Weekly Free Instant Tournament - Apr 8, 2022 - Board 3

Board 3
Opponents vulnerable

♠ A 10  ♥ A 9 7 5 3  ♦ A Q 8 7  ♣ 8 2

I open with one heart and partner raises to two hearts. I have six losers. By loser count, this hand is worth invitation, but point count says otherwise. 14 HCP with "5422" shape is a bit shy of an invitation. Which evaluation method is correct?

Sometimes it's easier to think in terms of what cover cards you need rather than what losers you have. When partner has made a single raise, ask yourself whether two cover cards (either two kings or an ace and a queen) plus the right doubleton gives you a game on normal breaks without any finesses. A major-suit king and king doubleton of diamonds still leaves me with four losers, so this hand is not worth a game try. In short, "six losers" overstates the value of the hand, because no doubleton in partner's hand covers a loser. You can make a game try in the hope of finding partner with three cover cards, but you can't count on all of those cover cards' being high cards.

I pass. LHO passes also and leads the club king.

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

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

Partner has a maximum raise and game is quite poor, so it appears I was right not to invite. 

I have two losers in the black suits, probably two trump losers, and potentially a fourth-round diamond loser. If trumps are three-two, I can gain a trick by ducking a trump, then cashing the ace. If diamonds don't come home, I can ruff the fourth round in dummy. If they do, I can pitch a spade from dummy and ruff a spade instead. Ducking a trump could work out badly, however, if someone has a stiff heart honor. In that case, if I play ace and another heart, I'll lose only two trump tricks. If I duck a heart then cash the ace, I'll lose three. 

It's possible I don't need to duck a trump. There are quite a few layouts where the hearts are blocked plus a few more where the defense could unblock them but might not work out to do so. In such a scenario, ace and a heart might not hurt.

If I intend to play ace and a heart, perhaps I should duck trick one, since a blockage in hearts won't help if I leave the opponents with communication in clubs. Ducking does risk having the club ace ruffed at trick two. But if the ruff is with a natural trump trick, that won't matter. In fact, it might help. If East ruffs with three trumps, it solves my problem.

What worries me about ducking isn't so much the possibility that the club ace will be ruffed. It's the possibility that the defense may switch to a spade. Now I lose my chance to avoid a spade loser if diamonds come home. For that reason, I'm gong to win the first club trick. I'm still undecided about whether to duck the first heart. But I don't have to decide that until I see what card East plays.

I take the club ace; East follows with the jack. That could be a singleton, in which case the opponents don't have communication in clubs after all. It might also be from jack-ten--either doubleton, third, or fourth.

I play the heart six from dummy, and East plays the ten. If that's a singleton, I must win this. If I duck, I lose three trump tricks instead of two. But if it's from king-queen-ten, I must duck, since if I play ace and another, I lose my ruff. If those were the only two possibilities, winning would be clear. East could play any one of his three cards with king-queen-ten, so, by restricted choice, a singleton ten is three times as likely.

What are the other possibilities? It could be from ten doubleton, but I'll assume it isn't, since that would be a strange play. It could also be from king-ten or queen-ten doubleton. If so, I would prefer to duck. But ace and another heart won't cost if the club jack was a singleton. In fact, ace and another might gain, since West may hop, crashing his partner's honor. A human West should work out not to do that, but that's just the kind of mistake a robot might make, since he draws no inference from how I choose to play. He is especially likely to hop with queen third, for fear I have the king, and might hop even with king third to ensure he can draw dummy's last trump.

All in all, taking the ace looks like the better choice. I play the ace, and West follows with the deuce. I play the heart three, and West pitches the diamond four. East split with king-queen-ten-four of hearts? I didn't even consider that possibility, since I wouldn't expect him to split. Splitting costs if West has a stiff nine, and it seems unlikely to gain in any event.

West's diamond pitch might mean the suit is running. If it's not, perhaps I can manage a club-diamond squeeze.

East wins with the heart queen and cashes the king, drawing dummy's last trump, as West pitches the club four. East now switches the to deuce of diamonds, solving my problem in that suit. I win in dummy, play a spade to my ace, draw the last trump, and cash my tricks, losing a club and a spade at the end. Making three.

