Free Weekly Instant Tournament - November 14 - Board 1

Board 1
Neither side vulnerable

I hope you played in last week's Free Weekly Instant Tournament on BBO. If so, you can compare with either Alex or me in the following weeks. Surprisingly, Alex did exactly the same thing as I did on every board:

♠ A 7  ♥ K 6 5 4  ♦ A K 10 8  ♣ A 7 3

Two passes to me. I have 18 HCP and a balanced hand, so I open one diamond, intending to rebid two notrump.

LHO overcalls with one heart, and partner raises to two diamonds. I bid two notrump as planned, and everyone passes. LHO leads the jack of hearts.

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

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

Some pairs will be in game. In fact, we would be in game if I held partner's hand. There's nothing I can do about the pairs who are in game and make it. But I want to make sure to beat anyone who go down. So my first job is to find eight tricks. Once I've ensured going plus, then I'll worry about beating the other pairs in two notrump.

I have six tricks off the top. I can establish a seventh in diamonds. If either minor-suit queen is onside, I have an eighth. West did overcall, however, so he has a better hand than East. Could it be right to try to drop a doubleton queen of diamonds in his hand?

If West has the club queen, I don't need to pick up diamonds, so let's assume East has it. Let's also assume West has at most two diamonds, else my diamond play won't matter. In that case, West probably has the spade king for his overcall.

♠ K x x  ♥ A J 10 x x  ♦ x x  ♣ x x x

and

♠ K x x  ♥ A J 10 x x  ♦ Q x  ♣ x x x

both look like fine overcalls to me. Since East has three diamonds to West's two, he is more apt to have the queen. So the first hand is more likely. 

Might West also overcall with

♠ J x x  ♥ A J 10 x x  ♦ Q x  ♣ x x x ?

The tooltip says the overcall shows 8+ HCP, but a doubleton queen in opener's suit isn't worth 2 HCP in my book. Still, robots aren't big on evaluation, so he might overcall. If so, that makes playing for the drop a bit more attractive. But once you consider the possibility that West might have a stiff diamond, the odds shift way in the other direction. It's clearly right to finesse.

I play the seven of hearts from dummy. (Always stay flexible with your spots.) East plays the queen. In some scenarios, it would be right to duck, so they can't set up their heart tricks easily. But here I don't want East switching to a spade, so I can't afford to duck. Besides, I might never score my heart king if I do. So I win with the king.

I cash the diamond king. West plays the nine; East, the three. I play the seven of clubs. (My closest spot to middle.) West plays the nine. I play the jack from dummy, and East follows with the deuce.

I've made my contract. Now it's about overtricks. I lead the diamond jack from dummy--five--eight--six. If West has the spade king, he's going to feel some pressure when I cash diamonds. I play a diamond to my hand. West pitches the four of spades. On the last diamond, he pitches the three of hearts. Yes. He's feeling pressure.

East pitches the three of spades. I still haven't seen the spade deuce. One of the opponents is probably pitching bloodless count. Either West has Kx42 or East has Jxxx32.

I've never understood bloodless count. If you don't want to give count, then don't. If you do, play your loudest card. What's the point of playing a card partner can't read?

I cash the club ace. West drops the queen; East plays the six. When I lead a club to dummy's king, both opponents follow. This is the current position. West is apparently down to two spades and three hearts:

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

I cash the last club. East plays the spade deuce. (There it is.) I pitch a small heart, and West pitches the heart ace, coming down to two spades and two hearts. Not his best move. I toss him in with a heart and he has to lead from his king of spades at the end. Making five.

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

Plus 210 is worth 93%. One pair bid three notrump and made it. Everyone else was in a partscore.

West's pitching down to two spades and two hearts was a mistake. I had a complete count, so the only way he could gain was if I had ace-ten of spades and played him for the spade jack at the end.

What he should do is pitch two spades immediately, then a heart--preferably the nine. Now I have three chances to go wrong. With ace-jack, I might finesse. With ace-ten, I might lead the queen from dummy, trying to pin the jack. I should guess right, of course, since the spade king gives East a weak two-bid. But at least coming down to a stiff king gives me the opportunity to make a mistake.

What about the third chance to go wrong? I might miscount. Sometimes declarer is careless and doesn't pay full attention to the early discards. A heart discard at the end is less suspicious--especially if it's the nine, since it looks as if you have ace-ten left. A spade discard screams that you're coming down to a singleton.