Free Weekly Instant Tournament - July 25 - Board 7

Board 7
Both sides vulnerable

♠ A K 7 6 3  ♥ Q 10 8 2  ♦ A K 4  ♣ 7

I open with one spade in first seat. Partner bids one notrump. I rebid two hearts. Partner raises, and I go on to four hearts.

Alex describes the play on my YouTube channel. If you prefer, you can read on instead.

West leads the five of clubs.

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

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

I'm off two high hearts and a club. I should be cold unless trumps are four-one.

How will the play go? East will win this trick and try to cash another club. I might as well ruff with the eight to unblock in case West has four trumps, It might not matter, but I don't see how ruffing with the eight can hurt.

After ruffing, I'll continue with the heart queen. The most awkward continuation is that they win and give me a ruff sluff. We saw last week how a ruff sluff can create problems for declarer. If the opponents are experts--or even if they read last week's blog--they might give me a ruff-sluff just to give me a headache. But it takes a good player to do that. If an average player--or an average robot--gives you a ruff-sluff, he probably has something in mind. And attacking your trumps because they aren't splitting is a likely reason.

Let's say I believe that's what's going on. (I'm not saying I will. I haven't decided yet.) Is there anything I can do if trumps are four-one? Maybe. As long as it's West who has the trump length.

The way to solve problems like this is to work backwards. Like solving a maze. Imagine the ending you want to reach, then figure out how to get there. If West is 2-4-3-4 or 3-4-2-4, I can strip him of all his pointed cards, but I can't strip him of that last club, so the ending will be four cards. Perhaps something like this, with the lead in my hand.

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

If my spades are winners, I'm home. I lead a spade. If West ruffs, I overruff and ruff a diamond with the ten. No matter what West does, he can't score more than his high heart.

So how can I reach this ending? I'll need to cash five tricks and West must follow to all of them. If he has a doubleton diamond, I can cash only two diamonds, so, when they lead the third round of clubs, I must pitch a diamond and ruff in dummy:

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

Now I cash two diamonds and dummy's queen of spades, reaching this position:

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

West, I hope, is down to three trumps, a club, and either two spades or a spade and a diamond. I have to guess which. If he has another diamond, I cash a diamond and lead a spade to my hand, reaching the desired end position. If he has two spades, I cash the ace and king of spades to reach the same end position. Hopefully I have some clues by the time I have to decide.

Back to trick one. I play a club from dummy, and East takes the ace. Surprisingly, he doesn't play another club. He switches to the six of diamonds. What's that all about? I play the ace, and West ruffs with the three of hearts. Oh. That's what it's about. I've lost two tricks and I still have to lose to the ace and king of hearts. My only hope is the defense manages to crash them.

West plays the club king, and I ruff. I lead the queen of hearts. West plays the king. Crashing isn't going to do me any good now. If East wins with a stiff ace, he can just give his partner another diamond ruff to beat me.

East follows with the nine. West plays a heart to his partner's ace, and I claim. Down one.

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

Minus 100 is dead average.

East did well to work out to shift to a diamond at trick two. West might have helped him out on opening lead. The way to do that is with an alarm-clock signal. An alarm clock is any card that partner can read as a lie. It wakes partner up and alerts him that you need him to do something unusual--often to give you ruff in a side suit.

Playing fourth best leads, the normal alarm clock is lowest from a known long suit. If West had overcalled or pre-empted in clubs, the deuce would wake East up immediately, since it can't be fourth best. In this case, the deuce probably wouldn't work, since East doesn't know that West doesn't have four clubs. The nine might work better. Note an unusual spot lead is not suit-preference. It simply suggests an unusual defense. It's up to partner to work out which suit you want returned.

If you play third and lowest opening leads, lowest from a long suit doesn't work as an alarm clock. Partner will simply assume you have an odd number. The systemic alarm clock is fourth best from five or six; fifth best from seven. That card is usually readable as a lie. In this case, if West were known to have long clubs, the five would wake East up. It can't be lowest from five. And it can't be third best from six, since that places declarer with the eight or nine--impossible since he has no more clubs. Unfortunately, West isn't known to have long clubs, so the five could be third best from four. It would be a silent alarm.

Speaking of alarm clocks, set yours for Sunday next week. Join me then for the last deal in this set.

