Free Weekly Instant Tournament - August 26 - Board 1

Board 1
Neither side vulnerable

If you have not yet played this week's Free Instant Tournament, do so--or at least play the first board--before reading on.

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

Partner bids one diamond in first seat. I bid two notrump, natural and invitational, and partner bids three hearts.

If partner is semi-balanced, say "5431," he should have spade shortness. Partner would not worry about club shortness, since clubs is usually my best suit when I respond with two notrump. Spade shortness, however, would be a concern. Of course, spade shortness is not a certainty; it is simply an inference. The more freakish partner's shape, the less valid this inference is.

With five controls, no spade wastage, and heart fillers, I have the best hand I could hold on this auction. If partner is interested in slam, I should have what he needs. But he isn't necessarily interested in slam. He could just be trying to avoid three notrump if we have a problem in the spade suit. While I should make as encouraging a noise as possible, I am not allowed to drive to slam without a forwarding-going move from partner.

What encouraging noise can I make? Three spades would show something in spades but not enough to bid three notrump. It is certainly not a slam move. Four clubs would suggest slam interest but should show the club ace. Four diamonds would show an inability to bid three notrump but carries no suggestion of slam interest. I might bid it simply to leave open the possibility of playing in four hearts if partner is six-five. 

Is four diamonds forcing? Technically not. I'm limited, so partner can do what he wants. As a practical matter, however, it's hard to see partner's passing four diamonds. Since it shows weakness in spades, our hands should fit well. It is unlikely that five diamonds will be a terrible spot.

Four hearts would suggest game in a four-three heart fit. So that leaves four spades or higher for slam suggestions. What should these bids mean?

Five diamonds should convey that my primary feature is good diamond support. It should definitely not show a bad hand on the principal of fast arrival. Five diamonds can't show a bad hand unless four diamonds shows a good hand. And, as we have seen, four diamonds isn't available to show a good hand. You must sometimes bid it for no reason other than to give partner a chance to rebid a five-card heart suit. As a general rule, fast arrival should not apply in auctions where there is still uncertainty about strain.

Five clubs and four notrump are available as slam tries, and could be assigned very specific meanings by partnership agreement. Without an agreement, however, it is not clear what those specific meanings should be, so it is best to avoid either bid without prior disucssion.

Four spades, though, is unambiguously a slam try in diamonds. You could think of this as a Bluhmer (bidding partner's short suit to show slam interest), except that partner has only implied spade shortness; he has not promised it. So it is not technically a Bluhmer.

Four spades is the right bid. Unfortunately, my robot partner will not understand it, so there is little point in choosing it. According to the tool tips, neither four clubs nor four spades shows diamond support. The only way to show support is to bid four diamonds or five diamonds. Four diamonds seems like the better choice, since it gives partner room to cue-bid four spades or five clubs. Over either bid, I will bid a slam.

I bid four diamonds, and partner raises to five. I'm not happy about passing this, but it would be a violation of captaincy to bid again. I am a limited hand. Partner could have invited me to bid slam and chose not to. He might have been stretching, in which case my good values may mean that five diamonds is a sound contract rather than the touch-and-go contract it might have been. 

I pass, and RHO leads the spade ace.

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

West	North	East	South
Robot	Phillip	Robot	Robot
			1 ♦
Pass	2 NT	Pass	3 ♥
Pass	4 ♦	Pass	5 ♦
(All pass)

Making six, for a 43% board. 

Can we get to slam intelligently? I could break discipline and simply bid it. That would work this time, but there is no reason partner's eighth diamond couldn't a black loser. I believe partner should make a move over four diamonds. Five clubs, cue-bidding his void, would be dangerous. I have no reason to suspect he is void in clubs, so five clubs will make me think the club king is a useful card. Four spades seems like the right move. Surely I will bid slam with both red aces, and I doubt I would bid slam with anything else. With one red ace and the club ace, I would cooperate with five clubs, then give up when partner bids five diamonds.

Of course, four spades by me over three hearts is the easiest way to get there. A reliable partner should understand this as a general slam move even without prior discussion. If he also understands the bid to deny the club ace, as I believe he should, he has an easy six diamond bid. It's hard to see what would get me so excited other than the two red aces.

