Board 89

Board 89
Opponents vulnerable

♠ K 10 8 7 2 ♥ K J 3 ♦ 10 9 ♣ 9 8 7

Partner passes, and RHO opens one club. I strain to overcall one club with one spade when I'm not vulnerable.  As far as I'm concerned, this hand has extras. I bid one spade. LHO bids two hearts, and partner bids three clubs. I think three clubs should be natural. Three hearts should be the cue-bid. But Jack doesn't agree with me. His footnote calls this a "constructive raise." RHO bids four hearts. I pass, LHO passes, and partner bids four spades. RHO doubles, and LHO leads the four of diamonds.

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

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

Over West's two hearts, four diamonds, showing spades and diamonds, looks more descriptive to me than a cue-bid, but apparently Jack doesn't play fit-showing jumps in this auction. Actually, I wouldn't be in this situation, since I would have opened one diamond to begin with.

The diamond lead looks like a singleton. My first guess is that West is 2-5-1-5, which makes East 2-3-3-5. If so, East will have at least 18 high-card points, leaving West with six. Six? West might stretch a little because of his club fit. But that seems like too much of a stretch. Let me try again. If East can't have a balanced hand, what does he have? Could he be 1-3-3-6? It seems unlikely he would double with a singleton spade. I'm having a hard time constructing a layout that makes any sense. But it looks right to play the diamond ace in any event.

Wrong. I play the ace of diamonds, and East ruffs with the four of spades. At least I know everyone's pattern now. West is 0-5-4-4, and East is 4-3-0-6.

East shifts to the ten of hearts. I suspect West has the heart ace. Otherwise, he probably would have led a heart rather than a diamond. I play the jack. West wins with the queen and leads the ace of clubs to tap dummy. I play a low diamond from dummy. East ruffs with the nine of spades and shifts to the nine of hearts. I cover, and West wins with the ace.

West leads the three of clubs, and I ruff with dummy's five. I still have a heart loser and a club loser. I can't ruff them both and still pick up East's trumps. I might as well try for a Throckmorton trump coup. I crossruff to reach this ending with the lead in dummy:

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

I lead the queen of diamonds, which is now good, but East doesn't ruff it. I never knew Throckmorton personally. But rumor has it this always worked for him. I lose the last two tricks for down three, minus 500. As it turns out, my play at trick one was immaterial. I can't do any better by finessing.

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

This is better than defending four hearts, and much better than defending six clubs. In fact, it's better than defending seven clubs. This board ought to be a pickup.

How should the opponents have handled the auction? Should West have pulled the double, given his undisclosed club support, his void in spades, and the fact that he has ace more than he has shown? Maybe. But it's hardly clear. If South has long clubs, it's probably right to pull. But if he's balanced, I suspect it's right to sit. As it turns out, partner did well not to open one diamond. It would be easier to reach six clubs after a two club overcall than after a one club opening bid.

I think the fault lies in East's four heart bid. Since he knows his partner is short in spades, he should make more of an effort to find a club fit. Doubling three clubs is a convenient way to do that. If this induces West to support clubs, East can probably just bid a slam. If West doesn't support clubs, East can settle for four hearts. Of course, he may not get the chance to bid four hearts. The opponents may be in four spades by his next turn, in which case he will have to double. But if he can show only one feature before doubling four spades, it must be better to show his good club suit than his meager heart support.

At the other table, my hand passes over the one club opening bid. West responds one heart, and North bids three diamonds. These passed hand pre-empts make no sense to me. Why let your opponents get their suits into the auction before you pre-empt? I know the reason he didn't pre-empt at his first turn was the four-card spade suit. But I don't think passing is even legal when you hold a suit this good. I think you just have to take your pick between opening one diamond or three.

Over three diamonds, East bids five clubs, which seems bizarre. Not only is he contracting for eleven tricks opposite a hand that merely made a one-over-one response, he's insisting on playing a strain he has no particular reason to believe is the right one. That being said, I have no idea what East should bid. I conducted a Facebook poll on this problem. One person passed. That could be right, but I think it's the responsibility of the person with shortness in the opponent's suit to get your side back into the auction. I think partner, with known diamond length, would sell out too frequently if I passed. Another person doubled. I don't think double shows this hand. I usually describe doubles in this situation as being "take-out for partner's suit." In other words, it shows heart shortness and diamond "support," so that partner is free to pass if we don't have a fit. My own choice, which received the plurality vote, is three hearts. It's about right on playing strength but not particularly descriptive.  I doubt it would work too well this time.  Partner would probably just raise to four. Strangely, I got two votes for three clubs.  That might work, but the penalties are too high if it doesn't.

West, apparently knowing he needs to give his partner a little leeway, gently raises five clubs to six. With the hearts coming home, declarer has no trouble making seven. We've been needing a result like this. The opponents' lead is now down to 88, a number with which I have a passing familiarity.

Me: -500
Jack: -1390

Score on Board 89: +13 IMPs
Total: -88 IMPs

Board 88

Board 88
Neither vulnerable

♠ A J 8 6 5 ♥ 8 ♦ K J 6 5 ♣ J 10 9

Partner opens four hearts in second seat. Everyone passes, and West leads the ace of clubs.

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

West	North	East	South
		Pass	4 ♥
(All pass)

I don't care for partner's four heart bid. I'm not sure what's wrong with one heart. But this seems like a reasonable enough contract. I need to bring hearts home for one loser, and I need to guess the diamonds. I don't have much to go on for the diamond guess. The opening lead doesn't tell me much. Clubs is the opponents' longest suit, so the club ace isn't an unexpected lead. I play the nine from dummy, East plays the three, and I drop the king. West shifts to the deuce of spades. This, too, is totally expected. West would probably knock out dummy's spade entry whatever he was looking at in diamonds.

My best chance to guess diamonds is to lead the suit as soon as possible, before West knows how many diamond tricks he needs to beat this. Suppose I hop with the spade ace, play a heart to my ace, and play a diamond, intending to finesse the jack if West plays low. West may well hop with the ace for fear that I have something like

♠ x x ♥ A J x x x x x x ♦ x ♣ K Q

If he hops even part of the time, it boosts the odds of this line's working to better than 50%. It's not clear that I can do any better than that by postponing my diamond play. What can I learn that will help me? West, on the other hand, can learn a great deal. Once he knows he must duck, my chance of success reverts to 50-50. Often declarers postpone a guess like this on principle without any reason to believe that they will learn anything useful. Of course, it's OK with me that declarers have this tendency, since it makes the tactic of leading the suit early more likely to work. A defender may reasonably place you with a singleton precisely because you didn't postpone the guess.

