Free Weekly Instant Tournament - October 14 - Board 8

Board 8
Neither vulnerable

♠ A 6  ♥ 10 9 5  ♦ K 6 5  ♣ A Q J 9 8

LHO passes, partner opens with two spades, and RHO passes.

Playing opposite myself, I would pass. While game is possible, it's remote enough that I wouldn't want to risk going minus at the three-level. With three trumps, going minus at the three-level isn't so bad, since you have the protection of the Law: If you go minus, chances are the opponents can make something. With only two trumps, that is less apt to be true, so it pays to be conservative.

Playing opposite robots, however, passing is less clear. Robots often pre-empt with hands I would open at the one-level, so the chance of game is greater. I have missed games passing robot weak two-bids with worse hands than this.

Ron Klinger, in The Modern Losing Trick Count, recommends that, when holding a doubleton in support of partner's weak two-bid, you should invite game with three and half or four cover cards. My aces and king provide three cover cards, and the club queen provides a half. So this hand is worth an invitation by that standard. Since my record opposite robots is poor in these situations, I'll follow Ron's advice.

I bid two notrump, and partner bids three clubs, showing a maximum with a club feature. If spades are solid, we have eleven tricks. The question is whether the opponents can cash four first.

Let's hope not. I bid four spades and everyone passes.

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

West	North	East	South
Robot	Phillip	Robot	Robot
		Pass	2 ♠
Pass	2 NT	Pass	3 ♣
Pass	4 ♠	(All pass)

Do you want to be in four spades with these cards? Against best defense, game is worse than a finesse, since we might have a trump loser. But in practice it's better than that, because the opponents might lead a black suit or might fail to solve the cash-out problem. It's not clear whether that consideration boosts the odds to better than fifty percent. But I don't mind being in game, so I have no quarrel with Klinger's rule.

Unfortunately, the opening lead is the diamond queen, so the ace is offside. And, since my auction revealed my club king to the defense, they know they must cash four red cards immediately. My only chance to make this contract is to convince the opponents I have a singleton in one red suit so they will try to cash three tricks in the other one. 

What's the best way to do that? Since the opponents know they are facing a cash-out problem, all their signals should be count. If I duck this trick, East should play a count card. If that card happens to be higher than the four and is intended as low, I can obscure the message by dropping the ten. But most of the time his card will be readable. Perhaps it's better to cover the queen, forcing East to take his ace and preventing him from signaling.

The defense should be able to solve their problem even after I cover, but it will be more difficult and the opponents might not be on the same wavelength. Of course, robots aren't on any wavelength. They don't signal at all nor do they draw inferences from the play, so this whole discussion is moot. But, just for practice, I might as well pretend I'm playing against real bridge players.

I  play the king and East takes the ace. Should I drop the ten or the four? The ten tells East I have a singleton or doubleton diamond, since I would have ducked the queen with ten third. The four leaves open the possibility that I have one, two, or three diamonds. The more possible layouts I give East to defend against, the harder it will be for him to find a defense to cater to all of them, so the four is the correct play.

I play the four, and East shifts to the heart ace. So far, so good. I play the six; West, the deuce. East now shifts to the diamond deuce. It's all over. West, seeing my ten, isn't going to try to cash a third diamond, since I can hardly have ten third. And indeed he doesn't. He takes the jack and cashes the heart king, as East follows with the seven.

West continues with the heart jack. East follows with the four, and I ruff. My only chance for a good board is to hope that other declarers will be minus in a partscore. Does it makes sense to finesse the spade, hoping East has jack fourth? Could I conceivably get back to average that way?

That might make sense if I thought the field was in three spades. But it's hard to see three spades being a popular contract. Either you make a game try and get to game or you don't. So the contract will be either two spades or four at most tables. I can neither beat nor tie anyone in two spades, so I'm competing only against other pairs in four. That means I should simply take my percentage play. I play a spade to the ace and back to the king. They split. Down one.

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

East's heart ace at trick two was a poor play. If I had three hearts and a stiff diamond, West would have to unblock his heart king to beat me. A better play would be to shift to the heart three (showing an odd number of hearts). West would now know what to do.