The full deal:

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

Some pairs did reach six diamonds, but they did so by overbidding on the first round. They bid three notrump over one diamond, and South leapt to six diamonds. I'm not impressed.

Free Super Sunday Daylong - May 29 - Board 12

Board 12
Our side vulnerable

♠ A K Q 4  ♥ A K Q  ♦ 9 6 5 3 2  ♣ J

Partner opens with three clubs in second seat and RHO passes. If partner has a stiff diamond and a one-loser club suit, we could make five clubs. If I needed one bit of luck, I might try five clubs. But two bits of luck is too much to hope for.

I pass, as does LHO. West leads the diamond king.

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

West	North	East	South
Robot	Phillip	Robot	Robot
		Pass	3 ♣
(All pass)

We have three diamond losers and at least one club loser. I'm happy I didn't get too aggressive with this hand.

I play a low diamond from dummy, and East discards the spade deuce. I might actually go down in this contract. If East can pitch three spades and get a spade ruff, I'll need the remaining trumps to be two-two.

West continues with the ace of diamonds. That's an error. He should lead the queen to tell his partner he will be making two more discards. He should lead the ace only if he doesn't have the queen or if I started with a singleton. In the latter case, the queen, suggesting East will be making two more discards, would be misleading.

On this trick, East pitches the spade nine; on the next, the spade jack. West doesn't get the hint. He shifts to the six of hearts. I win and cash the ace and king of clubs. They split. Making three.

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

East had a natural club trick, so West's failure to give him a spade ruff didn't cost.

Plus 110 is worth 77%. Some brave souls bid three notrump over three clubs, a bid I didn't even consider. They caught partner with a magic hand: Two cashing tricks, three spades (so the a three-three spade trick gives you a ninth trick), and three diamonds (so East has no diamond to lead).

Despite this good fortune, of the 49 declarers who played 3NT, 36 managed to go down. East always led the club seven. Some declarers continued to display their bravery by ducking the club to their jack. Unfortunately, while the finesse worked, they now had only one club trick instead of two. I'm not sure what to call this kind of finesse. A finesse that gains nothing if it works and loses if it doesn't is commonly called a practice finesse. But what do you call a finesse that must lose tricks whether it works or not? Perhaps a Pyrrhic finesse?

Another declarer overcame the trick one hurdle by rising with the club ace. But he also failed to notice that dummy was entryless. He cashed the club king and played a third club to establish the suit. Since East was void in diamonds, he should have survived this. But he pitched the four of spades on the third round of clubs, so he still found himself a trick short.

My final score was 75%. I finished 46th out of 16,499.

Next week I'm going to go back to playing the Weekly Free Instant Tournament, but I'm going to do it a little differently. I'll starting by posting board number one from the August 26th tournament. The following week, I'll post board number two from the September 2nd tournament, and so on for the next eight weeks. That way, if you haven't played the board yet, you will still have an opportunity to play it before you read the post. Of course, since each board will be from a different tournament, there will be no meaningful overall score at the end.

Free Super Sunday Daylong - May 29 - Board 11

Board 11
Neither vulnerable

♠ 10 4  ♥ 9 8 4 3  ♦ A K Q J 10  ♣ Q J

I open in first seat with one diamond. LHO bids one heart, and partner responds with one spade. RHO bids three-diamonds, showing four hearts and seven to nine support points. Since diamonds is the prime feature of my hand, I double. LHO and partner pass. East unsportingly runs to three hearts.

I've said all I have to say. I pass, LHO passes, and partner bids four clubs. That's strange. If partner wanted to bid clubs. why didn't he do so on the previous round? The opponents obviously were not going to play in three diamonds doubled. By passing, he took the risk that, at his next turn, the auction would be too high for him to show his club suit.

I know it's pointless to try to figure out what a robot is up to on a complicated auction. But let's imagine that we are playing with a reliable partner. What might we conclude from the fact that partner passed on the previous round?

Normally, one strives to introduce suits as early as possible because it might be right to compete if we find a fit. Since partner risked not finding a club fit, he presumably had no interest in competing even if we found one. In other words, if the opponents had bid four hearts, he was happy to defend. Quite possibly, he was intending to double.

This conclusion is contraindicated by my holding four hearts. But the robots have been known to overcall in chunky four-card suits. So it's possible partner is, say, 5-2-1-5 with top cards and fancied his prospects on defense.

