Free Weekly Instant Tournament - July 25 - Board 1

Board 1
Neither side vulnerable

♠ A Q 2  ♥ A K 10 9 5 3  ♦ J  ♣ K J 3

Two passes to me. I open with one heart and partner raises to two hearts. I have a clear drive to game. What do I need for slam to be cold? King of spades, queen of hearts, ace doubleton of clubs? That's well more than a perfect minimum, so I don't have a slam invitation. That means I shouldn't bother with a four-diamond splinter. I should simply bid four hearts.

Before I get a chance to act, however, RHO doubles. Once the auction becomes competitive after a single raise, priorities change. If you have a game drive, your primary responsibility is to help with a five-level decision should the opponents save. With that in mind, I don't think four diamonds should be a splinter after the double. A more useful treatment is to play that it shows game values with a second suit. When you hold a two-suiter, whether partner fits your second suit is a huge factor in determining your offense-to-defense ratio.

In this case, I'm not worried about a five-level save. RHO is a passed hand, and LHO couldn't bid over one heart. Plus, I have quite a good hand for defense. I probably have only one heart trick, since RHO is unlikely to have made a passed-hand double without a stiff heart. But I have four high cards sitting behind the doubler. So they could be in trouble even at the three level. If LHO bids three diamonds, as seems likely, I might have him down in my own hand. If partner happens to have a diamond stack, this could be brutal.

I can always bid four hearts later. Should I try to penalize the opponents first? I could redouble. But I think redouble encourages partner to double three diamonds more frequently than I want him to. We need to collect 500 to compensate for our game, so I don't want to defend unless he has a genuine diamond stack. After redouble, I think partner would be perfectly justified in doubling on honor third.

Suppose I pass, then balance with a double when LHO bids three diamonds? What does that auction mean?

I can't imagine a hand where I would want this double to be for penalties. How can I have a good enough hand in high cards plus good enough diamonds to double unilaterally? With such a hand, I wouldn't pass RHO's double. I would either make a game try or, if I were determined to try to penalize them, I would redouble to bring partner into the picture--just in case they don't happen to land in my best side suit.

If it's not a penalty double, the logical meaning of a balancing double is that I'm interested in competing to three hearts. If I were sure I wanted to compete (with a minimum and a sixth heart, for example), I would have bid three hearts directly over the double to pre-empt LHO. So the presumption is I'm not sure. I have a mixture of defense and offense.

I don't think any balanced hand would qualify. If I have a balanced hand without enough strength either to redouble or to invite game, I would have no interest in bidding on. So my hand must be unbalanced. And my short suit must be diamonds, otherwise I would be happy to defend.

In other words, the hand this sequence logically suggests is some 4-5-1-3 or 3-5-1-4 where I would have been willing to defend had LHO bid a black suit but want to compete after they've settled in my shortness. This is how the auction is defined in my notes. Partner is expected pull to three hearts most of the time. But doubling gives him the chance to overrule me if I catch him with a diamond stack. 

It's unusual to hold six hearts for this sequence. But I still think it's right. The fact that I have such good defense compensates for the sixth heart. If partner passes, we rate to take a lot of tricks. Unless, of course, partner thinks this is a penalty double.

I'm not sure how they robots play this auction. But they, like most humans, play fewer penalty doubles than I do. If I think this is a take-out double, the robots probably do as well.

In any event, I don't have to guess what they think. I can find out. I can pass, then, after three diamonds--pass--pass, I can check the tooltip. If partner thinks double is for take-out, I double, then raise to game if he pulls. If he thinks it's for penalties, I bid four hearts. Sometimes there are perks to robot bridge. I couldn't risk this auction undiscussed with a human partner.

I pass, LHO bids three diamonds, and partner passes. Partner should compete on virtually any hand with four-card support, so he probably has only three hearts. RHO passes as well. Now I check the tooltip. It says double shows "2+ diamonds, 5+ hearts, 11-21 HCP."

So partner doesn't think it shows shortness. On the other hand, he doesn't think it shows a diamond stack either. It doesn't show much of anything. It sounds like one of those dreaded do-something-intelligent-partner doubles. That's not what I was hoping for, but it may suffice. If partner thinks I might double with 11 HCP and a doubleton diamond, I doubt we'll do too badly if he chooses to pass.

I double. Everyone passes. OK. Let's hope I didn't do anything foolish. Partner leads the ten of clubs, and I see the following dummy. .

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

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

Nice lead, partner! For once your reluctance to lead my suit may have paid off. Declarer plays the queen, I win with the king, and declarer plays the nine.

The nine? Thanks for the clarification. I'm now sure partner led from shortness, although I would have suspected that anyway. Assuming partner would have competed to three hearts with four of them, declarer must be either 3-2-4-4 or 2-2-5-4. I'll assume the latter for now. South might have bid clubs with equal length. And if partner has five diamonds, declarer is in big trouble anyway.

How many tricks can we take? North made a questionable double with a doubleton heart, so we're taking two heart tricks instead of the one I was assuming. If we can manage all four of my black honors, declarer is down two even before partner takes any diamond tricks. The tricky part is going to be finding exits to avoid being endplayed.

Suppose, for example, I cash two hearts, lead the jack of diamonds, and it holds. Now I'm endplayed. I must either lead a black suit or give declarer a ruff-sluff in hearts. Perhaps I can avoid the endplay by cashing only one heart, leaving open the possibility of leading a heart to partner's queen.

I cash the king of hearts. Partner should play an attitude card here to let me know if I can underlead. But who knows what my robot partner will do?

On the king of hearts, declarer plays the deuce; partner, the six. That should be encouraging from Q64. But even if partner intends it as count, I'm OK. For the six to be his lowest card, he must have Q86. So, however he intends the six, I'm pretty sure he has the queen. Although not 100% sure. A random six from 864 is just the kind of trap robot partners like to set for you.

