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

Board 8
Neither vulnerable

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

Two passes to me. With three and a half honor tricks and a good five-card suit, this hand evaluates to a strong notrump. Still, opening with one spade gives me no rebid problem. I can bid two clubs over a one notrump response, intending to raise two notrump to three if partner bids it. Switch the majors and I would open with one notrump, since I would have no good rebid after one heart--one spade. But with this hand, I see no reason to risk missing a five-three spade fit.

I open with one spade, and partner bids one notrump. I bid two clubs as planned. I could pass, since one notrump by a passed hand is not forcing. But the time to pass is when you are afraid to hear a two notrump rebid from partner. Since I'm happy to raise two notrump to three, it's wrong to pass.

Partner corrects two clubs to two spades and RHO doubles for take-out. This auction shouldn't exist. If RHO has a take-out double of spades, he should have doubled one notrump, when his partner could have bid at the two level. Now his partner must bid at the three-level on a deal that is very likely to be a misfit. Most of the time, we have a five-two spade fit on this auction. So if RHO has a singleton spade (which he probably does even to be tempted to act), he rates to catch his partner with five spades and very possibly no four-card suit to bid. If his partner isn't keen on defending two spades doubled, they may land in a four-three or even a three-three fit at the three level.

I pass, LHO bids three diamonds, and there are two passes to me. It's disappointing partner couldn't double this. But I have nothing further to say. I pass, and partner leads the spade deuce. The deuce means partner has three spades and therefore quite a weak hand--not enough to raise one spade to two. So, even before dummy hits, I know we are unlikely to beat this.

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

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

North's auction is insane. He had a perfectly normal double of one notrump, and the double of two spades was quite risky. But he seems to have landed on his feet. Instead of catching my partner with a good hand and a doubleton spade, he caught him with a bad hand and three spades. Further, his partner picked his five-card suit to bid, so they have apparently landed in a nine-card fit.

Could it be a ten-card fit? I don't think partner would risk a non-forcing notrump with a stiff diamond. He would either raise to two spades or pass. So declarer is probably four-four in the pointed suits.

I win with the spade king and South plays the five. I see nothing to gain by breaking a side suit. A trump looks like the safest return. If I didn't have the nine, I might try leading the queen, hoping to sucker declarer if he has ace-ten-nine fourth. But with the nine, that won't work. Better to lead low and hope to score my queen if partner has ace doubleton.

I lead the nine of diamonds--ten--jack--king. Declarer leads the club six--deuce--queen--nine. Declarer continues with the eight of clubs--seven--king. Interesting way to play the suit. An unusual play often tips you off to declarer's full hand, since the play makes sense only in very specific scenarios. What can we conclude from declarer's play of the club king? Obviously he has a doubleton club, so he must be 4-3-4-2. But we can also conclude he has no heart losers to pitch. An extra club trick is of no use to him. He's just as happy ruffing both clubs, so he has nothing to lose by taking a shot that partner ducked the club ace twice. That means he must have the heart queen. 

Going to the trouble to make that deduction may seem like a waste of time, since the hand is essentially over. But this is exactly what you should be doing throughout the play: taking note when something unusual happens and asking yourself what the implications are. Even if it can't possibly matter, it's important to stay in that mind set. It will make it easier for you to draw deductions when it does matter.

I take the club ace and play the diamond queen. Declarer wins with the ace, and partner follows with the five. We are out of tricks unless partner has the heart ace. He does. Making four.

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

We get 21%, my only bad result this set. I thought some might open with one notrump, but no one did. Most often, East opened with one spade and passed his partner's one trump response, playing it there. Pass is a mistake, but it works spectacularly well this time. Not only do you catch partner with a bad hand so you don't miss a game, but you also catch North napping. Passing exploits North's failure to double one notrump.

Had the field opened with one notrump, thereby pre-empting the opponents out of the auction, I would feel I had some responsibility for this result. My choice of opening bids was not clear, and the alternative would have worked out better. As it is, however, I have to count this as nothing more than bad luck. The bad result sprang not from my opening bid but from my two-club rebid, which was clear. In fact, the rebid failed only because of two weird actions by my opponent. Sometimes that happens, and you can't worry about such matters.

