Match 2 - Board 47

Board 47
Our side vulnerable

♠ A Q J 8 7 4 ♥ 6 5 4 ♦ A 3 ♣ 6 4

I open one spade in first seat. Partner bids two notrump, showing a game-forcing raise. Didn't we just have this auction? Almost. This time RHO chimes in with three clubs.

If RHO had passed, I would have bid three spades. This is a minimum in high cards. But with six good spades and four controls, this hand is too good just to bid four spades. There are variety of ways to handle interference after Jacoby Two Notrump. But, as far as I know, there is no standard consensus. Personally, it makes sense to me to play that pass denies a singleton or void, new suits are natural, rebidding your suit shows shortness in the overcalled suit, and double shows a semi-balanced hand with shortness in some other suit. (Partner can find out where your shortness is by passing and seeing which suit you lead.)

Whatever Jack thinks my bids mean, he surely can't be misled too much if I just pass. So I do. Partner bids four spades. If that's all he can do, I have nothing further to say. I pass again, and West leads the queen of clubs.

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

West	North	East	South
			1 ♠
Pass	2 NT1	3 ♣	Pass
Pass	4 ♠	(All pass)
1At least fourcard support, gameforcing

Wow! I'm happy not to be in a slam, but it does seem partner gave up awfully quickly. What should he have bid? If I hadn't just put Blackwood back on the card, I would say partner should jump to four notrump (natural and non-forcing) and I should pass. How's that for an auction? A perfectly straight-forward, quantitative slam exploration ending in exactly the right spot!

Since we've handicapped ourselves by disallowing a natural four notrump bid, this hand presents a problem. How do you issue a strong invitation while suggesting that notrump, not spades, is the right strain? Frankly, I can't think of an intelligent auction. Since I know from opener's pass that he doesn't have a complete minimum, I would probably just drive to slam. We would wind up in six notrump, which depends on three-three hearts or some unlikely squeeze possibilities. I suppose it's just as well partner held that hand rather than me.

Is there anything to the play in four spades? If I duck the club, perhaps East will think the queen is a singleton and will overtake to try to give his partner a ruff. I play low, and East plays the deuce (upside-down attitude). My card hardly matters. I randomly choose the six.

To my surprise, West shifts to the jack of hearts. I play the ace--deuce--four. It didn't take long for me to regret my play of the club six. If West guards hearts, I have the matrix for a double squeeze. But for the squeeze to operate, the club threat must be in my hand. Dummy's club king, being in front of East, is useless as a threat. So the squeeze will work only if West actually did begin with a singleton queen of clubs or if he began with queen-three doubleton. Had I not squandered my six, the squeeze would also work if West began with queen-five doubleton. Sigh. Keep winners; throw losers. When will I learn?

Too late now. I cash dummy's ten of spades; everyone follows. On the king of spades, East pitches the five of clubs. I am so happy to see that card! If I were East, I would torture declarer by holding onto it as long as possible. I cash the king and queen of hearts, on which East pitches the seven and nine of clubs. Now I run spades. West unguards diamonds, so East keeps his diamond stopper and throws all his clubs away, establishing my four. Making six.

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

This is not a top. One pair bid and made six notrump. East really led a club? I don't see how else declarer could have made it. Actually, most pairs were in slam, which isn't too surprising. Two pairs were down one in six spades, and one was down two doubled in six hearts. So simply staying out of slam was worth eight matchpoints. The extra overtrick is worth an additional two.

Presumably West shifted to a heart because he thought his partner might be void. And he might be. Jack's attitude signals indicate nothing more than whether or not he has an honor in the suit led. So the presence of a heart void would not cause him to signal any differently. How would a more sophisticated East signal a heart void?

First, let's assume right-side up signals. Some people play that a middle card is encouraging and that extreme cards are suit preference. Personally, I like to restrict three-way signals to situations where you are presumed to have six or more cards in the suit led. But, for this to work, you must have clear agreements about when six or more cards is presumed. My notes say that any three-level or higher overcall qualifies. So, by my rules, three-way signals apply here. I would play the seven to encourage, the deuce to request a diamond shift, and the jack to request a heart shift.

If I hadn't overcalled, three-way signals would not apply. I would play the nine (my highest spot card) to encourage, the deuce to request the obvious shift, and the jack as an alarm-clock to suggest an unusual shift. By sheer coincidence, this unusual shift is to the higher ranking side suit. But it needn't be. If dummy's red suits were reversed, the deuce would ask for the "obvious" heart shift, and the jack would ask for the unusual diamond shift. The reason for this is that you don't always have an alarm clock signal available. So you want to use the alarm clock to send whichever message you are least likely to want to send.