I shift to the jack of diamonds. Declarer plays the four, and partner overtakes with the queen to lead another club. Partner is being uncharacteristically nice to me. Declarer rises with the ace and leads a diamond to his ace as I discard the three of hearts. Declarer exits with a club to my jack as partner pitches the seven of spades. The robots pitch count cards, so it appears partner has four spades and declarer is indeed 2-2-5-4.

We've reached this position with me on lead:

	NORTH Robot ♠ K J 8 5 ♥ J ♦ 9 ♣ 2
WEST Robot ♠ x x x ♥ ? x ♦ x x ♣ --		EAST Phillip ♠ A Q 2 ♥ A 10 9 5 ♦ -- ♣ --
	SOUTH Robot ♠ x x ♥ ? ♦ x x x ♣ x

If partner has the queen of hearts, I can underlead to take two spade tricks and whatever diamond tricks partner has left. In fact, even if partner doesn't have the queen of hearts, the heart underlead won't cost. I'll lose a heart trick, but I'll get two spade tricks and break even.

I lead a low heart. Partner takes the queen, cashes the king and ten of diamonds, and taps declarer with a heart. This is the right defense. We get two more tricks this way even if I don't have the spade queen. Down five.

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

Plus 1100 is worth 100%. Plus 500 would also have been worth 100%. So, while we were lucky to take as many tricks as we did, most of that luck was overkill. Three diamonds doubled would still have been the right contract in less extreme scenarios.

I was curious how many experts play the double of three diamonds as showing shortness, so I took a poll. Some did, but the vast majority of those I asked play the double as penalties.

I don't get it. I still can't imagine a hand where, having passed North's double, I would want to make a penalty double now. And I'm someone who likes penalty doubles. At one time, I even gave up negative doubles to play penalties doubles as an experiment. So it's an unfamiliar experience for me to be on this side of the penalty-or-take-out argument.

Even those who play most low-level doubles for takeout apparently make an exception when they've bid and raised a suit. After finding a fit, I'm told, they play double for penalties (unless it's specifically defined as something else--maximal, for example). 

That rule makes sense in general, but here I think it ignores a key factor: You could have redoubled on the previous round and didn't. However you choose to define it, surely redouble followed by double and pass followed by double should mean different things.

Free Weekly Instant Tournament - May 30 - Board 8

Board 8
Neither side vulnerable

♠ 10 7 3  ♥ A K 9 6  ♦ A K Q 6 4  ♣ K

Partner opens with one club in second seat. I bid one diamond, and partner bids one notrump. 19 HCP opposite 12-14 is worth an invitation to slam. It's possible six diamonds will make when six notrump goes down. But it would be hard to diagnose that. So there isn't much point in bidding two hearts to initiate some complicated auction no one will understand anyway. I might as well just make a quantitative invitation in notrump.

I bid four notrump, and partner raises to six. RHO leads the four of spades.

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

West	North	East	South
Robot	Phillip	Robot	Robot
		Pass	1 ♣
Pass	1 ♦	Pass	1 NT
Pass	4 NT	Pass	6 NT
(All pass)

I play low from dummy, East plays the king, and I win with the ace. The lead of the four doesn't tell me much. It could be from four-deuce doubleton, or it could be low from three or four cards. Or fourth best from five. At least I know it's not fourth best from six, since there is only one lower card. So East must have at least two spades.

I have twelve top tricks with lots of possibilities for a thirteenth. Hearts could come home, or I could execute one of a variety of squeezes. 

Let's say I come down to this position:

	NORTH Phillip ♠ 10 7 ♥ A K 9 6 ♦ -- ♣ --
	SOUTH Robot ♠ Q 6 ♥ Q 5 ♦ -- ♣ A J

(A) If either East or West holds four hearts and the queen of clubs, he's squeezed down to a stiff club when I cash the spade queen. The hand with long hearts is roughly even money to hold the club queen, so this line offers about a 50% chance (after excluding three-three hearts).

(B) If West holds four hearts and the jack of spades, he is squeezed in the majors. I must be careful to cash the spade queen first to avoid guessing what to pitch from dummy. When I cash the club ace next, I can pitch the spade ten if I haven't seen the jack.

This line offers roughly a 25% chance, since it works only against one opponent. But, since the same sequence of plays works for both A and B, I can combine my chances. The combination A/B offers roughly a 62.5% chance.

(C) If West holds four hearts and East holds the club queen, I can execute a double squeeze with spades as the double threat. I cash the club ace, pitching a spade from dummy, then cash hearts, reaching this position:

	NORTH Phillip ♠ 10 ♥ K 9 ♦ -- ♣ --
	SOUTH Robot ♠ Q 6 ♥ -- ♦ -- ♣ J

West must hold two hearts, so he has already been squeezed down to a stiff spade. Now, when I cash the king of hearts, East is squeezed in the black suits. 

West is 50% to hold the heart length, and East is 50% to hold the club queen. So C works about 25% of the time. It doesn't work if the heart length and club queen are reversed, because then I have no threat behind West. When I cash the heart king, South gets squeezed before West does.

Unfortunately, I can't combine C with either A or B. A or B requires my cashing the spade queen. C requires my retaining it as an entry to the double threat.

Are there any other possibilities? I can think of one more:

(D) If East has both the club queen and the spade jack, I can cash the club ace, pitching a heart from dummy, then cash three hearts. On the last heart, I'm down to

	NORTH Phillip ♠ 10 7 ♥ K ♦ -- ♣ --
	SOUTH Robot ♠ Q 6 ♥ -- ♦ -- ♣ J

East must either pitch his club queen or stiff his spade jack.

This line, however, requires me to give up on three-three hearts. Furthermore, it's never necessary. If East has the club queen, then I can execute A if East has heart length and C if West has heart length. So we can forget about D.

