's last club as partner pitches the jack of diamonds. Partner has a trump trick, but that's all we get. Making four.

	NORTH ♠ 10 ♥ K Q 8 6 2 ♦ K 4 ♣ K 10 9 6 2
WEST ♠ J 9 ♥ J 7 ♦ Q 10 6 5 2 ♣ A 7 5 3		EAST ♠ Q 8 5 4 2 ♥ 10 9 4 ♦ J 9 3 ♣ Q J
	SOUTH ♠ A K 7 6 3 ♥ A 5 3 ♦ A 8 7 ♣ 8 4

Was this a sensible line? At the point declarer ruffed a spade to dummy, he was looking at

	NORTH ♠ -- ♥ K Q 8 6 ♦ K ♣ K 10
	SOUTH ♠ 7 6 3 ♥ 5 3 ♦ 8 7 ♣ --

The uppercut doesn't hurt him. He can afford a trump loser as long as he gets to ruff both his clubs. But what was he planning to do if I don't uppercut him and if partner follows when he leads a club off dummy? If he ruffs, he risks going down on a three-two trump break. I might overruff and return a trump, leaving him with a club loser. If he pitches, I might win the club ace. Then if trumps don't break, he's down. The line I suggested above works against a bad trump break and three-three clubs. It's not clear to me this line is better than the one I suggested.

The auction is the same at the other table, and the play begins the same way. But in the end position, declarer chooses to draw trumps and concede a club. Making four. At the other table, West echoed in clubs. I wonder if that factored into declarer's decision. Perhaps my failure to echo persuaded declarer I couldn't have a doubleton, which makes playing for club ruffs more attractive.

Me: -620
Jack: -620

Score on Board 58: 0 IMPs
Total: +124 IMPs

Board 57

Board 57 (Click to download pbn file)
Opponents vulnerable

♠ Q 5 ♥ K Q J ♦ A K J ♣ A K J 10 6

Two passes to me. I open two clubs. Partner responds two diamonds, which jack describes as "waiting." I don't care for this approach, but I've never had much luck with control-showing responses either. The only method I've tried that I've had any success with is my own invention: two diamonds is an artificial positive, two hearts is negative without a five-card major, and two spades is negative with an undisclosed five-card (or longer) major.

Unlike control-showing responses, this method gives you room on the hands where you need it the most. Frequently opener already knows where he wants to play opposite a negative response, so room is less important on those auctions.  And if you do still need to investigate, distinguishing between negative responses that include or don't include a long major solves many of your problems.  After a two heart response, for example, responder is free to bid a four-card major over opener's three of a minor.

Over two diamonds, I bid two notrump. Partner bids three diamonds, a transfer to hearts. I bid three hearts, and partner bids three spades. If partner can handle spades, three notrump looks like the right spot to me. It's not hard to construct hands where nine tricks in notrump will be easier than ten in hearts. I bid three notrump, and partner removes to four hearts.

There is a school of thought that says this should be a slam try. This school holds that with a non-slammish six-four in the majors responder should simply use Texas. I don't know if Jack subscribes to this theory or not, but surely ace sixth of hearts and the spade king would merit a two-heart response to two clubs, so slam can hardly be cold. I pass, and LHO leads the ten of diamonds.

	NORTH ♠ 8 7 3 2 ♥ A 8 6 4 3 2 ♦ Q 6 3 ♣ --
	SOUTH ♠ Q 5 ♥ K Q J ♦ A K J ♣ A K J 10 6

West	North	East	South
	Pass	Pass	2 ♣1
Pass	2 ♦2	Pass	2 NT
Pass	3 ♦3	Pass	3 ♥
Pass	3 ♠	Pass	3 NT
Pass	4 ♥	(All pass)
1Strong
2Waiting
3Jacoby-transfer

I win with the king and draw trumps in three rounds. East pitches the four of spades and the three of clubs.  He knows diamond discards are safe, so this sequence of plays suggests he is 5-1-2-5. I cash the ace and king of clubs, pitching two spades, then lead the jack of clubs. My intention is to ruff this, backing my judgment on East's shape. I can then lead a diamond to the jack, ruff out East's club queen, then play a diamond to the ace to cash a club, making six. Unfortunately, West covers with the club queen. This is unfortunate, because it means six is cold if they don't lead a spade. I was hoping East had begun with queen fifth of clubs. I ruff the club and make seven.

