Free Weekly Instant Tournament - November 14 - Board 5

Board 5
Our side vulnerable

Hope fills in for Alex this week in Gargoyle's YouTube channel.

♠ A K 10 2  ♥ A 5  ♦ K 9 4 3  ♣ 8 7 3

Two passes to me. I have only 14 HCP, but I have three and a half honor tricks and good spots. It looks more like a strong notrump than a weak notrump to me, so I bid one notrump. Some would say I "upgraded" to a strong notrump. I don't care for that term. As far as I'm concerned, this is a strong notrump. It doesn't need an upgrade.

Partner bids two clubs, Stayman. I show my four-card spade suit, and partner bids three notrump. Everyone passes, and West leads the five of diamonds.

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

West	North	East	South
Robot	Robot	Robot	Phillip
	Pass	Pass	1 NT
Pass	2 ♣	Pass	2 ♠
Pass	3 NT	(All pass)

This lead has very likely given me four diamond tricks. My ace-king-ace brings me up the seven. If the club ace is onside, I can take two club tricks for nine. If I play a club to the king and it loses, I can still try a double finesse in spades for my ninth trick. 

I play a low diamond from dummy. East plays the ten, I win with the king. I need the diamond queen onside to take four diamond tricks. But the diamond finesse can wait. I lead the seven of clubs.

It would be an error to lead the three. If I do and if the hand opposite the deuce plays his lowest card, then his partner knows it's his lowest. If I conceal the three, he can't tell.

West plays the deuce of clubs. I play the queen from dummy, and East plays the six.

East could be ducking the queen, so I can't be sure the ace is onside. But I can't afford to try the double spade finesse. If it loses, the defense can shift to hearts and I'm down.

I play a spade from dummy--nine--king--five. Should I try another club right away or take the diamond finesse? If I take the diamond finesse, I'll have to return to my hand to lead a club to the king, which will leave me wide open in whichever major I play. That could prove embarrassing.

Imagine, for example, that I lead the diamond nine. West covers, and I win in dummy, reaching this position:

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

I return to my hand with the spade ace to play another club. If East ducked with ace-jack fifth, the defense can rattle off four club tricks and two spades for down two. If I lead a club toward the king first, I'm still down one, since I don't have a ninth trick. But at least I don't go down more than necessary.

I play the eight of clubs. West hops with the ace, and East follows with the four. Now all I need is the diamond finesse. Unless West led from a singleton or from specifically seven-six-five, the finesse should work.

West shifts to the seven of hearts, and I capture East's king with my ace. I lead the nine of diamonds and pass it. It holds. Making three.

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

Plus 600 is worth 96%.

I was the only one who opened one notrump. At the other tables the auction went

North	South
Pass	1 ♦
1 ♥	1 ♠
3 ♦	?

Now what? Most of the field passed and went plus 110 or 130. Four players bid three notrump despite their lack of a club stopper. Each one of them then found a different way to go down. Perhaps they were feeling guilty.

Personally I don't care for North's three-diamond bid. This hand looks more like notrump than diamonds, so I would rebid one notrump, which would end the auction. The defense will probably start with a club to three ace. Now making three is easy. You get 93% for plus 150, so reaching game was an unnecessary risk.

Free Weekly Instant Tournament - November 14 - Board 4

Board 4
Both sides vulnerable

You can also watch Alex play this deal on the Gargoyle Chronicles YouTube channel:

♠ A 10 7 4 3  ♥ K 2  ♦ Q 8  ♣ Q 10 5 4

Three passes to me. I open one spade. Partner raises to two spades, and the opponents let me play it. West leads the seven of clubs.

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

West	North	East	South
Robot	Robot	Robot	Phillip
Pass	Pass	Pass	1 ♠
Pass	2 ♠	(All pass)

There are 20 HCP missing. Since both opponents are passed hands, they must be distributed 10-10 or 9-11. If either opponent had a stiff spade, he would have made a take-out double of spades, so spades are almost surely splitting.

What losers to I have? One club, two diamonds, and one or two spades. Although I do have to do something about the fourth round of clubs.

