Board 6
Opponents vulnerable
| ♠ Q J ♥ J 5 2 ♦ A Q 10 5 4 3 ♣ A 3 |
Pass on my right. I'm sure some will open with one notrump, letting the six-card suit compensate for the missing high-card point. I'm not averse to opening one notrump with a six-card minor. But this hand doesn't look good enough to me. A strong notrump typically has three and a half to four honor tricks. This hand has a little better than two and half.
I open with one diamond. LHO overcalls with one heart, partner makes a negative double, and RHO raises to two hearts. It's a flaw in the robots' methods that I can't bid with this hand. But I can't. Partner would expect a much better hand for three diamonds, and two notrump is natural. I pass perforce. LHO also passes, and partner reopens with a double.
I think this double should be "take-out" of opener's suit, in other words, promising at least three hearts, at least three clubs, and no more than two diamonds. With that understanding, I would pass. But the robots play this double as virtually meaningless. It says nothing other than that partner doesn't want to sell out. I don't see how that's playable. You need some agreement as to responder's possible shapes to be able to make an intelligent decision. But my robot partner refuses to listen to my suggestions. So I guess to pull to three diamonds.
Everyone passes, and West leads the king of hearts.
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NORTH
Robot
♠ 7 6 5 2♥ A 8 6 ♦ K 8 6 ♣ J 6 2 |
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♥ K
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SOUTH
Phillip
♠ Q J♥ J 5 2 ♦ A Q 10 5 4 3 ♣ A 3 |
| West | North | East | South |
| Robot | Robot | Robot | Phillip |
| Pass | 1 ♦ | ||
| 1 ♥ | Double | 2 ♥ | Pass |
| Pass | Double | Pass | 3 ♦ |
| (All pass) |
West overcalled in a four-card heart suit? That suggests he doesn't have the right shape for a take-out double. He probably has a doubleton spade. Most likely 2-4-3-4. This is going to be a surprise to East. East will think I have a doubleton heart and will miscount my hand. Perhaps I can make use of that at some point.
I duck in dummy. East plays the four, and I "encourage" with the five.
West doesn't fall for it. He shifts to the ten of clubs. I don't want East on play for a heart through, so I duck in dummy, and, when East plays the seven, I duck in my hand as well.
West continues with the nine of clubs. I play low. This time East contributes the king and I take my ace.
Why did East play the club king? It's easy to gloss over such matters. But any time an opponent does something unexpected, it's worth pausing to figure out why. If you can, it may reveal the whole layout to you.
One possibility is he has king-queen and is giving suit preference for spades. At least that would be a possibility if East were human. But the robots don't play suit preference, so that can't be it. Perhaps he has king small and doesn't want to win the third round of clubs. He is unblocking, so his partner can win the queen. That means he started with three clubs, making West 2-4-2-5 instead of 2-4-3-4. East, however, will be assuming his partner is 2-5-2-4.
It also means West has the only club guard, and I have the matrix for a club-heart squeeze against him. If I can come down to a position like this with the lead in my hand:
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NORTH
Robot
♠ --♥ A 8 ♦ -- ♣ J |
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SOUTH
Phillip
♠ --♥ J 2 ♦ 3 ♣ -- |
then I have him. But I don't see how I'm going to reach that position. East can destroy the matrix with a heart shift, and either opponent can force to me to ruff the club jack.
I cash the queen of diamonds--deuce--six--nine. Now the ace of diamonds. West plays the jack. The king and eight are now equals. I might as well unblock to keep maximum flexibility. I play the king; East plays the seven.
Diamonds were two-two, so it appears I'm right that West is 2-4-2-5. Is there any way to make this? Here is the current position with the lead in my hand:
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NORTH
Robot
♠ 7 6 5 2♥ A 8 ♦ 8 ♣ J |
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SOUTH
Phillip
♠ Q J♥ J 2 ♦ 10 5 4 3 ♣ -- |
Suppose I exit with a spade and the defense, fast asleep, cashes two spades and plays a third one. Now the squeeze is intact. That would be a poor defense, but it looks like my only chance.
I lead the queen of spades--nine--deuce--king. East shifts to the eight of clubs. Well, that kills the squeeze. But if West's last spade is the ace, I can now endplay him. I ruff and lead the jack of spades. West takes the ace and exits with the queen of hearts. Making three.
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NORTH
Robot
♠ 7 6 5 2♥ A 8 6 ♦ K 8 6 ♣ J 6 2 |
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WEST
Robot
♠ A 9♥ K Q 10 3 ♦ J 2 ♣ Q 10 9 5 4 |
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EAST
Robot
♠ K 10 8 4 3♥ 9 7 4 ♦ 9 7 ♣ K 8 7 |
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SOUTH
Phillip
♠ Q J♥ J 5 2 ♦ A Q 10 5 4 3 ♣ A 3 |
I wasn't even thinking about an endplay. It just fell into my lap on the way to the squeeze. East wasn't thinking about it either. Stripping partner of his exit card was not the right idea. But East presumably still thought his partner had five hearts and that his play didn't matter. It's hard--for both humans and robots--to back off an assumption you've made earlier. But sometimes you need to. When you think your play doesn't matter is precisely when you need to pause and revisit your assumptions.
Plus 110 is worth 100%. I was the only one to go plus. I suppose opening one notrump would have worked also. If I open one notrump, I would probably play it there. I have eight top tricks, so that's an easier way to go plus. But this way was more fun.
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