Playing upside-down, three-way signal work differently. You should play that your lowest card always encourages, even in a three-way situation. So the deuce requests a club continuation whether you are presumed to have six clubs or not. You can now use a middle card to request the lower-ranking suit and a high card to request the higher-ranking suit. This way, you needn't be so worried about whether you are on the same wavelength. Even if one of you thinks this is a three-way situation and the other doesn't, there is no ambiguity about the meaning of the deuce. The extra clarity upside-down signals gives to three-way situations is, I find, one of the major benefits to using them.

Why not play this way when playing right-side-up signals? Why not play high to encourage and middle or low for suit-preference? Because it is sometimes hard to tell whether partner's card is middle or high. The continue-or-shift message is the one you are most concerned about getting across. If partner knows you want a shift but can't tell for sure which suit you want led, he can sometimes use other clues to solve his problem.

Result on Board 47: +680 (10 MP)
Total: 372 MP (66.0 %)

Current Rank: 1st

Match 2 - Board 46

Board 46
Neither vulnerable

♠ 9 7 6 5 4 ♥ A K 9 5 4 ♦ -- ♣ Q 7 2

I open one spade. It's a little light, but I like to get into the auction early with both majors. It is a six-loser hand after all. Don't tell anyone, but there was I time when I would have opened the same hand without the ace of hearts.

Partner bids two notrump, showing a forcing raise. I could bid either three diamonds to show my shortness or four hearts to show my second suit. The problem with four hearts is that it gives partner no opportunity to make a slam try below game. With five small spades, I'd just as soon partner didn't bid to the five level with a marginal hand. So I bid three diamonds, leaving partner room to get the slam try off his chest. But he doesn't. He bids four spades.

In standard practice, four spades is responder's weakest rebid, and, for once, I agree. In general, I don't believe in fast arrival. But I make an exception when the strain has already been agreed. I pass, and LHO leads the five of diamonds (fourth best).

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

West	North	East	South
		Pass	1 ♠
Pass	2 NT1	Pass	3 ♦2
Pass	4 ♠	(All pass)
1At least fourcard support, gameforcing
2Singleton or void

Four spades was rather pessimistic. With five good trumps and no diamond wastage, partner should not have given up so easily. Just add the jack of clubs to my hand and slam is excellent. It's not terrible even opposite this hand. Although I suppose it would be hard to reach slam whatever partner did--even if I did have the jack of clubs.

East plays the diamond ace, and I ruff with the five of spades. If both majors break, I'm making six. Ace-king of spades. Heart to the ace. Ruff a heart. Diamond ruff. Heart ruff. Diamond ruff. I can now pitch two clubs from dummy on my hearts.

What if hearts are five-two? In that case, I will need to find a doubleton ace of clubs to make six. Or I can hope someone makes a mistake and hops with the club ace for fear he will lose it. My best chance to make that happen is to lead a club from my hand at trick two. Playing a club at trick two is suspicious-looking. West may well think I have something like ace-king-queen-ten of hearts and dummy's clubs are about to disappear.

What if I play a club to the king and ace and East taps me with another diamond? Will I have lost the communication to set up hearts if they break? No. The diamond tap does deprive me of a hand entry, but I have a brand new hand entry with the queen of clubs to make up for it.

The downside to trying for this swindle is that I may miss out on the legitimate chance of finding East with ace doubleton of clubs. If I ruff hearts early and find East with five hearts, I will know to play him for club shortness. A priori, the chance of finding East with ace doubleton of clubs is about 8%. This reduces to about 3% if you assume he can't have ace-nine, ace-five, or ace-four (giving West a club sequence he might have led from). Against that,West is more than 50% to have the club ace (since he didn't lead a club). So West doesn't have to hop all that often to make the swindle the percentage play.

I suppose there is a chance West will hop with the ace and give his partner a club ruff. But that's unlikely. And, if clubs are five-one, there's a fair chance hearts weren't coming home anyway.

I play the club seven. West plays the ace--three--five, then shifts to the diamond king--seven--four--spade six. Everyone follows to the first trump, so I claim. Making six. It turns out hearts were five-two, so I needed the swindle.

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

I sympathize with West. All you have to do is add the ten of hearts to my hand and he did the right thing. Making six gives us a complete top. I suspect most pairs carelessly played this contract from the North side, in which case it would be harder for the defense to make a mistake.

Score on Board 46: +480 (12 MP)
Total: 362 MP (65.6 %)

Current rank: 1st

Match 2 - Board 45

Board 45
Both sides vulnerable

♠ A Q 8 7 ♥ K 10 9 7 6 2 ♦ 5 4 ♣ A

Two passes to me. I open one heart. LHO doubles, partner passes, and RHO bids two diamonds. Since partner couldn't act over the double, this hand must belong to the opponents (unless partner is intending to make a cooperative double, in which case I'll find out soon enough). It's likely the opponents belong in a game. So rebidding two hearts is pointless. If the opponents bid over two hearts, my bid will have accomplished nothing other than to help declarer count my hand. And if they don't bid over two hearts, I'll probably wish they had. Two hearts doubled could prove ugly.