This works if West has two or three hearts, but what if he has four? How will he know whether West's odd number of hearts is five (in which case he must cash two diamonds) or three (in which case he must cash two hearts)? He will know because East shouldn't lead low with three hearts. He should cash an honor, allowing West to play a count card. Then he will know himself what tricks to cash. An interesting wrinkle: From ace-queen third, East should lead the queen. If West has king sixth, he knows only one heart is cashing, so he can overtake and play diamonds.

The defense must cater to three critical cases: declarer's holding a singleton heart, a singleton diamond, or two red doubletons. Since signals are binary, you can't cater to three cases by signaling alone. (That's why it was important for declarer to play the diamond four at trick one.) But you can often cater to three cases by combining signaling with logic.

I get 4% for this result, which seems a bit harsh for bidding a decent game. Only two other players reached game, and they both made it. One raised two spades to four and got a club lead. Yes, my auction was revealing. But if I was afraid to invite for fear of tipping off the defense, I think I would prefer passing to blasting a game.

The other player bid two notrump, then three notrump over three clubs and also got a club lead. Given the robots' preference for passive leads against notrump, there is some merit to this decision. I did briefly consider it but decided it was too much of a gamble.

Free Weekly Instant Tournament - October 7 - Board 7

Board 7
Both vulnerable

♠ --  ♥ 9 3  ♦ A K Q J 7 6 5  ♣ K Q 10 4

I have seven tricks in diamonds and a trick and a half plus in clubs--just shy of nine tricks in total. One diamond followed by three diamonds shows seven and a half to eight tricks, so this hand is too good for that sequence. It isn't worth a game force, however. So my plan is to start with one diamond and rebid two clubs.

I open with one diamond, LHO passes, partner bids one heart, and RHO doubles. Two clubs may not be my best choice anymore. LHO is probably about to bid some large number of spades, so I want to get as much information across as possible with this call. Perhaps an underbid of three diamonds is best now. At least it lets partner know that I have excellent diamonds and a good hand, a message two clubs would not convey.

One problem with three diamonds is that it both understates my offense and overstates my defense. If I bid three diamonds and partner doubles three spades, I would have to pull. The whole point of a limit bid is to leave further decisions to partner. If I'm not willing to do that, then perhaps the limit bid is the wrong choice.

Another problem with three diamonds is that it forces the opponents to act at a high level. I won't be sure whether they are happy to act at that level or whether they are stretching because they are under pressure. Often that's a good thing. If you are want the opponents to make the last guess and are willing to make them live with their decision, then by all means take as much bidding room away from them as you can. But if you might be making the last guess yourself, you want as much information as possible. With this hand, I may find myself considering a sacrifice over four spades. So I want to give the opponents room to tell me what they think they can make.

Perhaps, then, two clubs is the right bid after all. It avoids surrendering captaincy, and it keeps the auction low.

I bid two clubs, LHO bids two spades, and there are two passes to me. I'm glad I chose two clubs. Had I bid three diamonds, LHO probably would have bid three spades. This way, I know West doesn't have a hand worth jumping to three spades voluntarily. If the opponents bid game now, I'm not sacrificing.

I bid three diamonds, LHO bids three spades. Two passes to me. I might make four diamonds opposite as little as the jack of clubs, so I have to compete. I bid four diamonds and buy it. West leads the diamond three.

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

West	North	East	South
Robot	Robot	Robot	Phillip
			1 ♦
Pass	1 ♥	Double	2 ♣
2 ♠	Pass	Pass	3 ♦
3 ♠	Pass	Pass	4 ♦
(All pass)

Partner's hand isn't much help. I'm probably going to lose two hearts and three clubs for down two.

I play the nine of diamonds from dummy, and East plays the four. Well! Now I have a dummy entry to hook against the club jack. If East is smart enough to duck his diamond ten holding ace-empty fifth of clubs, he's entitled to his good result. I underplay the nine and lead the deuce of clubs--six--ten--ace. West shifts to the deuce of spades--ten--jack--diamond six.

The opponents can't possibly mis-discard, so I will have to lose a club trick in the end. I play it out anyway just in case. I run all the diamonds but one, then exit with a heart. Nothing good happens, so I finish down one.

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

Three spades should go down. (Three rounds of diamonds, partner pitching both his clubs. Now declarer doesn't have the entries to pick up the spade suit.) But, of course, almost everyone competed to at least four diamonds. Some reached five diamonds. And some in four failed to take advantage of the favorable opening lead and went down two. Minus 100 was worth 82%,

Free Weekly Instant Tournament - September 30 - Board 6

Board 6
Opponents vulnerable

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

RHO passes. I have a balanced hand with 18 HCP, so I open with one club, intending to rebid two notrump.