Again, this is all moot playing with robots. And it's probably moot playing with a reliable partner as well, since, whatever partner's auction suggests, the only action that makes sense with this particular hand is to correct to four spades.

I bid four spades. Everyone passes, and RHO leads the heart ace.

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

West	North	East	South
Robot	Phillip	Robot	Robot
	1 ♦	1 ♥	1 ♠
3 ♦	Double	Pass	Pass
3 ♥	Pass	Pass	4 ♣
Pass	4 ♠	(All pass)

As one might expect, partner does not have the hand he should for this auction. It's not entirely clear what he should have done. Perhaps pulling the double to four spades is the practical call. We might have a club slam if I have the right cards, but it will be hard to diagnose.

I'm off the club ace and possibly the spade king. I also have the fourth and fifth round of clubs to worry about, but I can probably manage to pitch them on diamonds. I have two entries to dummy: one in clubs, and one in diamonds. I need to use one to take the trump finesse and the other to take my discards. Does it matter which one I use first?

If I play a club now, the opponents might take the ace and play another. Now if the trump finesse loses, I might suffer a club ruff. So I need to use the diamond entry first.

I play a diamond to dummy. West plays the six; East, the nine. It appears one of the opponents is giving false count.

I lead the spade ten--seven--three--nine. I repeat the spade finesse and drive the club ace. Making six.

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

Plus 480 is worth 69%. I'm averaging 75% with one board to go.

Free Super Sunday Daylong - May 29 - Board 10

Board 10
Both vulnerable

♠ K 5 3  ♥ J 8 3  ♦ A K 5  ♣ A 9 5 4

I open with one notrump in second seat. Partner bids four hearts, a transfer to spades. I bid four spades and buy it. West leads the ace of hearts.

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

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

It's unlikely West would lead the heart ace holding ace-queen. But I don't know whether he's leading from shortness, trying for his own ruff, or from length, hoping to give his partner one. I play the five. East encourages with the nine and I discourage with the three. West shifts to the seven of diamonds. Dummy's queen wins, as East plays the diamond nine.

The fact that West shifted suggests he was not leading a heart from length. If he were, he would have no reason to believe he had not lucked out and caught his partner with a singleton. So I suspect he has a stiff ace or perhaps ace doubleton and decided, since dummy has the spade ace, that there was no point in going after a ruff.

Does the fact that I suspect West has short hearts mean I should play him for trump length and finesse him for the queen? No. To do so would be falling for the Monty Hall Trap. If West chose to lead a heart because he was short, then that knowledge is not as significant as if I had discovered his heart shortness on my own.

Another way to look at it: If West thought leading a short suit was a good idea, he would lead whichever suit he was short in. The fact that that suit happens to be hearts (like the fact that Monty opens specifically door number two) is immaterial. Of course, he might not have a short suit at all, so we can't ignore the information altogether. But the question to ask is not "How should I play spades given West is short in hearts?" Rather it is "How should I play spades given West has some short side suit?"

If you want to calculate that, go ahead. I'm not going to, however, because there are other factors to consider. For one, I'm not even sure West has short hearts. That's merely an inference. So if I were to calculate the odds West had queen of third of spades, I would then have to discount those odds according my confidence in the inference.

Further, queen third of spades might make a short suit lead less attractive to West. If he had some chance of scoring a trump trick without a ruff, another lead might look more appealing.

Taking all these factors into consideration, I see no reason not to cash the ace and king of spades. And I might as well start with the ace to ensure I don't lose two tricks if the suit is four-zero. I cash the ace--four--three--ten. I lead the spade jack and East plays the seven. I see no reason to change my mind. I go up with the king, and West follows with the queen.

If the heart queen and club king are in the same hand, I have the rest. If I had no clue where the heart queen was, I could play it as a criss-cross squeeze. I could I come down to,

	NORTH Robot ♠ -- ♥ K ♦ -- ♣ Q 6
	SOUTH Phillip ♠ -- ♥ J 8 ♦ -- ♣ A

Now I have to guess whether the club king or the heart queen is singleton. But since I'm pretty sure the heart queen in on my right, I can avoid a guess by coming down to,

	NORTH Robot ♠ 2 ♥ -- ♦ -- ♣ Q 6
	SOUTH Phillip ♠ -- ♥ J ♦ -- ♣ A 9

Now I cash the last trump. If East doesn't pitch the heart queen, I pitch my heart jack and hope he had to stiff the club king. That's the line I'll take, although I'll postpone cashing the heart king as long as possible. I might as well leave the crisscross option open in case I change my mind.