Which squeeze should I play for? The A/B combination is clearly the right line a priori. But I don't have to decide just yet. Perhaps I can gather some clues as I run diamonds.

I cash the jack and ten of diamonds. West plays three, eight; East plays five, deuce. I play a diamond to the queen. West discards the deuce of clubs. The robots tend to discard count when not following suit, so that's probably from a five-card suit. Assuming hearts are not three-three (since I don't need a squeeze if they are), that makes West either 2-4-2-5 or 4-2-2-5.

I cash the king of diamonds, pitching a club. East pitches the deuce of spades; West, the deuce of hearts. While the robots typically discard count cards, they sometimes pitch low from doubletons, so it's still possible West is 4-2-2-5. It's also possible West has five hearts and his first discard was from three small clubs. That makes him 3-5-2-3. 

Let's take stock. There are two layouts to consider:

(1) West is 4-2-2-5. In that case, I must hope East has the club queen and play for A. If West has the club queen, no squeeze works.

(2) West is 3-5-2-3. West has pitched a club, so if he has the club queen, it's dropping. If East has it, I must play for C.

I cash dummy's last diamond, discarding a heart. East pitches the five of clubs. Well. That changes things. If East started with queen third of clubs, the queen is now dropping, so I needn't worry about case (1) any more. The only case that matters is case (2), so I must go for the double squeeze.

I cash the club king, reaching the position above. Now I lead a heart to my queen, cash the ace of clubs, pitching a spade, and lead a heart to dummy. Both opponents follow to the second round of hearts, so the nine of hearts is good. Making seven.

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

Hearts were three-three all along, so no squeeze was necessary.

Only three other players were in slam, and only one of those managed to cash his thirteen top tricks to make seven. So plus 1020 is worth 96%.

I'm surprised so many missed slam. I would have thought the field wouldn't even bother to invite but would simply blast six notrump. Weak players tend to overbid hands with lots of high-card points out of irrational exuberance.

Free Weekly Instant Tournament - May 30 - Board 7

Board 7
Both sides vulnerable

♠ A 9 4 3  ♥ A K  ♦ K Q 6  ♣ K 7 6 5

I open with one club in first seat. Partner bids three clubs, pre-emptive.

Should you bid three notrump with 18-19 balanced opposite a pre-emptive raise? My partnership notes say, "yes." If responder has no interest in playing three notrump opposite that hand, he shouldn't make a pre-emptive raise. Some say, "no." Responder is expected to be weak, and any hand that want to play in three notrump opposite 18 to 19 balanced doesn't qualify. It's a matter of partnership agreement, but you need to make one agreement or the other and responder should bid accordingly.

There was a poll on Bridge Winners a few years ago: "I've heard some say that, playing inverted minors, one should avoid the pre-emptive raise to three with a hand that wants to play 3NT opposite a balanced 18-19. Do you agree with this?" The answers were evenly divided, so there does not appear to be a consensus on this matter.

When I hover my mouse over three notrump, the tooltip says it shows 21 HCP. So the robots, if they subscribed to Bridge Winners, would presumably answer 'yes' to the poll. But I don't believe the tooltip. I've seen the robots make pre-emptive raises with quite good hands. So I'm bidding three notrump. If partner has the wrong hand and three notrump has little play, maybe the cards will lie favorably. Or maybe the opponents will misdefend.

I bid three notrump. Everyone passes, and LHO leads the three of hearts.

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

West	North	East	South
Robot	Robot	Robot	Phillip
			1 ♣
Pass	3 ♣	Pass	3 NT
(All pass)

See what I mean? I don't understand three clubs with this hand. Even in my style, I would bid one notrump rather than three clubs, since I believe three clubs suggests more shape. In a style where you don't expect partner to bid three notrump without 21 HCP, three clubs makes no sense at all.

The deuce of hearts is missing, so I'm not sure which opponents has five hearts. But hearts are probably five-four one way or the other. 

What do I need to make this? If clubs come home, I'll take four clubs, two hearts, and two spades, for eight tricks. If I knock out the diamond ace, they will take three hearts and two aces for down one. So I need to find my ninth trick in spades. I could simply take a finesse. Or I could hope that the hand with five hearts has the diamond ace and the spade queen. If so, he'll be squeezed when I run clubs. He must either come down to a doubleton spade or pitch a heart, allowing me to knock out the diamond ace. Of course, it will take some good card-reading to exploit that possibility.

I play low from dummy and East plays the jack. If I had the ace alone, I might duck. If I had the king alone, I couldn't afford to duck. So the king conveys less information. I win with the king and lead the six of clubs--deuce--queen--ten. I continue with a club to my king. East discards the deuce of diamonds, which is probably from a five-card suit. That makes East either 3-4-5-1 or 2-5-5-1.

West takes the club ace and leads the ten of hearts. East plays the eight, and I win with the ace. If West began with ten fifth, it would be strange to lead the ten. He would be more apt to retain it to avoid blocking the suit. So I suspect he has four hearts, making East 2-5-5-1. It's also possible hearts are 3-6, though West might have chosen a spade lead over a heart if that were the case.

I might as well run clubs to see what I can find out. Since West seems to have spade length, I'll probably wind up taking a spade finesse unless something strange happens.

I lead the seven of clubs to the jack. East pitches the five of diamonds. This is the current position:

	NORTH Robot ♠ K J 5 ♥ -- ♦ J 9 3 ♣ 8 4
	SOUTH Phillip ♠ A 9 4 3 ♥ -- ♦ K Q 6 ♣ 5

If I finish running clubs, I'll need to lead a spade to the ace to take the finesse. If spades are three-three, then I won't be able to cash the fourth spade. So if I want to retain the option of taking four spade tricks, I must lead a club to my five and play a spade to the jack now. But my provisional construction places East with 2-5-5-1. Since it doesn't appear spades are three-three, I think I'd prefer to cash two more clubs and get more information.