	NORTH ♠ 8 7 3 2 ♥ A 8 6 4 3 2 ♦ Q 6 3 ♣ --
WEST ♠ K 9 ♥ 10 9 5 ♦ 10 9 8 7 2 ♣ Q 5 2		EAST ♠ A J 10 6 4 ♥ 7 ♦ 5 4 ♣ 9 8 7 4 3
	SOUTH ♠ Q 5 ♥ K Q J ♦ A K J ♣ A K J 10 6

At the other table, the auction begins the same way, but South bids four hearts rather than three notrump over three spades. Knowing his partner has three hearts, North decides, reasonably enough, to drive to slam via his customary Blackwood-with-a-void auction. West leads a diamond, and declarer makes the same seven I did.

I'm not sure what to think of this result. This is obviously a poor slam double dummy, and we avoided it for precisely the right reason, that is, because my hand is so concentrated in the minors. (I checked.  Jack would have responded two hearts with the spade king instead of the diamond queen.) But the fact of the matter is, it's probably an odds-on slam single dummy. West will have a clear spade lead only 25% of the time. The rest of the time he will be hard-pressed to lead a spade, especially once North has bid the suit. If he leads a club, it's all over. And if he leads a red suit, I have a fair chance of ruffing out the queen of clubs even before factoring in the possibility of an ill-advised club discard. In short, it looks like a slam you want to reach. I still think three notrump rates to be a better game than four hearts opposite a random 4-5-x-x, but perhaps not so much better that it justifies stymieing partner's potential slam investigation.

Me: +510
Jack: +1010

Score on Board 57: -11 IMPs
Total: +124 IMPs

Board 56

Board 56 (Click to download pbn file)
Neither vulnerable

♠ K 7 2 ♥ A Q 6 4 ♦ Q J 7 ♣ A Q 6

Three passes to me. I open one club--one spade--pass--two clubs back to me. I have nothing further to say. I guess I was supposed to pass this hand out. LHO bids two spades, RHO raises to three, and LHO passes. Partner leads the three of clubs.

	NORTH ♠ A 9 4 ♥ K 10 8 7 ♦ A 6 5 4 ♣ 8 4
		EAST ♠ K 7 2 ♥ A Q 6 4 ♦ Q J 7 ♣ A Q 6

West	North	East	South
			Pass
Pass	Pass	1 ♣	1 ♠
Pass	2 ♣	Pass	2 ♠
Pass	3 ♠	(All pass)

That was sporting of North to raise to three and give me a shot at a plus score. I think he already did his hand justice with two clubs. Three spades should show a hand that re-evaluates to an opening bid in support of spades.

Declarer plays the four from dummy. My first instinct is to play the queen of clubs, possibly retaining an entry to partner's hand with the jack for a heart play. Let's see if this makes sense. For it to be necessary for us to play hearts, there must be a threat of a heart discard. Perhaps declarer has something like

♠ Q J x x x ♥ x x ♦ K 10 x ♣ K 10 x

If we don't play hearts, declarer can duck a diamond to me and set up a pitch. But so what?  If we do play hearts, declarer can set up a heart for a diamond pitch. We can't beat it in that layout. Maybe it will be easier to beat this if declarer has club losers instead of red-suit losers. How about this hand:

♠ Q J x x x ♥ x x ♦ K x ♣ K 10 x x

Say I take the club ace and shift to a spade. Declarer can win this in dummy with the ace, then club to the king, club ruff, diamond to the king, club ruff with the spade nine. This isn't going well. Perhaps the club queen at trick one is the right idea but for a different reason. It forces him to use his club entry before he's ready. Let's go back to trick one. I play the club queen. Declarer wins and ducks a club. Partner wins and shifts to a spade. Spade ace, diamond to the king, club ruff, diamond ace, diamond ruff, club ruff. We need four tricks in this position:

	NORTH ♠ -- ♥ K 10 8 7 ♦ 6 ♣ --
WEST ♠ 10 ♥ J x x ♦ 10 ♣ --		EAST ♠ K 7 ♥ A Q 6 ♦ -- ♣ --
	SOUTH ♠ Q J x ♥ x x ♦ ♣ --

We don't have them. It appears it's going to be difficult to take four tricks outside the spade suit. I need to find partner with either a minor-suit king or a second spade trick.  In any event, it does seem to make declarer's life a little more difficult if I retain the ace of clubs.

I play the queen of clubs, and declarer wins with the king. He plays the three of hearts--nine--ten. It' nice to have partner give such clear count signals. But sometimes I wish he would value his eights and nines a little more highly. It appears declarer has a singleton heart and is preparing for a crossruff.  That suggests he doesn't have the king of diamonds. If he did, he wouldn't need heart ruffs for entries.

Since declarer is intending a crossruff, it looks right to start drawing trumps.  We can play one trump now and a second trump when declarer ducks a club. How will that work? Let's give declarer

♠ Q J x x x ♥ x ♦ x x ♣ K x x x x

(If he has three small diamonds, he's down, so I might as well assume this shape.) If I switch to a trump, declarer wins with the queen and ducks a club. Partner wins and plays another trump. Declarer wins with the ace, ruffs a heart, ruffs a club, ruffs another heart, then starts running clubs.

So a trump switch isn't going to help.  In that case, I'm better off not breaking trumps at all and hoping partner has something useful that will produce a second trump trick. I win with the queen of hearts. I'm about to switch to the queen of diamonds when another thought occurs to me. If I'm hoping for a second trump trick, it must be right to keep declarer in the dark about the location of the diamond honors. If he finds out partner has the diamond king, he will know I have the spade king. Accordingly, I cash the club ace. Declarer plays the deuce, and partner plays the five. Apparently declarer is indeed 5-1-2-5. I play my last club, and declarer ruffs in dummy as partner plays the ten. Declarer plays dummy's nine of spades, I play low--queen--ten. Declarer plays a low spade to the ace, partner following with the jack. We eventually score my spade king and a diamond trick.

	NORTH ♠ A 9 4 ♥ K 10 8 7 ♦ A 6 5 4 ♣ 8 4
WEST ♠ J 10 ♥ J 9 5 2 ♦ K 10 9 3 ♣ 10 5 3		EAST ♠ K 7 2 ♥ A Q 6 4 ♦ Q J 7 ♣ A Q 6
	SOUTH ♠ Q 8 6 5 3 ♥ 3 ♦ 8 2 ♣ K J 9 7 2

Declarer made the winning decision in spades. He certainly might have won the club jack, played a spade to the ace, then, on seeing the ten drop, lead the nine and pass it. In fact, I'm not sure why he didn't. Admittedly, spades can't be four-one (which would make the play a huge favorite), since I would be working harder to tap his hand if they were. But, even assuming three-two spades, passing the nine is a two-to-one favorite by restricted choice. The auction doesn't change that. West needs three or four high-card points (in addition to his presumed jack of hearts) to keep me from having a two-notrump opening, so there's no reason he couldn't have the spade king. I did well to keep partner's diamond king under wraps. It's disappointing that decision didn't pay off.

At the other table, the auction is the same. East wins with the club ace at trick one and continues with the six. Declarer wins with the king and plays a heart to the nine, ten, and queen. Despite his partner's nine of hearts, East tries to cash the heart ace. Declarer ruffs, ruffs a club, then makes the same winning guess in spades to make an overtrick.

