Challenge Match - Jazlene vs. Phillip - Board 14

Board 13 was a push. I'm up 12 imps with three boards left in the match.

Board 14
Neither vulnerable

♠ Q 4  ♥ K Q 10 7 6  ♦ A K 8  ♣ K Q 5

RHO passes. I open with one heart and partner bids one spade.

Had partner responded with one notrump, I would raise to three. Two notrump should show 17-18 HCP, and you should drive to game with 19. But after a one-spade response, the range of two notrump should be extended to include 19 HCP.

There are two reasons for this: For one, we may belong in four spades, something you needn't worry about after one-notrump. If you rebid three notrump, partner, with five spades, has no way to check for three-card support. And, even with six, he will be wary of correcting, since you could be bidding three notrump with a stiff spade and solid hearts. Another reason is that two notrump keeps the auction low in case partner has a good hand and wants to investigate slam. Again, that isn't a concern when partner is limited.

I rebid two notrump. Partner raises to three, and LHO leads the king of spades.

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

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

Three notrump! Why not three diamonds? Not only could we have a five-three spade, but, even if we don't, we could be going down in three notrump cold for a diamond game. Or even a diamond slam, though I'm not sure how we could get there intelligently.

Fortunately I have a doubleton spade and good clubs, so three notrump is the right spot. East plays the spade seven; I play the four. West shifts to the deuce of hearts. I win and play a heart to the ace. Hearts split, so I claim eleven tricks.

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

West's heart shift was a nice play. If I have ace-king tight of diamonds, it tangles up my entries. If I hold,

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

the heart shift beats me. Even if you add the queen of hearts to my hand, a heart shift stops the overtricks. 

I have one question I hope someone can answer. Since my contract was safe, after winning the heart ace, I could have played a spade and conceded two overtricks to score the beer card. Is the beer card worth two imps? I don't drink beer, so I don't know.

This board is probably another push. You can check out Jazlene's play at JazPlaysBridge to verify.

Board 14 was quick, so I'll offer a bonus. This was a fun deal I played this morning in the Zenith Daylong:

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

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

West leads the spade four. East wins with the ace and returns the queen of spades to my king as West plays the nine.

I have eight tricks. Reese says where there are eight tricks, there are nine. Is he right on this deal? The opponents have five tricks--four spades and the diamond ace. If I can squeeze East out of a spade, they have only four. Then perhaps I can then set up a diamond trick. 

Unless East has king-queen of hearts and the diamond ace, I don't see how I can squeeze him. And if he has all that, it leaves West with nothing for his spade raise. But it doesn't hurt to run clubs and see what happens. 

I overtake the club queen and start the club suit, pitching a heart and a diamond. Everyone follows to the first two clubs. On the third club, East pitches the deuce of spades. He pitched a spade already? He knows he has to come down to five cards, and he has decided that they can't include three spades. What can he have to reach that conclusion? If he had the diamond ace, surely he would plan to come down to three spades, the ace of diamonds, and a heart and hope his partner can stop the heart suit. If he thinks he needs to pitch a spade, the ace of diamonds must be on my left.

What should I discard? I need someone to come down to a stiff ace or queen of diamonds, so I want to make it dangerous for the opponents to pitch hearts. That means I need to keep my hearts. I pitch another diamond.

I cash another club. East pitches the seven of hearts, and I pitch another diamond. West pitches the nine of hearts.

The robots tend to pitch count cards. So it appears West has four hearts and East began with honor-ten-seven. That means East is 5-3-3-2 and West is 3-4-2-4. If I've read the deal correctly, this should be the current position, with the lead in dummy:

	NORTH Phillip ♠ 10 ♥ 8 ♦ K J 3 ♣ 6
WEST Robot ♠ x ♥ ? x x ♦ A ? ♣ --		EAST Robot ♠ J x ♥ ? ♦ ? x x ♣ --
	SOUTH Robot ♠ -- ♥ A J 6 4 ♦ 10 6 ♣ --

On the last club, East pitches the seven of diamonds. I pitch a diamond, and West pitches the nine of diamonds. West apparently has queen third of hearts left and is afraid I have ace-king, so he stiffed his diamond ace. I exit with a small diamond from dummy. The defense takes a diamond and two spades, and I take the last two tricks. Making three.

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

The key to this deal is realizing East's spade pitch marks the diamond ace in the West hand. I'm compiling a list of rules for card-reading, and I'm adding this one: "The defender who pitches winners in notrump doesn't hold the missing ace." 

Most of the rules in my list, like this one, are obvious when you think about it. But they can be surprisingly easy to miss at the table when you have lots of things to think about. It helps to have them formulated ahead of time, so they become second nature.