LHO overcalls with one diamond, partner bids one spade, and RHO raises to two diamonds.

Two notrump, with only a single diamond stopper, looks less appealing now than it did when the auction started. If partner has no help in diamonds, I may need to take nine tricks off the top in order to make game in notrump. On the other hand, as little as jack doubleton of diamonds gives me an extra stopper. And there is still room to investigate other strains. Besides, what else can I do? I can hardly pass. And bidding two hearts suggests more shape. So I bid two notrump.

Partner bids three diamonds, which the tooltip says promises a fifth spade. I show my four-card heart suit, and partner bids three notrump.

With three spades, I would usually make a support double over two diamonds. If I chose to bid two notrump instead, my hand should have a heavy notrump orientation. So partner needn't check back for spade support just because he has five spades. If he has a flat hand with help in diamonds, he should simply raise to three notrump. This auction suggests he has some reason to believe notrump is the wrong strain.

If partner thinks notrump might be the wrong strain, I'm inclined to agree. Queen-jack doubleton is decent support opposite for a five-card suit, and my honor dispersion is perfect for spades: fast tricks outside the spade suit, slow tricks in the spade suit. Opposite a reliable partner, it is clear to correct to four spades. It is less clear opposite a robot, whose judgment isn't always reliable. But the opponents did bid and raise diamonds. Unless partner can contribute a second stopper, I suspect we can take more tricks in spades than we can in notrump.

I bid four spades, ending the auction. West leads the six of diamonds.

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

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

Wow! Partner drove to game with this hand? I'm touched by his confidence. At least I was right to correct to four spades. Partner has no side entries, so on most layouts the opponents could hold me to two spade tricks in notrump.

To have any chance, I'm going to need to run spades. Five spade tricks and four cashing tricks on the side will bring me to nine. I have a shot at a tenth trick in either clubs or hearts.

I see no reason to win this trick. I might as well duck to cut the opponents' communications. I play low from dummy, East wins with the queen, and I play the five.

East shifts to the four of hearts--five--nine--ace. Perhaps East didn't continue diamonds from the king for fear I had the jack. Still, if he wanted to make a passive shift, he could have led a trump. The heart shift suggests he is afraid the club suit is a threat, and he needs to go after heart tricks before I can take a pitch.

I lead the spade queen--five--deuce--nine. I continue with the jack, and East covers with the king. I take the ace, and West follows with the six. Obviously spades are three-three. West would not have dropped the nine from nine fourth, and East would not have covered with king fourth.

What is my plan now? My best chance for a tenth trick is in the club suit. I can lead a club to the eight, playing West for the nine and one of the high honors. If that fails, I still have the option of playing for three-three clubs or for someone to have king or queen doubleton. Of course that would require the hand with the club entry to have short hearts, else the defense could establish a heart trick and cash it upon winning the second club trick.

What should I pitch from dummy on the third round of spades? Obviously I must keep a long club. I would like to keep a long heart as well to give myself an extra chance. Say, for example, I lead a club the the eight and queen and East continues hearts. My main chance is to hook West for the club king. But I can give myself an extra chance by winning the heart and continuing the suit. If hearts are three-three, I don't need the club finesse anymore.

I draw a third round of trumps, pitching a diamond from dummy. As expected, everyone follows. This is the position.

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

I now lead the club deuce--six--eight--nine.

That's disappointing. If East plays another heart, I have a decision to make. Do I play for three-three hearts? Or do I go after a club trick, hoping the opponents can't cash their heart? Fortunately, East doesn't play a heart. He shifts to the four of diamonds.

I win with dummy's ace and cash the club ace. West drops the king, so I claim. Making four.

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

Plus 420 is worth 100%.  A fair number of players were down in three notrump. But, surprisingly, half the field played a partscore. They opened with one notrump and their partners transferred to two spades.

Presumably those who opened with one notrump counted the queen-jack of spades as only two HCP. I have some sympathy for this decision, since I am not a fan of slavishly counting high-card points. But you do have two tens to compensate. Besides, honors in short suits are not so bad in notrump as they are in a suit contract. While I might count queen-jack doubleton as only two points in an unbalanced hand, I count them at full value for determining my notrump range.