It is important, however, that I conceal as much of my hand as possible to maximize the chance that West will hop with the ace. I can't afford to ride the spade around to my king, nor can I afford to come to my hand by ruffing a club, revealing that I have a singleton instead of king-queen. (Though I would certainly prefer to do that if I could. By playing a heart to the ace, I give up the chance of picking up the suit when there is a singleton ten on my left.)

I play the spade ace from dummy; East plays the four. I play a heart, and East plays the ten. That's good. He would split with king-queen-ten, so I'm no longer giving anything up by rising with the heart ace. I play the ace; West plays the five. I lead the deuce of diamonds, and West comes to the rescue by hopping with the ace. Trumps split, so I make four.

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

I would have gone down had West ducked, so I have some hope of picking up a game swing on this board.

At the other table, South also opens four hearts. My teammate chooses to lead the ten of spades. Declarer rides this around to his king and cashes the heart ace. I would hate to be West. Surely he must consider dropping the king. If declarer has

♠ K x ♥ A J x x x x x x ♦ x ♣ K x,

unblocking the king guarantees down one. Unfortunately, the customary inference that partner rates to have the heart queen because declarer didn't take a trump finesse isn't necessarily valid here. Add the heart queen to declarer's hand above, for example, and I doubt he would win trick one in dummy to take a heart finesse. He has better things to do with his one dummy entry than to take a 20% shot at picking up the heart suit.

Rightly or wrongly, West chooses not to drop the king. Declarer continues with a heart, and West wins. Again, West has a difficult problem. I see logic both in a spade continuation and in a low diamond shift. But my teammate decides to try to cash club tricks instead. I suppose he does this to discover how many diamond tricks he needs. If he can cash two clubs, he will know not to duck the diamond ace. If he can cash only one club, he will know he has to duck the diamond ace. The problem with this line, aside from the fact that it gives up on beating the contract when declarer has king doubleton of clubs, is that it marks him with the diamond ace. Surely he wouldn't play clubs from his side if he thought his partner had an entry.

West plays the club ace, East plays the three, and declarer drops the king. Apparently suspecting declarer of some super-diabolical falsecard, West plays the club queen. Declarer ruffs this and no longer needs to guess the diamonds. Making four for a push.

Me: -420
Jack: -420

Score on Board 88: 0 IMPs
Total: -101 IMPs

Board 87

Board 87
Both sides vulnerable

♠ K J 3 ♥ 4 ♦ A Q J 7 6 3 ♣ 9 5 2

I open one diamond in first seat. Partner responds one heart, and RHO doubles. I bid two diamonds. This is passed around to RHO, who bids three clubs. I pass, as do LHO and partner.

I don't care much for the singleton heart lead. Who's to say partner can get in to give me a ruff? Even if he can, we may just be trading natural heart tricks for ruffs. Declarer seems to have a pretty good hand, so dummy may be short of entries and a heart lead may benefit his side more than our side. We seem to have the side suits pretty well bottled up. I have spades and diamonds, and partner has hearts. Often a trump lead is best in that scenario, so I lead the five of clubs. (This argument is more pithily stated in Lowenthal's Third Law of Opening Leads: The lead of a trump shows a side singleton or void.)

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

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

Declarer plays the three from dummy, partner wins with the ace, and declarer drops the four. I guess partner did have an entry with which to give me a heart ruff, but it's still not clear it would have gained a trick. Partner goes along with my idea and continues with the eight of clubs. Declarer wins in his hand with the jack and leads the five of diamonds. I hop with the ace and partner plays the deuce. Surely partner doesn't have three diamonds. He wouldn't sell out to three clubs if he knew we had a nine-card fit. I assume he has ten doubleton and is reluctant to waste the ten.

I see nothing constructive to do. If partner has the ace of hearts in addition to my two spade tricks, declarer is going down, so there is no reason for a belated attempt to score a heart ruff. I might as well just exit with my last club and hope that refusing to break hearts for declarer was the right idea.

I play a club to dummy's queen, and partner plays the nine of diamonds. I suppose he's following the rule of playing the card you can't possibly hold. Declarer plays the king of diamonds, partner plays the ten, and declarer pitches the four of spades. Declarer wouldn't be pitching a spade unless he were 3-4-1-5. So to beat this we need to take two heart tricks.

Declarer plays the three of hearts--seven--jack--four. I hope that means he has ace-queen-jack-small. No, he can't have that. The heart finesse would do him no good with that holding, since he can't repeat it. His correctly play in hearts would be to try to drop the singleton king in my hand, so he would use his one dummy entry to take a spade finesse. He must have ace-king-jack-small, which means we're not beating this. My construction is correct. We take one heart and one spade, holding three clubs to three.

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

Why, partner, why? That's what happens when you break the Law. We go minus 110 when we should be plus 110.

At the other table, the auction is the same. West leads his singleton heart. He gets his heart ruff, but loses his natural heart trick. Making three for a push.  This should have been a routine 6-imp pickup.

Me: -110
Jack: -110

Score on Board 87: 0 IMPs
Total: -101 IMPs

Board 86

Board 86
Opponents vulnerable

♠ A J 9 7 6 ♥ Q 10 9 ♦ J 10 7 6 ♣ 3

RHO opens one club, and I overcall one spade. LHO doubles, and partner bids three spades (weak). RHO passes, I pass, and LHO bids four clubs, which his partner raises to five.

I don't generally care for leading the ace of a nine-card fit when you're missing the middle of the suit. Frequently leading the ace simply sets up winners on which declarer can pitch losers in other suits. I'm less worried about that, however, when the opponents have chosen to play five of a minor in preference to three notrump. In that case, there is less chance that they have slow winners in your suit.  So I lead the ace of spades.

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

West	North	East	South
			1 ♣
1 ♠	Double	3 ♠	Pass
Pass	4 ♣	Pass	5 ♣
(All pass)

So much for the opponents' not having slow winners in my suit. Dummy plays the five; partner, the four; and declarer, the three. Partner has played the four from queen-ten-four-deuce. The deuce should request the obvious shift, hearts, since that is the suit declarer will discard on dummy's king of spades. The ten should warn me away from switching to hearts. So the four should mean he's not sure: he can stand a heart shift, but he can't be entirely sure it's safe. If East were a partner I could trust, I should think he has the heart ace but not the ace-jack.