I cash the eight of clubs. East pitches the seven of diamonds; West, the seven of spades. That's an unexpected card. Does that mean he doesn't have the queen? Or might he pitch from queen fourth? Actually, he might. Since I don't have two hand entries anymore, pitching from queen fourth is perfectly safe.  I don't think I can assume East has the queen.

I cash dummy's last club. East pitches the deuce of spades; West pitches the six of spades. There are only three spades left. If I'm right that East was 2-5-5-1, then the spades are dropping, and I can make an overtrick by cashing dummy's king and overtaking the jack with my ace.

Could my construction be wrong? Can West have all three remaining spades? If so, I go down if I cash the spade king. I must, instead, lead a low spade to my ace and take a finesse. But a low spade from dummy blocks the suit and gives up the overtrick if spades split.

For West to have three spades, East must be 1-6-5-1. That means West led a heart from ten-third rather than his own five-card spade suit. And it means West echoed with five spades, playing 7-6 from Q10876. Any one of those three things is possible, but they are all unlikely. So I'm not playing for the parlay. I cash the king of spades--eight--four--ten. I take three more spades and concede the last two tricks. Making four.

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

Plus 630 is worth 86%. Cashing all the clubs turned out to be a good idea. Had I led a club to the five for an early spade finesse, it might have been easier for West to hold his spades.

Actually, it was pretty easy for him to hold spades on this line. Why did West pitch the second spade anyway? Could that ever have been right? Maybe he was playing me for

♠ A x x  ♥ A K Q 6  ♦ Q x  ♣ K x x x

and assumed his partner had squandered the eight of hearts on the second round. If so, this would be the position, with West to play:

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

A heart or the diamond ace gives me a trick. If he pitches a low diamond, I can cash three spades and lead a diamond, forcing him to lead into my queen-six of hearts. But a spade pitch doesn't help. After three rounds of spades, ending in my hand, he's faced with the same problem. If he thinks this is the layout, his best play is to pitch a low diamond and hope his partner has the six of hearts. 

Surprisingly, everyone is in three notrump. Given the lack of consensus on the Bridge Winners poll and given what the tooltip says, I would have thought at least some would pass three clubs.

Free Weekly Instant Tournament - May 30 - Board 6

Board 6
Opponents vulnerable

♠ A K 5 4  ♥ K J 9 6  ♦ 8  ♣ K J 5 4

RHO passes. I bid one club, partner bids one diamond, and RHO chimes in with one notrump, showing the unbid suits. Double also shows the unbid suits. I'm not sure under what conditions the robots choose one notrump over double.

Double by me would be a support double of diamonds. I like support doubles for majors, but support doubles for diamonds make no sense to me. In any event, playing the robots' methods, pass is my only option. I pass, LHO bids two spades, and partner bids three spades, showing a good hand with club support. I have both majors under control, so I bid three notrump. Everyone passes, and LHO leads the three of spades.

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

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

Dummy's queen holds, East playing the deuce. 

When partner shows the majors, one generally bids hearts with equal length. This is especially true when partner is a passed hand. With 6-5 in the majors, one can open quite light. But 5-6 is problematic. If you open one heart, you may lose the spade suit. If you open one spade and bid hearts, partner will expect your spades to be equal or longer (and rightly so). So one is less apt to open light with 5-6. That means if you pass and show majors, you are more likely to have six hearts than six spades.

So West should be 3-2 in the majors, making his partner 5-6. Since I need diamonds to break, I need to hope East is 5-6-2-0.  If so, I can play a club to my hand and a diamond up. Then I need to guess whether to play West for king third or jack third. If I guess correctly, I set up six tricks in diamonds. If I guess incorrectly, I'm probably going down.

A priori, it's 50-50 which honor West holds. But the auction changes those odds. Sometimes when West holds jack third, East would have opened the bidding in first seat. For example, East probably would have opened with

♠ J 10 x x x  ♥ A Q x x x x  ♦ K x  ♣ --

but not with

♠ J 10 x x x  ♥ A Q x x x x  ♦ J x  ♣ -- .

That means some of the hands where West holds jack third are eliminated, making it better than 50% that West holds the diamond king.

I lead a club to my king, and East pitches the deuce of hearts. I was hoping he would show out, but the deuce is unexpected. BBO robots consistently pitch count cards, so I know he's 5-5-3-0. West, for some reason, chose to bid spades rather than hearts with equal length. That means it makes no difference whether I finesse the queen or ten of diamonds. If West has either honor doubleton, I take six diamond tricks whichever card I play.

Since it makes no difference what I do if my construction is correct, I might as well assume it's wrong. I'll proceed with my plan to finesse the diamond queen just in case East gave false count in hearts, though I seriously doubt he did.

I play a diamond, West plays the nine, I play the queen from dummy, and East wins with the king. He now cashes the heart ace--six--four--deuce, then shifts to the spade jack. We've reached this position with me to play to the spade jack:

	NORTH Robot ♠ -- ♥ -- ♦ A 10 7 4 3 2 ♣ A 9 3
		♠ J
	SOUTH Phillip ♠ A K 5 ♥ K J 9 ♦ -- ♣ J 5 4

If East began with king third of diamonds, then West's jack is dropping and I have the rest. I can pitch clubs on the ace and king of spades; lead a club to the ace; cash the diamond ace, dropping the jack; and run diamonds. 

What happens if the jack doesn't drop? The jack of diamonds gives East nine HCP. He presumably would have opened the bidding with the heart queen as well, so West has it. This will be the position after I cash the diamond ace:

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

I've taken six tricks. When I lead a diamond, East will win and cash his spades, and I must come down to two cards. If I come down to king-jack of hearts, West keeps two hearts. If I come down to the king of hearts and the club jack, West keeps his queen of clubs. So the king of hearts is all I get, for down two.