Incidentally, my diamond shift at trick two was an error. "A trump looks like the safest return," I said. That might be true if I didn't have the heart ten. But since I do, declarer has no guess in the heart suit. He might, however, have a guess in diamonds. With ace-jack-ten fourth, he might decide, on the strength of my having bid two suits, to hook partner for the diamond queen.

In fact, while I was lazily assuming declarer had four diamonds, that isn't necessarily true. He might be 4-3-3-3 and have made a lucky guess as to which three-card suit to bid. If he has ace-ten third of diamonds, my shift gives away a trick by force. So North wasn't the only one who made a mistake and landed on his feet.

I finish first with 76%. I'm not sure what to do next week. I could continue doing the Weekly Free Instant Tournament so readers can play the same boards and compare. Or I could try something different, like an IMP tournament. Any thoughts?

Weekly Free Instant Tournament - Apr 8, 2022 - Board 7

Board 7
Both vulnerable

♠ A Q 9  ♥ A Q 3 2  ♦ A J 9 2  ♣ A 5

I open with two notrump, showing 20 to 21 HCP. Partner bids three clubs, Stayman. I bid three hearts, and partner bids three notrump. Everyone passes, and West least the diamond five.

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

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

I have six cashing tricks. Maybe seven if spades come home. Getting two more is going to be difficult. With only one dummy entry, I don't see much point in attacking clubs. Yes, someone might have king-queen tight, but that's a long shot. At IMPs I would go for it. But this is a normal contract, so at matchpoints I just want to take as many tricks as I can, and playing on hearts looks like the way to do that. If West has the heart jack, leading toward the ten will develop a trick. If that doesn't work, I have a heart finesse to fall back on.

I play a diamond from dummy, and East plays the king. Ducking this is unlikely to be productive. And winning the trick gives the opponents more work to do in running the diamond suit. I take the ace and lead the deuce of hearts. West hops with the jack, and East follows with the seven.

West shifts to the spade ten. That looks like ten doubleton, so spades aren't coming home unless I get some help from the defense. East plays the five. West is more apt to believe his partner has the queen than to believe he has the ace, so I win with the ace.

I have seven tricks once I drive the heart king. If West plays another spade at some point, that will give me an eighth trick, but I don't have the communication to cash it. Perhaps I can manage a stepping-stone squeeze. Let's say I play another heart. West wins with the king and plays another spade to my nine. I lead the diamond jack to West's queen, hoping this strips East of his last diamond. West returns a heart. Then I can cash my hearts, coming down to this position:

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

East must hold two spades, so he is down to three clubs. Now I cash the spade queen and play ace and a club. If East has king-queen third, he must give dummy a spade trick at the end. If the club honors are split, I must hope West's last four cards are two diamonds and two clubs. If so, when he wins the club, he must give me a diamond trick. Either way, I score an eighth trick for down one. That should be a decent result, since I doubt anyone is going to make this. 

Back to the current position:

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

I play the three of hearts; West plays the eight. Too bad. I was hoping to lose this trick to West.

East wins with the heart king and plays the diamond four. West presumably has queen-ten-eight, so double-dummy it doesn't matter which card I play. What's the best way to get West to continue diamonds? He might expect his partner to lead the jack or nine if he had it. If so, he is placing me with both those cards and it would be a mistake to play low. I need West to believe I began with ace-jack-nine tight. If that's what I had, I would probably play the nine, thinking it more likely East held the ten then that he had falsecarded at trick one. So I play the nine.

West wins with the ten and cashes the queen. Hooray! I'm up to eight tricks. I pitch the club three from dummy; East pitches the club four. 

We have now reached this position:

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

West shifts to the spade six. I play low from dummy and East plays the four. I got my spade continuation, but it doesn't help now. A throw-in doesn't do any good when you have only one loser. Maybe if I win with the queen, West will think I began with ace-queen doubleton and will throw a spade away. Unfortunately, I don't have a legitimate squeeze even if East has both club honors, since both threats are in front of him.

