The Gargoyle Chronicles: Zenith Daylong - Oct 14, 2021

Sunday, October 31, 2021

Zenith Daylong - Oct 14, 2021 - Board 2

Board 2
Our side vulnerable

♠ A J 8 4 2 ♥ K 8 ♦ Q 5 ♣ A J 10 6

Pass to me. Some will open one notrump with this hand. I'm happy to open one notrump offshape when I have rebid problems. But with this hand, I don't. If I open one spade and partner responds one notrump, I see no issue with rebidding two clubs. So I open one spade.

Partner bids two hearts. I can rebid three clubs or two notrump. I would bid three clubs with the spade queen instead of the diamond queen. But with scattered values, this hand looks more like notrump than like spades-and-clubs. Furthermore, there is a variety of diamond holdings partner might have where notrump is better from my side. If I bid three clubs, I may miss my chance to bid notrump first. If I bid two notrump, on the other hand, we haven't precluded getting to a club contract. Partner can still introduce clubs over two notrump.

I bid two notrump, and partner raises to three. West leads the jack of diamonds.

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

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

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

If partner had ace third of diamonds, I would be happy we were playing this from my side. Opposite ace doubleton, I'm not sure yet. I play low from dummy; East follows with the four and I win with the queen. Now I'm sure.

I have seven cashing tricks. I need two more. Either hearts or clubs looks promising for two additional tricks. Which one should I try first? If both finesses are working, I don't care. If one is losing, which one would I prefer to take first? If I take the club finesse and it loses, I will win the diamond return and run clubs. This might put the opponents under some pressure. Imagine West's discomfort if he holds queen fourth of hearts, for example. On the other hand, if I take the heart finesse and it loses, it's not clear they will feel the same degree of pressure when I run the heart suit. Admittedly, this is more instinct than rigorous logic. I don't have any specific plan in mind. But it looks better to take the club finesse first.

I play the spade deuce; West plays the ten. That looks like queen-ten. West is afraid I'm looking at his hand and will insert the nine. I play the king, and East follows with the three.

Should I lead the club queen or a low one? Low is better if East has a stiff king. But the queen allows me to repeat the finesse if it wins. Say I lead low to my hand and it holds. I play king of hearts and a heart to the jack. It loses and they clear diamonds. Do I risk repeating the club finesse or not? If I find myself facing that problem, I will be wishing I had led the queen.

But maybe I shouldn't worry too much about West's ducking. Ducking a trick is unattractive when you have a suit ready to establish. And if I play the jack rather then the ten, ducking will be even less attractive, since West can't be sure repeating the finesse is even an option. So I decide to guard against a stiff king by leading the deuce. East plays the three. I play the jack; West plays the seven.

Now for the heart finesse. King of hearts--six--four--nine. Eight of hearts--queen--ace--five. That makes eleven tricks. If a club to the ten holds, that makes twelve. If clubs break, that's thirteen. If they don't break, I can cash the club ace and execute a show-up squeeze, taking all the tricks if East has the spade queen or if the queen is doubleton offside.

I play the club four--eight--ten--nine. I claim. Making seven

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

62%. I beat most of the pairs who played three notrump. Some played it from the other side and didn't get the gift at trick one. Others played it from my side but got a club lead after my hand opened one notrump. The reason this result isn't better is some Souths opened one spade and rebid three clubs over two hearts, thereby reaching and making six clubs. It's hard to say whether three notrump or six clubs is the better matchpoint spot.

Note, by the way, East's play at trick one: the four from 742. That's neither count nor attitude. It appears to be random. That's what makes it hard to defend with robots. Even their trick-one plays aren't helpful.

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About This Blog

First, a word or two about who am I so you have some idea how seriously to take the advice you find here. I retired from tournament bridge in 1992 (coincidentally, the year my daughter was born). At the time, I had accumulated a little over 5000 masterpoints. I had won numerous regional events and had finished second or third in several national events. Annoyingly, I have never won a national event of any significance. (The qualification is necessary. I did win one national event of little significance.) My best result was second place in the Grand National Teams (with John Lowenthal, Michael Becker, Ron Rubin, Michael Rosenberg, and Brian Glubok). I have theories about why this is, but I won't bore you with them now.

I am still in contact with many of my friends from tournament days. So I still discuss bridge and, occasionally, still write articles for Bridge World magazine, some of which you can find reprinted here: Phillip Martin's Bridge Articles

I have always enjoyed writing about bridge and have, from time to time, considered starting a blog. I think there is a void in the bridge literature that I can make some attempt to fill. Bob Hamman has stated that most people play bridge by asking themselves what they should do. Instead, they should be asking themselves what is going on. Once you figure that out, what to do will often suggest itself. I think he is right about that, and I think bridge literature is partly responsible. Bridge books and articles focus on the unusual and the spectacular. They can get you in the habit of looking for opportunities to shine, which isn’t what you should be thinking about.

The late John Lowenthal, my partner for years, was perhaps the king of doing the unusual, especially on defense. But he always found these plays by being alert to what was going on, not by simply looking for opportunities to do something unexpected. If declarer spurned a finesse John expected him to take or failed to attack a suit that John expected him to attack, John would ask himself why. Frequently, the answer to this question would reveal the entire deal. Then John could be creative and think about finding some way to deflect declarer from the winning line. And, often, he succeeded.

What I am going to attempt to do in this blog is to show by example how one should think about the game. The focus will be on process, not on results. How do you figure out what is going on? How do you try to conceal what’s going on to the opponents? How do you try to clarify the position to partner? These are the skills that separate the expert from the intermediate player more than the ability to execute a backwash squeeze. And, for this purpose, almost any deal can provide material for discussion.

What I propose to do is to play in BBO robot individuals and report on each deal in detail, focusing on the questions I ask myself and how I reach each decision. I will report on each deal, not just the ones I find interesting or instructive. This blog will probably not be of much help to a beginner, but I think it will be instructive for an intermediate player. And my expert friends will finally see what is going on inside my head when I’m in one of my interminable huddles.

I will be South, but, following convention, I will always make South declarer in the diagrams. Thus my reported compass direction may change from deal to deal.

I should point out that not all of my ideas are mainstream. I considered including a catalog of quirks, but I decided that was unnecessary. They will become apparent in due time.

The Gargoyle Chronicles

Sunday, October 31, 2021

Zenith Daylong - Oct 14, 2021 - Board 2

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