I pass, LHO passes, and partner bids two hearts. In the old days, some played that this auction showed a good hand (about eight or nine support points). They wanted to raise lighter than normal over the double, so, to keep the range of a single raise manageable, they passed and bid later with a constructive raise. This approach fell out of favor long before Jack was born. So I'm sure that showing a good raise is not what Jack has in mind. I suspect he is using this sequence to show a hand not worth a raise on the previous round. Perhaps something like queen-jack third of hearts and out.

RHO bids three diamonds. Partner's heart support is probably sufficient to beat three notrump. But the opponents may still be cold for five diamonds. It's tempting to pass and let sleeping dogs lie. But I hate breaking the Law. Why should I worry that opponents who were willing to stop at the two level will suddenly come to life and bid to the five level in a fit they already knew about? I bid three hearts, and everyone passes.

Why are the opponents letting me play three hearts? Someone has done something screwy. I just hope it isn't partner. West leads the deuce of spades (fourth best).

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

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

It is partner! He has neither a constructive raise nor a sub-minimum. What he has is a perfectly normal raise that he failed to produce on the first round for no discernible reason. Everyone else is going to be in game and will probably be making it.

West's failure to lead a diamond suggests he has the ace. He also rates to have four spades, since East would have bid spades at some point if he had four. I play low from dummy, East plays the jack, and I win with the queen. West appears to have led a spade from king-ten fourth. So I can add to my list of inferences the fact West is unlikely to have four or more clubs with an honor sequence. (I would not assume West doesn't have an honor sequence in clubs at all. King-queen third and, to a lesser extent, queen-jack third are not attractive leads.)

I have two lines of play available. I can ruff spades in dummy and make five, or I can try to set up clubs. Let's see how the latter plan times out. Club ace, heart to dummy, club ruff, heart to dummy, club ruff. If clubs aren't three-three, I've held myself to four. (I can still ruff one spade.) If they are, I can play a heart to dummy and take three pitches, making six. Or, if hearts are two-two, I can ruff a spade to dummy and make seven. That ought to embarrass partner sufficiently to get him to raise next time.

I can ruff one club before I commit myself. So I might as well see what happens if I do that. I play the club ace--four--deuce--seven. If the opponents are giving honest count, then West has honor-six-four, and East has honor-honor-seven.Of course, there is no particular reason they should be giving honest count.

I play the six of hearts--five--jack--three, then the three of clubs. East plays the jack. I ruff with the nine, and West follow with the six. The jack was a poor play. We have already concluded that West can't have king-queen fourth of clubs. So clubs must be three-three. Had East played the club queen (the card he was known to hold), I couldn't be sure of the club split. It appears West is 4-2-4-3, which means I'm making seven.

I play the heart seven--eight--ace--four, then a club--queen--heart ten--king. Making seven.

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

This is a better result than I expected. Only three pairs were in game (making four, five, and six). Two pairs stopped in three hearts (making five and seven). And one pair sold out to three diamonds and beat it a trick. So we wind up with five matchpoints.

Partner was lucky East bid only two diamonds. Had he bid three the first time (as he should), we would have been shut out altogether. I'm not sure what I would have led, but I doubt I would find the ace of clubs lead to beat it two. That seems like a strange choice when I don't expect partner to have a quick entry.

A trump is the best lead against four hearts. Not only does it hold declarer to one spade ruff. It also kills a dummy entry, preventing declarer from utilizing the club suit. Does it actually beat four hearts? No, it doesn't. Declarer can win in dummy and play a spade to the seven. West wins with the ten and plays another trump. Declarer now plays ace and queen of spades, smothering East's jack. This is the percentage play any time East is marked with fewer than four spades. So, on most auctions, it should not be a hard line to find.

Score on Board 45: +260 (5 MP)
Total: 350 (64.8 %)

Current rank: 1st

Match 2 - Board 44

Board 44
Our side vulnerable

♠ Q J 6 3 ♥ 9 ♦ J 10 7 6 4 ♣ Q 6 4

LHO opens one club. The opponents are playing Polish Club, so this shows either a normal one club opening bid or a weak notrump or a strong hand of any shape. Partner bids one heart, and RHO bids one spade. I pass. LHO raises to four spades, which is passed back to me.

