The Gargoyle Chronicles: Free Weekly Instant Tournament - February 6

Thursday, February 19, 2026

Free Weekly Instant Tournament - February 6 - Board 1

Board 1
Neither side vulnerable

We're taking a break from Jaz's Mixed Team match to try an experiment in the Gargoyle Chronicles YouTube channel. Alex is streaming the play straight from BBO, pausing here and there to break things down. So you see it unfold in real time and then hop into analysis mode when it matters.

You can watch the video here. If you watch, let me know if you like the new format. I think it might make the distinction clearer between what actually happened at the table and the hypothetical lines I'm considering as I play.

No way to stream here. So we'll just continue as usual.

♠ Q 9 6 5 ♥ A Q 8 ♦ A K 8 3 ♣ A 5

Two passes to me. I open one diamond, planning to rebid two-notrump.

Partner bids one spade. So I forget about two notrump and raise to four spades instead. Everyone passes.

	NORTH Phillip ♠ Q 9 6 5 ♥ A Q 8 ♦ A K 8 3 ♣ A 5

	SOUTH Robot ♠ A 8 7 3 ♥ J 7 3 ♦ 7 6 ♣ K Q J 4

West	North	East	South
Robot	Phillip	Robot	Robot
			Pass
Pass	1 ♦	Pass	1 ♠
Pass	4 ♠	(All pass)

The opening lead is the four of diamonds. I win in dummy with the ace. East plays the five. The deuce of diamonds is missing, so I can't tell if the lead is from length or from shortness.

If I ruff two diamonds in my hand, I can pitch both of dummy's hearts on my clubs and avoid a heart finesse. Then I lose only whatever trump tricks I have to. Since West might be overruffing, ruffing two diamonds could be tough to pull off. Alternatively, I can ruff only one diamond, pitch a diamond and a heart on clubs, then take a heart finesse. So Plan A is two ruffs, no finesse; Plan B is one ruff plus a finesse.

How do I tackle trumps? If I play ace and another, the defenders might be able to draw a third round and stop a second diamond ruff. And if East has four trumps to the king, they might even draw all my trumps and stop any ruffs at all. So it looks best to keep the spade ace in reserve--to keep control and flexibility.

So club to my king--three from East; deuce from West--and a trump. West rises with the king; East follows with the four. West continues with the deuce of diamonds, and East plays the queen. So West's original length is either two or five. From jack-ten-nine fifth he would lead the jack, so I'm assuming it's a doubleton.

Here is the current position:

	NORTH Phillip ♠ Q 9 6 ♥ A Q 8 ♦ 8 3 ♣ A

	SOUTH Robot ♠ A 8 7 ♥ J 7 3 ♦ -- ♣ Q J 4

At this point, ruffing two diamonds won't work, since West is overruffing. But if trumps are three-two, Plan B is still on: draw trumps, ruff one diamond, take two pitches, then try the heart finesse. That's either making either six or five, depending on the finesse.

The potential problem is four-one trumps. If someone has four, it's probably West, since he's short in diamonds. I want to keep the spade ace as an entry to my hand. So the right play is to cash the queen first. If East shows out, I can cash the club ace, play a spade to my ace, then cash clubs, pitching a diamond and a heart, coming down to this:

	NORTH Phillip ♠ 9 ♥ A Q ♦ 8 ♣ --

	SOUTH Robot ♠ 8 ♥ J 7 3 ♦ -- ♣ --

Now a heart finesse doesn't hurt. If it loses, East can't do any damage. I'll still ruff a diamond in hand and lose to the last trump. That's making five if the heart finesse works and four if it doesn't.

It's important to cash the spade queen first. If I lead a spade to the ace and East shows out, I've mangled my entries. If I cash the spade queen and club ace and ruff a diamond to my hand, West overruffs and plays a heart:

	NORTH Phillip ♠ 9 ♥ A Q 8 ♦ 8 ♣ --
	♥ 9
	SOUTH Robot ♠ -- ♥ J 7 3 ♦ -- ♣ Q J

Now if the heart finesse loses, East has a diamond to cash and I'm down.

Alright. Queen of spades--deuce--seven--ten. Spade to the ace. West pitches the seven of clubs. Club to the ace. West follows with the ten; East pitches the deuce of hearts.

Whoa! East had a stiff club? Good thing I didn't need to unblock the ace early.

Now I ruff a diamond, cash clubs, and take the heart finesse. It wins. Making six.

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

Plus four eighty is worth 93%. West can give partner a club ruff when he wins the spade king to hold me to five. And East can help by tossing the jack of spades under the king as an alarm-clock signal. But robots don't signal. And probably don't own alarm clocks.

Next week, we'll return to Jazlene's match. Four boards left.

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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

Thursday, February 19, 2026

Free Weekly Instant Tournament - February 6 - Board 1

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