I doubt if Jack views this situation the same way. But, just for practice, let's assume he does. Even though a heart shift will give away a heart trick if declarer can see my hand, it still could be the right defense. If declarer has jack doubleton of hearts and no other losers, for example, my only chance is to switch to a heart and hope he misguesses. (He doesn't know that the four isn't partner's lowest, so from his point of view it is conceivable that partner is discouraging to show the heart queen, allowing me to underlead my ace.)

What if declarer has jack third of hearts? If I knew that for sure, I could guarantee beating this by defending passively. But even then a heart shift might work. Declarer might still misguess, in which case we will beat this an extra trick.

To get a handle on this problem, let's make some assumptions: (A) If I lead a heart, declarer will guess right half the time. (B) Declarer is equally likely to have jack doubleton of hearts as he is to have jack third. Under those assumptions, if I lead a heart, I will beat it half the time: whenever declarer misguesses. If I don't lead a heart, I still beat it half the time: whenever declarer has jack third. I see no particular reason to think (A) is wrong, so the right play depends on (B). If I think declarer is more likely to have jack doubleton than to have jack third, I should lead a heart. If not, I shouldn't.

Since declarer passed over partner's three spade bid then raised four clubs to five, there is good reason to believe he has six or seven clubs and that the club support improved his hand. With, say, a 1-3-4-5 pattern and enough values to raise four clubs to five, he might have doubled three spades. If I had to guess, I would place declarer with a 1-2-4-6 pattern.  I think that is likelier than 1-3-3-6 simply because, with the former pattern, he needs fewer high cards to make a five club bid look attractive. Accordingly, I think a heart shift is the percentage play.

All this is predicated on the additional assumption that partner's carding suggests he has the ace of hearts but not the jack. If a heart shift is right on that assumption, it must be right under the current conditions, where I suspect Jack is perfectly capable of having both the ace and the jack.

I shift to the ten of hearts, declarer rises with the king, and partner plays the ace. Partner shifts to a diamond. What? How can that be right? Declarer does have three hearts, so we beat this one trick instead of the two we were entitled to.

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

I replayed the deal and shifted to the nine of hearts. This time partner got it right. He took the king with the ace and returned a heart. I don't know if Jack plays ten or nine shows zero or two higher in the middle of the hand or if he expects me to lead the nine because it's third best. I should think the ten is the right card without any special agreements. But, even with the misunderstanding, I don't see the point of a diamond shift. If declarer had miraculously worked out to play low on the ten of hearts, I could understand our having an accident. Partner might reasonably rise with the ace for fear declarer has queen doubleton and another loser elsewhere.

At the other table, the auction begins the same way, but East bids two spades instead of three over the negative double. South bids three hearts. Call me crazy, but ace-king-queen-four looks like a better suit to me than five-four-deuce. South might double two spades with this pattern, but with his cards concentrated in his suits, I like bidding three diamonds better. This would probably induce North to bid three notrump. This is why I play that the negative double promises diamonds or a willingness to correct diamonds to clubs. (See yesterday's post.)  I don't want partner to be afraid to bid diamonds with this hand.

North goes on to four hearts, and West leads his singleton club. Declarer wins in his hand, leads a heart, and ducks West's nine. East overtakes with the jack to give West a club ruff. As it happens, the ruff is with a natural trump trick. Declarer finishes down one for a push.

Too bad we had the carding accident. We could use the three imps. As it is, we're still down a hundred and one.  Pounds of fun to look forward to.

Me: +100
Jack: +100

Score on Board 86: 0 IMPs
Total: -101 IMPs

Board 85

Board 85
Our side vulnerable

♠ 9 7 ♥ K ♦ Q 9 5 4 3 ♣ A Q 9 8 2

Two passes to me.This is a borderline opening bid. But, with shortness in both majors and a defensively oriented hand, I see no reason to open. I pass, and LHO opens one club. Partner overcalls one heart, and RHO doubles. LHO bid my best suit, and partner bid my singleton. It seems I did well to stay out of this auction, and nothing has happened to change my mind. I pass. LHO bids two spades--pass--pass back to me. I pass again, and partner leads the deuce of diamonds.

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

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

I don't care for the negative double. I believe double should imply support for both unbid suits, not just for spades. If all you have is spades, why not just bid one spade? You can double without diamonds provided you have club support and a good enough hand to correct diamonds to clubs at a higher level. But that's not the case with this hand.

While we're on the subject, I don't think double promises four spades either. I would certainly double with, say

♠ K x x ♥ x x ♦ A x x x x ♣ x x x

I can't imagine what else you would do. To my mind,  a negative double is a take-out double, not a substitute for bidding the unbid major (or majors).  The main message it carries is doubt about strain. It invites partner to introduce his second suit, any second suit, if he has one.

Back to the defensive problem. It looks as if partner is 3-5-3-2, probably with the heart ace, since he didn't lead his suit. So where are we going to find six tricks? Perhaps three hearts, one diamond, and two clubs? For that, I need to find partner with the ace-jack of hearts, the king-ten of diamonds, and the jack of clubs. I don't think that hand is likely. Partner probably would not have led a diamond from king-ten third. He might have led one from king empty third, but I hope he didn't. That would mean declarer can set up his diamond ten as a pitch for dummy's third club. To beat this, I need to hope that the lead is from ten third and that partner has a card somewhere else, perhaps the club king, giving us three club tricks. What does that give declarer for his two spade bid? He would have

♠ K J x x ♥ Q x x ♦ A K x ♣ x x x

Not a hand I would bid two spades with, but who knows what Jack would do?

Declarer plays the jack of diamonds from dummy. Good. Partner didn't lead from king-empty third. I cover with the queen, and declarer wins with the ace. He plays the six of spades--three--queen--seven. He then plays the six of diamonds. I play the five; declarer, the ten; and partner, the seven. Not so good. Dummy's third club is going away.

Declarer plays the spade ten--five--deuce--nine. That looks like a finesse. It seems partner has the spade king instead of the club king, in which case declarer will make an overtrick. Declarer plays the king of diamonds, pitching dummy's four of clubs, then plays the eight of spades to the ace, as partner follows with the king.