Should I double? I have a pretty good hand for defense: a singleton in partner's suit, a trump stack, and enough junk in the other suits to give declarer problems. The opponents will probably take fewer tricks than they expect to. But I have no idea how many tricks that is. That may mean they will make only four when they would normally expect to make five. So I can't justify a double. If LHO had bid three spades and RHO had passed, I would have a better case for doubling, since nine tricks is probably their expectation. (And, if it isn't--if the opponents have somehow underbid and belong in four spades--then we are destined for a bad board anyway.)

I pass. I lead a heart, not so much to get a ruff as to threaten declarer with a ruff, so he won't take a safety play in spades. Lowenthal's Fourth Law of Opening Leads: The lead of a short suit is an attempt to force declarer to draw trumps.

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

West	North	East	South
	1 ♣1	1 ♥	1 ♠
Pass	4 ♠	(All pass)
1Polish Club

Four spades? This is the second board in a row where Jack has lost his artificial mind. Was there something special about South's one spade bid? No. I ask Jack about it. He claims it shows 6 to 20 high-card points and 4 to 13 spades. I guess if you credit partner with the average of all hands that meet those criteria, you would want to be in four spades. But it does seem better to let partner refine his description a bit before you commit yourself.

Partner wins with the king; declarer plays the four. Partner cashes the heart ace, and partner drops the jack. He should have played the queen, the card he's known no hold. If I thought declarer might be ruffing the third heart. I would certainly think about pitching a club, then a second club when declarer ruffs. I don't know whether that defense makes sense or not. But now I don't even have to think about it. I pitch the four of diamonds.

Partner continues with the eight of hearts. He has ten-eight-three remaining, so this is his middle heart. While Jack is not big on suit-preference (one of our areas of agreement), he does give suit preference when giving a partner a ruff. So this should mean he doesn't have a minor-suit honor. Declarer plays the heart queen, and I ruff with the spade three.

If partner has no high cards in either minor, the diamond jack should be a safe exit. If partner had led the heart ten to show a diamond card, I wouldn't shift to a diamond, since I wouldn't want to break the suit if declarer had ace-eight fourth. I would switch to a low trump instead, assuming declarer could not afford to duck, especially with diamond losers he needed to ruff in dummy.

I lead the diamond jack--nine--deuce--ace. The fact that declarer blocked diamonds to get to his hand suggests he's about to take a double finesse in spades. Can he really do that? I don't see how he can afford to. If he loses a spade trick to partner, I'll score an overruff with the other honor. If declarer leads the ten, it could be right to cover. (Partner could have eight-seven doubleton for example.) But I really don't think he's going to let the ten ride. So, if he does lead it, I'm calling his bluff and playing low.

Declarer doesn't play the spade ten; he plays the deuce. I play the six, and declarer wins in dummy with the king. Partner plays the seven. Declarer cashes the ace--eight--four--jack.  So partner did have eight-seven doubleton. Declarer presumably is either 4-3-4-2 or 4-3-3-3. In the former case, we have no more tricks other than my queen of spades (on the assumption that partner has denied the club king with his suit preference signal), so I might as well assume declarer is 4-3-3-3. If so, we'll score a club trick unless declarer has king-jack-ten of clubs and guesses to finesse against me.

Declarer cashes the diamond queen--five--three--six. He then ruffs dummy's last heart with the nine of spades. It's frequently wrong to overruff with the master trump. In this particular layout, it doesn't appear to matter. But I decline to overruff on general principles. I pitch the four of clubs. In theory, I can't afford this pitch, because declarer might have king-jack-small. In practice, declarer will never guess to drop my queen, so the pitch is perfectly safe. And the fact that it is apparently unsafe may persuade declarer I don't have the queen if he does happen to have a guess. The one thing I can't do is pitch a diamond. Declarer could then cash the diamond king and toss me in with a trump.

Declarer cashes the diamond king, pitching the five of clubs from dummy. Partner follows, so declarer is indeed 4-3-3-3. Declarer now cashes the club king--six--seven--three. If partner's three is honest, declarer doesn't have king-jack-ten. Even though I said declarer would never guess to drop my queen if he has king-jack small, I must admit to find myself holding my breath. Declarer plays the deuce of clubs to the ace. Partner does have the club jack, so declarer is down two.

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

One other pair reached the same peculiar contract with the same result. Everyone else was in a sensible three notrump, making three. We get 11 matchpoints. I could have picked up another matchpoint by doubling.

So why did declarer bid four spades? Why not two spades? To find out, I replayed the deal with myself as North. I raised South's one spade response to two. South bid three notrump, and I passed. I then asked Professor Jack to critique my bidding. "Two spades is too passive," he said. "With this hand, you'd do better to bid game." So this really and truly is a disagreement over hand evaluation? Pretty scary.