Me: -140
Jack: -170

Score on Board 56: +1 IMP
Total: +135 IMPs

Board 55

Board 55 (Click to download pbn file)
Both sides vulnerable

♠ 10 6 5 4 2 ♥ J ♦ A J 7 4 ♣ J 9 4

I pass in first seat. LHO opens one spade--pass--one notrump to me. I pass. LHO bids three hearts, which RHO raises to four. Everyone passes, and partner leads the six of diamonds.

	NORTH ♠ A ♥ 7 4 3 2 ♦ Q 10 3 ♣ Q 10 6 3 2
		EAST ♠ 10 6 5 4 2 ♥ J ♦ A J 7 4 ♣ J 9 4

West	North	East	South
		Pass	1 ♠
Pass	1 NT	Pass	3 ♥
Pass	4 ♥	(All pass)

This is an awkward auction in standard methods. Opener might have only four hearts, but he probably has five more often then not.  So, with three-card support,  responder is never sure whether to raise or to bid three notrump. I used to play that three hearts promised five hearts and that three clubs could be artificial. It showed either clubs or a hand with exactly four hearts. I've forgotten how the continuations worked. It was one of John's gadgets, which we of course abandoned when we began playing a forcing club system.

Declarer plays low from dummy. Should I play the jack or the ace? Before we can answer that, we must decide where our four tricks will come from. My singleton jack of hearts gives me hope that partner has two trump tricks, say, king-ten third or queen-nine fourth. If so, we still need two tricks in the minors. My diamond ace is one trick. The other will have to be the club ace or the diamond king in partner's hand. (The club king is probably not good enough, since declarer can pitch a club on the queen of diamonds.) Given that, let's try constructing hands for declarer where one play or the other is necessary. Let's try the diamond jack first.

(A) ♠ K Q J x x ♥ A K x x ♦ x x ♣ A K

The diamond jack looks like the right idea. If I play the ace of diamonds and a switch to a club, declarer should make it.

(B) ♠ K Q J x x ♥ A K Q 10 ♦ x x ♣ K x

Now I must play the diamond jack and continue diamonds for a tap. If I play the diamond ace, we can no longer beat it.

Can we find hands where the diamond ace is necessary?

(C) ♠ K Q J x x ♥ A Q x x x ♦ K x ♣ K

I must win the diamond ace and return a club. If I play the diamond jack at trick one, declarer can win with his king, play a spade to the ace, a heart to the ace, and play spades, pitching dummy's diamonds. Note this example is a little contrived. I had to give declarer a singleton king of clubs to give him enough high cards for his bidding.

(D) ♠ K Q J x x ♥ A K 9 8 ♦ K x ♣ K x

It's certainly easier to beat this if I take the diamond ace at trick one. Can we survive if I play the jack? We'll certainly survive if declarer draws two rounds of trumps.  What if declarer plays a spade to the ace, plays one round of trumps, then starts spades? I think he can make it now, but give partner either the eight or nine of hearts and I don't think he can. "I think" may sound rather noncommittal.  But, since my goal here is simply to judge which of two plays is more apt to be necessary, that's good enough for now. To delve deeper than that on a layout that is merely hypothetical is not good use of my time. The important thing to note is that, if I play the jack and it loses to the king, we still have chances.

In general, it seems playing the jack is a good idea if partner has the diamond king and a bad idea, though not necessarily fatal, if he doesn't. One factor to consider is partner's opening lead itself. I suspect partner will tend to lead his better minor on this auction. This is particularly true if it appears he has unexpected trump tricks, in which case our goal may well be not to let cashable tricks disappear. On hand (D), for example, and possibly even on (C), partner might choose to lead the ace of clubs in preference to a diamond.