Free Weekly Instant Tournament - July 25 - Board 6

Board 6
Opponents vulnerable

♠ K J 9 6 5 4  ♥ Q 2  ♦ A K 7 5  ♣ K

Several readers have complained about this blogger platform and their annoying ads, so I've been looking for another platform. I considered Substack. But I decided why not move into the 21st century? YouTube videos about bridge and chess have become quite popular, so why not give it a try?

It's a bit of work to produce them, but I think the presentation is better. It's certainly easier to follow the play when you have dynamic graphics. Give it a try and tell me what you think. For those who prefer reading to watching, the text version is below. But rest assured nothing is in the text that isn't also in the video:

I open with one spade in second seat and partner bids one notrump.

Should I rebid two spades or two diamonds? The answer depends on what I intend to do if partner rebids two notrump. If I intend to bid game, then I should bid two diamonds. Then, over two notrump, I can bid three spades, forcing. If I don't want to bid game, then I should bid two spades. Now, if partner bids two notrump, my three-diamond rebid is non-forcing. With this hand, I want to reach game if partner invites, so I bid two diamonds.

Partner takes a preference to two spades. A useful rule of thumb when partner shows a preference is to bid one less than you would have bid had he raised. If you would have bid game over a single raise, then invite. If you would have invited, then pass. I would have invited over an immediate two spade-bid, so I pass now.

Two spades ends the auction. West leads the four of clubs.

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

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

I'm off three top tricks. Game depends on picking up the spade suit. I wouldn't mind being in game vulnerable at IMPs. But at matchpoints, I'm glad I stayed low.

I play low from dummy, and East takes the ace. He shifts to the jack of hearts. I cover with the queen, and West takes the ace. He continues with the five of hearts to East's king. West should be returning a count card: his highest heart to show an even number or his lowest to show an odd number. But the robots don't do that (much to my annoyance when I defend with them). So East doesn't know whether I have a third heart or not.

Given that, if East has queen third of spades, he will play another heart, trying to tap dummy, so I can't take a spade finesse. If I don't have a third heart, that will give me a ruff-sluff. But so what? East knows I have no loser to pitch, so a ruff-sluff won't help me.

When East leads a heart, I'll ruff in my hand and play a spade to the ace for a finesse. Is there anything I can do if East has queen fourth of spades? Maybe. If West's singleton is the ten, dummy's eight of spades will hold. Then I can ruff a club to my hand and play a diamond to dummy, reaching this position:

	NORTH Robot ♠ -- ♥ -- ♦ 10 8 ♣ Q J 10
	SOUTH Phillip ♠ K J ♥ -- ♦ A K 7 ♣ --

Now I lead clubs. If East ruffs, I overruff and claim. If he refuses to ruff, I pitch all my diamonds and coup him at trick twelve.

But East surprises me by shifting to the five of clubs. East might have queen doubleton of spades. But There's no way he has queen third and didn't try to tap dummy. Does that mean I should take a backwards finesse against West?

A backwards finesse picks up queen third or queen doubleton of spades in the West hand--three cases each for a total of six cases. Finessing against East picks up those same six cases in the East hand. In addition, it picks up queen-ten third (three cases) and queen-ten doubleton (one case), for a total of ten cases. Thus, a priori, and ignoring four-one breaks, the forward finesse is a 10 to 6 favorite. But knowing East can't have queen third or queen-ten third changes that. The odds are now 6 to 4 in favor of the backwards finesse.

Could I be wrong about this inference? I don't see how. There is no reason from East's point of view that I can't be 5-3-4-1. So if he has queen third of spades, a heart return is automatic.

I lead the jack of spades--three--eight--deuce. Yay!. Now a low spade--seven--ace--ten. And a diamond to my hand. That wins, and I claim ten tricks.

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

We didn't need to reach game. Plus 170 is worth 93%.

It was careless of East not to return a third heart. I would have no reason to take the backwards finesse if he did. Perhaps he was avoiding a possible ruff-sluff on principle. Inexperienced players often avoid giving ruff-sluffs, because they know it's sometimes a bad idea. But if you know declarer has no losers to pitch, a ruff-sluff is something you should routinely consider. It can't hurt. And sometimes good things happen.

