Free Weekly Instant Tournament - March 24 - Board 7

Board 7
Both vulnerable

♠ A K Q 5 3  ♥ Q 9 5  ♦ J 7  ♣ K 7 3

I have 15 HCP, so I can open either with one notrump or with one spade.

When I was a beginner, I once opened one notrump with a five-card major and got a stern lecture from an opponent, who apparently considered it his duty to educate young players. "It's anti-field," he said groundlessly.

I've never understood equating "anti-field" with "bad." If you think an action has negative expectation, I'll listen to your reasoning. But what do I care if it's anti-field? If it has positive expectation and the field doesn't know that, "anti-field" is good.

In my experience, the fear of missing a five-three fit when you open with one notrump is overblown. Odds are, partner doesn't have precisely three cards in your major. And, even if he does, it's not necessarily right to play in the major. If you're worried about it, you can play Puppet Stayman. But I prefer simply not to worry about it. If  we miss a five-three fit, so be it. My primary concern in is whether opening the major will give me a rebid problem.

I usually open with the major when I have 17 HCP, since I have an easy two-notrump rebid. But with 15 or 16 HCP, I tend to open with one notrump. That's an awkward range for opening with one of a suit. It's not good enough for aggressive action later on, but it is good enough that you can miss a game if you treat the hand as a minimum.  

Some players use other criteria. Larry Edwards, for example, once told me he avoids one notrump with five cards in one major and a doubleton in the other. That way, if his partner transfers to the other major and passes, at least he isn't playing his five-two fit instead of his five-three fit.

Recently, I encountered Steve Robinson's advice. Like me, he is concerned primarily with avoiding rebid problems. With 17 HCP, he opens with the major and rebids two notrump. With 16 HCP, he opens with one notrump. With 15 HCP, his choice depends upon the major. With hearts, he opens with one notrump to avoid a problem after one heart--one spade. But with spades he prefers one spade. With 15 HCP, he says, you can rebid a three-card minor over a forcing notrump without too much fear of missing a game.

I decided to give Steve's approach a try. I bid one spade, partner bids one notrump, forcing, and I rebid two clubs. Partner bids three spades, showing a three-card invitational raise. Obviously I'm accepting. But I might as well offer partner a choice of games. I bid three notrump, and partner corrects to four spades. LHO leads the club queen.

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

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

The one spade opening got us to our five-three fit. Had I opened with one notrump, partner would have raised to three. I'll decide later whether I'm happy about that or not.

If spades break, I have nine tricks after knocking out the diamond ace. To make ten, I need a heart trick, a heart ruff, or a third diamond trick. If I go after a heart ruff, I must knock out the diamond ace first and take my club discard. If I play a heart first, they can win and lead another club, setting up a fourth winner for the defense.

Knocking out the diamond ace before drawing trump can fail in a number of ways. Someone may have a doubleton diamond, preventing me from taking my club pitch. Or someone may have a stiff club and get a club ruff. Even if neither of those things happens, they can stop the heart ruff simply by leading trumps every time they get in. I have to lose the lead three times, so they can take all the trumps off the table.

It looks better simply to draw trump and hope I can find a tenth trick somewhere. I can try to drop the diamond ten in three rounds. Failing that, I can finesse against the heart ten.

I must win this trick in my hand to preserve an entry to the diamonds, so I play low. East plays the deuce, and I win with the king. I cash three trumps. East pitches the heart deuce on the third round. I lead the diamond jack--deuce--eight--ace. East shifts to the eight of hearts. That gives me my tenth trick. Making four.

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

61%. The diamond ten was dropping, so I didn't need the heart shift.

How did the one spade opening work out? As I said earlier, if I open with one notrump, partner will raise to three. Which contract is better?

If spades split, three notrump requires four-four hearts or no heart lead. Four spades requires some luck in one of the red suits, although an opening lead in one of them is all the luck you need. It appears that four spades is better at IMPs. But three notrump does have some chances if spades don't split, so it's not clear.

It's even less clear at matchpoints. Today, however, three notrump was better. West can beat it with a heart lead, but he has a normal club lead. And, with the diamond ten dropping, three notrump makes four. Actually, it's somewhat surprising that plus 420 is above average.

On an empirical basis then, we have to credit the win to opening with one notrump and accidentally missing the five-three spade fit.