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

Some declarers made only two, and some Souths reached four hearts after making the aggressive game try. So plus 140 was worth 79%. I'm still in first place, with 85%. 

Incidentally, look at that hand West sold out to two hearts with. I would double on the first round at a different vulnerability. West should certainly balance with a double after the raise. East would then bid two spades, and we would have a tough decision. We could double and collect 200, but that's hard to do when we each have a doubleton spade. If we choose to defend undoubled, we get a terrible board. And if we compete to three hearts, we might go down and get an even worse board. It was very kind of West to let us play two hearts.

Weekly Free Instant Tournament - Apr 8, 2022 - Board 2

Board 2
Our side vulnerable

♠ K 8 4  ♥ A Q J 7  ♦ Q 10 6 3  ♣ A J

RHO passes. I open with one notrump and buy it. West leads the club five.

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

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

I have four club tricks, but it's not clear I can take all of them. If I cash the ace and jack of clubs and the diamond ace is offside, I may wind up with only two. It may be better to plan on overtaking the club jack to make sure I get three club tricks.

Even if the diamond ace is onside, I may break even squandering one of my club tricks. Overtaking the club jack gives me a second dummy entry either to repeat the heart finesse or to lead a diamond to the ten. So I may lose a club trick and gain a trick elsewhere. Since cashing the ace and jack of clubs is almost certainly wrong if the diamond ace is offside and might not gain even if it's onside, it seems like the wrong thing to do.

I play low from dummy, East plays the nine, and I win with the ace. The deuce is still out, so it's possible West led from a five-card suit.

I play the diamond three--nine--king--four. The nine might be West's lowest diamond. Or it might be a cowardly play from ace-jack-nine fourth for fear I was going to insert the eight. I doubt, however, that he would hop with the nine unless he also held the jack.

I play the heart four from dummy; East plays the five. I want West to win the king if he has it. If I play the queen, a brave West might duck, thinking I would be unlikely to play a heart to the queen this early on without holding the jack as well. If I play the jack, however, ducking is more dangerous, since I could have ace-jack-ten. I would not expect this West to duck the king no matter which card I play, but I play the jack just for practice. West plays the deuce. I haven't seen the three.

I play the club jack and overtake with the king. West plays the eight, the card he was known to hold. East follows to this trick with the deuce. Now that I've seen the deuce, I know West began with either three or four clubs. I suspect three, partly because the robots have a fondness for leading three-card suits against notrump and partly because both defenders' carding is consistent with the suit's splitting three-four. But that's merely a suspicion. The robots are perfectly capable of playing their spots at random.

I cash the club queen. East plays the ten, and I discard the spade four. West follows with the club six. I repeat the heart finesse: Eight--ten--queen--three. Here is the current position:

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

If East has king-nine of hearts left, I can exit with a diamond to West's jack. West will then have to lead a diamond or a spade into me, possibly after cashing the long club, on which I will pitch a heart. If hearts are three-three, however, West can simply exit with his third heart. That would be particularly embarrassing if he does so after I've pitched my heart winner. I'd like to cash the heart ace, both to make sure West is out of hearts and to find out if my long heart is a winner. But can I afford to do that? If they don't split, I'm setting up a trick for the defense.

Say I cash the heart and West pitches a spade. I exit with a diamond. If West has the spade ace, I'm in good shape. But what if East has it? Either West cashes a club and leads a spade to East's ace, or he leads a spade to East's ace and East cashes a club. Either way, I can pitch a heart on the club trick. But what do I do when East cashes the long heart? I guess that's not a problem. I can pitch a diamond. If diamonds are three-three, a diamond pitch doesn't hurt. And if West has four diamonds, he has no entry to cash them.

I cash the heart ace. West plays the nine; East the king. Great! Now I have another heart to cash before endplaying West.

I cash the heart seven, pitching dummy's club. West pitches the spade three; East, the spade six. Now I play the diamond six. Maybe I'll catch West with 5-3-2-3 and he'll win this trick with the ace. No such luck. West wins with the diamond jack and exits with the spade jack to my king. I'm out of tricks. Making three.

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

Plus 150 is worth 75%.  My score has dropped down to 87.5%, but that was a high bar I set on the first board. I'm still in first place.

