The Gargoyle Chronicles: Free Weekly Instant Tournament - May 10

Sunday, June 23, 2024

Free Weekly Instant Tournament - May 10 - Board 6

Board 6
Opponents vulnerable

♠ A Q 8 ♥ A 4 ♦ A K 8 5 3 ♣ K 6 2

I open with two notrump (20-21 HCP) in second seat. Partner raises to three. Everyone passes, and LHO leads the four of diamonds.

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

	SOUTH Phillip ♠ A Q 8 ♥ A 4 ♦ A K 8 5 3 ♣ K 6 2

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

I have nine top tricks. The best place to try for more is in the club suit. If clubs break and RHO has the queen or jack, I can float the ten of clubs, then reach dummy and finesse again to set up the suit. I lose only two club tricks and make five.

The problem with this line is the West may shift to a heart when he wins the club. Now what? I doubt my robot opponent will shift from the king (though a crafty human might). So if he does shift, my best shot is to play low, hoping East has KJx or K10x or chooses to play the jack from KJ8. If I don't get lucky in the heart suit, I still have the chance that East has the club ace and West can't get in to continue hearts. I make four if any of these chances pans out; I might go down if they don't.

Alternatively, I could just play a club to the king. If the ace is onside, I make four, and I don't risk going down. Which play is better?

If the club ace is on my right, floating the ten makes four if West shifts to a heart and five if he doesn't (unless West has a stiff queen or jack). So it always works at least as well as a club to the king and sometimes works better.

If the club king is on my left, a club to the king might work better. But it requires a parlay: West would need to find a heart shift, and the lie of the heart suit would have to be unfavorable. It's weird that a club to the king is the better play only when it loses, isn't it?

All in all, I would have to be quite unlucky to regret floating the club ten, so that's that line I'll choose.

The four is the lowest outstanding diamond, so West can't have all five of them. It's safe to play the queen from dummy. I do so, as East follows with the seven. Now ten of clubs--four--deuce--ace. Well! That was a success. I'm making at least four now.

West continues with the ten of diamonds. I win with dummy's jack, and East discards the spade six. The robots discard count cards, so it appears East has an even number of spades.

If clubs split, I'm making five. I lead the club nine, and East covers with the jack. I take the king, and West discards the eight of heart, presumably from an even number.

This is the current position:

	NORTH Robot ♠ K 10 ♥ Q 9 7 ♦ 2 ♣ 8 5 3

	SOUTH Phillip ♠ A Q 8 ♥ A 4 ♦ A K 8 ♣ 6

East has queen-seven of clubs over dummy's eight, so the club suit is dead. My only chance for a second overtrick now is to score the heart queen.

What is the layout? I know East has an even number of spades and West has an even number of hearts. East could be 4-4-1-4, making West 4-4-4-1. But would West discard from a four-card heart suit when he had a safe diamond pitch? He might if he had the king. If he doesn't have the king, then he probably has six hearts. That would make East 6-2-1-4 and West 2-6-4-1. In normal circumstances, I would consider the latter construction unlikely, since West didn't lead a heart. But robots don't believe in fourth from longest and strongest, so I can't rule it out.

So what's next? I have two ways to score the heart queen:

(1) If West has the heart king, I can simply lead a low heart toward the queen.

(2) If East has the heart king, I can cash my winners, coming down to this position:

	NORTH Robot ♠ -- ♥ Q 9 ♦ -- ♣ 8

	SOUTH Phillip ♠ -- ♥ A 4 ♦ -- ♣ 6

East must either stiff the heart king or come down to two hearts and the queen of clubs. In the latter case, I toss him in.

In essence, I have a two-way finesse against the king of hearts. Unfortunately, I must make up my mind now. If I run diamonds to get more information, I can no longer lead toward the heart queen without cashing the ace first. If I do, West can hop and lead a spade, tangling my communication.

So who is more likely to have the heart king? I already decided that if West is 4-4-4-1, he probably has it, else he would have pitched a diamond. And if he's 2-6-4-1, he is six-to-two to have it a priori. So a heart toward the queen is clearly the percentage play. Too bad. Endplays are more fun than finesses. But that's the way it is.

I lead the four of hearts--deuce--queen--king. Making four.

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

Plus 430 is worth 79%. I would have scored 100% had I gone for the endplay, but it's a clear error to do so. The heart king is three to one to be on my left on the actual layout, and would be close to 100% if hearts were four-four.

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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, June 23, 2024

Free Weekly Instant Tournament - May 10 - Board 6

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