For example, change my hand to

♠ K J x x x  ♥ Q x  ♦ K J x x  ♣ K x

What do I do if East plays a third heart at trick four? If I ruff in dummy, I can no longer take a spade finesse. If I ruff in my hand, I'm in danger of being tapped out. I would hate to find myself in that position.

And yes. I know. If East held the queen of spades and could see my hand, failing to play a heart to talk me into a backward finesse would be a very clever play. But he can't see my hand. And, frankly, this East isn't that clever even if he could see it.

Free Weekly Instant Tournament - July 25 - Board 5

Board 5
Our side vulnerable

♠ A 9 6 4 3  ♥ J 10 4  ♦ A K J  ♣ 10 6

If you prefer, you can watch the video version on my YouTube channel. The content is the same. The presentation is perhaps better.

Two passes to me. I open with one spade, LHO bids three clubs, and partner bids four spades. Everyone passes, and LHO leads the king of clubs.

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

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

I have a potential loser in each suit. I can hold that to three losers by pitching a diamond on a heart. The key will be the spade suit. Since West has seven clubs to East's three, I'll probably end up finessing East for the spade queen to make an overtrick. The fact that West led a club makes finessing East even more attractive. If West had a red-suit singleton, he probably would have led it. So, unless he is specifically 2-2-2-7, he probably has a stiff spade.

This inference would be stronger if I knew what his club honors were. The robots lead king from ace-king, so I don't know whether West has ace-king or king-queen. If he has ace-king of clubs, the presumption that he doesn't have a red-suit singleton is considerably weaker.

East plays the nine of clubs. Assuming East is playing high, he denies the club ten. That means the ten is the card I'm known to hold, so I play it. West shifts to the queen of diamonds. What's he up to? He could be going for a diamond ruff. Or he could just be trying to set up diamond tricks before dummy's hearts are established. Give me something like 

♠ A Q x x x x  ♥ J x  ♦ A x x  ♣ 10 x,

for example, and West must shift to a diamond to beat me.

East plays the six of diamonds and I win with the ace. If East intends the six as count, then West shifted from queen doubleton. But the robots don't always signal on partner's leads. The six could just be a random card.

I play the three of spades to dummy's king. West plays the seven; East, the deuce. I play the jack of spades from dummy. East follows with the eight.

Do I finesse or not? Here are West's possible hands with their relative frequencies:

Holding	Freq
(A) ♠ Q x  ♥ x x  ♦ Q x  ♣ ? ? x x x x x	10
(B) ♠ x  ♥ x x x  ♦ Q x  ♣ ? ? x x x x x	10
(C) ♠ Q x  ♥ x x x  ♦ Q  ♣ ? ? x x x x x	2
(D) ♠ x  ♥ x x x x  ♦ Q  ♣ ? ? x x x x x	1

(The relative frequencies were calculated as follows: There are three ways for West to hold queen doubleton of spades and three ways to hold a small singleton. And West is just as likely to hold two out of five small hearts as to hold three. So (A) and (B) are equally likely. Since there are five ways to hold queen doubleton of diamonds and only one way to hold a stiff queen, (A) and (B) are each five times as likely as (C). Finally, since there are ten ways to hold three small hearts and five ways to hold four, (C) is twice as likely as (D).)

If we assume East gave count with the six of diamonds, then only (A) and (B) matter. So it's a tossup whether or not to finesse. If we assume East's diamond six was random, then playing for the drop is 12 to 11, a slight favorite. A bit less if we factor in that West might have led a stiff diamond.

But that's only the a priori odds. Since it's close, any inference from the play or bidding will likely sway the odds. What clues do we have from the play?

I have heard one person argue that West wouldn't look for a diamond ruff unless he had a doubleton trump. That may be true. But who says West was looking for a ruff? As we pointed out above, there are layouts where a diamond shift is necessary simply to set up diamond tricks before the heart ace is knocked out. So this reasoning is faulty. There is nothing to infer from that fact that West chose to shift to a diamond.

What about West's bidding? (B) is a more attractive pre-empt than (A). 7-2-2-2 with two doubleton queens is an ugly three-club call. But East is a passed hand. So that matters less. If I had opened in first seat, I would be disinclinded to play West for (A). But pre-empts can be quite flaky opposite a passed hand. So, while there is some inference West doesn't hold (A), it's not especially strong.