I cash the ace and king of diamonds, pitching a heart from dummy. West plays four--ten; East plays eight--three. I play a spade to dummy. West pitches the club eight; East, the club deuce. The opponents are probably giving count with these club pitches. So West has four clubs and East has three.

On the next spade, East pitches the heart six. I pitch the club four; West, the club three. If anyone has two diamonds left, he probably would have pitched one by now. So the diamonds were probably four-four. That makes East 2-4-4-3 and West 2-3-4-4. I'm down to this position:

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

If my construction is correct, each opponent is down to two hearts, one diamond, and two clubs. 

I can cash one more spade before cashing the heart king. On this spade, I pitch a club. Both opponents pitch hearts. East, the four; West, the seven. I cash the heart king. East drops the queen and I claim.

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

This is worth 100%. That's ridiculous. I know this field doesn't do squeezes. But this one plays itself. All you have to do is cash your tricks. Well, maybe that's not exactly true. You do have to cash all your diamonds before finishing the trumps. I suspect that's where most declarers went wrong. 

Incidentally, note that West led the heart ace from neither shortness nor length. So I was right not to place too much confidence in my inference.

Free Super Sunday Daylong - May 29 - Board 9

Board 9
Opponents vulnerable

♠ 3  ♥ K 3  ♦ A J 8 5 3 2  ♣ A 8 6 4

Two passes to me. I open with one diamond, LHO bids one heart, and partner makes a negative double. RHO bids two hearts. 

The tooltip says three diamonds by me shows 17 to 22 total points. That's nonsense. I can't sit here and let the opponents steal from us when they are at the two-level in a known fit and I have a six-card suit to compete in. Pass, to my mind, should suggest a weak notrump.

I know some like to play good-bad two notrump here, but I don't care for the convention for three reasons. 

First (and admittedly least important), I can't stand the unimaginative name. 

Second, I'm more interested in telling partner something about my shape than in distinguishing whether I have a good hand or a bad hand. Any bid that says "I'm interested in competing but I'm not going to tell you in what suit" makes no sense to me. In a competitive auction, you need to bid your suits so partner knows how the hands fit. Partner should assume you are just competing. If you do have interest in game, you can usually find some other call--a double or a natural two notrump for example. 

And that brings me to the third reason: I find a natural two notrump to be a very useful call in this auction. Frequently it is offshape, possibly a hand with which you would have jumped to three diamonds in an uncontested auction.

Back to the problem at hand. While I think it's clear to act, it's not so clear whether to bid three clubs or three diamonds. Three diamonds risks catching partner with a singleton. Three clubs risks playing there when partner is two-three in the minors. I'm not entirely confident in my choice, but I expect three diamonds to work out better on balance, so I bid it.

Everyone passes, and West leads the spade king.

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

West	North	East	South
Robot	Robot	Robot	Phillip
	Pass	Pass	1 ♦
1 ♥	Double	2 ♥	3 ♦
(All pass)

Partner has four-card club support, and diamonds still looks like a better spot than clubs, so perhaps three diamonds is indeed the better bid.

I have only two sure losers--a trump and the heart ace--but I lots of potential losers. I might have two additional trump losers, a second heart loser, and a club loser. To make this, I need to avoid two of those four potential losers. I would normally take West's failure to lead the bid-and-raised suit as an indication that he has the ace, which would make avoiding two heart losers unlikely. But since he appears to have a spade sequence, I can't make that inference.

First let's see what I can do in the trump suit. I take the spade ace, as East plays the four. I lead the diamond seven and, when East plays the six, I let it ride. It loses to the queen. So far so good. I have a shot at losing only one diamond trick--and a pretty good shot, since, as a passed hand, West can't have the diamond king unless he has no honors in hearts.

West leads the spade queen, East follows with the five, and I ruff.