I've convinced myself. I play the diamond jack. Naturally, declarer wins with the king. He cashes the heart ace as partner plays the six, then plays the king of clubs, on which partner plays the five. It appears declarer is 5-4-2-2. I play the nine, since true count may clue declarer in to the bad trump break. Declarer cashes the club ace, and I play the jack. He plays a spade--eight--ace--deuce, and cashes the ten of clubs, pitching the deuce of diamonds. He continues with the club six. I pitch the four of diamonds; declarer pitches the spade seven; partner, the diamond five. If partner isn't bothering to ruff this, he must have natural trump tricks. Indeed he does. And, unfortunately, he has three of them:

	NORTH ♠ A ♥ 7 4 3 2 ♦ Q 10 3 ♣ Q 10 6 3 2
WEST ♠ Q 8 ♥ K Q 8 6 ♦ 9 8 6 5 ♣ 8 7 5		EAST ♠ 10 6 5 4 2 ♥ J ♦ A J 7 4 ♣ J 9 4
	SOUTH ♠ K J 9 7 3 ♥ A 10 9 5 ♦ K 2 ♣ A K

It's embarrassing to duck the setting trick at trick one, but I'm not sure I did the wrong thing. I still think partner was more likely to have the diamond king than the club ace. And how likely was it that we could beat this when he had neither?

I do think partner might have helped me by leading the nine of diamonds. Against a suit contract, when you are leading a suit in which both you and partner know that declarer may well have a singleton, it's often a good idea to lead highest from four small. It may prevent partner from letting declarer score a singleton honor, and, assuming partner knows you can't have a doubleton, it clarifies the count immediately. Third best from four doesn't clarify the count until the second round. When declarer is short in the suit, that may be too late. One thing you can't do, however, is to lead second highest from four small. With 97xx, an attitude seven is sure to confuse partner. It will simply look like third best from honor-nine-seven and partner will never even suspect declarer has a singleton honor. If you're unwilling to lead the nine, you should lead a normal third best.

I'm curious to see what my opponent does at the other table. He gets the same auction and lead. Declarer plays low from dummy, and East plays... the jack. If he had played the ace, I would have to rethink this problem. But Jack examined far more layouts than I did and concluded that the jack was the percentage play, presumably without even considering inferences from partner's lead. If my judgment and Jack's analysis suggest the same play, chances are that play is correct. The reason we were both wrong is that declarer's hearts were unusually poor for this auction. In fact, I would go so far as to say that declarer didn't have a three heart bid at all. My choice would be two notrump, though I could live with two hearts.

I decided to test my theory about partner's opening lead. (That's one of the nice things about Jack. You don't have to ask him what he would have done with such-and-such a hand and trust he'll give you an honest answer. You can simply rearrange the deal and find out.) I changed his hearts to queen-ten fourth and gave him the club ace. In fact, he did lead the club ace from that hand. If I had any lingering doubts about my play, they're gone now. I have to chalk this result up to bad luck.

Me: -620
Jack: -620

Score on Board 55: 0 IMPs
Total: +134 IMPs

Board 54

Board 54 (Click to download pbn file)
Opponents vulnerable

♠ Q 4 ♥ A 10 8 6 ♦ J 9 8 ♣ A Q 7 6

I open one club in second seat. LHO doubles, and partner bids one spade. RHO bids three hearts, which ends the auction. I lead the queen of spades.

	NORTH ♠ K 5 2 ♥ K J 5 3 ♦ A Q 4 2 ♣ 10 8
WEST ♠ Q 4 ♥ A 10 8 6 ♦ J 9 8 ♣ A Q 7 6

West	North	East	South
			Pass
1 ♣	Double	1 ♠	3 ♥
(All pass)

Dummy plays the deuce; partner, the nine. Declarer wins with the ace. In my opinion, partner's encouraging spade says nothing about spades.  It merely indicates that, from partner's perspective, it looks like a bad idea for me to shift to clubs.  Jack, however, plays it as showing a spade honor.  That doesn't add up.  If partner's spades are headed by the jack-nine, why didn't declarer win this trick in dummy?  Based on observations from previous deals, I suspect partner miscarded, playing the nine instead of the jack from jack-ten-nine. 

We have chances to beat this. I hope to take two hearts, one spade, and two clubs. We might not get the spade trick if declarer can pitch a spade on a diamond. If so, perhaps declarer will have trouble managing to ruff all his club losers.