Score on Board 44: +200 (11 MP)
Total: 345 MP (65.3 %)

Current rank: 1st

Match 2 - Board 43

Board 43
Neither vulnerable

♠ A K 9 4 ♥ A K 3 ♦ 8 4 ♣ A 10 6 4

I open one spade in first seat; partner bids four notrump. Back on Board 108 of the previous match, I took Blackwood off our convention card when I discovered I was unable to raise opener's two notrump rebid to four without hearing how many aces he had. So, whatever this bid means, it's not Blackwood. I suppose it shows about 17 or 18 high-card points, probably with a 3-4-3-3 pattern, since he would surely make a two-over-one response if he had a biddable suit. In any event, it seems clear to raise to six notrump. Everyone passes, and West leads the three of diamonds.

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

West	North	East	South
	1 ♠	Pass	4 NT
Pass	6 NT	(All pass)

Four notrump? This hand arguably isn't even worth three notrump. Is this partner's way of insisting I put Blackwood back on the card? I don't have a clue what partner was thinking about.

RHO plays the diamond king. How are the diamonds divided? Jack tends to lead high from worthless holdings against notrump. I can't imagine he's leading from a jack on this auction, especially when he has a perfectly safe heart lead. So he must be leading from the ten. Even leading from a ten isn't that attractive, so I suspect he's short in hearts. He might prefer a diamond lead from ten third or ten fourth to a heart lead from two small. (I don't agree with this preference, by the way. I know some people shy away from small doubletons against six notrump for fear they will pick off partner's queen or his jack fourth. But I think that fear is misguided. If partner has length in a suit, declarer may well get a count and guess to finesse against partner anyway. Picking off partner's doubleton queen or jack, on the other hand, could be a disaster. That's a finesse declarer was apt to get wrong if left to his own devices.)

I have ten cashing tricks. If I can manage four spades trick, I have eleven. To come to twelve, I'm going to need a second club trick. Ostensibly, I need to hope West has both club honors. But, in practice, the double finesse may work even when the club honors are split. If West has the queen of clubs without the nine, he may not cover the jack for fear I'm fishing with king-jack-nine.

I take the diamond ace and play the jack of clubs. West plays the queen, I duck, and East plays the three. West now plays a card I'm surprised to see: the jack of diamonds. Surely he has the diamond ten as well. He really led low from jack-ten fourth against this auction? I'm glad he told me. I never would have figured it out. Now that I know he guards diamonds, I rate to be able to make this provided the club king is onside. If spades are three-three, I have twelve cashing tricks. If West has four spades, I can squeeze him in spades and diamonds. And if East has four spades, West probably has club length. So I can squeeze West in clubs and diamonds.

East plays the five of diamonds. I win with the queen and play the six of spades--deuce--ace--three I cash the heart ace--four--deuce--six, then the heart king--five--ten--seven. I'm virtually certain from West's weird opening lead that he doesn't have another heart. That means the opponents aren't giving honest count, and I don't blame them. I play the four of spades--eight--queen--seven. I'm down to this position

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

The moment of truth has arrived. If spades are three-three, I can cash my tricks in any order. If not, I must retain the entry in the suit West is squeezed in. If he has

♠ J 10 7 2 ♥ 7 6 ♦ J 10 x x ♣ K Q x,

I must play a club to the ten, cash the club ace, then run hearts to squeeze him. If he has

♠ 7 2 ♥ 7 6 ♦ J 10 x x ♣ K Q x x x,

I must play a spade to the king and run hearts. Is there any indication which hand West is more likely to hold?

While I find a diamond lead strange with either hand, I can almost think of a reason to produce it with the first hand. With stoppers in three suits, West is going to be in serious trouble on the run of the hearts. Perhaps it makes sense to attack declarer's communications in an attempt to break up a squeeze. Of course, if I were to lead a diamond for that reason, I would lead the jack, not a low one. The last thing I would want to do is to force partner to part with a diamond honor.

I decide to go for the spade-diamond squeeze. I play a club--deuce--ten--king. The opponents cash their two diamond tricks, and I'm down three.

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

At least I was right about West's pattern.

It occurs to me that, if West did have the hand I was playing him for, it would be a nice play to drop the jack or ten of spades under my queen. In theory, I wouldn't even need the squeeze now. I could finesse the spade and take four spade tricks. But I would never do that, since I would look pretty foolish if spades were three-three all along. So, in practice, the play would simply convince me that West didn't have four spades, and I would play for the wrong squeeze.

We are, of course, the only pair to go minus. Three pairs made four notrump; three pairs made five. Anyway, partner gets his wish. If that's what he thinks a natural four notrump bid looks like, I'm putting Blackwood back on the card.

Score on Board 43: -150 (0 MP)
Total: 334 MP (64.7%)

Current Rank: 1st

Post Script

In playing around with this deal afterwards, I discovered I could have made it. If, at trick two, I lead a heart to dummy and play a low club toward my jack doubleton, East hops with the king. I'm now cold on a spade-diamond squeeze against West if I work it out.

