Free Weekly Instant Tournament - July 5 - Board 6

Board 6
Opponents vulnerable

♠ A K 8 4 3  ♥ Q 8 3 2  ♦ Q 6  ♣ A 9

I open with one spade in second seat. Partner bids two clubs; I rebid two hearts.

Partner bids three diamonds, which is explained as "five+ clubs and four+ diamonds." That's not what the bid should mean. With a diamond suit, responder should bid two notrump. Three diamonds should be a catch-all, denying the ability to bid anything else; that is, no three-card spade support, no four-card heart support, no sixth club, and only a partial diamond stopper. Something like:

♠ Q x  ♥ A K x  ♦ J x x  ♣ K J x x x

Playing the robots' methods, you have no bid with this hand. 

Why should three diamonds promise a partial diamond stopper? Why not no diamond stopper at all? Simply for reasons of frequency. With values to force to game, you are more likely to have a partial stopper than not. So if it promises a partial stopper, the hand for which you have no bid at all (e.g., the above hand without the diamond jack) is rare. If you hold such a hand, you simply have to tell whatever lie you think is least damaging.

You have an easier time of it if you play that a preference to opener's first suit shows specifically a doubleton. Then you can bid two spades with the above hand--whether or not you have the diamond jack. Playing this way, you must make a jump preference with three-card support.

This is a more common approach in Acol. I know of only a handful of American experts who play this way. Perhaps not even a complete handful. Eastern science fiction players don't like to jump in forcing auctions. But I don't see the problem in this case. Do you really need to start investigating slam at the two-level? To my mind, having to bid three spades to show genuine support isn't much of a hardship. Being able to bid two spades with a doubleton and an awkward hand can be quite valuable at times. And those are precisely the times where you want to keep the auction low: when you need room to explore the right strain.

In any event, whether playing my methods or the robots' methods, I have an obvious three notrump call over three diamonds. I bid three notrump, everyone passes, and LHO leads the king of hearts.

	NORTH Robot ♠ J 9 ♥ J 10 ♦ A K 10 8 ♣ K J 10 8 2
	SOUTH Phillip ♠ A K 8 4 3 ♥ Q 8 3 2 ♦ Q 6 ♣ A 9

West	North	East	South
Robot	Robot	Robot	Phillip
		Pass	1 ♠
Pass	2 ♣	Pass	2 ♥
Pass	3 ♦	Pass	3 NT
(All pass)

Leading an honor in declarer's second suit is a strange choice. But I suppose no suit is especially attractive in this auction.

East plays the five; I play the deuce. West continues with the ace of hearts, and East plays the six. If I can run clubs, I can take the rest: five clubs, three diamonds, two spades, and a heart. Making five. If I must concede a trick to club queen, I make four.

The likeliest defense is a diamond shift. Let's say West shifts to a low diamond, I play the eight from dummy, and East plays low. They've given me a diamond trick, but I can't untangle it. If I cash my diamond queen, I either have to spurn the club finesse to get back to dummy or take the finesse and risk never reaching dummy again if it loses.

Fortunately, the extra diamond trick is an illusion. I don't need it. If clubs run, I have the rest. If they don't I make four. It makes no difference whether I take three diamonds or four.

How should I handle the club suit? To run the suit, I need to find one opponent with queen doubleton or third. It may appear I can't afford to finesse East for the queen, since if it loses, a second diamond kills my dummy entry before I can unblock my club ace. But, in fact, I can unblock clubs by discarding the club ace on a diamond. So, unless clubs are five-one, I can safely finesse either way.

Since I have no reason to believe one opponent is more likely to have the club queen than the other, it's a guess which way to finesse if the queen is doubleton or third. What if someone has queen fourth? In that case, I want to finesse against West. No matter which hand has queen fourth, I make four by finessing against West and conceding a trick to the club queen.

In short, finessing West for the queen works more often than finessing against East. So that's my plan if I get a diamond shift.

I don't. West makes the friendly shift of a club, and East covers the jack with the queen. Making five.

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

Plus 460 is worth 67.9%.

The club shift is a poor choice. A diamond shift should be routine. As a general rule, when defending a misfit notrump contract, the best defense is to attack declarer's communication suit; i.e., the suit that is solid or close to solid and has honors split between the two hands.

The first time I encountered this principle was this deal from the 1979 Bermuda Bowl:

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

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

West led the club four. Declarer was Mike Passell, and it appears he has nine easy tricks: Five diamonds, two clubs, and two spades.

Passell won in dummy with the king, crossed to the spade ace, led a diamond to the queen, and led the spade queen, setting up his ninth trick. Unfortunately, he had Benito Garozzo on his right. Garozzo took the spade king and returned a diamond. There was now no way for Passell to take his nine tricks.

Attacking the communication suit isn't nearly so deadly on my deal. While it does scramble my communications, that doesn't really matter. The main reason it works is that it avoids picking up the club queen. But the principle is the same: Attacking declarer's entries is a better plan than helping him set up his suits. The robots would do well to learn from Garozzo.