Free Weekly Instant Tournament - July 5 - Board 1

Board 1
Neither side vulnerable

♠ 9  ♥ A 5 4  ♦ A J 10 7  ♣ A K 8 6 4

Partner passes. RHO opens with one notrump, showing 15-17 HCP. I have enough strength to double, but doubling is unattractive with a stiff spade. Partner will expect a balanced hand and will not hesitate to bid a five-card spade suit, either pulling the double if he is weak or competing if the opponents run.

You might risk doubling with a stiff spade if you have a self-sufficient suit to correct to. But encouraging partner to bid your singleton with a "5431" is not a good idea, especially when you have perfectly fine way to handle this hand: Pass, intending to double for takeout if the opponents bid spades. If the opponents don't bid spades, there is a good chance the hand is a misfit and you don't want to be in the auction anyway. 

If you play Astro, then this sequence has the additional advantage that partner will expect you to be 1-3-4-5 or 1-3-5-4, since with a 1-4-x-y pattern, you would have bid two clubs on the first round. (The robots don't play Astro. And it's probably just as well. It's too sophisticated for them.)

I pass. LHO transfers but not to the suit I was expecting. He bids two diamonds, and RHO bids two hearts. It's now highly likely partner has a spade suit, which means our hands are better suited for defense than for offense. I pass again, and two hearts ends the auction.

Some say you should never have an ace-king and fail to lead it. But I see no reason to lead a high club with this hand. I have control of all suits, so the club tricks aren't going anywhere. And if dummy has a stiff club, a club lead may kill my only entry to partner's hand for a spade ruff. So I lead my stiff spade.

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

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

Dummy and I have 22 HCP. Declarer's 15 means partner has at most three. If partner has either the heart king or the diamond king, we can take five top tricks and a spade ruff to beat this.

Declarer plays the jack of spades from dummy. Partner plays the three; declarer, the six. I'm glad partner didn't have the spade queen. That means it's still possible he has a red king. If he doesn't, he might have the club queen. In that case, we can't beat it, but I can underlead to his queen and get a spade ruff to stop the overtrick.

Declarer leads the six of hearts from dummy--seven--eight. Is declarer finessing against the heart jack with king-eight doubleton? That would be weird. The normal way to play that suit is to play low to the king, then finesse the other way. There is no reason to lose a first-round finesse to a stiff jack.

If declarer has king-jack-eight, I could duck and hope to see an informative card from partner when I hop with the ace on the next round. But I would be crashing partner's king if declarer has only jack-eight. I can't take that risk. I have to win the ace now.

My robot partner isn't much for signaling. But I suspect he's up to dropping the club queen under the king if he has queen-jack. I cash the king of clubs--three--five--deuce. So no queen-jack of clubs. We've reached this position with me on lead:

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

Partner can have the club queen or either red king. I don't see how it's possible to cater to all three possibilities. But maybe I can cater to two of them. I can try to reach partner with the diamond king and wait for him to get in with the heart king if that doesn't work.

How do I do that exactly? Suppose I lead ace and a diamond. No, that doesn't work. If declarer has king-queen of diamonds, I'll lose my club ace.

How about ace of clubs, then ace and a diamond? No, that doesn't work either. If declarer has, for example,

♠ A Q x x  ♥ J 8  ♦ K Q x x  ♣ Q J x

he can pitch both of dummy's spades and stop the ruff.

I think I have to underlead the ace of diamonds. That way partner gets in in time to give me my ruff no matter which red king he has. The problem with underleading is that if partner has neither red king, I may lose the diamond ace. Declarer can draw trump and pitch dummy's diamond on his fourth spade.

Nonetheless, I think it's worth the risk. Some people will bid with my hand, so this may not be a normal contract. Going plus is probably more important than holding the overtrick.

Is there any reason not to cash the club ace before I underlead? Not that I can see. Declarer can't pitch both of dummy's spades away on clubs. Even if he has queen-jack fourth of clubs, partner will be ruffing the first club with his heart king.

I cash the club ace--ten--jack--seven. The club jack? Partner is limited to three HCP, so he can't have the diamond king any more. Good thing I cashed the club ace. Now I know not to underlead. I play ace and another diamond. Making three.

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

Minus 140 is worth 36%. Those who acted with my hand did better. Some overcalled one notrump with two notrump, presumably showing five-five or better in the minors. I don't like that bid at all. You have too much defense to distort your pattern and risk going minus in a silly contract. The time to make a flaky bid is when you have a bad hand, not a good hand.

Others doubled and pulled partner's two-spade bid to three clubs. Partner conveniently had a second suit and conveniently chose to bid it (which is hardly clear, since West could, and probably should, have six or seven clubs for this auction). Three diamonds typically made five.

I think the doublers lucked out. Passing and hoping to double two spades offers your best chance to get to the right spot.