I might as well try to develop a club trick out of thin air. I pitch the queen of clubs. If declarer happens to have king-ten third, that gives him a losing option no human would take. But Jack isn't human. He leads the six of clubs to the ten, losing to partner's jack. Partner returns the three of clubs to my ace. I cash the heart king and play a third club to declarer's king. We still have two heart tricks coming. Making two.

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

At the other table, my hand opens one diamond in third seat. It's strange that, since I've switched to Acol, I've twice passed a hand my counterpart chose to open. The auction proceeds as follows:

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

Three diamonds went down two tricks. After the one diamond bid, no one did anything wrong in my opinion. East was right to bid two clubs, since passing would suggest a balanced hand, and, according to the Law, West was right to compete. (You should bid to the three level when both side have eight trumps provided the opponents are only at the two level.)

I think the fault lay in the opening bid. Opening worked out badly for pretty much the reasons I rejected it.

Me: -110
Jack: -200

Score on Board 85: +3 IMPs
Total: -101 IMPs

Board 84

Board 84
Both sides vulnerable

♠ 7 ♥ 10 6 5 3 ♦ J 9 8 7 6 ♣ 6 5 4

The auction begins one spade--one notrump--two spades to me. I pass, LHO bids three spades, and RHO continues on to four. Partner leads the three of diamonds.

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

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

Declarer plays the ten from dummy. Obviously declarer has either a singleton queen or queen-deuce. I doubt if an extra dummy entry will be of much use, so there's no point in playing the jack. Is there a reason not to play it? Absolutely. Declarer knows my high-card point range from partner's one notrump overcall.  He may know, for example, that I have at most two high-card points. If so, then once he sees my jack of diamonds, he will know I can't have a queen. It must be better to keep the location of my meager assets a secret. I encourage with the nine, and declarer wins in his hand with the diamond queen.

Declarer cashes the king of spades, on which partner plays the ten, then the ace of spade, on which partner plays the jack. I discard the eight of diamonds (count), so partner will know declarer's diamond queen was a singleton.

Bad hands frequently present the most difficult problems. Just because you have a bad hand doesn't mean you have nothing to do. Sometimes an apparently worthless holding keeps partner from being squeezed.  Sometimes you must cooperate in a deception partner is perpetrating. And it can be hard to solve these problems, because the worse your hand, the harder it is to work out what's going on.

On this deal, our problem will be to find a discard when declarer plays a third round of spades to partner's queen. The lazy play would be to pitch another diamond, since we know it's safe and a pitch in either hearts or clubs could be helpful to declarer.  But before we do that, let's figure out what we can about the layout.

As it happens, we can deduce quite a bit. Partner apparently began with the queen-jack of spades, so he has at least twelve points in the round suits. If we assume he would have led a suit headed by king-queen or ace-king, there are only two ways he can have twelve points: (1) ace-queen of each suit, or (2) ace-queen-jack of one suit and ace-jack of the other. 

If partner has ace-queen of both round suits, how should he defend when he gets tossed in with the third round of spades? It depends upon declarer's pattern. If declarer is 5-2-1-5, for example, (a pattern we know is impossible, but partner might not) partner must cash the heart ace then wait for his ace and queen of clubs.  But if declarer is 5-5-1-2, that defense would be fatal. In that case, he must cash the club ace.  If declarer is 4-3 or 3-4 in the pointed suits, partner can either cash the ace of the three-card suit or can simply exit a diamond without cashing any aces.

Since partner must know declarer's pattern to know how to defend, I need to discard a count card in one of the side suits.  The lazy diamond discard will leave partner in the dark. As a general rule, one tends to avoid pitching from four-card suits. So partner will probably expect me to pitch a low card from my three-card suit. Accordingly, if declarer plays a third round of spades, my intention is to pitch the four of clubs.

But declarer doesn't play a spade. He plays the club king, and partner takes the ace. Amazingly, I can now place all the high cards.  Partner must have the ace-jack of clubs and the ace-queen-jack of hearts. Where does that leave us? Partner will presumably cash his spade queen and exit with a diamond. If declarer has four hearts, partner will eventually score two heart tricks. Suppose, however, that declarer has

♠ A K x x x ♥ K x x ♦ Q ♣ K Q 10 x.

Declarer will pitch two hearts on the ace and king of diamonds and must then decide whether to finesse me for the jack of clubs or whether to drop partner's now singleton jack. My play at trick one is looking pretty good. If I had played the jack of diamonds, declarer would know that partner has the club jack and would surely drop it.  As it is, he will probably finesse.

Partner cashes the spade queen. I've changed my mind about my discard. I now know I can't afford a club, since I need declarer to think I began with jack third. I pitch the six of diamonds. (All that work just to wind up making the same discard any fool would have made!)

Partner cashes the club queen. Really? What's he doing with that card? He exits with a diamond and we score the heart ace in the end for down one.

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

I don't understand declarer's line of play. He just gave up. How is playing the club king ever doing to work?  Aren't you better off exiting with a spade and hoping that your opponent overcalled one notrump with a 14-count? Or that he has some kind of Deschapelles flight of fancy?

It's too bad the deal isn't as I envisioned it. If I actually needed to withhold the jack of diamonds and avoid a club discard to beat this, it would be a nice hand.

At the other table, my opponents are playing 16-18 notrump overcalls, so West doubles one spade. North bids three spades, preemptive, and South bids four spades. Without such an accurate picture of West's hand, declarer takes a less defeatist line. He plays three rounds of spades and, when he reaches dummy, finesses against the queen of clubs. Down one for a push.

Me: +100
Jack: +100

Score on Board 84: 0 IMPs
Total: -104 IMPs

Board 83

Board 83
Opponents vulnerable

♠ 10 7 3 ♥ Q J 10 9 2 ♦ Q 9 5 3 ♣ J

I pass in first seat--pass by LHO--one diamond by partner--one spade by RHO. I try to avoid making a negative double with five cards in the other major, but there's no sensible alternative with this hand. I double. LHO passes, and partner bids three notrump. Given my ten third of spades, three notrump may well be the right game even if we did miss a five-three heart fit. I pass, and West leads the five of spades.

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

West	North	East	South
	Pass	Pass	1 ♦
1 ♠	Double	Pass	3 NT
(All pass)

Since one notrump by partner would have shown a strong notrump, two notrump would have been sufficient with this hand. I'm not sure why he bid three.