I had fleetingly thought about playing clubs that way. If both club honors on onside, it's just as good as leading the jack, and it gives East a chance to make a mistake when the honors are split. But I've never seen anyone make that mistake outside of the novice game. So leading the jack appeared to have better swindle potential.

Why did East hop? The only reason I can think of is he actually thought his partner might hold the diamond queen. It would be right to hop if I held

♠ Q J x ♥ Q J x x ♦ A J 10 x ♣ Q x.

I'm annoyed with myself. I should have found this line. I had my head in the sand, playing as if I were playing against a human. While a human might sometimes choose not to cover the jack of clubs, Jack would always cover. He assumes declarer is double-dummy, so he would not worry about taking away a guess. He would cover because it's right any time his partner has the king. Furthermore, while hopping with king fourth of clubs is a mistake a human would be unlikely to make, it is a mistake Jack could make quite easily. Jack doesn't draw inferences from his partner's plays, so he has no compunction about playing his partner for the diamond queen. I played correctly against a human but incorrectly against Jack.

Playing bridge is all about seeing the deal through your opponents' eyes. Doing this can be a little harder than normal when your opponent is a computer. But, after playing 171 boards against Jack, I understand how he "thinks" sufficiently that I should be more adept at it than I was on this deal. It would have been quite a coup to bring this contract home. The next time I'm faced with a problem like this, I'm getting it right.

Match 2 - Board 42

Board 42
Both sides vulnerable

♠ K Q 10 5 2 ♥ A 3 ♦ A 9 8 ♣ J 7 4

Most weak notrumpers would open one spade with this hand. But I prefer opening one notrump with all balanced minimums, even those with a five-card major. When I learned this style, I was told that you gave up something when you opened one notrump. But you got it back when you opened one of a major and partner knew you were either unbalanced or had extra high cards. My experience, however, has been quite the opposite. The negative inference when partner opens one of a major seldom seems to make any difference. But the one notrump openings themselves tend to work out surprisingly well. More often than you would expect, partner raises to three and they lead your suit. So here goes. One notrump.

Partner bids two clubs, I bid two spades, and partner bids three notrump. West leads the seven of diamonds.

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

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

See what I mean? The opening bid worked out just fine. If they had led a club, I wouldn't be very happy. But they didn't. It looks as if four spades rates to make five. So if I can make five notrump, I ought to have quite a good result.

It appears West has led highest from a weak suit, so East should have the queen and ten of diamonds. I'll capture his ten with my ace, then drive the spade ace. If the defense still doesn't attack clubs, I can lead a diamond to the king, trying to drop queen-ten doubleton to make six. If the queen doesn't drop, I can drive it to make five.

What if the defense switches to a club after winning the spade ace? Since I expect plus 660 to be an excellent result, I'm less concerned about making six than I am about maximizing my chance to make five. So, if the club shift comes from West, I intend to duck. I'm then cold for five provided I guess who has the remaining club honor. If East has it, he's squeezed in the minors. If West has it, I can cash the diamond king and the club ace, then execute a double squeeze with hearts as the double threat.

What if the club shift comes from East? Now I can't isolate the club threat. My best play in that event is to win the club shift and cash the diamond king (retaining my chance of making six). If the queen doesn't drop, I run spades, coming down to this position:

	NORTH ♠ -- ♥ K Q 10 7 ♦ J ♣ --
	SOUTH ♠ -- ♥ A 3 ♦ 9 ♣ J 7

I now need to decide which defender has kept four hearts. If it's East, I cash the heart ace and toss him in with a diamond. If it's West, I cross my fingers and take a heart finesse. (Unless West started with the king-queen of clubs. If so, he has had to pitch one of his honors. If I work out that's what's happened, I can just set up my club jack and avoid the heart finesse.)

I suppose I didn't really need to carry the analysis quite so far. But I did want to have some idea of what the end position might look like before I played to trick one. It would be frustrating to realize all of a sudden that I needed a diamond entry to my hand and should have won the first trick with the king of diamonds.

I play low; East plays the queen. So all my plans have gone up in smoke. Did West lead second highest from ten fourth? Or did East falsecard? For a human expert, falsecarding with queen-ten doubleton would not be all that difficult, provided he thinks the seven is high (rather than low from nine-eight-seven). He can see I'm going to drop his queen. So why not play the queen now and give me a losing option? As usual, just play the card you're know to hold.

I know good and well Jack is incapable of this falsecard, however, which is too bad. This would be a more interesting problem if I had confidence in him. I play the five of spades--six--jack--ace. East returns the three of spades. I win with the king, and West plays the eight. I know I can just float the nine of diamonds. But I might as well pretend I'm worried about the falsecard just for practice. I cash another spade. East pitches the deuce of clubs. I'm guessing he's 2-4-2-5, which leaves West with 3-3-4-3.