Free Weekly Instant Tournament - March 17 - Board 6

Board 6
Opponents vulnerable

♠ Q 9 8  ♥ A 9  ♦ A Q J 8 7 2  ♣ 6 5

Partner opens with one diamond. I bid two diamonds, showing a limit raise or better in diamonds. Partner bids four hearts. I should have thought that was a splinter, but the tooltip says it shows four or more hearts and 7 to 12 total points. That makes no sense. Then I notice that it was RHO who opened with one diamond, not partner. My two-diamond bid was Michaels, showing a major two-suiter.

Now what? Since it's a Weekly Free Instant Tournament, I could withdraw and start over, taking care to make the same bids and plays as I replay the first five boards. There is some justification for doing this, since this is a mishap that couldn't happen in face-to-face play. But it sets a bad precedent for Gargoyle Chronicles. I want these posts to be honest accounts of what happened. If I'm going to hold myself to that, I can't justify a Mulligan for any reason.

The next question is, am I allowed to pass, or am I ethically obligated to treat partner's four-heart bid as a splinter? Partner didn't alert, so I have no unauthorized information from that perspective. How about from the tooltip, explaining what partner's bid meant? While the tooltip is what woke me up, that information is not unauthorized. The whole point of supplying that information is so I can use it. It's a peculiarity of this tournament format. So, yes, I'm allowed to wake up and pass.

I pass, and RHO leads the four of hearts.

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

West	North	East	South
Robot	Phillip	Robot	Robot
1 ♦	2 ♦ [sic]	Pass	4 ♥
(All pass)

If I can take five heart tricks, three diamond tricks, and one spade, I'm up to nine tricks. If I can guess the spade jack or find an extra diamond trick, I might end up actually making this.

I could play low from dummy and ride this to my hand. But West is unlikely to have led from the trump queen, so I might as well rise with the ace and lead a heart to my jack to make communication easier. I play the heart ace, and East follows with the deuce. Now the nine of hearts--six--jack--seven. I cash the heart king, and West follows.That's good news.

What should I pitch from dummy? I can't afford to pitch a spade. It's hard to see how dummy's sixth diamond is going to matter. It's hard to see how dummy's second club is going to matter either, but something tells me it might. So I pitch a diamond. Frankly, I chose a diamond discard more from instinct than from analysis. At the time, I wasn't sure why I needed two clubs in dummy, even though, as we shall see, it turns out to be important.

East follows with the heart queen. The opponents have 17 HCP. West appears to be balanced, so he has 12 to 14, leaving East with at most 5. I've seen only two high-card points from East, so he could still have the diamond king.

I lead the diamond four. West plays the nine. Is he splitting from king-ten-nine fourth for fear I'm looking at his hand and will insert the eight? I play the queen, and East follows with the three. Yes, it appears West had king-ten-nine fourth. He must be 2-3-4-4, 3-3-4-3, or 4-3-4-2. (He might open one diamond with 1-3-4-5, but since he didn't lead a spade, I'll assume he doesn't have that pattern.) East has at most three HCP, so he might have the club queen and a black jack or both black jacks.

I have no way of knowing who has the spade jack. But finessing West for it is dangerous. If East gains the lead with the spade jack, he can put a club through. Now I lose three clubs and two spades for down two. It's safer to finesse against East. If the finesse loses, I'm down only one. East can't gain the lead for a club shift, so I can repeat the diamond finesse for a ninth trick.

If the finesse against East wins, I'm in great shape. Say I play a spade to the ten and West takes the ace and plays another spade. I win in my hand, finesse the diamond, cash the diamond ace, and ruff a diamond. Now I have the spade queen as an entry to dummy's last diamond. Making an overtrick.

To deprive me of my late dummy entry, West must duck the spade ten. Now I repeat the diamond finesse, cash the ace, ruff a diamond, and lead the spade king. West can duck again to keep me off dummy. But if West started with only three spades, a third spade will endplay him, forcing him to give me the club king.

To summarize, if I play West for the spade jack, I might might go down two. If I play East for it, I take nine tricks if I'm wrong and ten or eleven if I'm right. It's true there might be no difference between down one and down two, so perhaps I shouldn't worry about that. But East does have more small spades than West on average, so I decide to finesse against him. I lead the eight of spades from dummy. East plays the three. I finesse the ten, and West wins with the jack. Oh, well. I guess I'm down.

West cashes the spade ace--nine--deuce--four. He now plays another spade. Oops. I think that was an error. He was supposed to play a diamond to kill my squeeze entry. This is the current position, with the lead in my hand. I'll arbitrarily give East the last spade. It makes no difference if West has it.