Weekly Free Instant Tournament - Apr 8, 2022 - Board 1

Board 1
Neither vulnerable

If you haven't yet done so, log into BBO and play in this week's Weekly Free Instant Tournament before reading on. We can then compare results over the next eight weeks.

♠ A K 3  ♥ K 5 4  ♦ Q 6 4  ♣ K 5 4 2

Two passes to me. I open with one notrump, and LHO bids two diamonds, showing both majors. In theory this shows at least five-five, but I'm pretty sure I've seen the robots bid it with five-four. Partner bids two hearts, which the tooltip says shows 10-11 HCP and is forcing to three notrump. That's not an especially helpful explanation. Three notrump would show that also. It would be nice to know what the difference is.

RHO bids two spades. Since we are in a force, I could pass to see if partner wants to double this. But delicate auctions with robots have a way of getting out of hand. We probably belong in three notrump, so I'll just bid it before partner gets other ideas.

Three notrump ends the auction. West leads the spade jack.

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

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

I don't care for partner's two-heart bid, whatever he meant by it. It's better simply to bid three notrump and not give East a chance to bid two spades or to double two hearts, letting his partner know which of his suits to lead. 

Clubs is my most promising source of tricks. If I can take three clubs tricks, then three spades and the diamond ace brings me up to seven tricks. I can knock out the heart ace and the diamond king to develop two more, assuming I have time to do so. If I only have two club tricks, I will need an extra trick in one of the red suits.

I might as well start by winning the spade queen and attacking clubs. East plays the spade deuce at trick one. When I lead the club jack, he plays the six. I play the deuce, and West wins with the ace. That's a good start. But I'm still not sure how many club tricks I have. East might have started with queen-eight fourth.

West continues with the spade ten, and East plays the five. East knows I have the ace, but he doesn't know about the king, so I win with the ace. 

If the diamond king is offside, I will have to lose the lead twice. If West has five spades, I can't afford for the second time to be to him, so I need to knock out the heart ace before playing diamonds. The problem with playing hearts first is it risks letting the opponents set up heart tricks. If I lead a heart to the queen and West has ace-jack fifth for example, he now has four hearts tricks ready to cash. What if I lead the king of hearts out of my hand? The worst that can happen is West takes the ace and plays another heart. I finesse the ten, it loses, and East has a third heart to play, setting up a long heart in West's hand. But even if that happens, I'm OK. I've lost three tricks, so I can afford to take a diamond finesse. West has no entry to his long heart.

I lead the heart king. West takes the ace, and East follows with the eight. West continues with the spade six. This is the position with dummy to play:

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

What should I pitch on this trick? If clubs are three-two, I have nine tricks after knocking out the diamond king. But if they aren't, I need either to find the heart jack onside or to score a third diamond trick. Unfortunately, I can't cater to both possibilities. Since clubs are blocked, I can't afford a club pitch. I must pitch a heart or a diamond, abandoning the prospect of an extra trick in that suit. Since West has heart length, the heart finesse is a heavy favorite, so I pitch the diamond seven. East follows with the five, and I win with the king.

Now for the diamond finesse. Four of diamonds--eight--jack--king. East shifts to the club eight--four--three--nine. Clubs came home, so I have nine tricks. If the heart jack is onside, I have ten. I might as well cash as many tricks as I can. Since the robots assume declarer is double dummy, West may see no reason not to pitch down to a stiff heart. If he does, I can drop the offside jack.

I cash both clubs. West pitches two hearts, presumably coming down to two hearts and two spades. I play a diamond to queen, hoping to see one more heart pitch, but West pitches a spade. I still have the diamond ace in dummy, so it's safe to finesse the heart ten. I do, and it holds. Making four.

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

100%! The overtrick was immaterial. No one else made three notrump, since everyone played on diamonds before hearts. I know the level of declarer play is not high in these events, but I'm still surprised no one else made this. Knocking out the entry to the danger hand first is a bread-and-butter technique.

Weekly Free Instant Tournament - Feb. 11, 2022 - Board 8

Board 8
Neither vulnerable

♠ A J  ♥ A 7 4 3  ♦ A Q 10 8 2  ♣ A 10

LHO passes, partner passes, and RHO opens with one spade. I’m not a fan of offshape take-out doubles, but it seems like the right action here. If partner bids clubs, I can rebid two notrump, showing better than a strong notrump. 