Perhaps I do better to cash one spade and one heart before leading a club to dummy, to avoid setting up East's spade suit. Now if the jack of diamonds doesn't drop, this will be the position:

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

I lead a diamond to East's jack, pitching a heart as West pitches a club. East now leads a heart. West wins and tosses me in with a spade to lead clubs into his queen-ten. Again, down two.

Against best defense, it makes no difference which two cards I cash, but cashing a spade and a heart at least requires both opponents to stay awake. If West carelessly pitches a spade or if East carelessly exits with a spade in the end position, I can endplay West and score my club jack.

I win the spade ace and cash the king of hearts, pitching clubs from dummy. Now I play a club to the ace and cash the diamond ace. The jack drops, and I claim. Making five.

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

Plus 460 is worth 96%. Seems generous. 

At the point East shifted to the spade jack, he could have returned a diamond to endplay dummy, holding me to four. But for all he knows, I have the club queen and there's no endplay. And there is no reason his partner couldn't have the spade ace, in which case the defense can take at least two spade tricks on a spade return. So the spade return seems normal.

The opening lead made things harder for East than it needed to be. Having supported spades, West should lead the seven if he choses to lead the suit at all. Or he could lead a heart, since he has some help in that suit. But, given everyone is playing against the same opponents, everyone should get the same opening lead. So I'm not sure why everyone isn't scoring 460.

Weirdly, about half the field actually went down. I no longer have access to the play at other tables, so I can't see how they managed that.

[Addendum: I posed this as a play problem on social media and a surprising number of people suggested playing ace and a small diamond. I have no idea what the point of that play is, and no one explained why he thought it was better than taking a finesse. But at least it explains how some are going down.]

Free Weekly Instant Tournament - May 30 - Board 5

Board 5
Our side vulnerable

♠ A 8 4  ♥ Q J 10 7 2  ♦ J 8  ♣ A J 8

Partner passes, and East opens with one spade. Does this hand merit a two-level vulnerable overcall? There are several negative factors: I have only a five-card suit. I'm balanced. And I have the worst holding (three cards) in the opponent's suit. The only positive is my 13 HCP. But those high cards are just as useful on defense as on offense.

If I bid two hearts and the auction proceeds pass--pass--double--all pass, I won't be happy. But that's almost always true. If I worry too much about being doubled, I won't overcall frequently enough. A better question to ask is, would I be happy if I bid two hearts and it's passed out? The answer is "no." If RHO doesn't want to balance, the hand is probably a misfit. There is an excellent chance I will go minus 200. And, even if I hold it to down one, it's likely I would have gone plus on defense.

Still, it's close. I would bid non-vulnerable, since minus 200 is no longer a consideration. And I would bid vulnerable if you made the seven of hearts the nine. That card means I rate to take three tricks more in hearts than I would on defense.

I pass, LHO bids one notrump, RHO rebids two spades, and everyone passes. I lead the queen of hearts.

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

West	North	East	South
Phillip	Robot	Robot	Robot
		Pass	1 ♠
Pass	1 NT	Pass	2 ♠
(All pass)

It appears I made the right opening lead. If we drive dummy's heart entry, perhaps declarer will be unable to make use of the diamond suit.

Declarer plays low from dummy, partner plays the five, and declarer wins with the king. He leads a low spade. I play low, and partner captures dummy's ten with the king. I'm expecting a heart return to knock out dummy's ace. But partner shifts to the ten of clubs. Declarer plays the king and I win with the ace. Here is the position, with me on lead:

	NORTH Robot ♠ 7 ♥ A 8 ♦ K 9 7 5 2 ♣ 5 3
WEST Phillip ♠ A 8 ♥ J 10 7 2 ♦ J 8 ♣ J 8

Why didn't partner knock out dummy's heart ace? Maybe he knows diamonds aren't a threat. He must have something like A10xx or Q10xx. 

Could it be right to persist in clubs? Let's give declarer some hand like

♠ Q J x x x x  ♥ K x  ♦ Q x  ♣ K Q x

Say I return the jack of clubs and play a third club if declarer ducks it. When I win the spade ace, I can play a diamond to partner and get a fourth club, promoting my eight of spades if partner has the nine. That makes three spade tricks, two clubs, and the diamond ace for down one.

I don't see any reason that can't be the layout. Shifting back to hearts would just be insulting partner. He knows what his diamonds are. If he didn't think knocking out the heart ace was necessary, he's probably right.

I play the jack of clubs. Partner plays the nine; declarer, the four. The nine? I hold the eight, so if partner knows he can afford the nine, he must have led from Q109. That gives declarer

♠ Q J x x x x  ♥ K x  ♦ Q x  ♣ K x x

or perhaps

♠ Q J x x x x  ♥ K x  ♦ A x  ♣ K x x .

In the former case, we have six tricks without a trump promotion. In the latter case, we need to score my spade eight for the setting trick.

It is strange that partner didn't overtake. If he could afford the nine, he could afford the queen. How did he know I had another club to lead? Maybe I have something wrong. Still, I see no reason not to continue clubs.

I lead the eight of clubs. Partner plays the seven, and declarer ruffs with the five. So declarer is 6-3-2-2. We have a heart trick instead of a club trick.

Declarer plays the six of diamonds to the king, and partner takes the ace. We still have a heart trick coming, so declarer is down one. Can we beat this two if partner has the nine of spades? If he does, this is the current position:

	NORTH Robot ♠ 7 ♥ A 8 ♦ 9 7 5 2 ♣ --
WEST Phillip ♠ A 8 ♥ J 10 7 2 ♦ J ♣ --		EAST Robot ♠ 9 ♥ x ♦ 10 x x ♣ Q x
	SOUTH Robot ♠ Q J x x ♥ x x ♦ Q ♣ --

If partner plays a heart, I get a heart trick but no trump promotion. If partner plays a club, declarer pitches a heart from his hand. I score my spade eight but no heart trick. It appears down one is the best we can do.

