Challenge Match - Jazlene vs. Phillip - Board 15

I'm up 12 imps with two boards to go.

Board 15
Our side vulnerable

♠ K Q 5  ♥ A K J 10 9 3  ♦ 9 5  ♣ A Q

I open with one heart, and partner bids one notrump. With 19 HCP and a sixth heart, I'm worth driving to game. It's possible that we have only nine winners, making three notrump a better game than four hearts. But I don't know how to find out. With diamonds wide open and the opening lead coming through my ace-queen of clubs, four hearts rates to be better, so that's what I bid. Everyone passes, and West leads the deuce of spades.

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

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

Three spades, five hearts, and two minor-suit aces. Ten tricks should be no problem. Can I make an overtrick? Queen third of hearts might be onside. Or the club king might be onside. Or I might set up a diamond trick for a club pitch.

It would be convenient if I had two dummy entries in spades. If I play the ten of spades and it holds, I can try the heart finesse. Later, I can duck a diamond, then play a diamond to the ace and ruff a diamond. I'll still have the spade ace to get to dummy for my pitch or to take a club finesse if diamonds didn't break.

I play the ten of spades, East plays the eight, and I play the five. Awesome! (I've noticed a lot of people saying "awesome" lately, so I'm trying it out. Not sure I like it. It doesn't fit my persona. I take it back. Change that to "Good." No exclamation point.)

I have my two spade entries. Now for a trump finesse. Five of hearts--eight--jack--queen. A spade continuation will spoil my plan of setting up diamonds. I'll have to win in my hand. Then, when I duck a diamond, they can lead a third spade to knock out my entry. Will West find the spade continuation?

He does. He shifts to the six of spades. I play low from dummy, East plays the nine, and I win in my hand with the king.

West chose to lead a spade from the jack, which means he probably doesn't have a passive lead available in clubs. So he has either the king or the jack of clubs. But if he had jacks in both black suits, he could have chosen to lead either one. By restricted choice, then, his club honor is two-to-one to be the king. 

If West has the club king and the long diamond, I think I can squeeze him for the overtrick. Let's say I draw trump and duck a diamond. East must return a spade to kill the dummy entry, else I can simply set up diamonds. After I win the spade in dummy, this will be the position:

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

I can now come to my hand with the club ace and finish trumps, squeezing West in the minors.

Of course the club king isn't 100% to be on my left. And the squeeze doesn't have to work if it is. So I might as well run a bunch of hearts before I decide what to do. If it appears the squeeze isn't going to work, I'll fall back on the club finesse.

I cash the ace and king of hearts, pitching a diamond and a club from dummy. Both opponents follow.

On the fourth round of hearts, West pitches the six of clubs. I pitch another diamond from dummy, and East pitches the deuce of clubs. Robots like to pitch count cards, so someone has three clubs and someone has five. That's encouraging. It appears that West might be 4-3-3-3, in which case I have him.

I cash a fifth round of trumps. West pitches the jack of spades. I pitch a club from dummy, and East pitches the three of clubs. If I've read the deal correctly, this is the position, with the lead in my hand:

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

I lead the nine of diamonds--four--six--queen. East doesn't kill the spade entry as I was expecting. Instead, he shifts to the four of clubs, so no squeeze is necessary. I hop with the ace of clubs, ruff out the diamond, then return to dummy with the spade ace to cash it. Making five.

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

Hmm. The club king was onside all along. And the club jack. So much for my inference from the opening lead. If East had shifted to a spade at the end, I would have led a club to my ace and played for the squeeze. Making only four.

It's a weird position. Usually the way to force declarer to guess whether to take a finesse or to play for something else is to lead the suit he has the finesse in and force him to commit himself. Here, that's exactly the wrong idea. Leading clubs gave me no way to go wrong. 

Jazlene chose a different approach in the auction. You can hear her thoughts on the board at this bookmark at JazPlaysBridge. I'm actually going to listen to the whole video again. I'm curious if Jazlene is one of those people who say "awesome."

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.

Challenge Match - Jazlene vs. Phillip - Board 11

After the last board, I'm back in the lead. I'm up 11 imps going into

Board 11
Both sides vulnerable

♠ 9 6 5 4  ♥ 7 4  ♦ A K J 3  ♣ K Q 8

I open with one diamond, partner bids one notrump, and RHO overcalls with two hearts. I know they have an eight-card heart fit, so I don't want to sell out. Ed Manfield suggested that double here by either side should show precisely two hearts. That way, we won't sell out at the two-level when they have an eight card fit and we will sell out if each of us has three hearts.