My basic plan is to win trick one with the spade ten, then hope that the red aces are split and that I can guess to knock West's ace out first. A low spade from dummy at trick one is a better idea if East has jack doubleton. But East has only one spade higher than the five and West has two (not counting the ace), so the ten is twice as likely to be right. Unfortunately, this isn't one of those times. I play the ten, East plays the jack, and I win with the king.

West doesn't know who has the spade queen. If I knock out his ace, perhaps he will play his partner for that card rather than for the other ace. I have no particular reason to think he has one ace over the other, but, because of entry considerations, it's more convenient to play hearts first. So I lead the king of hearts. I expect West to duck this, but he takes his ace and plays ace and another spade. East pitches the five of clubs on the third round of spades.

West didn't bother to duck the heart, and he didn't shift to a low spade in case his partner had the queen. Clearly he thinks he's got me beat. He must have the diamond ace. What if he has the club king as well? Do I have any sort of end position? If I run hearts, we will come down to five cards. West can hold king doubleton of clubs, the diamond ace, and two spade winners. I can endplay him for down one. But I can achieve the same down one simply by driving the diamond ace.  I might as well do that on the off chance that the diamond ace is with East.

I play the diamond deuce, and West pitches the deuce of clubs. That was unexpected. Perhaps West defended this way because he thought the heart king was my ninth trick. His defense would be correct if I had some variation on

♠ K x ♥ K x ♦ A K x x x x ♣ A x x.

I play the queen of diamonds. East takes the ace and shifts to the nine of clubs. I hop with the ace and claim nine tricks. Making three.

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

Not the best defense. I hope my teammates do better.

The auction is the same at the other table. But for some reason West chooses to lead the deuce of clubs instead of a spade. I suppose the difference is random, determined by the deals Jack happens to generate for his analysis. The jack of clubs holds, and declarer plays the deuce of diamonds from dummy. This gives East something of a problem. If he hops, he gives declarer the whole diamond suit. On the other hand, this may be his last chance to gain the lead for a club play. He decides to take his ace and play another club. The defense eventually scores three clubs and three aces for down two.

I can't take any credit for this result, but I'm not complaining. My teammates (and opponents) are allowed to help a little.

Me: +400
Jack: -100

Score on Board 83: + 11 IMPs
Total: -104 IMPs

Board 82

Board 82
Our side vulnerable

♠ J 3 ♥ A J 6 3 ♦ J 6 ♣ A 6 5 4 2

RHO passes. This is an awkward hand playing weak notrumps. If I open one club, I have no rebid over a one spade response. And opening one notrump doesn't appeal. I'm understrength, offshape, and have two worthless doubletons.

Accordingly I pass. LHO opens one spade--pass--pass back to me. I don't want to double without diamonds, nor do I want to bid a weak five-card club suit, making it difficult to find hearts. One notrump wins by default. I'm not worried about the lack of a spade stopper. I might not need a stopper to make one notrump, and if partner passed over one spade with a hand good enough to raise to three, he probably has good spades himself.

I bid one notrump, LHO bids two spades, and partner bids three notrump. LHO leads the ten of spades.

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

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

If clubs come home, I have nine tricks. If they don't, perhaps I can generate an extra trick from one of the red suits. I play the deuce of spades--queen--three. East shifts to the four of hearts--three--king--nine. Jack typically doesn't falsecard. That, combined with the fact that East led a low heart, combined with restricted choice, makes me fairly confident that the heart queen is onside. If so, West probably has the club queen and perhaps the jack as well. I certainly hope he doesn't have queen-jack third. West shifts to the king of spades. There's no point in ducking. Whether I have four club tricks or five, the count is already corrected for a potential squeeze. I take the ace, and East pitches the four of diamonds.

Since I can't afford to lose a club trick to West, I must take an avoidance play in clubs. I lead the ten of clubs to the ace, intending to lead back to the nine if East plays an honor on the first trick. It's unlikely East has two black singletons, but there's no reason not to guard against it. On the ten of clubs, East plays the seven. I play the ace, and West follows with the queen. I play a low club from my hand and West discards the four of spades. I insert the nine, and East wins with the jack. I hope I'm right about the queen of hearts. Otherwise it was a serious error to play clubs this way.

East shifts to the five of hearts. I ride this around to dummy's ten, West following with the deuce. Whew! West guards spades and East guards hearts, so no one can guard diamonds. I try to claim the rest on a double squeeze, but Jack insists I play it out. I comply. Making four.

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

According to Ira Rubin, responder should never pass an opening one bid with a singleton in his partner's suit. I once asked him if that rule applied even if playing five-card majors. "It applies even if playing six-card majors," he snarled. The intent of the rule is to aid your own constructive auctions, not to make life difficult for your opponents.  But this time a one notrump response by East would have had a serendipitous obstructive effect. I would have passed, LHO would have bid two spades, and that would be that. Partner has no bid, and I wouldn't balance on a misfit auction. My decision to pass in second seat might have worked out rather poorly.

At the other table, my hand opens one club. West bids three spades, and North bids three notrump. East leads the queen of spades, which declarer ducks. East then shifts to the seven of clubs. Declarer takes the king in his hand, rides the ten, then runs the rest of the clubs. West pitches four spades, leaving himself with only a doubleton. Declarer cashes the diamond ace and the spade ace and floats the nine of hearts to West's queen. West cashes his last spade and exits with the queen of diamonds. North wins with the king and, even though it isn't safe, he finesses the heart to make an overtrick.

It certainly is hard to generate a swing on this board. I pass; my opponent opens.  One West opens with a one-bid; the other West preempts.  We reach game from different sides of the table.  We take opposite views in the club suit.  Yet, somehow, all roads lead to three notrump making four.

Me: +630
Jack: +630

Score on Board 82: 0 IMPs
Total: -115 IMPs

Board 81

Board 81
Neither vulnerable

♠ A 9 8 3 ♥ K J 8 ♦ Q 6 5 ♣ A 6 5

Two passes to me. In an attempt to produce random swings without having to work so hard, my team has switched to Acol. Right away this decision is paying off. I get to take a normal action, knowing it won't be reproduced at the other table. I open one notrump, 12 to 14. Everyone passes, and West leads the deuce of clubs.