In retrospect, I'm I think my diamond pitch on the third round of spades was a mistake. Since the club finesse lost to the nine, it made no difference. But suppose it loses to an honor? The layout might be something like this:

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

If I play a club to the eight and queen and get a heart continuation, I can still make it double dummy. But if I play as I said I would (exit with a heart, playing for hearts to break or for the club king to be onside), I go down. Had I kept a diamond in dummy, I could ruff a diamond back to my hand to take the club finesse. Even though the club finesse loses, I still make my contract because East is out of hearts.

I think the above scenario is more likely than three-three hearts. A small doubleton makes for a more attractive heart shift than any three-card holding. So I should have pitched a heart on the third trump and held on to my entry.

Note, by the way, that if East had king-queen-nine of clubs in the above layout, he should win the club eight with an honor, not with the nine. Winning with the nine gives me no chance to go wrong.

Free Weekly Instant Tournament - September 23 - Board 5

Board 5
Our side vulnerable

The auction begins with two passes to you. You hold,

♠ 9 6 5 4 2  ♥ K Q 10 6 3  ♦ A 2  ♣ A.

The first bridge book I ever read was Charles Goren's Contract Bridge Complete. In it, Goren set out suit-quality requirements for biddable suits. For an opening bid, a four-card suit had to include at least four HCP. A five-card suit had to have at least one honor. Requirements were loosened for later rounds of bidding but not abandoned altogether. Even when responding to Stayman, for example, you weren't supposed to show your four-card major unless it was headed by at least queen-ten.

I actually followed these rules for awhile. It soon became clear that no one else did, but I assumed that was because they didn't know any better. What I didn't realize was that expert opinion had changed since Goren's book. People had come to appreciate the importance of four-four fits. They had noticed that four small opposite four small is worth two tricks instead of one if it is trump and the suit breaks normally. And you can't get to those four-four fits if no one bids the suit.

The first expert I know of to advocate bidding on suit length alone and ignoring suit quality is William Woodson. He advocated this style in what he called his "electronic" bidding system. (I suppose "electronic" was the most futuristic adjective he could think of in the 50s.) This principle applied even to weak-two bids. While others were insisting you needed two of the top three honors for a weak two-bid, Woodson maintained that any six-card suit was acceptable. Suit quality was irrelevant. You looked at your length and nothing else.

By the time I started playing in the late 60s, no one was bidding two diamonds over Stayman because their four-card major was too weak to bid. Still, most players did not go so far as Woodson in ignoring suit quality altogether. And rightly so. As is often the case with extreme points of view, the best approach lies somewhere in the middle.

Which brings us to this deal. Could it be right to open this hand with one heart rather than with one spade? There is no doubt one spade could work out poorly. If the auction proceeds one spade--one notrump--two hearts--two spades, you are probably in the wrong strain. On the other hand, if you open with one heart and partner bids one notrump, what do you do now? No action appeals. If I were playing Flannery, I might decide to treat spades as a four-card suit and open with two diamonds. But in standard methods, four-five in the majors is an awkward pattern. Why go out of my way to treat the hand as a pattern the system doesn't handle well? 

If you take one of the aces away, there is more to be said for opening with one heart. Now the auction rates to be competitive, when bidding where your high cards are is more important. But with this hand, I expect to buy the contract, so I open with open spade.

Partner bids two clubs, Drury, showing at least three spades and invitational values.

I could simply bid four spades. That's probably where we belong, and bidding it directly keeps the opponents in the dark. It may induce a poor opening lead or make the defense to the first few tricks harder. On the other hand, four hearts could easily be a better contract than four spades. In hearts, I may be able to pitch spades on minor-suit tricks in dummy. Or, if spades break four-one, I may even be able to ruff a spade loser.

It's not at all clear which consideration is more important, but, perhaps feeling guilty for not bidding hearts the first time, I decide to look for a heart fit. I bid two hearts.

Partner bids three clubs, I bid four hearts, and partner corrects back to four spades, ending the auction. LHO leads the eight of hearts.

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

West	North	East	South
Robot	Robot	Robot	Phillip
	Pass	Pass	1 ♠
Pass	2 ♣	Pass	2 ♥
Pass	3 ♣	Pass	4 ♥
Pass	4 ♠	(All pass)

Now I'm sorry I didn't just bid four spades. The lead into my bid and rebid suit is surely a singleton, and now East knows that. Had I bid a direct four spades, he wouldn't know whether the lead was a singleton or doubleton.