Unfortunately, this is too sophisticated an agreement for mere robots. In their methods, any call I make shows a much better hand than this. I have no choice but to pass and hold my breath.

I pass, and LHO raises to three hearts. Thanks. Now that they're at the three-level, I can breathe easily. This is passed around to me. I pass and lead the diamond king.

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

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

Partner plays the four of diamonds; declarer, the seven.

If declarer has the ace and king of hearts, we will need to take four tricks in the black suits to beat this. Any club tricks we have aren't going away, but spades might get pitched on dummy's clubs. Say declarer has

♠ x x x ♥ A K J 10 x  ♦ x x x  ♣ A x

If I don't switch to a spade right away, declarer can set up clubs for a spade pitch. Is that the only layout where I need to switch to a spade? How about this one:

♠ Q x x ♥ A K J 10 x  ♦ x x x  ♣ x x

I must lead spades twice from my side before his clubs are set up. I don't have to switch to a spade now, since partner can let me win let both clubs. But it makes the defense easier if I do.

What if declarer has a stiff club, so the club suit isn't a threat? He must have at least three spades, since partner bypassed spades to bid one notrump. Suppose declarer is 3-5-4-1. The club suit is no longer a danger. The danger now is that he can ruff three diamonds in dummy. If we lead trumps twice, we can hold him to two ruffs. Maybe we can then take three black-suit tricks and another diamond. 

Let's give declarer

♠ Q x x  ♥ A K J 10 x  ♦ x x x x ♣ x

If I lead a spade, partner must duck it to declarer's queen. Declarer then ruffs a diamond and plays a club. We can win and play one round of trumps, but declarer scores eight trumps on a cross-ruff plus the spade for nine tricks. But if I shift to a trump now, we can lead trumps twice and hold him to seven trumps and one spade.

How about

♠ x x x ♥ A K J 10 x  ♦ x x x x  ♣ A ?

Now nothing works. Since declarer doesn't need to duck a club, we can't lead two rounds of trumps.

How about

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

Again, if I lead a spade, partner must duck. Declarer can take a spade, a club, and seven trump tricks. If I switch to a trump, partner can play ace and a trump and beat it.

Once again, I wish robots know how to signal. As on Board 9, I would know what to do opposite a reliable partner. Partner's diamond four can't be his highest affordable spot, so it should be his lowest and should suggest that a spade switch looks right to him.

And by "a spade switch looks right," I mean exactly that: Shifting to a spade looks like the right defense. That means partner doesn't just look at his spades. He also considers whether our spade tricks are apt to disappear. If he has the club suit under control, he should encourage to let me know there is no rush to lead spades. I would then switch to a trump.

As I've mentioned before, attitude signals are holistic. Partner's holding in dummy's potential source of tricks should influence whether he encourages or discourages as much as his holding in the suit led or in the suit I'm apt to shift to.

And, as readers of Gargoyle Chronicles know, I don't subscribe to the theory that partner should give suit preference when dummy has a singleton in the suit led. The idea that you don't need to be able to encourage in diamonds just because dummy has a singleton is nonsense. For starters, you might want a diamond continuation to tap dummy. And, even if that makes no sense in context, you might want to encourage diamonds to suggest that's where your tricks are coming from and partner should shift to a trump to protect them.

A discouraging attitude signal suggests attack; an encouraging one suggest a strategy of containment. Most of time, that's what I want to know. I could care less about suit preference.

I suppose one could answer the "attack or containment" question with suit preference. Partner can't really want you to play clubs, so if partner shows suit preference for clubs, perhaps he's saying, "I've got clubs under control. Don't worry about pitches," in which case a trump shift is called for. But what have you gained other than potential for confusion? Playing attitude, a low diamond suggests a spade shift. Playing suit preference, a high one does. Using opposite signals to mean the same thing in different scenarios is asking for a misunderstanding. Since attitude works just fine, play it safe and stick with it at trick one--no matter what dummy holds in the suit led.

Playing with a partner I trusted, then, I would shift to a spade. Opposite a robot, however, I'm on my own. I must make the play I think works most often.

Partner is going to need good spades whichever defense I go for. If we can't take at least two spade tricks, beating this will be an uphill battle. The determining factor seems to be declarer's shape. If he's 3-5-4-1, I want to shift to a trump to stop ruffs. If he's 3-5-3-2, I want to shift to a spade before he can set up the club suit. Since 3-5-3-2 is a priori a likelier shape for declarer than 3-5-4-1, I'll go with the spade shift.