Challenge Match - Jazlene vs. Phillip - Board 13

I picked up an imp on the last board. I take that back. I picked up an imp on the previous board. The last board is yet to come. Anyway, I'm up 12 imps going into

Board 13
Both sides vulnerable

♠ K Q 8  ♥ A Q 4 2  ♦ A Q 4 2  ♣ A 8

Two passes to me. I open with two notrump, showing 20-21 HCP. Partner bids three clubs, Stayman. I bid three hearts and partner raises to four. LHO leads the seven of spades.

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

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

The seven of spades is probably from shortness. If it's from length, it must be from specifically jack-nine-seven. I play low from dummy, East plays the three, and I win with the eight.

Surely East would have played the nine if he had it, so West should have jack-nine-seven. Still, I've seen the robots make some pretty strange ducks third hand. And jack-nine third is not an attractive holding to lead from. So, even though it appears spades are three-three, I'm keeping an open mind.

Even if I lose three trump tricks, I should make this. I can ruff my diamond loser in dummy and pitch my club loser on dummy's long spade. I just have to make sure I get to do all that. If spades are not three-three, I'll need the diamond ruff as my entry to cash the long spade, so I don't want to ruff a diamond early. 

In isolation, the proper way to play the heart suit is to cash the ace, then lead toward the queen. If the king is onside, this line doesn't cost anything, since I always have at least one trump loser whatever I do. And it saves a trick if the king is offside singleton.

In this case, however, since I need to postpone my diamond ruff, I can't afford to give up control of the trump suit. Suppose, for example, I cash the heart ace, play a diamond to dummy and lead another heart. If East shows out, West can play three rounds of trump, stopping my diamond ruff. Then, if it turns out spades aren't three-three, I could go down, losing two hearts, a diamond, and a club.

Playing three rounds of trump is an easy defense for West if his partner's singleton was the jack or ten. If West has king-jack-ten fourth, playing three rounds of trump costs a trump trick, but it gets that trick back by stopping the diamond ruff. And it gains two tricks if spades don't break, since it kills my entry to the long spade.

A stiff heart on my right is more likely than specifically a stiff king on my left. Plus, I'm not even sure it hurts to lose a finesse to a stiff king. Let's go through the play to check.

Say I lead a diamond to dummy, play a heart to the queen, and West wins with the king and shifts to a club--queen--king--ace. I cash the trump ace, and West shows out. I think I'm still OK. I start by cashing two spades. I know they're cashing, since if anyone is short in spades, it's West. Now I ruff a diamond in dummy. I've reached this position with the lead in dummy:

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

So far, I've scored three spades, the trump ace, the club ace, the diamond king and a diamond ruff. Seven tricks. I cash the last spade, pitching a club. If East ruffs, I'm home, since I have control and lose only three trump tricks. If East is out of spades, he does better to discard. But now I've taken eight tricks. All I have to do is ruff a club for the ninth, then cash a diamond for my tenth. If it cashes, that is.

Actually, if East is 3-4-3-3, he can pitch a diamond on the fourth spade. Now, when I try to cash the diamond ace, he can ruff, draw my last trump, and cash a club trick. To prevent that, I have to cash the diamond ace before ruffing a diamond in dummy. Now I reach this position with the lead in dummy, having taken eight tricks instead of seven:

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

I lead the spade ace. Again, if East ruffs, I'm home. But this time if he discards, the spade ace is my ninth trick and the club ruff will be my tenth.

If East started with a doubleton diamond, this line won't work, since he can overruff the third round and cash his club. But that's quite a parlay. For me to go down by taking the heart finesse, West must have a stiff king of hearts and six diamonds, and East must have the club king. If that's what I'm guarding against by cashing the heart ace, taking the finesse looks safer than the "safety play."

I play a diamond to the king. West plays the three; East, the six. Now nine of hearts--six--queen--king.

West shifts to the six of spades. The six! So he did lead a doubleton. And East, for some reason, withheld his nine at trick one. I was right to worry about that.

I win in my hand and cash the heart ace. Everyone follows, so I have no further problems. I cash a third spade, ruff a diamond to dummy, and pitch a club on the spade ace. I have only a trump loser left. Making five.

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

I can't construct a layout where it's right for East to play low on the spade lead. The robots need a diagnostic mode, so you can ask what they're "thinking" about.

Fortunately, Jazlene has a diagnostic mode. You can hear her thoughts on the board at JazPlaysBridge.

Challenge Match - Jazlene vs. Phillip - Board 12

The previous board was a push, so I'm still up 11 imps going into

Board 12
Our side vulnerable

♠ A J 8 7  ♥ A K 6 4  ♦ Q 8 5  ♣ 7 2

LHO opens with one diamond--pass--pass to me. I balance with one notrump, showing 11 to 14 HCP. Partner bids two hearts, a transfer to spades.