I play low from dummy, and East takes the ace. It should make no difference which low card I play. Even if it were possible for West to have a doubleton, that doubleton is just as apt to be eight-six as to be eight-three. But I decide to drop the six anyway. East shifts to the seven of clubs.

What? He must know I have five hearts. Could West have led a doubleton after all?

I take the ace, and West plays the three. I play the spade deuce and West follows with the three. There are situations where it would be right to play the king in an attempt to prevent a ruff. But I assume the defense would have taken a ruff already if it were available, so I see no reason not to make my normal play in spades. I play the ten, and East wins with the queen.

He returns the seven of spades to his partner's ace, and West shifts to the four of hearts. The hand is over. Making four.

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

This seems like a perfectly normal result, but it's worth 86%. Several declarers went down in four spades on weird lines of play.

One player did try a one heart opening bid, but it didn't work out well. His partner bid one trump, he rebid two hearts, his partner raised to three, and he passed. Making three. Score one for electronic bidding.

Free Weekly Instant Tournament - September 16 - Board 4

Board 4
Both vulnerable

♠ A K 8 4  ♥ 5  ♦ A Q 8 4 3  ♣ A J 6

Partner opens with one spade in second seat, and RHO passes.

We are probably reaching at least a small slam, and I need to consider a grand slam. With normal breaks, I can take all the tricks opposite as little as,

♠ Q x x x x  ♥ A x x  ♦ K x x  ♣ x x,

which isn't even worth an opening bid. 

What is the best way to investigate? Four hearts would be a splinter, showing heart shortness and at least four-card spade support. But it would be a poor choice with this hand. Splinters should surrender captaincy. They are for describing your hand, then bowing out and leaving further moves to partner. This is hand is obviously too good for that.

Since a grand slam may depend on our diamond fit, it might make sense to start with two diamonds. Again, that start is more attractive when I wish to surrender captaincy. There are some hands where you want to describe your own hand and leave the final decision to partner, and there are others where you wish to inquire about partner's hand and make the final decision yourself. This hand falls into the latter category, so the best approach is to start with Jacoby two notrump. This approach allows you to find out about partner's hand and keep control of the auction.

I bid two notrump, and partner bids three diamonds, showing a singleton or void in diamonds. That's bad news. Our grand slam prospects go down when we don't have a diamond fit. I continue with four clubs, showing the club ace and denying the heart ace. Partner bids four hearts, showing the heart ace.

Now what? Let's give partner queen fifth of spades and the heart ace. An opening bid rarely has fewer than three controls, so he probably has either the heart king or club king. That gives us four cashing tricks. If we bid a grand slam, they will probably lead a trump, holding us to eight trump tricks on a crossruff. That's only twelve tricks. Of course there are a variety of ways to take another. Partner might have a sixth spade. He might have both the heart and club kings. He might have the queen to go with whichever king he has. I'm not going to be able to find out if partner has the right hand. But if I bid Blackwood, the auction may time out to enable me to invite a grand. Over four notrump, he will bid five diamonds. Then I will bid five hearts. If he bids six clubs to show the spade queen and club king, I can invite a grand with a cue-bid. Partner should have a fair idea whether he has an extra trick or not.

I bid four notrump, and partner bids six diamonds, showing an odd number of keycards and a diamond void. If I bid six spades now, partner is not allowed to bid again. While I still can't count thirteen tricks, I'm hardly content to sign off. If I let partner know I'm interested in a grand, perhaps he can bid it. The only forward-going bid available to me is six hearts, so that's what I bid. Partner isn't interested. He bids six spades, and I pass. RHO leads the king of hearts.

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

West	North	East	South
Robot	Phillip	Robot	Robot
		Pass	1 ♠
Pass	2 NT	Pass	3 ♦
Pass	4 ♣	Pass	4 ♥
Pass	4 NT	Pass	6 ♦
Pass	6 ♥	Pass	6 ♠
(All pass)

We have the four side tricks I anticipated. Since they didn't lead a trump, and since partner has excellent spots in the trump suit, we can probably crossruff nine tricks to bring us to thirteen.