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

I can cash two trumps, pitching a club and a diamond from dummy. West must stiff his club ace to hold all his diamonds. Now I can play a diamond to the eight and exit with a club, forcing him to lead into my ace-jack of diamonds to make four.

I cash a trump. West pitches the club four. I pitch a club from dummy. On the last trump, I expect a club pitch, but West pitches the diamond five. I suppose he is hoping I began with a singleton diamond. I pitch dummy's last club and the diamonds are good. Making five.

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

Unsurprisingly, this is worth 100%. One other player reached four hearts after the identical accident, but he went down four. He played low from dummy on the heart lead and could no longer make it. It pays to keep a level head when accidents happen.

I said earlier holding two clubs in dummy was important. Why? West allowed this endplay by gratuitously playing the diamond nine on the first diamond trick. Suppose he had played small. He would then be holding king-ten-nine in the diagrammed position, and the endplay wouldn't work. But I could still make four on a different squeeze. I cash one trump, pitching a diamond from dummy. On the last trump, West must stiff his club ace. I now come down to two diamonds and two clubs in dummy and duck out the the club ace to score the last three tricks. Note if dummy holds a stiff club in the diagrammed position, this squeeze doesn't work.

While I didn't see this at the time I made the critical discard, I suspect I had this matrix in mind unconsciously when I decided the second club might be important.

Free Weekly Instant Tournament - March 10 - Board 5

Board 5
Our side vulnerable

♠ A K J 5 4  ♥ 10 9  ♦ 3  ♣ A K 8 5 4

Partner opens with one diamond and RHO passes. I bid one spade and partner rebids one notrump. I bid two clubs, artificial and forcing, and partner bids two spades, showing three-card spade support. 

Should I investigate slam? Culbertson's Rule states that when slam is virtually cold opposite the perfect minimum, you should invite. What do I need for slam to be virtually cold? Both black queens and the red aces will suffice. Both black queens and the ace-king of hearts will work as well, which is even less than a minimum. So this hand merits an invitation.

Note that counting points wouldn't lead you to this conclusion. I would count this hand as 18 total points: 15 HCP plus one for each of the five-card suits plus one for the singleton once a fit is found. That's still not enough to make a slam try opposite a weak notrump. 

Counting losers would work. Five losers opposite partner's presumed seven should produce slam if the hands fit well. But I prefer using Culbertson's Rule. It's both easy to apply and accurate. 

I once suggested this rule to a player who responded, "Playing partner for the perfect hand seldom works out." I don't think she quite grasped the rule. To clarify: (1) This perfect hand you are postulating must be a minimum. (2) Slam must be cold on normal breaks opposite this hand. (3) Even when you meet conditions (1) and (2), you only invite. So it's hardly "playing partner for the perfect hand." Each of these three elements serves to slow you down. It's actually a conservative rule.

I bid three clubs to show my second suit, and partner bids three notrump. Apparently most of his high cards are in the red suits, so slam no longer appeals. I bid four spades, which ends the auction. LHO leads the four of hearts.

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

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

Partner has neither black queen, so these hands don't fit well. I was toying with slam and I might go down in game.

First I have to decide what to do on this trick. The robots are not fond of aggressive leads, so the heart king is a favorite to be on my right. It's possible I should hop with the ace, cross to my hand, and lead a diamond to the queen to take a heart pitch. That's quite a position to take, however. It would be embarrassing to lose two tricks in the red suits--especially if the heart finesse was on all along.

Another concern is that, even if the diamond finesse works, cashing two diamonds opens me up to getting tapped. If trumps don't break, I could lose control. I may then wish I had held on to some of my red-suit stoppers.

Besides, while the heart king is a favorite to be offside, it's not a heavy favorite. Hearts is the unbid suit after all. And West doesn't necessarily have a safe lead in any suit.

I've talked myself into taking the heart finesse. If it turns out it was right to go up and take the diamond finesse, at least I can say I thought about it.

I play the heart queen. East plays the five. Yay! The three and the deuce are still out.

I'm going to need to ruff at least one club, possibly two. There is variety of ways to do that. I could start ruffing clubs now. Or I could play two rounds of trumps, then ruff a club. The two rounds of trumps could consist of cashing the ace and king or it could involve a spade finesse.