I win with the queen and cash the diamond jack. East pitches the club deuce. On the heart ace, he pitches the club eight. On the last heart, I have to come down to a stiff club in dummy. East pitches the spade deuce and I claim. Wow! I made this? My deception in the spade suit worked?

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

Oh, I see. I didn't stop to count the hand when East showed out in hearts. He actually was squeezed. His partner had a stiff club, so the five in my hand was a threat.

I was the only one to make three notrump, so I score another top. Most declarers played ace and a club, taking their long shot at making this. It's amusing that the declarers who desperately tried to make their contract went down, whereas I tried to hold it to down one and wound up making it. 

My average is 84%. I've been in first place all the way. One board to go.

Weekly Free Instant Tournament - Apr 8, 2022 - Board 6

Board 6
Opponents vulnerable

♠ --  ♥ A 8 7 6  ♦ A K 4  ♣ K J 7 5 4 2

RHO opens with one heart. I bid two clubs, and LHO makes a negative double. Partner passes and RHO bids two notrump. 

Partner has at least six spades. Despite the fact I have quite a good hand, it would be unwise to bid again, since the deal appears to be a misfit. I pass, as does LHO and partner. I lead the five of clubs.

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

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

I don't care for North's double. He should have passed over two clubs.You don't want to stretch for a negative double with three cards in your opponent's suit. If partner is short in clubs, he will reopen. If he isn't and sells out, the hand is a misfit and you will be happy your side isn't declaring.

Declarer plays the club nine from dummy. Partner plays the three; declarer, the eight. Declarer apparently has ace-ten-eight of clubs. He is probably 2-5-3-3 or 3-5-2-3--more likely the latter, given partner's silence. Dummy and I have 22 HCP combined. If declarer has 12 to 14, that leaves partner with from four to six.

Declarer plays a heart from dummy--ten--king. My agreement is to split with the lower of touching honors, so I would have the jack-ten for that heart play. But I don't know what the robots' agreements are. Partner might have jack-ten or ten-nine. Either way, declarer will have to give up a second trick in hearts to establish his suit.

If I take the heart ace and continue clubs, I give declarer a third club trick. Offhand, that seems like a bad idea. But I do have four entries in declarer's suits. Perhaps plugging away at the club suit is the right approach.

What happens if I win this and continue clubs? Declarer will win and concede another heart. I continue clubs, setting up my suit. Declarer now has three heart tricks and three club tricks. If he has the spade ace, he has two more and makes his contract.

So continuing clubs fails if declarer has the spade ace. Can a passive defense work in that case? Let's say I duck this trick. What's the best that can happen? Perhaps declarer will play a diamond to dummy's ten and partner's jack. Now let's say partner has queen-jack-nine of spades and can exit safely in spades. Declarer wins in his hand and continues hearts. I can take two hearts and the ace-king of diamonds, but then I have to lead a club, handing declarer his eight trick.

Perhaps that's not how the play will go if I duck. But it's hard to see how any passive defense is going to work if declarer has the spade ace. Even if partner has the diamond jack and scores it, we still have only five tricks: three diamonds and two hearts. Where is the sixth trick coming from?

Since it appears we are doomed if declarer has the space ace, I must assume partner has it. If so, I might as well just plug away at clubs.  

The next question is: Which hand do I want declarer to win this club trick in? I can lead the king, forcing him to win it in his hand or the jack, forcing him to win it in dummy. Actually, it might be better to ask which hand I want him to win the third club trick in. If he is going to win this trick and set up hearts, I don't want him winning the third round of clubs in his hand, giving him easy access to his long heart. So I should lead the king now, forcing him to win the third round in dummy.

I win with the heart ace and lead the club king. Partner pitches the spade seven and declarer wins with the ace. The robots tend to play count on the first discard, so partner probably has six spades, making declarer 3-5-2-3, as I had assumed.