On the next spade, West pitches the four of diamonds. What's this? Why would he ever pitch a diamond from four? If he did, dummy's diamonds are now good even without a finesse. The only time I need to finesse is if he began with ten-seven fifth. Is that possible?

I pitch a club from dummy. I expect to see another club pitch from East, since he knows I don't have four clubs. But he pitches the deuce of hearts. This suggests five hearts, which would make East 2-5-1-5 and West 3-2-5-3. It appears West did lead the seven of diamonds from ten-seven fifth. On the last spade, both opponents pitch clubs as I pitch a heart from dummy. I have enough information to float the nine of diamonds now even if I thought East was capable of the falsecard. I lead the nine of diamonds. West makes it easy for me by covering. Making six.

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

I suppose the seven of diamonds was a sensible lead. I would rarely lead high from a five-card suit. But with such a bad hand as well as a useful holding in the suit partner is most apt to want to shift to, I might make an exception. Add another high card to the hand, and I wouldn't be so pessimistic about establishing my own suit.

Everyone else, of course, was in four spades. One pair made five; everyone else made six. Plus 690 is a top. It's about time we got another one of those.

Score on Board 42: +690 (12 MP)
Total: 334 MP (66.3%)

Current rank: 1st

Match 2 - Board 41

Board 41
Opponents vulnerable

♠ 7 6 5 ♥ K 7 5 ♦ Q 5 3 ♣ Q 8 7 4

Partner opens one notrump (12-14), and RHO doubles. Our convention card says, unhelpfully, "Escape after double." I've figured out from previous deals that this means my pass is forcing, requiring partner either to run to a five-card suit or to redouble, after which we wing it. So I pass.

LHO bids two spades, passed around to me. With three small spades, I can't safely act. It would be nice to know that partner would have doubled for take-out with an appropriate hand. Then I could pass with some confidence. But Jack plays opener's double of two spades as a penalty double. It's hard to see how partner can even have a penalty double if I can't redouble one notrump. But these are the methods I'm stuck with. Instead of passing with confidence, I have to pass a bit nervously. Partner leads the four of diamonds (third and lowest).

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

West	North	East	South
1 NT	Double	Pass1	2 ♠
(All pass)
1Forcing

Declarer plays the jack. I win with the queen, and declarer plays the seven. Taking this finesse at trick one is a strange play. With three diamonds, it would be normal to go up with the ace or king. He might be able to pitch his third diamond on a club. And, if not, he can always take the finesse later. So my first inclination is to assume that declarer has a doubleton diamond and wants to take a quick pitch. But declarer's seven can't be from a doubleton. It would have to be from seven-deuce, giving partner ten-nine-eight-six-four. And from that holding, partner would have led the ten.

If declarer wanted to conceal his count from me, then playing the seven was an error. Let's continue our discussion of a few weeks ago and examine how declarer should know that. We start with a hypothetical layout. (In the actual deal, East, not South, has the three.)

	NORTH ♦ A K J
	SOUTH ♦ 10 7 3

West leads the four of diamonds, third best from four. Dummy plays the jack, and East wins with the queen. Suppose declarer wants East to worry that West has led from a five-card suit. (Perhaps he wants to entice him into embarking on an ill-advised cashout.) He could slap his forehead, feigning disgust. Or he could just follow Rule #1 of Rules for Scrambling the Opponents' Count Signals and play the three to "signal" an odd number in West's hand. The three is the only card that works. From East's point of view, if the four is West's lowest card, then declarer must have three-deuce doubleton. So if declarer doesn't play the three, East will know his partner doesn't have five.

But in the actual deal, declarer doesn't have the three; East has it. So declarer is looking at something like this:

	NORTH ♦ A K J
	SOUTH ♦ 10 7 6

Declarer no longer has a card lower than West's, so he can't follow Rule #1. He must fall back on a more basic rule: "Play the card you're known to hold," or, more accurately, "play the card you might be known to hold." If West has the nine, then declarer is marked with the ten, since West would have led the top of a sequence. So declarer must play the ten. It is possible he has ten-deuce doubleton, but, if West has the nine, declarer cannot hold seven-deuce or six-deuce. So the play of the seven or six risks marking declarer with at least three cards. (If East has the nine, declarer's play will not matter. Ten-deuce, seven-deuce, and six-deuce are all possible holdings.)

Why, you might wonder, doesn't the "card you're known to hold" rule apply in the first example? Actually, it does. In the first layout, if West has the nine, there is nothing declarer can do to conceal his length.  If the four is West's lowest card, then declarer must have the three and the deuce. If three-deuce doubleton would give West a sequence, then declarer simply can't have a doubleton. So declarer's only chance for concealment is to follow Rule #1 and hope that East has the nine.