I play low from dummy, East plays the jack. So the lead is either from a doubleton or from specifically nine-eight-seven. Either way, I can ruff a club in dummy without being overruffed. I win with the queen and return the four of clubs. West plays the six, so the lead was from a doubleton.

East captures dummy's king with the ace and shifts to the king of diamonds. From ace-king? No. That would give him 12 HCP. He must have king doubleton. I play low; West plays the deuce. East continues with the six of diamonds to my queen and West's ace.

West returns the five of diamonds. East ruffs dummy's nine with the deuce of spades and I overruff with the three. I was intending to ruff a club in dummy. But that might not be such a good idea now. I can always make two by ruffing a club. But I have a chance to make three if I pick up spades for one loser. If I play a club and West ruffs in with an honor, I won't know how to do that.

If this is the layout after West ruffs in:

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

I need to cash the spade ace.

If this is the layout:

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

I need to finesse against East's king.

Maybe there's a way I can avoid guessing. If I'm right that no one started with a stiff spade, then spades are now either 2-2 or 3-1. That means I can pick up spades for one loser whenever possible by playing ace and another. If spades are 2-2, I can then ruff my club in dummy to make an overtrick. But if they're 3-1, West will draw dummy's last trump to stop the ruff.

But perhaps I don't need to ruff the club. Both opponents are passed hands. When I find out where the spade honors are, will I know who has the heart queen?  If East has the queen of spades, he has 10 HCP, so he can't have the heart queen. I can finesse against West for a pitch. If West has both spade honors, then he has 10 HCP, so the heart queen must be with East. I don't have the communication to finesse him for it. But he has the club guard, so I can squeeze him in hearts and clubs.

Sounds good. I play ace and a spade. West cashes the king and queen of spades while East pitches a club and a heart. We are down to this position:

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

If West exits with a diamond, East is squeezed immediately. If West exits with a heart, I can win with my king and cash the last trump to squeeze East. 

West chooses to exit with a heart. Unfortunately, East plays the queen, spoiling all my fun. The robots are such killjoys. Making two.

The full deal:

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

A few declarers went down, so plus 110 is worth 71%. I see that one declarer played exactly as I did except that, when West exited with a heart at the end, East didn't play the queen. Declarer won with the king in his hand and took a heart finesse to go down. 

Strange. Should I be flattered? The robots know I'll find the squeeze, so, against me, they give up? But against this declarer they say, "I know this guy. He can't count to ten. No way I'm going to make it easy for him"? 

Free Weekly Instant Tournament - November 14 - Board 3

Board 3
Opponents vulnerable

If you prefer, you can watch Alex untangle herself on this board on Gargoyle Chronicle's YouTube channel:

♠ A Q  ♥ K J 9 5 3  ♦ A Q 4  ♣ 9 5 3

With five hearts, a balanced hand, and 15 or 16 HCP, you pretty much have to open one notrump. If you open one heart, you have no rebid after a one-spade response. I have 16 HCP, so I open one notrump and buy it. LHO leads the four of spades.

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

West	North	East	South
Robot	Robot	Robot	Phillip
			1 NT
(All pass)

I play low from dummy. East plays the king, and I win with the ace.

After the opponents knock out the spade queen, hearts will be the only entry to dummy's diamonds and diamonds will be the only entry to my hearts. When each of your suits is the entry to the other one, untangling yourself can be tricky.

Obviously I'm going to play a heart to the ace and start diamonds. Should I lead the jack or should I lead low to the queen? 

Leading the jack allows me to repeat the finesse if it works. If East has king doubleton or king third, I can then take five diamonds, five hearts (probably), and two spades--twelve tricks in all.

If I lead low to the queen and it holds, I can return to dummy to repeat the finesse. If East has king doubleton, this line yields the same five diamond tricks as leading the jack. But if East has king third, I have no way to return to dummy after the second finesse wins. I'll take three diamond tricks instead of five. So if the king is on my right, I prefer to lead the jack. 

What if West has the diamond king? If I lead the jack and the finesse loses, I’ve just blocked both red suits. I can’t run both of them—even if they don’t cash their club tricks. So low to the queen, keeping a small diamond in hand, looks tempting. That line works nicely if West takes his king and doesn’t find the club switch. I take four diamonds, five hearts, and two spades--eleven tricks. But is that defense likely? 