Declarer cashes the heart queen. Too bad I have the six. If I had A872, I could drop the seven. Then if declarer had KQ96x, he would have to guess whether to continue low (hoping the jack is now singleton) or the nine (hoping the eight is singleton). Since I have the six, declarer doesn't have the option of smothering the eight. So if he is missing the jack, he will be forced to get the suit right. I play the heart six, declarer plays the diamond deuce from dummy, and partner follows with the heart five. 

Surprisingly, declarer doesn't continue hearts. He switches to the spade deuce. Now what? Can declarer come to enough tricks in the spade suit? Here is the current position:

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

I'm still not sure who has the heart jack. It's worse for the defense if declarer has it, so let's assume he does. If so, he can take a second heart trick. Two hearts plus three clubs is five, so he needs three spade tricks. If he had queen-jack third of spades, he would have led a spade honor, so he has at best queen nine. That means two spade tricks, finessing against partner's jack, is the best he can do. He's down at least one.

There is no reason to hold on to my low diamond. I pitch it. Declarer plays the spade king from dummy. Partner wins with the ace and shifts to the five of diamonds. Declarer plays the eight. I win with the king and play a club to dummy's queen. Partner pitches the spade five. Declarer plays a spade from dummy and partner inserts the nine. That's a nice card to see. Declarer has only one spade trick coming. He takes the spade queen and heart jack, and I have the rest. Down two.

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

It turns out the club king play would have been necessary if declarer had the spade jack. Here is the position if we give declarer queen-jack of spades and I exit with the club jack instead of the king. The lead is in dummy:

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

Declarer leads a spade from dummy to his queen. If partner hops with the ace, declarer can take three spades, two hearts, and three clubs for eight tricks. So partner must duck. Declarer then leads the jack of spades, and partner must duck again. Declarer now switches to hearts and establishes his eighth trick there, with the club ace as an entry. Exiting with the club king instead of the jack deprives him of the entry to his long heart trick and defeats the contract.

I admit I didn't work that out at the time. It just seemed wrong on principle to leave declarer with a late entry to his hand. I can afford to leave him with a late entry to dummy, because the dummy is less of a threat. He needs to knock out more high cards to set up winners in dummy. I try to avoid playing on general principles. But sometimes you have to. Sometimes there are just too many possibilities to solve the position completely.

Down two was worth 79%. Some defenders beat this only one or even allowed declarer to make it. And some competed to three clubs and went down. 

I found this to be a very difficult deal to defend. I considered all kinds of layouts. The paragraph including the question "Can a passive defense work in that case?" would have been much longer had I included all the rabbit holes I went down. What if declarer has the diamond jack and tries to set up diamonds? What if declarer has ace-jack of spades? Does it matter whether partner has jack-ten or ten-nine of hearts?

In fact, there was no reason to ask any of those questions. The key was reaching the conclusion: "Even if partner has the diamond jack and scores it, we still have only five tricks: three diamonds and two hearts. Where is the sixth trick coming from?" Once you realize that, you realize that no passive defense can work if declarer has the spade ace, so can stop thinking about them. Had that thought occurred to me earlier, I would have saved myself a lot of time.

Incidentally, note that North's negative double worked out badly, as I would expect it to. If he passes, he goes plus. If he doubles, he goes minus. With three cards in the opponent's suit, that is frequently the case. Passing and letting partner reopen with shortness can keep you out of trouble when the hand is a misfit. Of course I don't mean you should pass all hands with three cards in the opponent's suit. This is just one factor among many in deciding whether to act after an overcall. But it is a factor I believe most players don't give enough weight.

I am still in first place, with 82%.

Weekly Free Instant Tournament - Apr 8, 2022 - Board 5

Board 5
Our side vulnerable

♠ Q 10 7  ♥ K 10 8  ♦ J 6  ♣ A Q J 8 5

Two passes to me. I open with one club and partner bids two notrump. 13 HCP, two tens, and a good five-card suit is an obvious acceptance. I bid three notrump. Everyone passes, and West leads the deuce of clubs.