Since I expect the field to be in this contract, I have to try to make seven even if I risk going down. The risk is small to begin with, and if I manage the play carefully, I can make it even smaller. One way I might go down is to have an opponent overruff a small trump and lead another trump. Now I score only seven trump tricks instead of nine. To avoid going down, I will then need to take three club tricks. Normally one cashes one's side winners before embarking on a crossruff. But in this case I'm not sure yet how many club tricks I need, so I must postpone cashing my club winners.

Hearts are more likely to be six-one than diamonds are to be seven-one, so I should start by ruffing a heart with dummy's four. I play a low heart from dummy. East play the deuce, and I take my ace. I play the heart three. West plays the six, I ruff with the four, and East follows with the seven. So far so good.

I could play ace and ruff a diamond now, continuing my plan of  testing whether two club tricks suffice. But the risk that someone has a stiff club is greater than the risk of a diamond overruff. Is there any way to guard against a stiff club? I may be able to survive a club ruff if I can cash an honor, then lead through the hand with the singleton, so that at least he isn't ruffing my winner. Since West might have led a singleton club, if anyone has a singleton club, it's more apt to be East, so I want to cash the club ace and lead toward the king. But if I cash the diamond ace and pitch a club, I won't be able to that, so I must play clubs first.

I cash the club ace--five--four--seven and lead the club jack. East plays the deuce, I rise with the king, and West follows with the eight. We're almost home.

I ruff another heart, and East pitches the five of diamonds. Everyone follows to the diamond ace and follows again when I ruff a diamond with the deuce. Now I can claim.

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

Plus 1460 is worth 82%. The overtrick was important; 1430 would have been below average. Too bad my careful play wasn't necessary. It can be hard to put in the necessary effort to play a hand like this correctly. Seven looks cold once they don't lead a trump, and most of the time it will be, so you will probably get away with not working too hard. Still, if you make the extra effort, you will have some edge over those who don't--even if it's only a small edge.

One person did bid and make seven. He bid Blackwood directly over one spade, then bid seven over six diamonds. Given you get 82% for bidding six and not butchering the play, I don't think odds were in his favor with that decision--especially if West had led a trump and forced declarer to guess the club queen.

I don't care for the immediate Blackwood bid. If you are afraid LHO may pre-empt and deprive you of a chance to bid Blackwood, bidding it immediately may be a good idea. But that's not the case here. It probably can't hurt to bid two notrump first. You may find out something useful.

And there is another consideration that this hand illustrates. Even if you have an agreement that an immediate four notrump asks for keycards rather than just aces (an agreement not everyone has), an immediate four notrump should still allow you to select a different trump suit. After one spade--four notrump--six diamonds, it's not clear that six hearts is an invitation to seven spades. It might be construed as to play. An immediate two notrump bid, however, agrees spades unambiguously.

Free Weekly Instant Tournament - September 9 - Board 3

Board 3
Opponents vulnerable

If the September 9 Free Weekly Instant Tournament is still available, give it a try before reading on.

I pick up this hand in first seat:

♠ A 10 4 3  ♥ K J 6  ♦ Q 5  ♣ A Q 7 3

I open with one notrump and buy it. West leads the six of spades.

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

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

The deuce is missing, so the lead could be from a five-card suit. It might also be from a doubleton. The robots like short-suit leads against notrump.

I have or can easily develop two spade tricks, one club, one heart, and two diamonds. Six tricks. I need one more to make this contract. I might find a second club trick if I guess which honor to finesse against. Or I might find several extra tricks in diamonds.

There is a problem with going after diamonds, however. If the spade lead was from shortness, I might have no dummy entry. I can try to keep communications by leading the queen and ducking if it's covered. Now if the ten drops, I have four diamond tricks. But if the queen isn't covered and holds, it's not clear how to proceed. Still, I see no better approach than riding the diamond queen, so I'll worry about that if it happens.

I play a low spade from dummy and East plays the jack. The fact that East played the jack increases the likelihood that the lead was from shortness. If West has led a doubleton spade, then East will always play the jack. But if West has led fourth best, then, by the Rule of Eleven, East has only one card higher than the six. So there is a good chance East doesn't have the jack to play. This is essentially a restricted choice argument. Of course it holds only because West is at least as likely to lead a short suit as not. Against an opponent who almost always chooses his longest suit, this argument would not be valid.

