Speaker 1 (female announcer): All right. So today we're doing something kind of different.
Speaker 2 (male announcer): Different good or different?
Speaker 1: Different good.
Speaker 2: OK, good.
Speaker 1: We are diving deep into a bridge match.
Speaker 2: Ooh, exciting.
Speaker 1: It is, but here's the twist.
Speaker 2: OK.
Speaker 1: We're analyzing a match between
these two players, Phillip and Jazlene, using their own commentary.
Speaker 2: Their own commentary. So they're both talking about the same match.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So Phillip has this blog called Gargoyle Chronicles.
Speaker 2: Gargoyle Chronicles, OK.
Speaker 1: Yeah. And he writes these really detailed posts about his bridge games.
Speaker 2: Interesting.
Speaker 1: And then we have Jazlene. She's more of a YouTube kind of gal.
Speaker 2: Ah! So she's got videos of her gameplay.
Speaker 1: Exactly. She's got this channel called Jazz Plays Bridge and she breaks down her matches, her thoughts, everything.
Speaker 2: That's awesome. So we get like a two-sided perspective on the same game.
Speaker 1: It's double the strategy, double the drama, and hopefully double the (ha ha) moments for us and the listener.
Speaker 2: I'm in. Let's do it.
-- Opening of AI-generated podcast
AI is pretty good at the chatty introduction. Less good at the actual bridge. So Jazlene and I will take it from here:
Board 2
IMPs, Our side vulnerable
| ♠ A K Q 9 ♥ A J ♦ J 9 3 ♣ K 10 8 6 |
I won five imps on Board 1. Let's see if I can hold on to my lead.
RHO passes. I open with one club, intending to rebid two notrump. The opponents have other ideas, however. West overcalls with one notrump and RHO bids two diamonds, a transfer to hearts.
What should a double by me mean? Many play a double of two diamonds as showing diamonds. Personally, I think double is more useful as take-out of hearts. Yes, I could pass, hoping to make a balancing double of two hearts. But doubling two diamonds for take-out is safer. If partner has some 3-4-3-3 Yarborough, he won't be pleased with a balancing double of two hearts, but he can pass two diamonds doubled and possibly stay out of trouble.
A good general rule is this: If we've opened the bidding, doubles of artificial bids are for take-out of the suit shown. If they've opened the bidding, the meaning of double depends on the strength shown by the artificial bid. If it shows at least game-invitational strength, double is lead-directing. If not, double is take-out of the suit shown. Here, two diamonds could be weak, so double should be take-out of hearts whether or not we've opened the bidding.
A similar situation arises is when you open, LHO overcalls, and RHO cue-bids your suit to show support. Double to show a take-out of the overcalled suit makes more sense to me than doubling to "rebid" your suit.
A double of Drury, however, shows clubs. The opponents have opened the bidding and responder's two-clubs shows invitational values. So double is lead-directing.
In any event, that's not how the robots play. They play double shows diamonds. So if I double, this hand will be a serious disappointment to partner.
I pass, and LHO bids two hearts, passed back to me. I have the heart shortness, so it's my job to compete. If partner has that 3-4-3-3 Yarborough, that's just too bad. I can't risk losing 6 imps when both two hearts and two spades are making.
I double, and partner bids three diamonds. After two passes, LHO competes to three hearts--pass--pass to me. We pushed them up a level. Let's see if we can beat them. I pass, and partner leads the eight of hearts.
| NORTH Robot ♠ J 8 4 ♥ K 9 5 4 3 ♦ 2 ♣ J 9 5 2 |
||
| EAST Phillip ♠ A K Q 9 ♥ A J ♦ J 9 3 ♣ K 10 8 6 |
||
| West | North | East | South |
| Robot | Robot | Phillip | Robot |
| Pass | 1 ♣ | 1 NT | |
| Pass | 2 ♦ | Pass | 2 ♥ |
| Pass | Pass | Double | Pass |
| 3 ♦ | Pass | Pass | 3 ♥ |
| (All pass) |
Even with five diamonds, partner probably would have bid two spades with four of them to keep the auction a level lower. And with four-card support for my suit, partner would have bid three clubs rather than three diamonds. If we assume South has four hearts for his three-heart bid, partner rates to be 3-2-5-3, leaving declarer with 3-4-4-2. Although a six-card diamond suit for partner is also possible.