Declarer leads the deuce of hearts to the jack, partner playing the seven. He plays the deuce of diamonds to the king, as partner plays another seven. It appears partner is giving count from four, which leaves declarer with a likely 3-4-2-4 pattern. He's shown up with nine high-card points already, so partner is apt to have the club king. That's good, because I'm probably going to have to lead clubs sooner or later.

How will the play continue? Say declarer plays a heart to the king, discovering the bad break. He can then cash two diamonds, pitching a spade. When he tries to ruff a spade or a diamond to his hand, I can overruff and draw his last trump. Dummy is then left with three losers.

Suppose he suspects the four-one trump break and plays for ruffs right away. Ace and queen of diamonds, pitching a spade, diamond ruff with the queen. That looks like a more promising line. I don't know if I can counter that or not, but there's no need to figure that out until it happens.  For now, I might as well just muddy the waters by playing the nine of diamonds.

Declarer plays the five of diamonds to dummy's queen as I play the eight and partner plays the three. He then pitches the six of spades on the diamond ace. I'm expecting him to play dummy's last diamond, but he plays a heart to the queen instead as partner pitches the three of spades. My first instinct is to win with the ace and return the ten. Does that work? If declarer wins in dummy and draws my last trump, dummy has four losers. If he wins in dummy and ruffs something to his hand with the trump nine, he establishes my eight. Yes, it works. I win and lead the heart ten. Down one.

	NORTH ♠ K 5 2 ♥ K J 5 3 ♦ A Q 4 2 ♣ 10 8
WEST ♠ Q 4 ♥ A 10 8 6 ♦ J 9 8 ♣ A Q 7 6		EAST ♠ J 10 9 8 3 ♥ 7 ♦ 10 7 6 3 ♣ K J 9
	SOUTH ♠ A 7 6 ♥ Q 9 4 2 ♦ K 5 ♣ 5 4 3 2

Can declarer make this? Let's back up to the point where he led a heart to the queen.

	NORTH ♠ K 5 ♥ K 5 3 ♦ 4 ♣ 10 8
WEST ♠ 4 ♥ A 10 8 ♦ -- ♣ A Q 7 6		EAST ♠ J 10 8 3 ♥ -- ♦ 10 ♣ K J 9
	SOUTH ♠ 7 ♥ Q 9 4 ♦ ♣ 5 4 3 2

What happens if he ruffs a diamond with the queen of hearts in this position ? If I overruff with the ace and return the ten of hearts, declarer can either draw my trumps and lose two clubs and a spade or ruff a spade and lose two clubs and another heart. Either way he makes his contract. Suppose I don't overruff. Then he plays a spade to the king and ruffs a spade. Now I overruff and play three rounds of clubs, tapping dummy. Dummy is endplayed, and I have to score two more trump tricks for down one. I probably analyzed those lines in the wrong order. It's usually wrong to overruff with a natural trump trick, so I should have tried that first.

In the replay, the auction is the same. The play is the same (except for the false count signal in diamonds) up to the point where West wins with the heart ace. Then, for some reason, West decides to put his partner to the test by cashing the club ace before shifting to the ten of hearts. Declarer wins in dummy, cashes the spade king, then plays a club. If East sleepily hops with the king, declarer can score two trump tricks and make this. But East is awake. He plays the jack. West overtakes and plays his last trump. Down one for a push.

Me: +100
Jack: +100

Score on Board 54: 0 IMPs
Total: +134 IMPs

Board 53

Board 53 (Click to download pbn file)
Our side vulnerable

♠ A K J 4 ♥ K Q 9 8 7 3 ♦ A 7 ♣ J

Partner passes, and RHO opens one club. I don't have a serious objection to bidding one heart, but I like double better. It gets spades into the picture right away, and it may prove more economical than starting with one heart and doing something dramatic later on. One heart also runs some risk of getting passed out, but I don't worry about that too much at the one level.