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

West	North	East	South
	Pass	Pass	1 NT
(All pass)

It's unusual to lead a four-card minor on this auction. So my first guess is that West is "4333" or "4432" with both minors. I play low from dummy, East plays the jack, and I win with the ace. I assume West began with queen-nine fourth of clubs.

I play a low heart--deuce--queen--ace. East shifts to the jack of diamonds. The ace-king of diamonds would give him an opening bid, so I duck. West plays the three. East continues with the ten of diamonds to West's king. West cashes the ace as I pitch a heart from dummy and East plays the diamond four. West now shifts to the deuce of spades, which rides around to my eight. It appears West began with

♠ J x x ♥ x x x ♦ A K x ♣ Q 9 x x

If so, what's the point of a spade switch? Think about this a minute before reading on. See if you reach the same conclusion I did.

If West were a human expert, I would suspect my picture of the deal is wrong and that East has the queen of clubs. If West actually holds the above hand, he would pretty much know what I have (except for the jack of hearts). Specifically, he would know that if he leads a club, I have no choice but to rise with the king, since I risk going down if I finesse. If he doesn't lead a club, I may be able to cash seven tricks, allowing me to take the finesse safely in the end game. So if an expert West leads a spade in this position, either he doesn't have the club queen or he's asleep.

The key to catching inferences like this is always to anticipate your opponent's next play. When West cashes the diamond ace, you should ask yourself what he's going to do next. When he does something else, an alarm should go off, and you should pause to reconsider your assumptions. If you aren't anticipating his next move, the alarm doesn't go off, and you miss the inference.

This is the Mozart effect. When you listen to Mozart, you think you know what's coming next. Then he surprises you. He extends the phrase a couple of measures, or he throws in a deceptive cadence, or he dovetails the cadence with the beginning of the next phrase. You weren't expecting it. But in retrospect it makes perfect sense, and you smile and emit a soft "Ah...." But if you just let the music wash over you and don't try to anticipate what's coming next, the effect is lost.

That being said, this inference is totally invalid playing against Jack. Jack always searches for double-dummy solutions. Making a play for the sole purpose of forcing you to commit yourself before you're ready is not part of Jack's repertoire.

But there's another clue that points to East's having the club queen that is valid playing against Jack. Why did he duck his partner's jack of diamonds, potentially blocking a running suit? Why not overtake with the king and cash the ace, playing me for queen doubleton? Obviously West thought it was possible his partner had an entry, namely the spade ace. If he were looking at the queen of clubs, he would know his partner couldn't have the spade ace.

I think this is a rather strong inference playing against Jack, perhaps less strong against a human. A human West might think his partner would have balanced with six diamonds (an inference I doubt Jack would draw) and might conclude his best chance is to hope I opened light. Or perhaps he just made a mistake.  It's an easy oversight for a human, but it's not the kind of mistake Jack makes. So I'm inclined to think East has the queen of clubs.

I don't have to commit myself yet. I can cash my major-suit tricks and come down to a two-card end position. Everyone will have two clubs except East, who will have one club and a red-suit winner. If I change my mind, I can afford to finesse, since I'll still make my contract even if the finesse loses.

On the fourth round of spades, West pitches the four of clubs. He follows to three hearts. Everyone is down to two cards. When I lead a club toward dummy, West plays the eight. If I had any doubt, that card cinches it. He should have played the nine, the card he was known to hold. East would have played the nine at trick one with jack-nine doubleton, so rising with the king is a lock. Making three. Too bad we're not playing board-a-match.

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

At the other table, South opens one club in third seat, North responds one spade, and South raises to two spades. Personally, I would pass two spades with the North hand. For game to be virtually cold, he needs to find partner with something like ace fourth of spades, ace-queen fourth of clubs, and king doubleton of hearts. That's more than a perfect minimum, so the hand is not worth an invitation by Culbertson's rule. Jack disagrees, however. He bids three clubs. South seems to be on the same wavelength. Despite his maximum in high cards and a fourth trump, he refuses the invitation. He bids three spades, ending the auction. I suppose he was discouraged by his 4-3-3-3 pattern. But he would have a clear acceptance if you make any red card a club, and game would still be rather poor.

East leads the jack of diamonds, which holds the trick. The defense plays two more rounds of diamonds, and declarer ruffs with the queen of spades. That's encouraging. North might actually go down in this contract now.

He plays a heart--nine--jack--deuce, then the king of hearts--five--six--ace. East shifts to the queen of clubs. I'm not sure why declarer gets the clubs right, but he does. He rides the club queen around to his king, then plays a low club to ace, dropping the jack. He then cashes the ace and king of spades and, eventually, loses a trick to the spade jack. Making three for a push.

As a test, I switched the queen and four of clubs and replayed the board, again opening a weak notrump and buying it there. The play began as before. East took the heart ace and shifted to the jack of diamonds.  I played low, and West indeed overtook with king and cashed the ace, playing his partner for six diamonds.  So the inference I drew was valid--at least against Jack.

Me: +150
Jack: +140

Score on Board 81: 0 IMPs
Total: -115

Board 80

Board 80
Opponents vulnerable

♠ Q J 7 4 3 ♥ 9 7 ♦ 10 7 ♣ Q 9 8 3

Two passes to me. RHO opens one notrump. I would bid without reservation if I were one-three or three-one in the red suits. I'm not so crazy about bidding without a singleton, but I need shake things up a bit. Again, it's annoying that I'm playing Cappelletti, where I must consume the whole two level with a bid of two spades. If we were playing Astro, I could bid two diamonds and possibly find a fit in two of a red suit if the opponents start doubling.  (That's one of the reasons I'd prefer to have a three-card red suit.) But what can I do? I bid two spades.

LHO bids two notrump, lebensohl. RHO bids three clubs, and LHO bids three notrump, showing a spade stopper. At least I've learned something from my adventure. Since partner could neither bid three spades nor double three notrump, it is unlikely we can beat this on a spade lead. Partner probably has a better hand than I do, so I'm better off trying to find his suit. If he weren't a passed hand, I might try a heart lead. But, given his initial pass, he's unlikely to have a good enough heart suit for a heart lead to be productive. Better to hope he has a suit I can offer some help in. I lead the three of clubs.