I shift to the six of spades--deuce--jack--queen. Partner's jack means declarer has the spade ten, so I assume nothing would have worked. It turns out declarer has four diamonds and the club ace, so partner's spade ace is the only trick we get. Making five.

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

Jazlene chose a trump shift and also went minus 200 for a push. You can listen to her reasons here: JazPlaysBridge.

In retrospect, I think my spade shift was a mistake. While it's true 3-5-3-2 is a priori likelier than 3-5-4-1, it's also true South chose to overcall with two hearts. It's not clear South would have overcalled with either of the 5-3-3-2 examples I gave. At least I wouldn't. If you're making two hearts, with those hands, you are probably beating one notrump, so there is little upside to bidding. With a balanced hand, it's almost always better to defend one notrump than to overcall in a five-card suit. So if I'm going to play declarer to have only five hearts, as I must, I should play him for an unbalanced hand. I should play declarer for 3-5-4-1 and shift to a trump.

Challenge Match - Jazlene vs. Phillip - Board 10

I've picked up small swings on the previous two boards, so I'm down only two imps going into

Board 10
Both sides vulnerable

♠ Q 9 8 5 3 2  ♥ A 9  ♦ A 9  ♣ Q 8 2

RHO passes. I open with one spade and partner bids two hearts. I bid two spades. This is the catch-all rebid in the robots methods. It doesn't promise six.

Partner bids three clubs. Hearts, spades, and notrump are all possible strains. Three hearts is the right bid, since it keeps all those strains in play. Strangely, the tooltip says the bid shows three hearts. That makes no sense. With three hearts, I would have raised on the previous round.

Even if my robot partner actually believes it shows three hearts, three hearts still may be the best bid. Without the spade jack, I don't want to emphasize spades. If partner has five good hearts, a five-two heart fit may be better than a six-two spade fit. The weak spades also make notrump unappealing, as do my aces and my single diamond stopper. Besides, on many deals where three notrump is right, partner would have bid notrump himself on the previous round. If I bid three hearts and partner's hearts are weak, maybe he will take into account that I failed to raise hearts immediately, so I must have some doubt that hearts is the right strain. Perhaps he will continue exploring with three spades or three notrump if appropriate.

It can be frustrating trying to have an intelligent auction with a robot. But sometimes they surprise you. I have no idea what the right strain is, so I'm not prepared to make a unilateral decision. I'll bid what I would bid opposite a human and hope partner does something sensible.

I bid three hearts. Partner bids four hearts, and everyone passes. RHO leads the jack of spades.

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

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

I seem to have survived the auction. This looks like a fine contract. I can afford to lose two hearts and the club ace.

I play low from dummy, East plays the seven, and I take my ace. Now deuce of hearts--eight--ace--three. And a low heart--king--four--ten. East shifts to the four of spades.

I'm pretty sure the opening lead was from shortness and East has the spade king. If so, I'm cold if I pitch a club. But I'm not that sure. I'm more likely to be wrong about the lead than I am to have a club loser, so I ruff small. West overruffs and shifts to a club. I claim ten tricks.

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

Jazlene chose to bid three notrump over three clubs and went down two, so I pick up 13 imps, putting me back in the lead. 

Three notrump makes for a more challenging play problem than four hearts did. I'm envious. Let's give it a try. But first, let's turn the table around. I find it confusing to have South dummy.

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

West leads the deuce of diamonds, and East covers dummy's jack with the king. Since we have to knock out the club ace, we need diamonds to be blocked. The deuce was presumably fourth best, so we need West to have Q1082. Even so, we have only seven tricks. The only legitimate line I see is for both kings to be singleton. 

Let's see how the play will go if that's the case. Suppose we win the diamond ace and start on clubs. The opponents win the third round and cash their three diamond tricks. But then they can exit with the king of hearts to our ace, reaching this position, where we need the rest of the tricks:

	NORTH ♠ A ♥ Q 7 ♦ -- ♣ K J
	SOUTH ♠ Q 9 8 5 ♥ 9 ♦ -- ♣ --

Even if the king of spades does drop singleton, we have no way to get back to our hand to cash the queen. To make our contract, we must think ahead and cash the spade ace before playing clubs. It would be embarrassing to be lucky enough to find the only layout where we can make this contract and still go down.

Potential embarrassment notwithstanding, I don't think cashing the spade ace is the right play. In addition to its being wildly unlikely to work, we go down at least one trick more than necessary if the king doesn't drop. This is not an easy hand to bid opposite a robot, so there is no guarantee the other table is going plus. Extra undertricks could be costly.