Back to the problem at hand. I know from declarer's careless seven that he can't have a doubleton, so he has no quick pitches. What else can I conclude about his pattern? Since my pass was forcing, there is no particular reason South should have been in a hurry to run, especially to the highest-ranking suit. That means he is unlikely to have only four spades.

What about declarer's high cards? He has from four to six high-card points. Since I'm not playing with Lowenthal, I assume from partner's failure to lead a club that declarer has the ace or king of clubs. (You can't imagine how comforting it is to be able to draw inferences like that again.) That gives him at most a king in addition. So partner must have the heart ace and probably has the ace and queen. That makes a heart shift by me perfectly safe. If partner could have queen-nine third or fourth of hearts, a heart shift would not be safe.

While I know there is no hurry to cash hearts, it may make the defense easier for partner if I do so. If I can find something else more important to do, however, I shouldn't hesitate. If I don't shift to a heart, partner should suspect I have a heart honor. I would strain to shift to a heart from a worthless holding (possibly getting partner off an endplay). So failure to shift to a heart should be a red flag (both to partner and to declarer) that I have a heart honor.

Is there anything better to do? Could I give partner a club ruff for example? If partner has a doubleton club honor and a trump entry, then it might be right to shift to a club. Suppose partner has

♠ K Q x ♥ A x x x ♦ x x x x ♣ K x

Then a club shift beats two spades. Should I play for this? Not only is this a very specific hand, but it also runs counter to my assumption that declarer has five spades. If I had complete confidence in partner, I might shift to a club anyway rather than trust declarer's bidding. But I'm afraid drawing the inference that I have a heart honor is beyond Jack's capabilities. If I shift to club and partner doesn't find an immediate heart shift from a hand such as

♠ K x ♥ A Q x x ♦ x x x x ♣ K x x

then declarer will be able to set up a club for a heart pitch. The layout where a club shift is right is sufficiently obscure that I don't want to risk it.

Accordingly, I shift to the five of hearts. Declarer plays the six, and partner wins with the queen. Partner then shifts to the ace of clubs. What's this? Maybe partner does have a doubleton club after all. He's hoping I have the king and can give him a ruff. I discourage with the four, and declarer plays the five. Partner cashes the heart ace--ten--seven--deuce, then plays the three of clubs.

Partner is determined to get that club ruff, isn't he? I play low, expecting dummy to win the trick, but declarer wins with the king. What's going on? Why would partner play ace and a club with ace third? I certainly hope declarer is 5-2-4-2. If he has a third heart, he can now establish a club trick in dummy and pitch it.

Declarer cashes the king of spades--nine--eight--six. He then plays the six of diamonds to dummy, as partner plays the deuce. Oops. Partner has four diamonds, so declarer is 5-3-3-2, and we've dropped a trick. Declarer plays the ten of clubs. There is nothing to be gained by covering. I play low, and declarer ruffs with the deuce of trumps. Eventually we score a heart trick, holding declarer to his contract.

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

How could ruffing the club ever be right? Obviously declarer thought West could have ace-queen-third of clubs. Since Jack has no way of drawing inferences from his opponents' plays, he has no basis for ruling out ace-queen-third as a possible holding. It's always a little surprising when you see this flaw in Jack's design manifest itself. But the real surprise should be how well Jack plays despite this handicap.

How about partner's club continuation? Can that ever be right? Yes, it can--assuming he attaches no significance to my discouraging four of clubs. If I held this hand:

♠ K x x ♥ x x x ♦ Q x x ♣ K x x x ,

then three rounds of clubs beats declarer two tricks. On any other defense, declarer could play a spade to the jack and pick up spades for one loser. But if he does that after three rounds of clubs, I can play a fourth round of clubs for partner to ruff with the trump queen.

If declarer had made an overtrick, it would have been my fault. I know I want partner to cash hearts, so I should have played the king of hearts at trick two instead of a low one. Why rely on signals when you can force partner to do the right thing?

Only one other pair held spades to eight tricks. Three pairs were minus 140, and two pairs were allowed to play one notrump, going down either one or two. So we receive seven matchpoints for this result.

Declarer could have made nine tricks without any help from us. He had to refuse the diamond finesse at trick one and start on clubs. If partner wins the club ace and continues diamonds, he must refuse the finesse again. It's hardly clear to do this. Playing that way is essentially guessing that West holds the spade queen rather than the diamond queen. And why should he?

I suspect the declarers who made nine tricks did so not by superior guessing but by playing from the North side (after a one notrump overcall and a transfer). So the weak notrump strikes again!

Score on Board 41: -110 (7 MP)
Total: 322 (65.4%)

Current rank: 1st