Often when you have potential trump losers, ruffing the side suit early is the best approach. If someone scores a ruff, it may be with a trump trick you were destined to lose anyway. If so, you are compressing two losers into one. In this case, when I may need to ruff two clubs, starting trumps seems like an especially bad idea. I don't want to give the opponents  a chance to take all the trumps off the table.

I lead a club to the ace. East plays the three; West, the seven. On the club king, West plays the six; East, the jack. West follows to the next club with the queen. I ruff with dummy's six. East overruffs with the ten and switches to the spade three. I play the ace, and West follows with the nine. The spade queen is the only spade out higher than dummy's eight. If West has it, I can ruff another club to establish my suit.

It doesn't hurt to try. If I get overruffed, I was losing that club trick anyway. I ruff a club with dummy's eight. It holds. The remaining spades split, so I make six. See? We did have a slam.

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

96%! Most declarers played trumps too early. If you lead a spade to the queen, West wins and returns a spade. Now when you ruff a club, it gets overruffed and you are left with a club loser, making only four. 

Cashing the top spades is better, since you drop the queen. Now you make five. Again, the third round of club gets overruffed and you are left with a club loser.

Playing one round of trumps does no better. When East overruffs, his trump return removes dummy's last trump, so you still make only five--assuming you drop the trump queen.

The only way to make six is to ruff clubs twice, and to do that you must ruff a club without touching the trump suit. I did say "when I may need to ruff two clubs, starting trumps seems like an especially bad idea." Retaining the ability to ruff the second club proved to be critical.

Free Weekly Instant Tournament - March 3 - Board 4

Board 4
Both vulnerable

♠ A 7 4  ♥ A 3 2  ♦ A K Q 7  ♣ J 4 3

Three passes to me. I open with one diamond. Partner bids one notrump. I raise to two notrump, and partner goes on to three. RHO leads the six of hearts.

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

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

I have two heart tricks, four diamonds, and two spades. I need one more trick. I play a low heart from dummy, and East plays the seven.

It appears West has led from king-jack-eight-six. East's seven is probably showing count with a doubleton,which means West has five hearts. It shouldn't matter whether I win this trick with the ten or nine. West will know my holding either way. And East doesn't care. He will lead a second heart as soon as he gets in. I arbitrarily choose the ten.

I need to develop a club trick to make this. My best chance is that the ace and king of clubs are in the same hand. It doesn't matter which hand. Either way, they will be unable both to establish and run the hearts. If that's the layout, it doesn't matter which hand I start clubs from.

Do I have any chance if the club honors are split? Normally one would play this suit by leading through the hand more likely to have a doubleton honor, so you can duck the honor out on the next round. West is more likely to have a doubleton than East. But in this case, ducking out his doubleton honor does me no good. I can't afford to lose the first club to East.

My best chance to avoid losing the first club to East is to get to dummy and lead a small club toward my hand. If East has the ace, he will probably hop. But he might not hop with the king. 

Even if I get the club past him, I will still need some luck to develop a club trick. I have to hope East began with a doubleton king, which is unlikely, or that clubs are three-three and West doesn't find a spade shift, depriving me of the necessary tempi.

Should I cash diamonds before playing clubs? Often, forcing the opponents to make early discards is a good idea. But my main concern here is to keep East from hopping with the club king. The less information he has the better. Cashing diamonds can only help him.

I play the diamond three--six--ace--deuce. Now the club three. East plays the nine. So far, so good. I play the queen; West, the five. 

That's my ninth trick. Apparently my legitimate chance came home. East has both club honors. If he has ace-king third, I can establish my fourth club and make an overtrick. Is there any danger in playing another club? East might have started with five. But, if so, he has only four tricks to cash, so I'll still make my contract. There's no hurry however. I might as well run the diamonds first and see what happens. 

I cash the king and queen of diamonds and play a diamond to my jack. On the third and fourth diamonds, East echoes in spades, playing six-five. On the last diamond, West pitches the eight of hearts.

If East was echoing to show four spades, then he is probably 4-2-2-5, making this the current layout:

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

If so, I can cash the king and ace of spades and toss West in to lead away from his heart king.

I cash the spade king--nine--four--three. Now a spade to the ace. West plays the ten; East, the deuce. No spades honors from East? Is it possible West began with queen-jack-ten fourth of spades and chose to lead a broken heart suit? He did have five hearts and only four spades. But the robots don't like aggressive leads against notrump, so I'm starting to suspect I was wrong about the spade split.