Partner shifts to the four of hearts, so I get a heart trick. Down one.

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

Plus 50 is worth 21%.

Overcalling two hearts would have worked out better. You play it there and make it. Funny that being passed out in two hearts was an auction I feared. In fact, if I had bid two hearts, heard it go all pass, and were told I could take my bid back, I would jump at the chance.

I still think pass is the percentage call. At least it would be at IMPs. I did go plus after all, which your primary concern in partscore battles at IMPs. At matchpoints, where you must aim for the highest plus score, who knows what's right? Partscore battles at matchpoints are hard. Sometimes the winning action seems pretty random to me.

Free Weekly Instant Tournament - May 30 - Board 4

Board 4
Both sides vulnerable

♠ A 7 6 3  ♥ 4  ♦ K Q 5 3 2  ♣ K 7 3

Partner opens one club in second seat, and RHO overcalls with one diamond. 

Often it's right to pass when the opponents bid your best suit. The point in passing isn't necessarily to try to penalize them. In this case, for instance, I know we aren't going to be doubling some number of diamonds, since they have at least an eight-card heart fit. The point, instead, is to give partner a better picture of my hand. If I pass, then back in with spades, partner knows I have primary diamonds and four spades. Any auction that starts with my bidding one spade will not be so descriptive. 

My robot partner, however, would not understand that auction. If I pass and bid spades on the next round, he might think I had six spades and a bad hand and was braindead on the first round of the auction. While bidding one spade now isn't the best way to handle this hand, it's at least adequate. And safer opposite a robot.

I bid one spade. LHO bids two hearts. Partner passes, denying three spades, and RHO raises to three hearts.

Partner has at most two spades and might have rebid a six-card club suit, so 2-4-2-5 is his likeliest pattern. With 12 HCP and a stack in RHO's primary suit, I have quite a good hand for defense, so I double. This is defined as a penalty double. But, since the suit has been bid and raised and I'm sitting in front of declarer, it's presumed to be based on high cards and a misfit, not on trumps.

Partner pulls the double to four clubs. I guess he's not 2-4-2-5. His likeliest shape now is 2-3-2-6. And he shouldn't have much in the way of high cards, since he didn't bid three clubs over two hearts. He needs a little extra to do that, but he doesn't need a full-fledged jump rebid.

Can we make five clubs? We're probably off two red aces and a diamond ruff, so it's likely four clubs is the limit of the hand. But I have a much better hand in support of clubs than partner has a right to expect. Undisclosed support. A side singleton. What if partner has something like

♠ K x  ♥ x x x  ♦ x  ♣ A Q x x x x x ?

Even if partner has a doubleton diamond, they might need to find the ruff to beat it. And that might not be clear. In general, trying to stop on a dime one trick short of game is seldom a winning strategy. So I raise to five clubs. Everyone passes, and LHO leads the diamond ace.

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

West	North	East	South
Robot	Phillip	Robot	Robot
		Pass	1 ♣
1 ♦	1 ♠	2 ♥	Pass
3 ♥	Double	Pass	4 ♣
Pass	5 ♣	(All pass)

We're off two aces and a diamond ruff, as we rated to be. I play low from dummy. East plays the eight. He would presumably play the nine from nine-eight doubleton. That means the nine is the card I'm known to hold, so I play it.

If West doesn't give his partner the diamond ruff, I'll make this. He does. He continues with the four of diamonds. He might have cashed the heart ace first if he had it just in case his partner wasn't ruffing, so East probably has the heart ace.

East ruffs with the five of clubs and shifts to the queen of spades. The defense didn't cash their heart ace. Is there any way I can make this now? West has the diamond guard. If East has AKQ of hearts, I have a double squeeze. This will be the position when I lead the last club from my hand:

	NORTH Phillip ♠ A 7 ♥  ♦ 5 ♣ --
WEST Robot ♠ 10 x ♥ -- ♦ 10 ♣ --		EAST Robot ♠ J x ♥ A ♦ -- ♣ --
	SOUTH Robot ♠ x ♥ x ♦ -- ♣ x

West must pitch a spade. Now I can pitch dummy's diamond and East is squeezed in the majors. But this layout is impossible. West must have at least one heart honor for his one-diamond overcall. All he has to do his hold onto it and let his partner guard spades. In the diagrammed position, West will hold

♠ 10  ♥ K  ♦ 10  ♣ -- .

Now he pitches his last spade to guard both red suits, and East pitches the heart ace to guard spades. So the squeeze fails.

A legitimate squeeze isn't going to work. Is there any way to coax a misdefense? Suppose West has ten fourth of spades. If he thinks I'm 3-2-2-6, then his partner has queen-jack tight of spades and can't guard spades. If that's the case, then West must throw away his hearts and keep spades. This will be the end position he envisions:

	NORTH Phillip ♠ A 7 ♥  ♦ 5 ♣ --
WEST Robot ♠ 10 x ♥ -- ♦ 10 ♣ --		EAST Robot ♠ J ♥ A x ♦ -- ♣ --
	SOUTH Robot ♠ x x ♥ -- ♦ -- ♣ x

I'm out of hearts, since I've pitched them on dummy's diamonds. So West can now pitch his hearts to guard spades. But that doesn't work. When I lead the last club, West is caught in a simple spade-diamond squeeze. West can't beat me if I'm 3-2-2-6, so he must assume I'm 2-3-2-6. And in that case, as we've seen, he must keep a heart honor.