I have only one sure dummy entry, and I need that entry for a trump finesse, so I can't conveniently play East for the club queen. Since it's fifty-fifty who has the queen, I might as well take the finesse that's more convenient. I play the four of clubs--three--jack--seven. Now the diamond ten. East plays the nine and I overtake with the jack. West follows with the four. Nothing left to do except to draw trump, repeat the club finesse, and play East for the heart ace. He has it. I managed to avoid all four of the potential losers. Making five.

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

Plus 150 is worth 71%. Those who passed two hearts survived because partner reopened with a double, which seems like a bad idea to me. I don't think eight working HCP is anything special for a one-level negative double. If partner heard me double and, with heart shortness, chose not to compete, it's not my job to nudge him.

On the other hand, if partner can't bid a minor without 17 total points, I suppose you have to reopen with this hand. So at least the robots' methods are consistent. Even so, I don't care for double. I would expect partner to pass it with any 3-2-5-3, and I have no expectation of beating this contract. If I felt compelled to reopen, I would bid two spades.

Free Super Sunday Daylong - May 29 - Board 8

Board 8
Neither vulnerable

♠ A Q 8 6  ♥ 3  ♦ K 9  ♣ A 10 7 5 4 3

Three passes to me. I open with one club, and partner bids two clubs, showing at least a limit raise in clubs. King fifth of clubs, the spade king, and the diamond ace is a laydown slam, so I have to make a slam try. Fortunately, I have an easy way to do that: a splinter bid of three hearts.

Over three hearts, partner bids five clubs. According to the tool tip, this shows a better hand than four clubs. But if he had the prime cards he needs for slam, I assume he would have found a more aggressive call. I'm not crazy about playing five of a minor at matchpoints. But it doesn't appear that three notrump is making. If it isn't, there is nothing wrong with playing five clubs. I pass, and West leads the diamond four.

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

West	North	East	South
Robot	Robot	Robot	Phillip
Pass	Pass	Pass	1 ♣
Pass	2 ♣	Pass	3 ♥
Pass	5 ♣	(All pass)

Three notrump might make after all as long as we play it from the right side, although I don't know which side that is.

I cover the diamond four with the five. East plays the deuce. I wasn't expecting that. What could East have to play low? Perhaps he has the jack and is afraid I have queen-ten-nine.

I win with the nine and cash the club ace--queen--deuce--eight. I cash the diamond king--seven--three-eight and play a club to dummy. West pitches the heart eight; East, the heart five. When I pitch a heart on the diamond ace, East follows with the jack. I was apparently right about why he played low at trick one. I play the fourth diamond and East pitches the seven of spades. 

East has a complete count on my hand, so there is no way he is pitching down to king doubleton of spades. Leading low to the queen hoping to drop the king is pointless. My only chances are to find West with a stiff king, a stiff ten or nine, or ten-nine doubleton. I suspect he would have led a stiff ten or nine, and East's spade seven pitch isn't consistent with a five-card suit anyway, so I'm going to play West for ten-nine doubleton. I play a club to dummy and lead the spade jack. West has ten-five doubleton, so I make only six.

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

Plus 420 is worth 65%. 

One point worth noting. I was considering two ways to handle the spades suit: play low to the queen or lead the jack. Once East pitched a spade, I rejected the first option. That may have been a hasty decision. While it's true East would not pitch a spade from king third, there is no reason he couldn't pitch a spade from king doubleton. If pitching a spade is going to talk me out of leading low, it would be a good play.

Stiffing an offside king is a common ploy. Stiffing an onside king is a ploy that is often overlooked. That's precisely why it has a good chance of working. It is something declarer does not expect, so there is a variety of scenarios where it may talk declarer out of a winning line.

Free Super Sunday Daylong - May 29 - Board 7

Board 7
Both vulnerable

♠ A K 8 6 2  ♥ K 6 2  ♦ J 5 2  ♣ A 2

I'm in first seat. With the majors reversed, I must open with one notrump, since a one-heart opening leaves me with no good rebid after a one spade response. But with spades I don't have a rebid problem, so I can use my judgment. Aces and kings and the absence of spot cards makes this is a suit-oriented hand, so I open with one spade.

Partner bids two diamonds. I rebid two notrump, and partner raises to three notrump. West leads the club four.