Perhaps West's echo was with six spades rather then four. That makes him 6-2-2-3 and his last five cards are queen-jack of spades, two clubs, and a heart. If so, exiting with a spade can't hurt. The defense will take two spades and two clubs and I'll get the heart ace in the end. It's safe to try for the endplay.

Or is it? Is it possible hearts are six-one? If so, East has all black cards and will clam if I exit with a spade. But I don't think that's the case. Holding

♠ Q J x x x x  ♥ x  ♦ x x  ♣ A K 10 9,

I'm pretty sure he would open the bidding. Besides, West's heart eight was probably present count from four hearts remaining, even though that's the wrong way to card.

I exit with a spade. West did indeed start with six spades. The defense takes their four tricks and I take the heart ace in the end. Making three.

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

I score 93%. So West held the club ace and ducked it! He could beat me by winning and playing spades. It never occurred to me that he had ducked the ace. Why not? Probably because I knew I didn't have king-queen or queen-ten. A classic blind spot: assuming the opponents can see my hand.

The blind spot might have been costly. Suppose, after winning the club queen, I had played another club, ducking in dummy, instead of cashing the diamonds. If East were clever enough to win with the king rather than the ten to put a heart through, I might play a third club and go down.

I said West's heart eight was the wrong way to card with four hearts remaining. I should explain that.

The robots and most human players don't know this. But if you lead fourth best from five, you should play your lowest card next instead of giving present count. Since you have no choice but to play up with four, you must play down with five to distinguish between the two. Playing up when you are known to have length shows six. The principle is that you want your ambiguities to be two-card ambiguities, not one-card ambiguities. Partner can probably tell from other clues whether you have four or six. It may be harder to distinguish four from five or five from six. So you don't want to card the same way with those holdings.

Of course, as always, you may decide that declarer cares more about your count than partner does. But if you want to tell partner what you have, the recommended approach is the way to do it. Standard present count doesn't work.

Free Weekly Instant Tournament - February 24 - Board 3

Board 3
Opponents vulnerable

♠ A K 8 7  ♥ A Q 10 5  ♦ K 8 4  ♣ 6 4

I open with one notrump in first seat. Everyone passes. I like this auction. One notrump is frequently a difficult contract to declare. And in this event, where your system is foisted upon you, everyone should be in this contract. So this deal should offer a good opportunity to outshine the field.

LHO leads the eight of clubs.

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

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

The lead is probably top of a doubleton. I have three spade tricks, one heart, and one diamond, bringing me up to five. I need two more to make this. There are prospects for more tricks in all four suits. That's what makes playing one notrump challenging.You frequently have lots of options with little information at the start. Your goal is to find a flexible line that leaves as many options open as possible until you get a better picture of the layout.

There's no point in thinking about this too hard now. The defense is in charge for the moment. Let's see what they do.

I cover the eight with the nine, and East wins with the jack. He shifts to the deuce of diamonds.

That was unexpected. A heart shift looks more natural. Diamonds must look like a promising source of tricks to East. He probably has ace fourth or fifth. He might have the jack as well, especially if he has five. In this layout, switching from ace-jack fifth gives me a second diamond trick I wouldn't have managed by myself. But his partner might have the king, or I might have king doubleton. Also, giving me a second diamond trick might gain in the long run if the key to the defense is running the diamond suit.

I play low, West plays the nine, and I win with dummy's ten. I'm up to six tricks now. My first instinct is to play a heart to the ten. If that drives the king, I've made my contract. If it loses to the jack, I can decide whether to use my entry with the spade queen to repeat the finesse or to try for four spade tricks.

But maybe I can do better. What happens if I play on clubs? If East wins with the queen and plays another diamond, he gives me a dummy entry. I can now drive the club ace, giving me two club tricks. Even if East began with five diamonds, the defense can take only three diamonds and three clubs, so I've made my contract. If he began with four diamonds, I'll make an overtrick.

More likely, East will win the club queen and shift to a heart. Then I'm no worse off than if I had played a heart myself. In fact, I'm better off, since I've cut the opponents' communications. Having stripped West of his club exit, I may be able to endplay him.

The way playing a club could work out badly is if East wins and shifts to a spade. Now I lose my chance to take two heart finesses. But, looking at that dummy, he isn't apt to shift a spade. If he does, I'll worry about what to do at that point. I'll still have a variety of options.

I play a low club from dummy toward my six. East hops with the queen, and West follows with the three. As expected, East shifts to a heart, the four. I finesse the ten. West wins with the jack and shifts to the three of diamonds. 