We do have another chance to make the contract that doesn't risk losing oodles of tricks: Play for one stiff king and careless defense. Win the diamond and drive the club ace. If the opponents win, cash three diamonds and exit with a black card. Then we cash the spade ace and run clubs, coming down to this position:

	NORTH ♠ -- ♥ Q 7 6 ♦ -- ♣ K
	SOUTH ♠ Q 7 ♥ A 9 ♦  ♣ --

If West had the singleton king of spades, then the queen is good. Furthermore, East has the only spade stopper. If he has the heart king as well, he is squeezed on the last club.

If the king of spades didn't fall under the ace, we still have the chance that the heart king is singleton. If whichever hand has the long hearts also has the spade king, then the last club squeezes him.

Of course, this line requires misdefense. The opponents can stop the squeeze either by not cashing diamonds or by cashing them and leading a heart to kill our communication.

Now go to JazPlaysBridge for Jazlene's perspective on Board 10.

Challenge Match - Jazlene vs. Phillip - Board 9

I picked up 2 imps on Board 8 when Jazlene played a lower-scoring partial. I'm down 5 imps going into

Board 9
Opponents vulnerable

♠ K Q 10 8  ♥ K 9  ♦ A J 5  ♣ Q 7 5 3

Partner passes, and RHO opens with one club. I overcall with one notrump. This is passed around to RHO, who balances with two clubs. I pass, and LHO bids two spades.

That's a strange call. He should have some game interest. If not, he would pass two clubs. Or, with a good spade suit, he could have bid a non-forcing two spades on the previous round. But if he does have a good hand, why didn't he double one notrump? 

RHO is having none of this. He goes back to three clubs, which ends the auction.

Leading LHO's best suit doesn't appeal, but every other lead looks worse, so I lead the king of spades.

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

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

Interesting. He has neither a good hand nor a good spade suit.

One of my partners liked to play that a raise of partner's minor after a one-notrump overcall showed five-five or better in the majors. In essence, it's Michaels in partner's suit. The idea was that you are unlikely to want to raise partner's minor to the two-level. If you have a fit and a good hand, you would prefer to double. If you have a fit and a bad hand, you would prefer to make a pre-emptive raise to the three-level. This would be a good agreement to have with this hand. Maybe South will suggest it after the deal is over. ("If you're so determined to bid with that hand, partner, why don't we play...?")

Declarer plays the jack from dummy. Surely that's not a congratulatory jack. Do the robots play that convention? Partner plays the nine; declarer, the four,

I continue with the eight of spades. Partner plays the ace and declarer ruffs with the club eight.

Assuming my club queen is our only club trick, we'll need to find three tricks in the red suits to beat this. If declarer has queen-jack third of hearts, we'll have to find our tricks in the diamond suit. That means when I win my club queen, I will need to switch to a low diamond, playing partner for the king. If partner has a heart honor, however, I'd rather defend passively and let partner lead diamonds from his side.

In my regular partnerships, I would already know that a diamond shift from my side can't be right. Partner played the spade nine at trick one from ace-nine-deuce, so can't have the king of diamonds and nothing in hearts. If he did, he would have discouraged to suggest we need to go after diamond tricks.

What would he do with the queen of diamonds? After all, if I have king-jack instead of ace-jack, it might be nice to let me know I can play the suit. The answer is, it depends on his heart holding. If he has the heart suit bottled up, he would encourage in spades. There is no rush to attack diamonds from my side if declarer isn't getting discards on dummy's hearts. But if the heart suit looks like a potential source of tricks, he might decide to encourage with just the queen. 

The bottom line is: if he encourages, a shift from the ace can't be right. If discourages, it's less clear what to do. With the king, I can shift. But with the ace, I must use my judgment. If my own heart holding suggests there is no urgency in shifting to diamonds, then I won't. I must also take into account that he might have overtaken my spade king and shifted himself if it appeared safe to do so. 

Attitude signals at trick one are not just about the suit led or even just about the obvious-shift suit. They are a holistic statement, offering partner's opinion on the overall defensive strategy. Partner may encourage because he wants you to continue the suit led. He may encourage because he doesn't want you to make the obvious shift. Or he may encourage because he knows dummy's suit is not a source of tricks and there is no need for an active defense. That's why I shake my head when I hear the comment, "How can my card be attitude when you know what I have?" Well, maybe I know what you have in the suit led, but that's only a small part of the picture. Attitude, if played with intelligence and flair, conveys much more than that.