What about East's bidding? If West holds (A), then East holds

♠ x x  ♥ A x x x  ♦ x x x x  ♣ ? x x

If West holds (B), then East holds

♠ Q x x  ♥ A x x  ♦ x x x x  ♣ ? x x

In the former case, West, with three trumps and a ruffing value, might have sacrificed in five clubs at favorable vulnerability. In the latter case, with a 4333 pattern and a potential trump trick in spades, a sacrifice is less appealing. We've finally found an inference I can buy. I doubt East would sacrifice in case (B). But he might well sacrifice in case (A). In essence, it's a restricted choice argument. Better to play East for a hand where passing four spades is arguably his only option rather than play him to have a choice.

I play low. West takes the queen, and I claim ten tricks.

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

Plus 620 is worth a mere 14%. Most of the field played for the drop.

I don't regret my decision. I think the finesse was percentage for the reasons I gave. If you take the percentage action and fail, you have to be philosophical about it, knowing you'll do well in the long run. Note, by the way, the opponents do have a good save in five clubs. It is a little surprising East didn't bid it.

Free Weekly Instant Tournament - July 25 - Board 4

Board 4
Both sides vulnerable

♠ K J 3 2  ♥ --  ♦ A 7 2  ♣ A K Q 8 4 2

LHO opens with one notrump, partner passes, and RHO bids two clubs, Stayman. I don't need much to make a game. Queen fifth of spades and out is probably enough. I'll start by doubling two clubs. Then, hopefully, I can make a take-out double of hearts on the next round. I could bid three clubs, but that might end the auction. If I want to make sure I get a chance to make a take-out double of hearts, it's better to double.

I double, LHO bids two hearts, and RHO raises to four. That's higher than I was hoping the auction would be at this point. There are only 23 HCP missing, and the opponents have bid game. So it's not likely partner has the queen of spades. But I might not even need it. Maybe I can hold my losers to two spades and a diamond. In any event, I can't see staying quiet with a four-loser hand. I double, and everyone passes. Partner leads the six of diamonds.

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

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

Dummy has 8 HCP and declarer has 15, so partner has zero. Since he knows I have a primary club suit, he has a safe spot to pull the double. With no high cards, I doubt he would pass without five hearts.

We have three top tricks. Since partner led a diamond rather than my suit, it's likely he has a stiff diamond. If so, we can take two diamond ruffs for down two.

I win the ace of diamonds and declarer follows with the four. That's an additional clue that the lead is a singleton. With KQ4, it would be normal to unblock an honor. That's two clues the lead was a singleton, but I'm still not 100% sure.

I see no reason not to cash a club before giving partner a ruff. This will confirm my entry is in the club suit. I certainly don't want partner to ruff and try to put me in with the ace of spades. Robots don't play suit preference, so I can't signal my entry by leading a low diamond for him to ruff. Also, cashing a club will give partner a chance to confirm whether his lead was a singleton.

I cash the queen of clubs--six--five--three. Partner's five should be attitude. A discouraging club confirms the lead was a singleton; an encouraging club says it wasn't. I think most players would signal attitude here, since the alternative to giving partner a diamond ruff is cashing another club. If the alternative were shifting, however, some might have other ideas.

Take this deal from an article I wrote for The Bridge World years ago:

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

West	North	East	South
1 ♥	Pass	1 ♠	5 ♦
Pass	Pass	Double	(All pass)

You lead a spade. Partner wins with the ace and cashes the ace of hearts. Both you and partner know that a heart continuation makes no sense. Even if partner had another heart to play, a second heart can't be cashing. So partner has two possible defenses: give you spade ruff or shift to a club.

Since partner must shift, I suspect many would play suit preference: High to suggest a spade ruff; low to suggest a club shift. I think that's a serious error. If you lead a possible singleton and partner wins and cashes a side winner, I believe your signal should always be attitude. Discouraging says, "No, you fool. That was a singleton." Encouraging says, "Yep. You got it right. I'm not ruffing. Try something else."

If your signal depends on what that "something else" is--attitude if it's continuing the suit, suit preference if it's shifting-- then you are setting yourself up for an accident. Yes, in this example, it's clear to both sides that "something else" is a club shift. But that won't always be the case. Sooner or later, you'll have a deal where the alternative to giving you a ruff isn't clear.