I win with the spade ace and lead the diamond queen. West plays the seven. Against a human, I might assume that either the seven is an honest count card or West has the king. It's dangerous for West to give false count without the king, since his partner needs to know how long to hold up. A robot, however, could play the seven from any holding. Sometimes they give accurate count when declarer attacks a suit; sometimes they don't.

I play low from dummy, and East takes the king. He would probably duck with king third, so I suspect he has either king doubleton or king-ten fourth. If I am right that West is short in spades, the former is more likely. It is tempting, therefore, to lead a diamond to the nine when I get in. Although that is a bit scary. I may wind up taking no diamond tricks at all if I try that.

East shifts to the four of hearts. I play low. West wins with the queen and cashes the ace. East follows with the nine, and I play the jack. West now shifts to the deuce of spades.

What? Why didn't West continue hearts? Could he have king fifth of spades after all and be attempting to establish his suit? Hardly. If that were his plan, he wouldn't have cashed the heart ace. So he must have a different reason for shifting to spades.

He would surely continue hearts if he had ace-queen fourth or fifth and the club king,  Even with ace-queen third of hearts and the club king, setting up heart tricks for his partner would look like a better idea than knocking out his partner's entry. The only way this play makes sense is if West is afraid the defense might lose the spade king if he doesn't cash it. Perhaps he has something like,

♠ 6 2  ♥ A Q x x  ♦ 10 x x x  ♣ x x x.

Since the robots assume I'm double-dummy, he would expect me to finesse against his diamond ten and run the suit. So if I have four club tricks, he will lose his partner's spade king if he doesn't cash it. One of dummy's spades will go on my heart king; the other, on my long club. While this construction might not be exactly right, I can be fairly certain the club king is onside--and probably the jack as well. Abandoning the heart suit makes no sense if West has a club trick.

There is no reason to play the spade queen from dummy. If I play low, East may take the king, giving me two spade tricks. I play low, and East plays the king. He, like his partner, must be afraid the defense will lose the spade king if he doesn't take it. This is further confirmation that the club king is onside. The defense, however, gives me more credit than I deserve in assuming I'm going to pick up the diamond suit. Despite their fears to the contrary, I can't see their cards. While I'm inclined to finesse West for the diamond ten, I haven't made up my mind yet.

East continues with the spade nine, and West discards the heart eight. I win with dummy's queen and lead the club ten. East covers with the jack, I play the queen, and West follows with the deuce.

Which major should I cash first? I already know how spades split. I might as well test the hearts. I cash the heart king, and West follows with the seven. I don't need dummy's fifth diamond. Nine doubleton of clubs in dummy might prove useful. It's hard to see how, but it doesn't hurt to hold onto it for one more round. I pitch a diamond, and East discards his last spade.

Wow! I wasn't expecting that. So West began with six hearts? I've changed my mind about finessing him for the diamond ten. East is 4-2 in the majors and probably 4-3 in the minors (on the assumption that he would have ducked the diamond with king third). This is the current position, with East presumably holding king-ten third of diamonds and king doubleton of clubs.

	NORTH Robot ♠ -- ♥ -- ♦ A J 9 ♣ 9 6
	SOUTH Phillip ♠ 10 ♥ -- ♦ 5 ♣ A 7 3

I suspect I'm going to lose the last trick. Or maybe not. If East has  king-eight of clubs, the spade ten will squeeze him, and I'll take the rest.

I cash the spade ten. West discards the heart three, I discard a club from dummy, and East discards the club five. Oh, well. As expected, the diamond ten doesn't drop. I lose trick thirteen to West's club eight.

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

Plus 120 is worth 79%.

Most declarers took only seven tricks for a variety of reasons. One particularly interesting error: When West cashed his hearts and shifted to the spade deuce, one declarer went up with the queen, allowing East the take the king and continue the suit. Declarer can still manage an overtrick, but it requires accurate card-reading. Playing low from dummy gives East the opportunity to make things easy for you by taking his king.

If West had king fifth of spades, rising the the king would be a sensible tactical move, preventing West from establishing his suit. But, as we saw, that's impossible. Declarer missed the inference that West would not cash the heart ace if he had a spade suit to establish.

Free Weekly Instant Tournament - September 2 - Board 2

Board 2
Our side vulnerable

This is board two from this week's Free Instant Tournament on BBO. If you haven't played it yet, give it a try before reading on.