At least that's true if I keep the spade ace in dummy. Suppose I "carelessly" win this trick in dummy, destroying the potential spade-diamond squeeze. Now I can reach this end position:

	NORTH Phillip ♠ 7 6 ♥ -- ♦ 5 ♣ --
WEST Robot ♠ 10 x ♥ K ♦ -- ♣ --		EAST Robot ♠ J x ♥ A ♦ -- ♣ --
	SOUTH Robot ♠ K ♥ x ♦ -- ♣ x

If each opponent thinks I hold a small spade instead of a heart (leaving his partner will a singleton spade), then each one will think he holds the only spade guard. They will both pitch their heart honors and let me score a heart trick. Of course that means I went down in a cold contract by winning the spade shift in dummy. But robots don't draw inferences from declarer's play, so they won't consider that.

I play low from my hand, win the spade ace in dummy, and play a club to my jack. Both opponents follow. Now a club to dummy's king. West pitches the six of hearts.

I cash two diamonds, pitching two hearts. Which hearts should I discard? Pitching the jack and ten to make it appear I'm out of hearts will fool nobody. Each opponent will wonder why his partner is throwing heart honors if he holds the seven and will conclude I must hold it. I do better to hold onto the jack.  When West discards the heart king in the above position, perhaps East will think he's pitching high from equals. So I pitch the ten and the seven. East pitches the deuce and eight of hearts.

So far, so good. Both opponents are clinging to their spades. This, I hope, is the current position, with the lead in dummy:

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

I play a club to my ace. East pitches the five of spades. 

Oops. It's all over now. West knows I have a stiff king of spades left, so he has no reason to hold spades anymore. How did East know he could afford a spade? He must have started with queen-jack fourth of spades instead of queen-jack third. So the diagram above is wrong. West actually holds two spades and East holds three. I never had a chance.

I run clubs, but it's no use. West knows his spades are worthless, so he pitches both of them, and East knows to save the heart ace. I'm down one.

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

It's still a decent result. We score 71% for minus 100.

The opponents' failure to double was costly for them, since most of the field played three hearts, making three. They would have scored 100% for plus 200.

Not that I blame them. Neither one of them has a reason to double that I can see. East is perhaps closer, since he can envision winning the heart lead and shifting to his stiff diamond. But there is no particular reason to believe West holds a minor-suit ace. And one must be extra careful when doubling five of a minor. If three notrump is the normal contract, your interference may have already won the board. There may be little to gain by doubling and a lot to lose.

The brilliancy award goes to the North player who psyched a negative double over one diamond. This kept the opponents out of their heart fit and allowed him to buy the contract for three clubs, making four.

Free Weekly Instant Tournament - May 30 - Board 3

Board 3
Opponents vulnerable

♠ J 6 2  ♥ K Q 4 3  ♦ 8  ♣ A K J 7 6

I open with one club in first seat. LHO doubles, partner passes, and RHO bids two clubs.

Partner can't bid at the one level, and the opponents are cue-bidding. I'm out of the auction. Bidding two hearts would be foolish. We aren't going to outbid them, and showing my shape will help declarer more than partner in whatever contract they end up in.

What about doubling? Double should be take-out of spades, but the robots don't play that way. They play it shows good clubs. Given that, there is something to said for doubling to help partner with the opening lead. But I've already bid clubs, so partner will be inclined to lead them anyway. And doubling gives West two options he doesn't have if I pass, so it may make the opponents' auction easier. There is probably more to lose than to gain by doubling.

I pass. LHO bids two diamonds, RHO bids two heart, and LHO jumps to three spades. The auction so far is:

West	North	East	South
Phillip	Robot	Robot	Robot
1 ♣	Double	Pass	2 ♣
Pass	2 ♦	Pass	2 ♥
Pass	3 ♠

What should three spades mean?

Advancer's cue-bid after a take-out double creates a force until a fit is found. So two diamonds and two hearts were both forcing. If LHO bids two spades now, that would be forcing as well. So there is no need to jump to make a forcing bid in spades. Three hearts, however, would not be forcing. Once a suit has been bid and raised, the force is over. If the doubler wants to ensure reaching game, he must bid four hearts. That means he has no way to make a forcing bid in hearts should he hold a hand too good to bid four hearts. Should three spades show that hand? Should it be what some call an "out-of-the-blue cue-bid"?

Why not bid three clubs with that hand? Because cue-bidding the opponent's suit after a take-out double shows doubt about strain. A typical hand for three clubs at this point would be a 3-3-5-2 without a club stopper. So three spades as an artificial forcing heart raise makes a lot of sense.

Still, it's one thing for an interpretation to make a lot of sense. It's another for you and your partner to be on the same wavelength in an undiscussed auction. Without a clear understanding, I can't imagine throwing this auction at partner. 

In any event, I'm pretty sure a forcing heart raise is not what my robot opponent intends. Let's see what the tooltip says. It says, "6+ spades, 3+ hearts, 4+ diamonds, and 2- clubs," leaving open the possibility of having 15 cards. I don't know how he can have six spades when he bid two diamonds. Perhaps he thinks he's supposed to bid up the line regardless of suit length.

I'll find out soon enough what he has. Partner passes, RHO bids four hearts and buys it. I lead the king of clubs.

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

West	North	East	South
Phillip	Robot	Robot	Robot
1 ♣	Double	Pass	2 ♣
Pass	2 ♦	Pass	2 ♥
Pass	3 ♠	Pass	4 ♥
(All pass)

North lost his mind. Several times. The take-out double was insane. When you have two suits, you start bidding them. Double accomplishes nothing.

Two diamonds was also insane. It does appear North thought he was supposed to bid his suits up-the-line. Even so, any time you double offshape with an independent suit, you must jump at your next turn to advise partner you did something foolish. Unless you jump, partner is entitled to assume you have three-card support for his suit. So the proper continuation over two clubs is three spades.