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

West	North	East	South
	Pass	Pass	1 NT
2 ♠1	2 NT2	Pass	3 ♣3
Pass	3 NT4	(All pass)
1Cappelletti
2Lebensohl
3Forced
4Stopper, no four-card other major

Declarer plays the jack from dummy, partner plays the king, and declarer plays the four. Partner returns the club seven--six--eight--deuce. Obviously partner has the club ten. The easiest way to try to beat this contract is to play partner for ace-ten third of spades. But that's not possible. Even if declarer did open one notrump with small doubletons in both black suits, he wouldn't be ducking this trick, since he must have nine tricks ready to cash.

Partner has at most five high-card points remaining. What can I give him that enables us to beat this? If he a top card, like the heart ace, declarer will surely have nine tricks after he knocks it out. We may do better if partner has fillers, giving declarer a shortage of tricks. Actually, declarer's play of the club jack at trick one suggests such a scenario. Declarer chose to try for an extra trick rather than maximize his chance of neutralizing the suit. Suppose we give declarer this hand:

♠ A x x ♥ A K Q x ♦ K x x x ♣ x x

The problem with hoping for a hand like this is it leaves partner open to a red-suit squeeze. If I continue clubs, declarer can duck, pitching a spade. Partner is now finished. This should be an easy line for declarer to find given my auction. I guess it's going to be hard to find any layout where we can beat this by force. But perhaps declarer can misguess something. Let's give him

♠ A x x ♥ A K Q x ♦ Q 8 x x ♣ x x

Declarer can still squeeze partner in the red suits, but he must play partner for the diamond king to do it. Another possible line for declarer would be to win and float the nine of diamonds, playing me for king-jack or king-ten doubleton.

If that's declarer's hand, the only thing I have to do is not shift to a diamond, which I wasn't planning on doing anyway. I continue with the queen of clubs. Declarer take the ace and pitches the four of hearts. He plays the four of diamonds--eight--king--seven. The eight? Please tell me that's not jack-eight fourth. Declarer plays the diamond three back to the ace, and partner plays the deuce. Declarer cashes the king and ace of hearts (three-six from partner) and plays the six of spades--three--ace--nine. He leads the nine of diamonds. I presume he was going to let this ride, but partner saves him the trouble by covering with the jack. Declarer takes the queen and six of diamonds and the spade ace. I take the last two tricks.

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

Declarer played well.  Rather than believe partner's carding, he got a count on the hand to make sure he played the diamonds correctly. If I had shown out the second heart, he would lead a spade to the king. If partner followed to that, he would know I had begun with three diamonds and he wouldn't take the finesse.

Partner's diamond eight made it easy for him, but he probably would have made it anyway. Given the variety of squeezes available to declarer, I don't see any defense that works.  He might have a harder time counting the hand if I stay out of the auction.  But then how would I know not to lead a spade?

As if to illustrate this point, West at the other table spurns the discovery bid.  So he has no reason to avoid a low spade lead, presenting declarer with his ninth trick. Declarer wins with the ten in his hand, then cashes the queen of diamonds. Again, East drops the eight, giving declarer his tenth trick. Declarer makes four, and we pick up an IMP.

Me: -600
Jack: -630

Score on Board 80: +1 IMP
Total: -115 IMPs

After 16 boards of the second half, I've recouped a little over a quarter of my losses, so I'm on schedule to pull the match out. But this has been scary. I've been taking anti-percentage actions and getting lucky, which is exactly what Edgar said we shouldn't do. Unfortunately, it's very hard to find reasonable but different actions when you are playing the same system at both tables. It was an error not switching systems for the second half. For the rest of the match, my team is going to play Acol at both tables: weak notrumps, four-card majors, strong two bids. I'll let system differences produce the swings for me so I don't have to take quite so many bizarre actions. And I'm switching from Cappelletti to Astro. That way I can stop complaining about not playing Astro and can starting complaining about how Jack doesn't understand how it works.

The match will continue on Tuesday. 

Board 79

Board 79
Our side vulnerable

♠ J 9 8 4 2 ♥ K J 10 8 5 2 ♦ 2 ♣ 6

Length in both majors and only seven losers. Looks like an opening bid to me. I open one heart. I used to open hands like this routinely when I played Acol. In fact, when people used to ask my partner and me for the lightest hand we could open, we would respond, "six small, six small, singleton, void."

A brief digression. This hypothetical minimum opening actually came up once, but I didn't hold it. My RHO held it. Neither vulnerable, the auction began one club--pass to her, and she was looking at a 6-6-1-0 Yarborough. She passed, thinking I would surely balance (Who sells out to one club?) and she could find a more descriptive bid later on. I had a pretty good hand, but, of course, but I had club length and was short in both majors. If my partner couldn't muster up a non-vulnerable overcall over one club, I didn't think we were missing anything. I passed, and we defeated one club with the opponents cold for four spades. I wanted to say something about an opening bid opposite an opening bid producing a game, but it struck me as an ungracious remark, so I restrained myself. It was hard, though.

Back to the matter at hand. LHO doubles one heart, and partner bids two notrump, showing a limit raise or better. RHO bids three clubs. I bid three hearts. We are forced to three hearts, so I could pass. But I think the distinction between pass and three hearts should be hand type. They both show minimums (a refusal of partner's game try), but I believe pass should show more defensive values and three hearts should show more offensive values. There is no doubt which category this hand falls into.

LHO doubles again, and partner bids four hearts. RHO bids five clubs, I pass, and LHO raises to six. Partner doubles, and everyone passes. I lead my singleton diamond.

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

West	North	East	South
1 ♥	Double	2 NT	3 ♣
3 ♥	Double	4 ♥	5 ♣
Pass	6 ♣	Double	(All pass)

Partner probably has both pointed-suit kings. I have to hope he has the diamond jack as well. If so, whether we can beat this or not depends on declarer's club length. If declarer has six clubs (and two hearts), that gives him five cards in the pointed suits, and we should be OK. If he has seven clubs, he can strip squeeze partner to make this if he works it out. And he might well work it out. The diamond lead marks me with a singleton and makes it easy for declarer to count the hand. Our only chance is that he plays me for the spade king instead of playing for the strip squeeze. Since declarer doesn't know how the heart honors are distributed, that's possible. Perhaps he will play partner for

♠ J x x ♥ K Q x x ♦ K J x x x ♣ x

It's hard to see why partner would double with that. But it's also hard to see why he would double with the hand he does have.

All this becomes moot quickly. Declarer plays the queen of diamonds. Partner wins with the king and returns a diamond for me to ruff. I shift to a spade. Declarer rises with the ace and takes the rest. Down one.