The robots aren't always Law-abiding citizens, though. Might South have competed to three hearts with three-card support? That would mean partner is 3-3-4-3, making declarer 3-3-5-2. No, I don't think so. With five diamonds South would surely choose to defend rather than bid three hearts. I'm sticking with my assumption that partner is 3-2-5-3 or has six diamonds and a black-suit doubleton
What about high cards? There are 17 HCP outstanding, so partner has at most a queen. Let's hope it's the club queen. Then we can take a heart, three spades, and a club for down one. If partner is 3-2-6-2, he doesn't need the club queen to beat it. Declarer then has an unavoidable club loser.
Declarer plays low from dummy. Hmm. I just had a wild thought. What if partner's 2 HCP is the heart queen? Then I must insert the jack to beat this. If I could cater to the possibility at no cost, I would. But I can't let declarer win the first trick and pitch a spade away on the diamond king. The fact that a low heart lead from queen doubleton even crossed my mind shows the effect of years of sitting across the table from Lowenthal. I win with the heart ace and declarer follows with the six.
Now to cash spades. With the jack of spades in dummy, my correct play is the queen, asking for count. The king would ask for attitude; the queen shows I have all the spade honors and would like to know how many are cashing. Not that it matters. Robots don't signal, and I'm playing three rounds of spades however partner cards. But I lead the queen anyway just for practice.
Declarer plays the seven; partner, the deuce. I cash two more spades. Declarer plays three, seven; partner plays six, ten. After giving count, the six should be suit-preference. Partner doesn't necessarily have anything. But if he does, it should be the club queen.
But, again, robots don't signal. And it wouldn't matter if they did. I see no reason to do anything but exit passively and wait for a club trick.
I exit with the jack of hearts--seven--deuce--king. Declarer leads the deuce of clubs off dummy. It would be embarrassing to play low and let him insert the seven from ace-queen-seven. It's unlikely he would do that, but it can't hurt to play the eight, so I do. Declarer plays the queen. Unfortunately, declarer has ace-queen doubleton, so we have no more tricks. Making three.
| NORTH Robot ♠ J 8 4 ♥ K 9 5 4 3 ♦ 2 ♣ J 9 5 2 |
||
| WEST Robot ♠ 10 6 2 ♥ 8 2 ♦ Q 10 8 7 4 ♣ 7 4 3 |
EAST Phillip ♠ A K Q 9 ♥ A J ♦ J 9 3 ♣ K 10 8 6 |
|
| SOUTH Robot ♠ 7 5 3 ♥ Q 10 7 6 ♦ A K 6 5 ♣ A Q |
I don't care for South's timid two-heart bid. I think almost any hand with four trumps is a pre-acceptance. And this is quite a good hand with four trumps: four probable winners outside the heart suit plus a ruffing value. Just make partner two-two instead of three-one in the pointed suits and you want to be in four hearts. Not that you're getting there even after a pre-acceptance. But it shows how close to game you are. North could easily have a bit more and not even dream of making a game try after a simple two heart bid.
I can just imagine defending this hand with Lowenthal. I win the heart ace at trick one and cash spades, starting with the queen. John plays the ten (we played upside-down count), then six-deuce. I now know he doesn't have the club queen, so I need to hope declarer has ace-queen-small of clubs and we have a club trick coming. But does that make sense? That gives John
| ♠ 10 6 2 ♥ x x ♦ Q x x x x x ♣ x x. |
With a doubleton in my suit, why lead a trump? Why not go after a club ruff? And if you lead a trump, why the eight? The right lead from a doubleton trump is low. That means John has either ten-eight or queen-eight. Maybe I should lead the thirteenth spade, so John can ruff with the queen for an uppercut, getting back the trick I blew at trick one. What's more likely, that John led a trump from the hand above or that he led a trump from
| ♠ 10 6 2 ♥ Q 8 ♦ x x x x x ♣ x x x? |
The answer may depend on whether he has a kibitzer. He likes to keep his kibitzers entertained.
I miss playing with John. He always kept you on your toes. Now stay on your toes and tiptoe over to Jazlene's YouTube channel to get her result and her perspective on Board 2.
Speaker 2: I think we only just scratched the surface with
Phillip and Jazlene's bridge adventures.
Speaker 1: There's so much more to explore, yes.
Speaker 2: For sure. And for our listeners who are now totally captivated by this bridge drama…
Speaker 1: Hooked.
Speaker 2: ... be sure to check out Phillip's
blog, Gargoyle Chronicles, and Jazlene's YouTube channel, Jazz Plays Bridge.
Speaker 1: Yes, go deeper into their world. See their matches
unfold.
Speaker 2: And remember, whether you're a seasoned bridge pro or just starting out.
Speaker 1: There's always something new to learn from this
amazing game.
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
Speaker 1: So until next time, happy bridging everyone. May
your bids be bold, your plays be brilliant, and your partnerships be unbreakable.
No comments:
Post a Comment