North did try to catch up by bidding three spades at his next turn, but South didn't get the message. He still assumed his partner had heart support.

North's final action, passing four hearts, was suicide. Or perhaps fratricide, since partner has to play it. True, it's going to be impossible to get intelligent cooperation from partner now. But simply blasting six spades has to be better than passing four hearts. It might make. And even if it doesn't, it's going down less than four hearts.

What is South's hand? He should have five or six hearts. But he didn't open with a weak two bid. And he might have bid four hearts earlier with six of them. So I'll assume he has five hearts and around 10 HCP, leaving partner with around 3 HCP.

Partner plays the ten on my king; declarer follows with the three. According to the BBO system notes, the robots might encourage at trick one with an ace, king, or queen but won't encourage with a doubleton. So apparently two of partners HCP are the queen of clubs. If declarer is 2-5-2-4, I can underlead to partner's club queen, win the club return, and let partner pitch a spade on the fourth club. Then I can give him a spade ruff.  Or I can play declarer for 1-5-3-4. If he has that hand, I can play five rounds of clubs, letting partner pitch two spades, then give him a ruff when I win a trump trick.

No need to worry yet about which hand to play for. First let's see if declarer has four clubs. I lead the six of clubs. Declarer pitches the three of spades from dummy. Partner wins with the queen, and declarer follows with the four. Partner returns the five of clubs--eight--jack--four of spades from dummy.

I cash the club ace. Dummy pitches the diamond six, and partner pitches the seven of spades.

OK. Which layout do I play for? If that was a stiff spade, I can give partner two ruffs by leading a spade now. But if I lead a spade and partner follows, I've allowed declarer to score a spade trick he wasn't entitled to.

I don't see any way to resolve this other than play the odds. Spades are just as likely to be two-one as to be one-two. But if declarer has two spades, he has a doubleton diamond. With seven diamonds missing, declarer is more likely to have three than two. Much more likely if I assume declarer has the king-queen of diamonds, as seems likely. There is only one way for him to hold king-queen tight and seven ways to hold king-queen third.

I go with the odds and play a fifth club. Dummy pitches the eight of spades, and partner pitches the spade ten. Yay! I got it right.

Declarer ruffs with the five of hearts and plays a spade to dummy's ace. What's that all about? Why isn't he drawing trumps? Perhaps he's trying to score trump tricks by ruffing spades in his hand. Partner beats him to it. He ruffs with the six of hearts. Wait. Who has the deuce? Why did neither of them ruff with the deuce?

Partner leads the seven of diamonds--three--eight--ten. Declarer plays a diamond back to his king and I ruff with the three. We are down to his position with me on lead:

	NORTH Robot ♠ K Q 9 ♥ -- ♦ A 4 ♣ --
WEST Phillip ♠ J 6 ♥ K Q 4 ♦ -- ♣ --

Declarer presumably has four hearts and one diamond, leaving partner with three hearts and two diamonds.

Declarer will score the heart ace and whatever low hearts we allow him score with spade ruffs. If partner's trumps are good enough, we might hold him to one ruff. Let's say partner has 109x of trumps. When I lead a spade, he can ruff with the nine, forcing declarer's jack. When declarer plays a diamond, I ruff and play another spade. Now partner can ruff with the ten, forcing declarer's ace. My king and queen are now high.

I lead the six of spades. Partner ruffs with the eight and declarer overruffs with the ten. If partner has the heart nine, then the position must be as follows, with declarer on lead:

	NORTH Robot ♠ K Q ♥ -- ♦ 4 ♣ --
WEST Phillip ♠ J ♥ K Q 4 ♦ -- ♣ --		EAST Robot ♠ -- ♥ 9 x ♦ J x ♣ --
	SOUTH Robot ♠ -- ♥ A J 7 ♦ Q ♣ --

We can't stop declarer from scoring two more tricks.

Declarer surprises me by leading the jack of hearts. I take the queen, and partner follows with the nine. The nine? If partner is playing the nine, his last heart must be the seven, so the diagram above is wrong. I don't know why partner didn't ruff with the seven rather than the eight on the previous round. Lowest from equals when playing third hand, partner. In any event, if lead a spade, partner can ruff with the seven, forcing declarer's ace, and I'll take the last two tricks. 

I lead the jack of spades. Partner ruffs with the seven, and declarer pitches the jack of diamonds. The jack? OK. My construction was wrong again. Partner shifts to the five of diamonds. Declarer plays the queen and I ruff it. Declarer has the trump ace left. Down six.

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

Declarer had only four hearts? That never occurred to me. So North wasn't the only one who lost his mind. I'm not sure what South should bid over three spades, but I'm pretty sure his bid should have the word "diamonds" in it.

In the end position above, we were actually down to,

	NORTH Robot ♠ K Q ♥ -- ♦ 4 ♣ --
WEST Phillip ♠ J ♥ K Q 4 ♦ -- ♣ --		EAST Robot ♠ -- ♥ 9 7 2 ♦ 5 ♣ --
	SOUTH Robot ♠ -- ♥ A J ♦ Q J ♣ --

Declarer should have exited with the queen of diamonds instead of the jack of hearts. I can still beat it six by ruffing and leading the heart king. But if I carelessly return my last spade, declarer will score a ruff with his jack of hearts for down five. I should be able to work it out. But who knows? The hand wasn't making any sense. It's easy to make a mistake when you don't know what's going on.

Plus 600 when the opponents are cold for two slams can't be a bad result. In fact it's worth 100%. Most of the field was defending four hearts, but we were the only pair who took all our tricks.

No one reached six spades, but a few pairs did reach six diamonds when West decided to act at his second turn. Hats off to the guy who salvaged the board by doubling five diamonds. Going minus 950 instead of 1370 was worth 43%. Lowenthal (who invented that maneuver in case you didn't know) would have been proud.