The point is: What possible gain is there from sometimes playing low to show your lead was a singleton and sometimes playing high to show the same thing? If low (or high if playing upside-down) always says your lead was a singleton, then you can't have an accident.

Let's change problem a bit.

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

Again, you lead a spade to partner's ace and partner cashes the heart ace. Now how should you signal?

If partner has another heart, he has three possible defenses: Play a spade for you to ruff, play another heart, or shift to a club. I don't know how the Suit-Preference Guild would signal. But I do know how I would. A discouraging heart--as always--shows your lead was a singleton and requests a ruff. An encouraging heart (the nine if playing standard; the deuce if playing upside-down) says it isn't. Since partner doesn't know you have six hearts, he will probably continue hearts if you encourage.

In this case, however, you want a club shift. How do you get it? Via an alarm-clock signal. Play the heart queen. This, in theory, denies the king (more accurately, it denies a cashing king). And it denies a stiff spade, since you would simply discourage if you had one. So partner will shift to a club by elimination. 

Of course, this discussion is moot playing with robots. My robot partner isn't signaling at all. He's just playing a random card. So it's up to me to figure out what to do.

If the diamond lead was a singleton, we beat this contract two if I return a diamond now. If I cash another club, partner's fifth heart will be the setting trick, so we still beat it one.

If the diamond lead was a doubleton, I might lose my club trick and let declarer make if I return a diamond now. So perhaps I should cash another club just to make sure we beat it. Is that a realistic concern?

Let's give declarer something like

♠ A Q 10  ♥ Q J x x  ♦ K Q x  ♣ J x x

If I play a diamond, declarer wins, plays a heart to the ace and a spade to the ten. Now a heart to the king, a spade to the queen, and the ace of spades, pitching a club. Next, declarer ruffs a club in dummy, reaching this position:

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

If he draws trump, he loses the last two tricks. If he plays a diamond, partner ruffs and plays a trump. He's down one either way.

So the diamond return doesn't risk the contract. I might as well go for it. I shift to the deuce of diamonds. Partner ruffs, plays a club to me, and I give him another ruff. Down two.

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

Plus 500 is worth 100%. That's my 3rd 100% board in this set. And the double wasn't even necessary. No one else beat it two, so plus 200 would have been just as good.

I'm sure partner wasn't happy having to decide what to do over the double. But as long he pulls to five clubs rather than four spades, we would probably survive. North has to find an inspired spade lead to beat it.

Free Weekly Instant Tournament - July 25 - Board 3

Board 3
Opponents vulnerable

♠ A K J 10 9  ♥ A  ♦ A 6 5 4  ♣ 4 3 2

I bid one spade. LHO overcalls with two clubs, partner passes, and RHO bids two hearts. I double for take-out, partner bids two spades, and East passes. I have a good hand. Should I make a game try?

Here is the auction so far:

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

What would I have done had partner raised to two spades voluntarily? I have six losers, But I have three aces and no queens, so I should treat the hand as five losers. And five losers is worth driving to game opposite a single raise. On the other hand, my three small clubs is troublesome. RHO didn't raise clubs, so partner may have three clubs as well. Even if partner has a doubleton, East could be overruffing dummy. If we lose the first three tricks, taking ten will be an uphill battle. It's probably right to be cautious and merely invite.

If my hand is worth only an invitation after a voluntary raise and partner's hand is worse than that, then I'm not worth an invitation now. I pass. LHO passes as well and leads the deuce of spades.

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

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

See? Three small clubs in dummy. We are quite high enough.

I play a low spade from dummy and East plays the queen. He would have ducked with queen fourth, so West has at least one more spade. What else do I know? Assuming West would have led a club from ace-king or king-queen, then East must have the king of clubs. 

What else? The trump lead is strange. Why not a heart? Presumably West would have raised hearts with three and would have led a singleton. So he must have a doubleton. Any doubleton other than jack doubleton would be an attractive lead. Wait. Maybe not. He knows I'm short in hearts from my take-out double, so he expects four hearts in dummy. I've changed my mind. Hearts isn't an attractive lead from any doubleton.