Here is the current position:

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

I would like to win this in dummy so I can continue clubs. What's the best way to do that? If I play the queen and East began with ace fourth, he may duck to preserve communication. Then I can continue clubs. If, instead, he takes his ace, I can no longer set up clubs. But, thanks to my club play at trick three, I may now be able to endplay West.

Say, for example, East takes the diamond ace and continues diamonds. I win in my hand and play ace of spades (unblocking the nine) and a spade to the queen, reaching this position:

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

If West has played low spades, I play a spade to the king. If spades break, the long spade is my seventh trick. If West has long spades, I toss him in to force a heart return, reaping the reward from my club play at trick three.

If West has played an honor, I play a spade and, if East follows, finesse the eight. If I lose to jack-ten-third, West is still endplayed.

More likely, if East chooses to win the diamond ace, he will shift to a heart. I must then decide who has the heart king. If it's East, I must finesse. If it's West, I must hop, cash the diamond king, and execute the same endplay. I can make that decision later. Let's see what happens on this trick.

I play the diamond queen. East ducks. Driving the club should work now. Unless, that is, East started with five diamonds. Then the defense will take three diamonds, three clubs, and a heart for down one. If that's the case, I need to abandon the club suit and go for the endplay.

Is that possible? If East started with five diamonds, he knows the diamond suit is dead. The natural play is to win and continue hearts. It would be quite diabolical to duck, assuming that would entice me to continue clubs. A robot, who assumes declarer is double-dummy, would never do that. And there are few humans who would be capable of it. So I'll stick with my plan.

I play a club. East wins and cashes two diamonds. Making one.

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

+90 is worth 79%. Almost every declarer played a heart at trick three. Some went down, some made it, depending on how they proceeded after that. A heart is certainly the intuitive play. But I think a little reflection will reveal that attacking clubs and retaining your flexibility is a better approach.

Free Weekly Instant Tournament - February 17 - Board 2

Board 2
Our side vulnerable

♠ A 6 2  ♥ A 8 7 6  ♦ K 9 3  ♣ A 4 2

Pass on my right. I open with one notrump. Partner bids four diamonds, a transfer to hearts. I bid four hearts and everyone passes. LHO leads the king of clubs.

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

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

Thanks to this lead, I have only one club loser. I can pitch one of dummy's spades on my diamond king, leaving me with one spade loser. So to make this, I need to hold my hearts losers to one.

I can guarantee at most one heart loser by playing a low heart from dummy and covering whatever card East plays. But there are two problems with that line. (1) I lose a trick unnecessarily if West has a stiff king. And (2) If West wins with a stiff king or jack, he may be able to give his partner a club ruff. It would be embarrassing to go down in a cold contract by taking a "safety play."

At IMPs, I wouldn't care about (1), but (2) would be a concern. A stiff king or jack in West's hand is a twice as likely as a void. So if I judge the risk of a club ruff is more than 50%, the deep finesse is wrong. 

Since I'm playing matchpoints, I don't need to bother making that judgment. I expect everyone to be in game. So consideration (1) all by itself makes cashing the heart ace marginally better than the deep finesse. Once you consider (2) as well, it's not even close. Cashing the heart ace is the percentage play.

The next thing to consider: Is there is any way to avoid the spade loser? Can I strip the hand and endplay somebody?

Suppose I win with the club ace, play a diamond to dummy and a heart to the ace. Everyone follows low. I cash the diamond king, pitching a spade from dummy, and ruff a diamond. For the endplay to work, I need the hand I toss in to have the spade king. But I also need him to have no small club to exit with.  I have two ways to play for such a layout. I can exit with a club, hoping West began with king-queen doubleton, or I can exit with a trump, hoping East wins the trick and began with a singleton club. Neither seems likely, but it's worth a shot.

I play a low club from dummy. East plays the club seven, and I win with the ace. I play a diamond to dummy--deuce--ace--queen. Now a low heart. East plays the four, I play the ace, and West discards the club three.

So much for the percentage play. Now I have two heart losers, so I need the endplay to make my contract. I cash the diamond king--eight--spade three--diamond five. I ruff a diamond in dummy. West plays the six; East, the ten. This is the position

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

West, holding king-queen third of clubs, would not have pitched his only safe exit card, so I can't endplay West. My only chance is that East began with a stiff club. I play a trump. East cashes his two trumps and exits with the diamond jack. I ruff in my hand, pitching a spade from dummy, and drive the club queen. Making four.