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

Eight clubs!  He was cold.  This deal illustrates a flaw in the way computers approach the play of the hand. A human approaches a play problem abstractly. When does finessing the diamond queen lose? When does rising with the ace lose? If you ask yourself those questions, it's pretty easy to decide what the right play is. But Jack has no way of answering those questions. He must generate layouts, then examine each play against each layout to see what works most often. He has no way of even knowing that the finesse is risky unless he happens to generate a layout where the play loses. As well as Jack can determine, if he finesses, he always makes six and sometimes makes seven. So why shouldn't he finesse?

We were headed for a serious disaster. Declarer should have made seven. Should I have pulled? Unless they find the ace of spades lead, I will go for 800 in six hearts doubled, winning four imps instead of losing six (assuming six clubs making seven at the other table). But it doesn't make any sense for me to pull. I certainly wasn't going to save if partner had passed six clubs. Why should I save once partner announces that he thinks they're going down?

I'm sure many people would simply look at my opening bid and assign me the blame, looking no further. (Seems unfair. I bid up to three hearts, which I would probably make.  How can you criticize my auction?) But I think partner's double is to blame. Why double with no aces and a trump void? He has both less defense and more offense than I expect him to have. If he passes and I bid six hearts, won't he suspect I've done the right thing? As it happens, I would pass also, and we would have achieved a normal result. I don't think much of the two notrump bid either, but that's more a matter of methods than judgment. I would prefer a fit-showing four diamonds, a bid that isn't in our repertoire.

At the other table my hand passes, and North opens two notrump. South raises to three. After a diamond lead, they make six.

It seems to me that South's hand is worth six clubs over a two notrump opening. He has seven playing tricks, and a typical two notrump opening has five honor tricks. That adds up to twelve. I would just bid Gerber and drive to six clubs unless we were off two aces. (Sometimes it's more useful to think of the honor-trick requirements for partner's bids than to think of the point-count requirements. It can be quite tedious to start envisioning random 20 to 22-point hands to decide what you can make.)

That brings us to North's two notrump opening. Given that I have no problem with off-shape one notrump openings, it may surprise you to learn that I have no use at all for off-shape two notrump openings. In general, two notrump openings lead to rather awkward auctions. Any time partner's hand is good enough to investigate slam, you are much better off opening one of a suit. In the old days, when a two notrump opening showed 22-24 HCP, the reason for opening two notrump was that you were afraid that, if you didn't, partner would pass and you would miss a game. That is no longer true playing 20-22 two notrump openings, where partner pretty much needs a hand worth a response to produce a game. Furthermore, if partner does have a bad hand, you will frequently be too high in two notrump. You are more likely to go plus opening a one-bid. As far as I'm concerned, there is no reason ever to open two notrump unless you would have a rebid problem with another opening. Since I have plenty of suits to bid with this hand, I see no reason not to start with one of them. I doubt we would have any trouble reaching six clubs after an opening bid of either one diamond or one club.

Me: +100
Jack: -490

Score on Board 79: +11 IMPs
Total: -116 IMPs

Board 78

Board 78
Neither vulnerable

♠ A J 6 2 ♥ A J 10 5 ♦ K 9 7 ♣ 7 2

RHO opens one club, and I double. LHO bids two clubs, and partner doubles. According to Jack's footnote, this shows 8 or more high-card points and at least four-four in the majors. RHO bids three clubs. I see no reason to bid. I don't think we can make a game unless partner can act again on him own. If he has extra high cards, he will double again, and if he has a five-card major, he will bid it without any encouragement from me. I don't want to bid at the three level simply to compete for the partscore when I have only eight trumps. True, the double fit suggests total tricks will be high. But if partner is four-four in the majors, he is probably 4-4-3-2. The matching pattern offsets the advantage of the double fit.

I pass, LHO passes, partner bids three hearts, and RHO passes. The fifth heart improves my hand considerably. I'm willing to bid game. The question is which game. If partner is 4-5-3-1, four spades could easily be better, since I might be able to pitch a diamond on partner's fifth heart. If partner is 4-5-2-2, four hearts will probably be better, since they may be able to threaten a heart ruff if we play in spades.

I have no way of knowing which game is better.  But I'm pretty sure Jack will choose hearts at the other table, so I bid four spades, which ends the auction. West leads the queen of clubs.

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

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

East plays the four. He's probably encouraging with ace-king-four-three. I play the deuce, and West continues the the five of clubs to East's king. Clubs are obviously five-four. West might have shifted to a singleton heart. If so, that means heart are either three-one or two-two. In the former case, East must be 4-1-4-4. In the latter, he is either 4-2-3-4 or 3-2-4-4. This is hardly certain. West won't necessarily shift to a singleton heart. But those are the patterns I'm most inclined to place East with at the moment.

East continues with the ace of clubs. Giving me a ruff and sluff supports the idea that he has four spades. So 4-1-4-4 or 4-2-3-4 is starting to look quite likely. I pitch a diamond and ruff with the seven of spades. I'm not sure this is going to matter, but it probably can't hurt. The spade seven can only get in the way.

If East is balanced, he must have the king of hearts to come to 12 high-card points. If he is 4-1-4-4, the heart king might be offside, in which case I'm probably going down. I have a slim chance of making on that layout if I take the heart finesse right away (very slim--West must return a spade or a diamond to let me make it). But it doesn't hurt to try, so I lead the queen of hearts--king--ace--seven. If I'm right that East has four spades, I can still pick up the suit if West's singleton is the queen, ten, or eight. I lead the deuce of spades--eight--king--four. Then the nine of spades from dummy, on which East plays the five. I can't go down by finessing. If West has another spade, East can't have a singleton heart. So I duck. West pitches the three of diamonds, and I claim the balance. Making five.

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

At the other table, the auction is the same up to the point where East bids three clubs. My counterpart then bids three hearts. I've already explained why I think that's wrong. West bids four clubs, and North bids four hearts.

West leads his singleton eight of spades. Declarer covers with the nine--queen--ace. With the opponents threatening a spade ruff, it would be dangerous to take a heart finesse. So declarer plays ace and a heart. He later finesses against the ten of spades to make four. So four spades did take one more trick than four hearts. It would have been nice if that were the tenth trick rather than the eleventh.


Me: +450
Jack: +420

Score on Board 78: +1 IMP
Total: -127 IMPs