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

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

If the club king is on my right, I'm not making this. So I play the queen and hold my breath. East plays the five. That's a relief. I haven't seen the three, so West might have led from a five-card suit. In fact, he probably did, since the robots don't like aggressive leads except from long suits--and sometimes not even then.

After I knock out the diamond ace, I'll have ten tricks. If the heart queen is onside and I'm willing to risk the finesse, I'll have eleven with excellent chances for a twelfth. Hearts could be three-three or the hand with long hearts could guard spades and be squeezed. 

One thing I should keep in mind is that I have received a favorable opening lead. That's less important in a robot individual than it would be in a real event, since presumably everyone who has the same auction will get the same opening lead. But not everyone will open with one spade. Perhaps West will lead a club after a one-notrump opening as well, but that's not certain. There is at least some chance that I already have an advantage that I must be careful not to throw away.

I lead the diamond king. East doesn't know clubs aren't running. So if he has the diamond ace he will likely take it and return a club. If this holds, the diamond ace is probably on my left. It holds. East plays the nine; West, the four.

The heart ace is my only dummy entry outside the diamond suit. So if West ducks the next diamond as well, he forces me to decide whether to take the heart finesse before I've had a chance to run diamonds.

I play the diamond six, and East discards the spade three. That could be from a five-card suit, making East 5-3-1-4. Or it could be from a three-card suit, making East 3-5-1-4. I doubt very much East would pitch a spade from any four-card holding. Even pitching from a five-card suit is unattractive, since he knows I have five spades. That suggests he's 3-5-1-4. On the other hand, I would expect him to pitch a heart with that pattern. So, for the moment, I'm keeping both possibilities in mind.

I play the diamond jack and West, surprisingly, takes his ace. He continues with the club king--seven--six--ace.

Since West is allowing me to reach dummy with a diamond, I might as well run a few diamonds and see what discards I get. When you run a suit, it's a good idea to make predictions about what the opponents will discard. That way, if they pitch something you don't expect, it will set off an alarm.

What does East know about my hand? He should work out my pattern. But I do have a king more than I need to open the bidding, so he doesn't know I have both major-suit kings. He will need to come down to six cards. He will want to save one club for communication with his partner. If he is 3-5-1-4, he will probably come down to 2-3-0-1. 

What if he is 5-3-1-4? Then he has a problem. Unless he has queen-ten-nine of spades, he must keep four spades to keep me from running the suit. But if he keeps four spades and a club, he will have to come down to a stiff heart. Now I can run the heart suit. If I cash the heart king and the queen doesn't drop, I'll know I can finesse. So with 5-3-1-4, he will need to throw all his clubs and come down to 4-2-0-0 to give me a problem.

On the diamond queen, East discards the club ten. He has one club left. On the next diamond, East pitches the heart nine. The nine? The robots' first pitch in a suit is almost always count. I know he has either five hearts or three, so the only holding the nine is consistent with is queen--ten--nine. If I've read the layout correctly, I have the rest.

I pitch the spade deuce. On the last diamond, East pitches the heart ten, presumably coming down to a stiff queen. I pitch the spade six; West, the heart four. I play a low heart from dummy. East, as expected, plays the queen and I claim.

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

Plus 690 is worth 79%.

The defense was soft. For starters, West should duck the second diamond. If he does that, I will play a third diamond. West will win this round as East pitches a club. West will then continue with a club to my ace. I have no reason to believe the heart queen is onside, and if I take the finesse and it loses, I'm down. So I would play a heart to the ace and cash a diamond, pitching a spade from my hand. East will probably pitch a spade as well, and we are down to this position:

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

On the last diamond, East has a problem. A pitch from either major gives me two tricks, so East will presumably let go of his last club. I can now make five by pitching a spade and endplaying him to force a lead from the heart queen. Or--better yet, since it's safer--by pitching a heart and playing ace, king, and another spade to set up my long spade.

So ducking the second diamond holds me to five. Once West fails to duck, there is no way to stop me from making six. It's probably impossible to work out at the time exactly what ducking the diamond accomplishes. But it's the right play on principle. Leaving me with a diamond entry to dummy allows me extra flexibility, which is usually a bad idea. It might cost to duck if I could profitably abandon the suit and go after tricks elsewhere. But, looking at that dummy, it's hard to imagine how that could be the case.