♠ Q 4  ♥ A K Q 10 8 4 3  ♦ Q 8 4  ♣ Q

RHO passes. I have seven heart tricks and a smattering of queens, which should contribute a little more than half a trick. One heart followed by three hearts shows seven and a half to eight tricks, so that is my plan.

You can reach the same conclusion via point count. You have 15 HCP, minus two for the two unprotected queens, plus one for the fifth heart, one for the sixth heart, and two for the seventh. That makes 17, and a three-heart rebid is 17 to 18 total points. Personally, I find counting tricks easier. Counting points and making all the necessary adjustments for good and bad honors is just a way to approximate counting tricks anyway. Why not simply count them?

I open with one heart, and partner responds with one spade. The spade queen is worth a little more now that partner has bid the suit. I can count this hand as a full eight tricks or, if counting points, as 18 points. In either case, my revaluation simply places me at the top of my range for a three-heart bid. I rebid three hearts, and partner bids three spades.

This is an awkward auction in standard methods. Partner usually has six spades, but he doesn't have to. I could easily have three spades, so if partner has five spades and a singleton heart, a three-notrump bid by him risks our missing a five-three spade fit. He must use his judgment and choose the rebid that he expects to work out most of the time. Similarly, while opener often raises with a doubleton honor, he doesn't have to. He must use his judgment as well, choosing among three notrump, four hearts, or four spades.

With this hand, I am not tempted to raise spades, since my hearts are playable opposite a void. The only choice is between four hearts and three notrump. Three notrump is often right when your hearts are solid. But with such soft side values, I’m concerned I will have tempo problems in three notrump. So I bid four hearts.

Partner passes, and West leads the five of clubs.

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

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

I have a spade loser, possibly one or more heart losers, and possibly one diamond loser. I may be able to pitch one diamond on a spade, avoiding a diamond loser if the king is onside. If the West doesn't manage a diamond shift in time, I may be able to pitch two diamonds and avoid a diamond finesse altogether.

Is there any reason to duck the club? Yes. If West has led from the club king, I could conceivably take all the tricks: two clubs, seven hearts, and four diamonds. That would take quite a bit of luck, however. There are many layouts where I have no useful pitch on the club ace, so the finesse gains nothing even when it works. Even if I thought West was a favorite to hold the club king, it’s not clear that it’s right to finesse. It surely isn’t right when the finesse is 50-50 at best.

I take the club ace, and East follows with the four. The three is still missing. 

I have two choices at this point. I can ruff a club, draw trump, and attack spades. Or I can immediately lead a spade to the queen. The latter offers two advantages: (1) If East has the ace, he may hop, either because he has no choice (i.e., it's singleton) or because he is afraid I have a stiff queen. (2) If West has the ace and East has the diamond king, West may win and try to cash a club instead of shifting to a diamond. If I ruff a club to my hand, he will know the club isn't cashing. Of course, he should know it isn't cashing anyway, since I would have ducked the opening lead with queen doubleton. But the robots are incapable of drawing such inferences.

The disadvantage of playing a spade immediately is that West may have ace fourth of spades and give his partner a ruff. But he doesn't know which of us has the stiff spade, so even if he does have ace fourth, he might not find the continuation. And if he does, it's possible East will be ruffing with a natural trump trick

I play a spade from dummy--jack--queen--ace. East plays the nine of clubs--deuce--king--heart three. I cash three hearts, pitching a card from each suit from dummy, and find hearts three-three. If spades break, I have the rest. If not--if East shows out when I lead a spade to the king--I will have to decide whether to play safe for five by playing on diamonds or to try for six by squeezing West down to a doubleton diamond king. If I play for the squeeze and the diamond king is offside, I will hold myself to four--or conceivably go down if East stiffs the diamond king.

But no need to worry about that yet. I play a spade--ten--king--three. I can now claim.

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

Plus 680 is worth 61%, thanks to a handful of players who chose to raise three spades to four

Nobody tried three notrump over three spades. Perhaps partner would have pulled it. If he doesn't, and if West chooses to lead a diamond, I can go plus 690--assuming I take care to unblock the nine at trick one. Actually, since West has the spade ace, I don't need to unblock, do I? I can win the diamond queen, cash seven hearts, and take a diamond finesse. Now the club ace squeezes West down to a stiff ace of spades, and I can toss him in to lead another diamond.