In most circumstances I would pre-accept with four-card support. But partner had a chance to overcall one diamond with one spade and chose not to, so he can't have much. A game seems unlikely under these conditions. I bid a cautious two spades, which ends the auction. LHO leads the spade ten.

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

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

If West has an ace-king, one would expect him to lead it in preference to a trump. Is it possible that he doesn't have an ace-king? Since East passed one diamond, he has at most five HCP. So he can't have both minor-suit kings. And if he has an ace, he can't have a king at all. So West must have ace-king in one minor or the other.

Given my one notrump bid, not leading from ace-king of diamonds is understandable. If I have queen-jack of diamonds, leading a high diamond may blow a trick. But not leading from ace-king of clubs would be strange. So East should have either the ace or king of clubs. 

Even after my one notrump call, West might have led from ace-king fifth of diamonds, trying to give his partner a ruff. So he probably has only four. That means he's either balanced or 1-4-4-4. 

There are 19 HCP outstanding, so West must have at least 14. If he is 1-4-4-4, he probably would have doubled two spades for takeout, so I suspect he is balanced. That means he has exactly 14, since he didn't open with one notrump. So the high cards must be distributed specifically 14-5. 

West wouldn't have led the spade ten from ten third, so the only patterns consistent with his one diamond opening are 2-3-4-4 and 2-4-4-3. Some players might open one diamond with 2-2-4-5, but I've never seen the robots do that.

So I know quite a bit. I know West is 2-3-4-4 or 2-4-4-3 with exactly 14 HCP and East has either the ace of king of clubs. Do I know anything else? Maybe. With ace-king-jack fourth of diamonds, West has no reason to spurn a diamond lead. So East should have the jack of diamonds along with his club honor. To have exactly five HCP, East must have specifically the ace of clubs and the jack of diamonds. We are almost double dummy. West has either

♠ 10 x  ♥ Q x x  ♦ A K x x  ♣ K Q x x

or

♠ 10 x ♥ Q x x x  ♦ A K x x ♣ K Q x

While I can't rule out the first hand, it's less likely than the second, since if one of those club x's is the ten--or even the nine, West might have preferred the king of clubs to a trump lead. If I were playing face-to-face, I would write the second hand down on a napkin, fold it, and set it aside to show the table when the deal was over. If I was right, I would look like a genius. 

I win the spade lead with the ace and play a spade back to dummy. Spades, as expected, are two-two.

I might as well take the losing heart finesse. I know West doesn't have a doubleton queen, so there is no reason to play for the drop. Taking the finesse keeps my heart holding concealed. If the defense doesn't cash their diamonds, I can pitch a diamond from dummy on a long heart.

I lead the heart jack--deuce--four--queen. West cashes the diamond king. East plays the three. Since my eight and five are both higher than the three, there is nothing to gain by false-carding. I play the five.

West shifts to the nine of hearts, so the diamond goes away. Making three.

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

It may seem like a waste of time to construct the layout so fully when there was nothing to the play. But it was good practice. And fun. And, as it turns out, there was something to the play. Without my construction, I might have tried to drop the queen of hearts. Then West would have known to cash out. So I probably did gain an imp from the exercise. 

Unfortunately, I picked the wrong hand for the napkin. So I don't look like a genius. Maybe a fallible genius?

Incidentally, what hand was West playing me for when he shifted to a heart? Maybe

♠ A J x x ♥ K x x  ♦ Q x x  ♣ A x x ?

He was hoping for a heart to the ace, a club to his queen, and a heart exit, which beats me. No, wait. It doesn't. West is strip-squeezed. I cash winners, coming down to

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

West must either stiff his club king or come down to two clubs and a stiff diamond ace, in which case I can toss him in.

Maybe East should win the heart ace and switch to the diamond jack. If so, I cover. West wins and exits with a heart. I ruff the diamond in dummy, coming down to

	NORTH Robot ♠ K 9 ♥ -- ♦ -- ♣ J 8 3
	SOUTH Phillip ♠ J x ♥ -- ♦ -- ♣ A x x

Now a trump to my hand and a low club endplays West.

West can't beat me if I hold that hand, so he must have been playing for something else. How about

♠ A J x x ♥ A x x  ♦ J x x  ♣ A x x ?

West shifts to the heart nine. I duck. Now he underleads to the diamond queen for a club back. 

But why shift to a heart at all? If I have the heart eight, it costs a trick. Since West needs to play East for the diamond queen anyway, why not just underlead the diamond now, get a club shift, then exit with a third diamond? I could understand a diamond underlead, which also blows a trick, but I don't understand the heart shift. If anyone can think of a layout where it's necessary, let me know.

I also don't understand East's three of diamonds. When West cashes the diamond king, he is obviously fishing for the queen for an underlead. East should play his highest diamond spot with the queen and his lowest without it. He should never play the middle card.

Now see what Jazlene has to say about this board at JazPlaysBridge.