If diamonds are three-three, I can take five spades, a heart, and two diamonds to make this. If not, I need to ruff a diamond in dummy. I'll need to duck two diamonds, and the defense will be able to play two more trumps. So I can't manage a diamond ruff against best defense.

Is there another chance? What if West is 2-2-4-5 with king-queen of diamonds? Then I can lead up to the jack of diamonds twice.

I don't see any reason not to play a diamond right away. I can't think of a likely construction where someone has a singleton diamond. I lead the four of diamonds. West plays the queen; East, the deuce.

West continues with the seven of diamonds. It probably doesn't matter what I play from dummy. But I doubt West led a diamond from the king, so I play low. East plays the ten and I take my ace.

Dummy's eight of spades is high, so I can play another diamond and ruff the fourth round high if necessary. I play the five of diamonds--nine--jack--king. Diamonds were three-three, which is not a surprise. If they weren't, West probably would have continued trumps at trick three.

East shifts to the deuce of hearts. I take the ace, and West follows with the three. Everyone follows to the second round of trumps. We are down to this position with a trump still outstanding:

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

I could just draw the last trump and concede three club tricks. But the longer I keep the ball in play, the more chances the opponents have to drop it. It can't hurt to play my last diamond and pitch a club from dummy. That lets them ruff my diamond winner, but I get the trick back by ruffing a club in dummy.

I lead my diamond. West discards the six of clubs. I pitch the five of clubs from dummy. East pitches the five of hearts. No one wanted to ruff my diamond. Will they let me score a club ruff now for an overtrick? I play the deuce of clubs--jack--nine--eight. East exits with the king of hearts, which I ruff.

I decided at trick one that East has the king of clubs, so this must be the position:

	NORTH Robot ♠ 8 ♥ Q 10 ♦ -- ♣ 10
WEST Robot ♠ x ♥ -- ♦ -- ♣ A Q x		EAST Robot ♠ -- ♥ J x x ♦ -- ♣ K
	SOUTH Phillip ♠ J 10 ♥ -- ♦ -- ♣ 4 3

If I lead a club, West must find a crocodile coup, rising with the ace to lead the last trump. If he plays the queen, his partner will win with the king and won't have a trump to lead. So I'll cross-ruff the last three tricks. The crocodile coup isn't a sure thing. Rising with the ace is wrong if I have the club king instead of East.

I play the three of clubs. West gets it right. He rises with the club ace and plays a spade. Making two.

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

Plus 110 is worth 71%. Some Souths overbid and reached three spades.

This deal illustrates a common mistake robots make, which is a natural consequence of their algorithm. At the point West exited with the heart king, he should have played a trump. This would guarantee holding me to eight tricks whatever I held. When he didn't do that, he forced himself to guess who had the club king in the end position. True, it's not a hard guess. I would have bid more if I had it. But there is no upside to putting himself in that position.

The problem is, West didn't see the downside either. Robots search for the best play assuming double-dummy play by both sides thereafter. Double-dummy, it makes no difference whether West exits with a heart or a trump, so he saw no reason to prefer one play over the other.

My favorite example of this flaw is a deal where my robot opponent went down in seven notrump with thirteen top tricks. I led dummy's void, and declarer saw no reason not to pitch a winner from dummy. That meant he now had only twelve top tricks. But, double dummy, he could always take thirteen, because he could finesse either defender for the queen of clubs.

Free Weekly Instant Tournament - July 25 - Board 2

Board 2
Our side vulnerable

♠ Q 9 7 5 4 3  ♥ A K 6  ♦ Q 7  ♣ Q 5

RHO bids one club. I overcall with one spade, and LHO raises to three clubs, pre-emptive. Partner bids three hearts, and I go on to four. RHO leads the jack of hearts.

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

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

Not quite the hand I was expecting. If three hearts was non-forcing, partner should have a better heart suit. If it was forcing (as I presume most would play it), partner should have a better hand, especially given he has a singleton in my suit. A responsive double seems more to the point. Although I doubt we'd get to game after that. So I can hardly complain if we make this.

We're missing 17 HCP. Since West didn't lead a high club, East rates to have either the ace or king of clubs. If he has another king, that leaves West with at most 11 HCP. Since West appears to be balanced, he must have at least 12. So West should have both the spade and diamond kings.

