Free Weekly Instant Tournament - October 20 - Board 3

Board 3
Opponents vulnerable

I never know what to answer when people ask me if I open light.

Once, I opened a hand where my counterpart at the other table passed, then responded one diamond, negative, to his partner's strong club opening.

On another occasion, playing against Betty Ann Kennedy and Carol Sanders, the auction proceeded one-club (natural)--pass--pass to me. I passed, and, when Carol laid down the dummy, my partner commented that I would have opened one spade with that hand. (For the record, four spades was cold, and we defeated one club.)

One might consider those openings light. Still, if I tell my opponents I open light, then pass with this hand:

♠ K 5  ♥ A Q 5 4 2  ♦ J 6  ♣ J 9 5 2

I suspect they will feel they had been lied to. But flat hands with scattered high cards and little playing strength aren't the ones that tempt me. This isn't a light opening in my view; it's a sub-par opening.

I know most of the field will see 11 HCP and open one heart, especially in a robot tournament, where players are loathe to risk a pass-out. But I have my standards. I pass.

LHO opens with two spades, weak, and partner bids three diamonds.

Normally I would bid three hearts or three notrump. Three hearts is probably better opposite a reliable partner, who will punt with three spades if he can't raise hearts. Three notrump may be a more practical choice with a robot. But these aren't normal circumstances. This is a "best-hand' tournament, which means partner is limited to 11 HCP. Under those conditions, it's unlikely any game is good, so I pass, and we buy it in three diamonds.

RHO leads the ten of spades.

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

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

I'm not sure if I'm happy with this development or not. Since most will open my hand, the field will be in four hearts. It's not clear whether that will make.

I play a low spade from dummy, East wins with the queen, and I drop the six. East continues with the ace of spades. I play the three, and West pitches the three of hearts. West wouldn't be pitching from four hearts, so that means hearts are breaking, which is disappointing. The robots almost invariably pitch count cards, so West probably has three hearts. 1-3-4-5 is his likeliest shape. If that's what he has, I must lose two diamonds and a club for down one. To make, I need for diamonds to be three-three, giving West 1-3-3-6.

East cashes the club ace. That's an awfully good hand for a weak two-bid. Ace-queen sixth and an ace? That's the kind of "light" opening I like. I would have opened one spade, not two. In any event, West must have all the remaining high cards.

East continues with the four of clubs. I ruff, and West follows with the seven.

If trumps are three-three, I can play three rounds of trumps and claim. If diamonds don't break, however, West will draw my trumps and cash his clubs for down four. That doesn't rate to be a good result.

Should I go all out to make it? I'm not competing with anyone who makes four hearts. The only tables I care about are those going down. If hold three diamonds to down one, I'll tie them. If I try to make three diamonds, I'll gain half a matchpoint against those pairs if I succeed and lose half a matchpoint if I don't. So it's a 50-50 proposition. I should try to make this only if I think I have at least a 50% shot. West is a priori more likely to be 1-3-4-5 than to be 1-3-3-6. And nothing that has happened to change those odds. So my percentage play is to cash my top trumps and run winners, conceding two trump tricks.

I do need to a ruff my spade loser spade first, though. I lead the spade eight. West pitches the nine of hearts, and I ruff in dummy. I cash the ace and king of diamonds. East plays seven-five; West plays deuce-eight. I can still try to make this by playing another diamond, but I see no reason to change my mind. I run winners, conceding down one.

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

Minus 50 is worth 75%. As expected, most of the field was in four hearts. No one made it, and some managed to go down more than one.