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

Making four hearts is worth 93%. Most of the field is in four hearts going down, which isn't surprising. You have to have the foresight to cash the diamond ace at trick two. If you cash the heart ace first, you no longer have the entries to strip the hand.

I was lucky to find East with a stiff club. But good luck does you no good if you don't set yourself up to take advantage of it. A friend once told me that's a valuable life lesson that she learned from bridge.

Two declarers made four hearts, but neither with the line I took. One declarer took the pseudo-safety play in the trump suit. When that worked, she should have made an overtrick on the endplay. But, perhaps blinded by her elation at getting the trumps right, she failed to see the endplay and made only four.

The other declarer tried an interesting gambit. She ducked the opening club lead. In theory, the duck gives away a club trick. But how can West play you to have done such a thing? Looking at jack-ten-nine of clubs in dummy, he will surely conclude his partner has the ace and will continue the suit, giving the trick back.

What, then, have you gained? If the other cards are favorable, you can now endplay East when he has a doubleton club, which is twice as likely as a singleton. I like this line. I wish I had thought of it.

West did, in fact, continue clubs. When East ruffed, declarer must have had a moment of panic. Unless the ruff was with a natural trump trick, the gambit had backfired. Fortunately it was (at least on a normal handling of the trump suit), so the duck broke even. Since the endplay was intact, declarer made the game. (Actually, East exited with a spade, giving away the contract immediately. But I assume declarer would have executed the endplay had the defense put her to the test.That was obviously her plan, else the duck at trick one made no sense.)

I left unanswered the question of how to play the heart suit at IMPs. The critical question is, if West has a stiff king or jack of hearts, what is the chance of running into a club ruff? If it is better than 50%, the "safety play" isn't safe.

If we assume West has the club queen, there are five ways for him to hold six clubs, ten ways to hold five, ten ways to hold four, five ways to hold three, and one way to hold two. So at a first approximation, the chance of a club ruff is 15 to 16. It's actually a little less than that, since these cases are not equally likely. But there is another factor to consider. King-queen third is not an attractive lead. Even king-queen fourth without the ten or nine isn't especially attractive. If we factor in that consideration, cashing the trump ace becomes a stand-out at IMPs as well.

Free Weekly Instant Tournament - February 10 - Board 1

Board 1
Neither vulnerable

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

Two passes to me. I open with one club. LHO passes, partner bids one heart, and RHO overcalls with one spade.

I bid two hearts, showing four-card support. In the days before support doubles and redoubles, I would have bid three hearts. After interference, two hearts showed a minimum three-card raise, three hearts showed a minimum four-card raise, and a cue-bid (or two notrump over a double) showed a hand that would have bid three hearts without competition. The support double is an improvement. It allows you distinguish between three- and four-card raises while keeping the auction low, and, perhaps more importantly, it allows you to show a three-card raise when you hold better than a minimum.

Over two hearts, LHO raises to two spades, partner bids three clubs, and RHO bids three spades. With a maximum in high cards and no spade wastage, I have a clear acceptance of partner's invitation. How should I accept? We are both limited, so we know we don't have values for a slam. But it's important to prepare for a four-spade sacrifice, so I need to make the most descriptive call I can to aid in that decision. With this hand, I have no feature to emphasize. I'm balanced with scattered values. The most descriptive call I can make is a simple four hearts.

I bid four hearts, LHO bids four spades, and partner passes. Is his pass forcing? I'll give my usual answer to this question: Who cares? If partner thinks it's right to defend, he will double. If he doesn't want to stop me from bidding on if I'm so inclined, he will pass. In this auction, he will probably double any time he has two or more spades and pass when he has spade shortness. Since he is limited by his failure to open, if he passes I will have a fair picture of his hand and will be well placed to make the right decision. While I'm unlikely to choose to defend four spades undoubled, there is no reason I shouldn't do so if it looks right.

I think we tend to get hung up on whether a high-level pass is forcing or not when it often doesn't matter. Double shows better defense than offense and pass shows the opposite. What more do you need to know? If it's not clear from the auction that it's our hand and the opponents are saving, then we don't want pass to be forcing. And if it is clear, why do we need an agreement? Partner won't sell undoubled even without one.