My robot partner's nine, however, probably just meant he had the spade ace if it meant anything at all. So I'll have to use other means to decide what to do.

Declarer cashes the ace and king of clubs. Partner plays deuce-six. Declarer leads the club jack to my queen and pitches the eight of hearts from dummy. The eight? There seems to be a theme here with discards from dummy.

Partner pitches the four of hearts. He has a perfectly safe spade discard available, so the four of hearts should mean that partner can offer no help in the heart suit. Since robots pitch count cards, the four should be low from three small, in which case I must shift to a low diamond.

Robots don't discard to help partner, however. I suspect if partner was 3-3-5-2, he would be pitching from his five-card diamond suit. The heart four is probably the dreaded bloodless count signal from xx43. If so, then declarer has a doubleton heart, which means he can't run the heart suit. 

At least not right away. What if he has

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

If I get out passively with a spade, declarer can draw my trump, then lead the queen of hearts and duck when I cover. Now the heart suit is good, but declarer is tapped out. I can cash my last spade and the diamond ace for five tricks. As long as I'm right that declarer has only two hearts, it can't hurt to tap him with a spade.

I lead the queen of spades, and declarer ruffs with the club nine. He draws my last trump, and partner pitches the eight of diamonds. That's looks like another count card, so my construction seems to be correct. Partner was 3-4-4-2. We've reached this position with declarer on lead:

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

Declarer leads the queen of hearts. I cover with the king, and he ducks in dummy. Partner plays the six. Declarer is out of trumps, so I can cash my spade winner. Partner pitches the four of diamonds; declarer pitches the nine of diamonds.

The diamond ace is the setting trick, but it isn't going away. Even if declarer has the jack of hearts, dummy has a diamond loser after he runs the suit. I might as well exit with a heart in case partner has the jack and can lead diamonds through declarer.

I exit with the nine of hearts. Somewhat to my surprise, declarer finesses the ten and loses to partner's jack. Partner shifts to the queen of diamonds. Declarer covers and I score my ace and jack of diamonds, but I have to concede a diamond to declarer at trick thirteen.

I see. The heart finesse was free. Declarer lost the heart ace but got a diamond trick at the end instead. Down three.

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

Declarer made a mistake in pitching dummy's fifth spade. If, in the diagrammed end position, dummy had two spades instead of a spade and a diamond, I would be in trouble after winning the heart king. If I cash my spade, I set up a spade winner in dummy. If I exit with a heart, declarer rises with the ace and tosses me in with a spade to force a diamond return. Either way, he gets out for down two.

North's weird two-spade bid worked out quite well for a strange reason. If he passes two clubs, partner should double, showing a doubleton club, support for the other suits, and 7 or 8 HCP. (Perhaps the robots don't play that way. I don't think it's come up before, so I don't know. But that is my agreement with my human partners.) I will pass the double, knowing we have the balance of power and the opponents are in a seven-card fit. Then we collect 500 if declarer plays the same way. North's clever two-spade bid allowed them to escape for 300. Maybe the spade jack at trick one was a congratulatory jack after all.

It may seem odd that it's easier to double two clubs than three clubs. But if North passes two clubs, partner should double to compete--to find a playable partscore ourselves or to push them up to three clubs. He's not trying to penalize them. The fact that I can pass and collect a number is just a lucky consequence. When the opponents reach the three-level on their own steam, our work is done. Partner certainly has no desire to compete at the three level, and he has no particular reason to believe they are overboard by three tricks. So he has no reason to double.

Jazlene chose to pass over one club, and her auction proceeded one spade--pass--two clubs--all pass. So she collected only 200. As a result, I pick up 3 imps on this board, reducing my deficit to 2.

I'm not sure why Jazlene didn't overcall one notrump. I do know she plays raptor with her regular partner, so perhaps she has a philosophical dislike of natural notrump overcalls. I quite like them myself. In fact, I go out of my way to overcall with one notrump, frequently overcalling offshape with I hand I wouldn't open one notrump. I can't imagine giving them up. At least not at IMPs. When you have a strong notrump behind an opening bid, partner doesn't need much to produce game. In fact, it's normal for him to bid game with about a point less than he would after a one-notrump opening. How are you supposed to get to game with this hand opposite a flat nine-count if you don't overcall one notrump?

On this deal, we don't have a game, but the overcall had the secondary benefit of making it easy for partner to compete for the partscore. The opponents took the push all on their own. But, even if they hadn't, partner wasn't selling out to two clubs after my overcall.

For Jazlene's analysis of Board 9, see JazPlaysBridge.