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

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

That's not a helpful lead. Sometimes the robots' passive leads are welcome, such as when I don't have a stopper in their suit. But on deals like this I wish they would lead their own suit and help me out a bit. 

I have five club tricks and two aces. I need two more tricks. One heart and one spade look like the likely candidates unless I can get the opponents to break diamonds for me. It's tempting to run a bunch of clubs both to get some information and so the opponents won't have clubs for a passive exit when I duck a trick to them. But clubs is my source of communication between the two hands. It's not clear I can afford to destroy that communication. 

My best chance in hearts is to lead low to the eight, hoping to find queen nine or jack nine onside, with the possibility of finding the ace onside if that doesn't work. Fortunately, East isn't wily enough to win with the jack or queen holding queen-jack-nine. 

I play the club five from dummy. East plays the nine and I win with the ten. Now I have only one more club entry to my hand. Should I have played the eight from dummy? Too late to worry about that now. It was sloppy not even to think about it.

I play the deuce of hearts. West hops with the ace. OK. That makes eight tricks. One more to go. East plays the four, and West continues with the heart queen. I could win this, strip the opponents of clubs, then exit with a heart, forcing the opponents to break a pointed suit for me. But what do I pitch when they cash their heart? They might even have a fifth one to cash. No. That seems like a bad plan.

If I don't need my heart loser as an exit, I might as well duck this trick to get a little more information. I play the ten under the queen, and West plays the jack. West continues with the heart six, and East follows with the nine.

I suspect East has the thirteenth heart. Hopping with the ace and leading the queen would be a strange play from ace-queen fourth. 

All I need to do now is to guess the spades. Should I play West for the spade jack or the king? He probably has one or the other. If he was intent on making a passive lead, a passive spade lead (an unbid major) would have been more attractive than dummy's suit. But he is as likely to avoid leading from the jack as from the king, so the opening lead offers no useful clue.

What about the auction? West is a passed hand and has shown up with the ace-queen of hearts. If he has the diamond king, he can't have the spade king. If he doesn't have the diamond king, he's fifty-fifty to have the spade king. So the spade king rates to be with East. My best play, then, is a spade to the ten.

If the ten loses to the jack, I'm probably down, but I still have a slim chance. First, my inference that West has a spade honor must be wrong. I need East to have the spade king. I also need him to have the  king-queen of diamonds. If so, I can squeeze him. If he cashes the long heart, he corrects the count. I pitch a diamond from each hand, then win his diamond shift and cash clubs, coming down to this position:

	NORTH Phillip ♠ Q 7 ♥ -- ♦ -- ♣ 8
	SOUTH Robot ♠ A 4 ♥ -- ♦ 10 ♣ --

Dummy's last club squeezes East in spades and diamonds.

If East avoids correcting the count by not cashing the last heart, I have a strip squeeze. I cash clubs, coming down to this position:

	NORTH Phillip ♠ Q 7 ♥ -- ♦ J ♣ 8
	SOUTH Robot ♠ A 4 ♥ -- ♦ 10 7 ♣ --

Now the last club squeezes East out of his heart winner. He must come down to king doubleton of spades and a high diamond, and I can toss him in with a diamond.

Back to the current position:

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

I cash the club ace. East pitches the diamond three. Now a club to my king. East pitches the spade three. I lead the spade deuce, intending to finesse the ten if West plays low, but he rescues me by hopping with the king and returning a spade. I have all but the last trick. Making three.

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

Sometimes in a situation like this, it is tempting to berate yourself for making the wrong decision. "If West had ducked the king," you tell yourself, "I would have played the ten and gone down." Actually, you should congratulate yourself for making the right decision. If you thought playing the ten was the right choice even against a West who would duck the king, it was surely the right choice against a West who wouldn't.

I argued that East was more likely than West to have the spade king. But I didn't bother to figure out how much more likely, since I didn't care. It might be instructive to do that now.