Of course if you invert the meaning of pass and double, as some do, then you need a clear and unambiguous understanding of when pass is forcing, so you will know when this inversion applies. To my mind, that's a good reason not to play that way. No matter how clear you think your agreements are, there will always be fringe cases you didn't think of. While I can see an advantage of such an inversion, I'm not convinced the advantage is sufficient to compensate for the risk of a misunderstanding.

In any event, what should I do over four spades? With seven losers, it's hard to see taking eleven tricks opposite a passed hand. With a flat hand and scattered honors, I have a much better hand for defense than for offense. It's clear to double.

Double ends the auction. Now what should I lead? We appear to have all three side suits under control. If declarer has no source of tricks, there is no need for an active defense. My goal on the opening lead is to avoid giving away a trick. A trump lead looks like the best way to accomplish that. So I lead the deuce of spades.

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

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

What do I know about the layout? Declarer probably has six spades for his three-spade bid, so partner appears to have the singleton his auction suggested. It is likely to be a singleton honor, since South did not open with two spades. Declarer has at most three hearts and at most three clubs (since partner would not bid three clubs with fewer than three).

Declarer plays a low spade from dummy and partner wins with the ace. Partner shifts to the diamond four.

Why not a heart? With four small hearts, partner would probably lead one to get me off a potential end play. And with any five-card holding, he would want to establish and cash our heart trick as soon as possible. Not doing so risks declarer's later playing ace and a heart for a throw-in. The fact that partner didn't make the obvious heart shift suggests the shift is dangerous from his point of view.

What holding would make it dangerous? A shift from queen fourth might enable declarer, with jack-ten third, to set up a heart trick for a club pitch. Similarly, a shift from ten fourth might give declarer a trick if he has king-jack-nine. I can't see how a shift from any five-card holding would hurt, so I suspect partner has one of those two holdings. Also, he appears to be unconcerned about dummy's fourth diamond becoming a winner. Perhaps he knows that's not a danger. Perhaps he is 1-4-4-4, making declarer 6-3-2-2.

Declarer plays the diamond seven, and I win with the ten, Declarer surely would have played the diamond king if he had it, so partner has that card. That's seven HCP accounted for. 

Is there any reason not to continue with a passive defense? Can declarer possibly take a pitch somewhere? Suppose declarer holds this hand:

♠ K x x x x x  ♥ x x  ♦ J x x  ♣ K Q

If I don't play a heart now, our heart trick goes on dummy's jack of clubs. But why would partner switch to a diamond on that layout? If my deduction that partner has only four hearts is correct, I don't think any tricks can go away. So I continue with another trump.

Declarer wins in dummy, and partner pitches the five of diamonds. Partner would not pitch from four diamonds, allowing declarer to establish dummy's long diamond. So partner must be 1-4-5-3, making declarer 6-3-1-3. It also means partner has the diamond jack. With that pattern, partner is limited to 10 HCP given his failure to open, so he has at most the heart queen or the club queen.

Declarer plays a diamond from dummy and ruffs it. I unblock the ace to maintain flexibility. If declarer had the king-queen of clubs, he would simply drive the club ace. The fact that he has set about a strip suggests partner's queen is the club queen. Declarer must have queen third of hearts and king third of clubs. Not bad. I've worked out the entire layout. If my inference at trick two is correct, I can even place partner with the heart ten.

Declarer plays the six of hearts--eight--ace--three and ruffs another diamond. He now leads the nine of hearts. I play low, and partner wins with the ten.

If partner leads a third heart to tap dummy, declarer can lead dummy's last diamond and pitch a club, endplaying partner. Partner must tap declarer with a diamond to prevent that.

Partner agrees. He exits with the diamond king. Declarer ruffs and leads the heart queen. I cover and declarer ruffs in dummy. We have reached this position:

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

There is nothing we can do. Declarer can simply duck a club. Whichever hand wins this trick is endplayed.

Declarer leads a club to the nine. Henry Bethe would let the nine hold and laugh. But I don't have the confidence to make plays like that. ("Oh, you had the king of clubs, partner? Sorry. I must have miscounted.")

I win with the ten and cash the club ace. Down two.

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

Was four hearts making? If South leads his singleton diamond and partner wins and leads a heart to the jack, he'll make it. If he leads a heart to the king, he'll go down. Nobody played four hearts, so it's hard to say what would happen.

Plus 300 is worth 93%. Four spades doubled was a popular contract, but most defenders either led a heart, giving away a trick immediately, or led the club ace and continued clubs. There is no need for an aggressive defense when you have all the side suits bottled up. 93% is a generous reward for an opening lead that should be routine.