I'm marked with ace-queen of spades, the heart king, and the diamond queen. West can be pretty sure I have the diamond ace as well, else I would attack diamonds from my hand. That makes 15 HCP. I could have the club queen, but that requires me to have a maximum without the heart jack. And if West is looking at the club queen himself, he knows for sure I'm wide open in clubs. So I think he is quite likely to find the club switch.

And even if he doesn't, he can still give me problems. If he doesn't intend to switch to clubs, why win the diamond king at all? He can just duck and make me use my heart entry to repeat the finesse. Now the diamond suit is dead. Ducking with king third or fourth isn't hard. A wily defender might duck even with king doubleton. 

In short, if West has the diamond king, low to the queen might work. But West has two ways to counter. He can win and cash clubs, or he can duck. Unless he does neither, low to the queen doesn't do any better than leading the jack. And, since leading the jack is clearly better if East has the king, that's the play I'm going with.

I play the five of hearts--deuce--ace--four. Both opponents played low, but, since I concealed the three, West doesn't know that. If West could count on his partner to signal loudly, my leading the five wouldn't matter. But if the opponents insist on playing bloodless count, it would be remiss of me not to take advantage. (Yes, I know. The BBO robots don't give count at all when following suit--bloodless or otherwise. But it's good to stay in the habit of playing your spots correctly.) 

I lead the diamond jack--nine--four--king. This is the position, with West on lead:

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

West continues with the ten of hearts to dummy's queen, killing the entry while the diamonds are blocked. Perhaps leading the jack gained after all? Maybe blocking the diamonds tempted him to "punish" me and kept him off the club play.

I cash my diamonds. East discards the eight of clubs and the three of spades. 

Both opponents follow to the king of hearts. So West was three-four in the red suits and started with six black cards. He led the spade four, and the deuce is still out, so he might have started with five spades. If so, he's 5-3-4-1, which gives East six clubs. No. East would have balanced with six clubs. So I'm betting East is 4-3-4-2. 3-3-4-3 is also possible. The robots do like to lead three-card suits against notrump.

On the fourth heart, West pitches the seven of spade; East, the deuce. There's the deuce. West didn't start with five spades.

On the last heart, West pitches his diamond; East pitches the deuce of clubs. The BBO robots do give count when discarding, so East's eight-deuce suggests he started with four clubs. That means West is 3-3-3-4-3, and this is the current position:

	NORTH Robot ♠ 10 8 ♥ -- ♦ 10 ♣ J
WEST Robot ♠ x ♥ -- ♦ -- ♣ ? ? ?		EAST Robot ♠ x x ♥ -- ♦ -- ♣ ? ?
	SOUTH Phillip ♠ Q ♥ -- ♦ -- ♣ 9 5 3

It can't hurt to exit with a club. I can't imagine how the opponents could mess this ending up, but I'll leave it to them to find a way. 

I exit with the three of clubs. West ducks this to his partner's king. East returns a club to his partner's ace and queen, and I score the spade queen at the end.

 Making three.

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

West can take one more trick by switching to a club. And he knows his partner has the king. So why didn't he find it? Perhaps he thought this was the layout:

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

If so, then a heart return holds me to eight tricks while cashing clubs lets me take nine.

But opposite a reliable partner, that layout isn't possible. This is a good example of why East must play the eight, not the four, to give count. And of why, on the actual deal, I must lead the five of hearts to dummy to take advantage if he doesn't.

Plus 150 should be a decent score. Those who lead a low diamond to the queen will tie my result if West ducks and will lose to it if he wins and cashes clubs.

And those who open one heart should play in two hearts after the auction

North	South
	1 ♥
1 NT	2 ♣
2 ♥	Pass

After a spade lead, they may draw two rounds of trump, take a diamond finesse, and run into a ruff to score 110. Even if they avoid the ruff, they score only 140. So plus 150 should tie or beat the other tables.

But the field produced a variety of bizarre results. The scores ranged from plus 430 to minus 200. Plus 150 is worth 57%.