We made two assumptions: (1) West can't have both pointed kings, and (2) if East has the spade king, West has the spade jack. That gives us four ways to distribute those three cards: West can have diamond king and the spade jack, the spade king and the spade jack, the spade king and no spade jack, or just the spade jack. The second case we can ignore, since our play doesn't matter. That leaves us with three relevant cases. Leading to the spade ten works in two of them; leading to the queen works in one.

Almost everyone who bid three notrump made it. Fortunately not everyone bid it. Quite a few players passed two notrump. That seems awfully conservative. Make the jack of diamonds the queen, and some would open with a strong notrump, so it seems strange to call this hand a minimum.

In any event, plus 600 is worth 82%. My average is also 82%, and I'm still in first place.

Weekly Free Instant Tournament - Apr 8, 2022 - Board 4

Board 4
Both sides vulnerable

♠ A K 10 4  ♥ A 9 2  ♦ A 10 2  ♣ A 10 9

LHO opens with one heart, partner passes, and RHO bids one spade. My hand is too good for a one notrump overcall. And doubling and bidding two notrump over partner's advance will get us too high if partner is broke. I could underbid with one notrump. That will work out well if partner has enough to raise. But he probably doesn't, so one notrump is likely to end the auction. Since I have a good chance of collecting 200 wherever the opponents end up, I don't want to risk playing in a partscore.

Accordingly, I pass. LHO bids one notrump. Partner passes, and RHO bids two spades. I hover the mouse over double to see how the robots play it. They say it's take-out. That's nonsense. If I had a take-out double, I would have doubled on the previous round. This should be a penalty double. If it were, I would certainly choose it. On a bad day, they might make two spades. But I probably have it beat and my own hand, and I could collect a number if partner has anything to contribute. Unfortunately, with the methods I'm saddled with, I have no option but to pass.

LHO and partner pass as well. My best choice on opening lead is to hit partner's minor to start a tap. There is no particular reason to believe partner has one minor or the other, but I have more help in clubs, so I'll try that suit. I lead the club ace.

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

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

I have three spade tricks, so unless one of my aces is ruffed, declarer is down at least one. Partner plays the club deuce and declarer plays the three. I might as well continue clubs. If declarer has three or four small clubs, we may be able to take additional club tricks after drawing dummy's trumps. I play the club ten--king--seven--eight.

What will declarer do now? If he has the heart king, he will probably play a heart from dummy. He doesn't. He leads the diamond five. Partner plays the six, and declarer plays the jack. The fact that declarer didn't play hearts, doesn't necessarily mean he doesn't have the king. But I can be pretty sure he has the diamond king. He must have at least one red king, and if the had only the heart king, he wouldn't be playing a diamond to the jack. So either he has only the diamond king or he has both red kings.

I don't see any route to taking four trump tricks. So I might as well draw dummy's trumps now. I win the diamond ace and play king, ace, and a third trump. Partner pitches the heart six on the second trump and the diamond seven on the third. Partner wouldn't be clutching his clubs if he started with six of them, so declarer must have at least one club left. Let hope it's not the jack.

Declarer play the three of diamonds from dummy--nine--king--deuce, then a diamond back to dummy's queen as partner pitches the club four. So declarer is five-four in spades and diamonds, probably 5-1-4-3.

Declarer plays the eight of hearts from dummy. Partner hops with the jack and declarer follows with the four. Partner cashes the club jack, and declarer follows with the nine. Declarer has two trumps and a good diamond left. I can take my high trump, but declarer has two tricks coming to him. Down two.

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

Plus 200 is worth 75%. While you can make a game, no one managed to bid it. As I predicted, if you overcall with one notrump, you play it there. What I didn't predict is that I didn't necessarily do better defending. I beat most of the one-notrump declarers, but some of them scored 210. Of course, had I been able to double two spades for penalties, as I should be, I would have beat those declarers as well. 

Several good players I discussed this board with didn't even consider passing over one spade, which I find surprising. When the opponents are in a forcing auction and have just bid my best suit, passing is the first option that comes to mind. Even without the ability to double two spades, I think it is far and away the percentage action with this hand.

I'm still in first place, with 82%.