Over my double, LHO bids one diamond, partner bids two spades, and RHO passes. This was one of the reasons to double. Partner has made only one bid, and already his hand is better defined that it would have been after an advance to a one heart overcall.

I don't need much for a slam. Queen fifth of spades and the heart ace is enough. Queen fifth of spades and the club ace, however, is probably not enough, at least not with the expected a diamond lead. The easiest way to find out if partner has the heart ace is to splinter with four clubs. In general, I don't believe cue-bids should be mandatory in forcing auctions. But partner's range for two spades is so narrow that he can hardly have a reason not to cue-bid the heart ace if he has it. I bid four clubs, partner bids four spades, and I pass.

	NORTH ♠ A K J 4 ♥ K Q 9 8 7 3 ♦ A 7 ♣ J
	SOUTH ♠ 10 9 8 7 6 3 ♥ 5 ♦ Q J 10 6 ♣ K 3

West	North	East	South
			Pass
1 ♣	Double	1 ♦	2 ♠
Pass	4 ♣	Pass	4 ♠
(All pass)

West leads the four of diamonds. I rise with the ace, and East plays the nine. I cash the ace and king of spades, dropping the six and seven from my hand. (I can't imagine I'll actually be leading the three of spades to dummy's four later on. But it costs nothing to retain the option. Ever since reading Michael Rosenberg's book, I make it a point to hold on to my low trumps as a matter of routine whenever I can afford to do so.) East pitches the deuce of clubs on the second trump. If West began with a singleton diamond, I might manage to make five. I lead the king of hearts. East plays the deuce; West, the six. I seem to have made five more quickly than I expected to. Now let's see if I can manage six. I ruff a heart with the eight of spades, lead the nine of spades to dummy's jack, and ruff another heart with the spade ten. West's ace falls. I have three pitches for my diamonds if I can get to dummy. My carefully preserved three of spades does me no good, since I need to use dummy's last trump to ruff a club. I lead the king of clubs. If West began with 2-3-1-7 and the club ace, I'll make six. Unfortunately, he has another diamond to lead to his partner's king. Making five.

	NORTH ♠ A K J 4 ♥ K Q 9 8 7 3 ♦ A 7 ♣ J
WEST ♠ Q 2 ♥ A J 6 ♦ 4 3 ♣ A 10 8 7 6 4		EAST ♠ 5 ♥ 10 4 2 ♦ K 9 8 5 2 ♣ Q 9 5 2
	SOUTH ♠ 10 9 8 7 6 3 ♥ 5 ♦ Q J 10 6 ♣ K 3

I'm still not sure why West ducked the heart ace.

At the other table, the auction begins the same way, but North bids four diamonds over two spades. This is apparently supposed to be an out-of-the-blue cue-bid. I would expect it to be natural, despite East's one diamond response. If North doubled planning on jumping in diamonds at his next turn, why should a one diamond bid by his opponent be allowed to scuttle his plan?

In general, if a bid could be interpreted either as natural or as a cue-bid, I believe in treating it as natural, particularly if, as here, you have a cue-bid available in a different suit. When you hold a hand where you would like some bid to be a cue-bid but it's defined as natural in your partnership, there is usually something else you can bid instead. When you hold a hand where you would like a bid to be natural but it's defined as a cue-bid, you're probably completely at a loss for a sensible action. 

By way of illustration, after the auction

RHO	Me	LHO	Partner
1 ♣	Pass	1 ♦	1 ♠
Pass	?

I play that two diamonds is a cue-bid but two clubs is natural, since I had a chance to bid diamonds naturally on the previous round but no opportunity to bid clubs naturally (except as a pre-empt).

Over four diamonds, South bids four spades, which North passes. This auction elicits the ace of clubs lead instead of a diamond. West can shift to a diamond at trick two to hold declarer to four, but he shifts to ace and a heart instead, presumably trying to give his partner a ruff. Declarer takes the rest. Making five for a push.

Me: +650
Jack: +650

Score on Board 53: 0 IMPs
Total: +134 IMPs