Team trials assign the blame -- my assignment

From last Tuesday:

Had this auction in a KO match. How would you assign the blame, if any?

Unfavorable

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

West	North	East	South
		1♥	Dbl
3♥	4N	5♥	6♣
Pass	Pass	6♥	Pass
Pass	7♣	Dbl	All Pass

In practice I think the hands were a bit different than what's shown here. North definitely had a heart void, and we were definitely missing ♠A, but the rest is fairly roughly reconstructed. But, I think the analysis below applies equally to the hands shown above as to the actual hands we held.

I held the South hand. In retrospect, it's simply not possible for North to have the ♠A on this auction (in addition to the necessary minor suit honors). That would leave East with about a 9 count for his opener, and West with a 0 count. Not to mention North would have quite a lot for 4N.

While we hadn't discussed it, North made the excellent point that this sort of auction should be asking for a heart void. That's the only really plausible undiscovered feature that could make grand biddable. Also, the odds of making grand do not have to be that high for it to be a worthwhile bid since the downside isn't a small slam but rather a moderate penalty against 6♥X. Conceivably we could be off an Ace and still make it. Not to mention they might bid 7 themselves.

So, while I think North could have fielded it, mostly I think this was my fault.

East, a former world champion, said he doubled not really knowing if he was beating it, but didn't want his partner to sacrifice since he held ♠A. At the other table, our teamates did bid 7 over 7 so we would up with a big loss.

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Another team trials bidding problem -- result

This is mostly a week of sharing results on recently posted problems. This hand is from last Monday:

I held this hand in a knockout match (spots approximate):

♠	Q 5 4 3
♥	K
♦	A K Q 10 7 5 2
♣	A

West	North	East	South
	1♣	Pass	1♦
Pass	1♥	Pass	1♠
Pass	2♠	Pass	?

What is your plan? Imagine that partner makes a weak spade bid over your next call.

Also, we often bypass to rebid 1NT.



At the table, I bid 4♦, then blackwood over the expected 4♠. Partner showed 2 without and I offered 6♦. He held 4=4=1=4 with no ♠J, so we were able to stop in 6♦ rather than the inferior 6♠.

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Defensive problem -- solution

[UPDATE: THG makes an excellent double-dummy point in the comments. Elaboration in the "solution" section.]

This was the full deal from Wednesday's defensive problem:

IMP Pairs
Dlr West
Vul North-South

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

West	North	East	South
Pass	Pass	3♣	Pass
Pass	3♠	Pass	3NT
All Pass

What would you lead?

Say you lead the ♥10 which runs to declarer's queen. Declarer plays a club to the jack, holding (partner shows even count), and another club to partner's king. Partner plays a heart back to dummy's jack. What is your plan?

At this point, declarer played ♠A and a spade, ducking it to East's ten. Now declarer had 4 spades, 3 hearts, 1 club, and 1 trick in whatever minor gets played next.

What went wrong? Answer below...


Declarer avoided losing a spade to West who could have cleared hearts while retaining a diamond entry. East could have played the ♠10 on the first round, or West could have hopped ♠J on the 2nd round.

3NT was cold (from this side of the table), though. How did declarer go wrong? (I don't know the answer, but deep finesse claims this is true.)

UPDATE: As THG points out in the comments, you had to pitch something on the 2nd club. A spade is clearly a disaster. If you pitch a heart, declarer can set up spades and wind up only losing a trick in each suit. If you pitch a diamond, declarer can (perhaps after 2 spade winners) play a diamond to the jack and set up 2 diamonds (while only letting you in once and stranding your long hearts) to go with 3 spades, 3 hearts and a club; losing 2 diamonds and 2 clubs.

This answers my question about how 3N was cold. Yet another triple-squeeze hand, entirely by accident. Reminds me also of the back-and-forth entry attacking seen on this deal.

In practice, pitching a diamond and hopping ♠J is still a good single-dummy effort.
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Advancing problem

IMP Pairs
Both Vul

You, South, hold:

♠	K 10 9 6 5
♥	K J 6 3
♦	Q 10
♣	K J

West	North	East	South
1♦	1♠	Pass	2♦
3♣	Pass	Pass	?

Would you bid something else the first time? What do you do now?


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Defensive problem

A friend of mine entered the Allendale sectional IMP pairs recently. He shared 3 interesting hands with me that will appear this week and next, starting with this defensive problem.

IMP Pairs
Dlr West
Vul North-South

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

West	North	East	South
Pass	Pass	3♣	Pass
Pass	3♠	Pass	3N
All Pass

What would you lead?

Say you lead the ♥10 which runs to declarer's queen. Declarer plays a club to the jack, holding as partner shows even count, and another club to partner's king. Partner plays a heart back to dummy's jack. What is your plan?