What else do I know? East holds at least five clubs for his three-club bid, so West holds three or four. Since the robots open one diamond with four-four in the minors, West can't hold four diamonds. Either diamonds are three-three or West holds king doubleton. 

OK. I have a provisional construction. What are my prospects? I have to lose two clubs and a diamond, so I can't afford another loser. I need trumps to break and I need to avoid a diamond loser. 

Two basic plans are possible. I can try to set up spades or I can try to set up diamonds. To set up spades, I need the king of spades to be doubleton or third. I already know I can set up diamonds, provided I can manage to ruff one safely. That seems like the better plan unless it presents difficulties.

Does it? I can't afford to ruff a diamond with an honor. So I must rise with the ace or king on this trick to preserve a low trump to ruff with. Then I play a spade to my ace and a diamond up. West hops with ace. The defense cashes two clubs and plays another trump. I must win in dummy with the other honor. Now I ruff a spade to my hand and play a diamond. If West was three-two in the red suits, he can ruff high in front of dummy to score the setting trick.

Note the defense has to cash two clubs before leading the second trump for this to work. If they don't, I can pitch a club from dummy when West ruffs in, then later score a club ruff. They might not find this defense, so I might survive on this line even if West is three-two in the red suits.

How about setting up spades? I'll need lots of dummy entries, so I must start by winning this trick in my hand with the queen. Now ace of spades, heart to dummy, spade ruff, heart to dummy spade ruff. If the king of spades has ruffed out, dummy's spades are good. But so what? I have no way to get there. I've drawn three rounds of trump and ruffed twice, so I'm out of trump. If I lead toward the diamond queen, West hops and cashes oodles of club tricks.

Setting up spades doesn't work, so I have to set up diamonds. If West is three-two in the red suits, let's hope they misdefend.

I rise with the heart ace. East plays the heart nine. Interesting. The ten is the only heart out higher than my spots. That may solve my problem in the trump suit.

I play a spade--deuce--ace--six. Now a diamond. West hops with the king, and East follows with the four.

West shifts to the three of hearts. This is the current position, with dummy to play:

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

I was intending to rise with the king, saving the low heart to ruff with. But, since the ten is the only high heart left, there is no longer any reason to do that. I can duck the heart to my hand. If East plays the ten, all my hearts are high. If he doesn't, I win the heart cheaply. Now I can ruff a diamond with the king and still have the queen in my hand to draw the last trump. 

I play the six of hearts from dummy. East discards the four of clubs. Oops. West began with four hearts. That changes things.

If diamonds are three-three, I'm still OK. West kindly gave me the contract by picking up the heart suit for me. But what if they aren't? I can't ruff out the diamonds without setting up a trump trick. So I might as well just concede a diamond, losing two diamonds and two clubs for down one.

Will that work? Let's say I draw the third round of trumps, cash the diamond queen, and ruff a spade to my hand. There is one trump outstanding. This will be the position, with the lead in my hand:

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

No, it doesn't work. I'm tapped out. If I draw the last trump, cash the diamond ace, and diamonds don't split, I lose the last four tricks for down two.

Perhaps I can hold it to down one if West is 3-4-2-4. In that case, I can ruff out the spade king for an extra trick.

Let's see if that works. Say I win the heart six in dummy, ruff a spade, play a diamond to the queen, and ruff another spade, dropping the king. Now we're down to this position, with the lead in my hand:

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

Dummy's spades are good, but I can't use them. I don't see any way to take more than two tricks. I still lose four tricks at the end for down two. I might has well just draw trump and hope diamonds are three-three.

I cash the king of hearts and the diamond queen and ruff a spade to my hand. Now I draw the last trump and cash the diamond ace. Diamonds split, so I make my game. Nice three-heart bid, partner. 

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

Plus 620 is worth 100%. But 170 would have been worth 100% as well. As is often the case at matchpoints, you don't need to bid a game. You just need to make it.

Why did no one else take ten tricks? Apparently everyone had the same blind spot. When West continued hearts at trick four, everyone rose with the king. I don't know if they didn't notice that East played the heart nine at trick one or they didn't see that there was nothing to be gained by rising.

Anyway, that's two 100% boards to start the event. It's going to be all downhill from here.

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.