I double. LHO passes, and partner bids one notrump. The tooltip says this shows 5 to 10 HCP. I prefer to play it more constructive than that--more like 8 to 11. But even opposite 5 to 10 I’m worth raising to three. The spade jack was a doubtful value before partner bid notrump. Now it may be worth a full trick. 

I bid three notrump, everyone passes, and RHO leads the club three.

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

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

We have 29 HCP between us. Obviously West has the rest. I have three club tricks, five diamond tricks, a heart, and two spades--eleven tricks. It’s hard to imagine taking any more.

Does it matter whether I finesse the club ten or hop with the ace and lead the ten? The former forces me to use a diamond entry to my hand to continue clubs. If I hop and return a club, West may take his king, allowing me to keep my diamond holding a mystery for a while longer. It's hard to see how it will matter. But keeping the opponents in the dark whenever possible is good policy.

I play the club ace. East plays the six; I play the deuce. Now ten of clubs--nine--four--king.

West shifts to the spade three. I play the jack; East plays the deuce. The queen is the card I'm known to hold, so I overtake. I have all the tricks but one. But since I have no entries to either threat suit in my hand, and since I can't cash all my tricks ending in my hand, there is no possibility of a squeeze. Is there any chance of inducing a misdefense? The line that applies the most pressure on West is to cash the spade ace, run four diamonds, ending in my hand, then cash two clubs. The position will then be:

	NORTH Phillip ♠ -- ♥ A 7 ♦ 2 ♣ --
	SOUTH Robot ♠ 10 ♥ J 6 ♦ -- ♣ --

West will be down to the spade king and king-queen of hearts. I can't think of any way to persuade West that he needs to hold three hearts or that he needs to hold two spades. So it appears I'm destined to make five. I cash my tricks in the order I stated. West of course holds onto the right cards. Making five.

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

86%! Why wasn’t this average? Lots of declarers found creative lines to hold themselves to ten tricks, mostly involving playing diamonds too early so that they could no longer manage three club tricks. The standard of declarer play is not high in these instant tournaments.

I finish first, with 75%. This appears to be a popular format, so I'll try it once more. Play in the Weekly Free Instant Tournament that becomes available on BBO on Friday morning, April 8, and we can compare results in the coming eight weeks.

Since there wasn't much of interest in that deal, I'll offer another, from which I recently learned an important lesson:

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

You find yourself in six diamonds with a spade lead. From the auction, you place East with eight hearts. You draw trumps. East is void. Then you cash spades. They are three-three. So East is presumably 3-8-0-2. You have no legitimate chance for an overtrick. But if East has the club king, you may be able to bamboozle him.

I cashed the long spade and all my diamonds but one, coming down to this position:

	NORTH Robot ♠ -- ♥ A 6 4 ♦ -- ♣ A
	SOUTH Phillip ♠ -- ♥ -- ♦ 2 ♣ Q 9 3

If East thinks I have a heart, then he can't afford to come down to a doubleton heart, else I can establish a heart trick by ruffing. So he may stiff his club king, hoping his partner has the queen. West can solve the problem for East by pitching both his hearts, disclosing my void. But he didn't. Still, East got the end position right, holding two hearts and king doubleton of clubs. So I made only six.

It turns out there was a flaw in my plan. The auction had been,

West	North	East	South
Robot	Robot	Robot	Phillip
	1 ♦	4 ♥	5 ♥
Double	6 ♦	(All pass)

My five heart bid might have tipped East off to my void. But, more importantly, my hand was dummy. It's hard to fool the opponents about what cards you hold when your hand is lying on the table. It would be nice if BBO were to flip directions when North becomes declarer. But they don't.

So here is my Bols Bridge Tip: Remember which hand is dummy. Had I followed that advice, I would have ruffed a heart, stripping advancer of his stopper, then run all my tricks, coming down to this position (properly rotated):

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

The pre-empter (now West) must decide whether my thirteenth card is a low heart or a low club. There are, of course, ways for the defense to solve this problem. But I should put them to the test.