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Team trials assign the blame

Had this auction in a KO match. How would you assign the blame, if any?


Unfavorable

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

West	North	East	South
		1♥	Dbl
3♥	4N	5♥	6♣
Pass	Pass	6♥	Pass
Pass	7♣	Dbl	All Pass

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Another team trials bidding problem

I held this hand in a knockout match (spots approximate):

♠	Q 5 4 3
♥	K
♦	A K Q 10 7 5 2
♣	A

West	North	East	South
	1♣	Pass	1♦
Pass	1♥	Pass	1♠
Pass	2♠	Pass	?

What is your plan? Imagine that partner makes a weak spade bid over your next call.


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Kelsey error? -- Solution

From Wednesday:

Game All.

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

West	North	East	South
1♦	3♥	Pass	6N
All Pass

Lead: ♦Q. You win and both follow to the ♥A. Plan the play.

Kelsey says (in APAB) that playing for the ♠Q to be onside is unlikely to succeed and recommends playing West for ♠A, ♠Q, ♦J, and at least 2 club honors. After running 6 hearts you reach this position:

♠	10 7 6
♥	3
♦
♣	K 4
♠	K
♥
♦	K 10
♣	A 9 7

On the last heart, pitch the ♠K and West has to give up his next to last club (he's holding onto ♠AQ and ♦Jx, thus only one club; remember you started with ♠J). Now cash the ♣K and finesse the 9.

A nice enough guard squeeze without the count, but it seems to me it's possible to do better...



In the same end-position, just cash ♣K, the last heart pitching a club, and ♣A. If you still haven't seen a spade honor pitched, then the ♦J should be dropping. If you have, exit a spade to endplay West into conceding 2 diamonds.

Conceivably West might pitch ♠Q and keep a low one, but this doesn't help: when you exit a spade and he wins ♠A and plays another, the 10-7 in dummy will win the last 2 tricks. If it's still possible for East to have 3 spades to the 9 or 8, that means there are 5 spades outstanding in the 3 card end position and your diamonds are good (so you don't exit). So East is squeezed also: he can't pitch all his diamonds or you will have no guess, so has to pitch down to 2 spades. You won't know what your last 2 tricks are when you exit ♠K, but you'll know you have 2 coming.

Both lines assume the spade and diamond honors are with West, but the guard squeeze line requires guessing who has the last club honor. More importantly, this line doesn't require any particular club holding with West and so must be superior.


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Defending preempts, part II

In a recent MSC (July 2009 Problem G) the panel had to interpret (2♥)-X-(4♥)-P-4♠ by partner. I think the consensus is that it cannot be a solid one-suiter. Rodwell's summary of the possible hands for that auction seems the most accurate -- it is either a 3-suiter, or maybe a 6-card suit where the hand is too good for 3♠ but the suit is not good enough for 4♠.

So, this hand (posted Monday) facing a 2♥ preempt:

♠	A K Q J 8 3 2
♥	A
♦	5
♣	K 9 6 4

...must, I believe, choose between 4♠ and 3♥. Between those, I have no idea what's right but would probably choose the former. One commenter suggested using 4♥ to show this hand type, seems like a plausible idea to me.

At the table I doubled and bid 4♠ over more hearts and partner came close to pulling to 5♦, which would not have been good. One of my first posts shows I've been getting these auctions wrong for a while (I bid 3♥ over 2♦ with something like Ax/AQT9xxx/Kxx/A, which seems like a clear underbid).

Over a 2♦ preempt, you might be able to get away with doubling and bidding spades over their diamond preempt or partner's heart bid. This might sound more like 6 moderate spades and 4 clubs, but if partner does pull to clubs you're probably fine. And you might have a fighting chance of reaching a difficult slam.

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Kelsey error?

[I posted this deal to rec.games.bridge in 1995]

In the Pressure Play section of Kelsey's _Advanced Play at Bridge_, he gives the following problem:

Game All.

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

West	North	East	South
1♦	3♥	Pass	6N
All Pass

(I guess preempts were a bit more reliable then.)

Lead: ♦Q. You win and both follow low to the ♥A. Plan the play.

Kelsey's solution below, my solution later this week.



Kelsey says that playing for the ♠Q to be onside is unlikely to succeed and recommends playing West for ♠A, ♠Q, ♦J, and at least 2 club honors. After running 6 trumps hearts you reach this position:

♠	10 7 6
♥	3
♦
♣	K 4
♠	K
♥
♦	K 10
♣	A 9 7

On the last trump heart, pitch the ♠K and West has to give up his next to last club (he's holding onto ♠AQ and ♦Jx, thus only one club; remember you started with ♠J). Now cash the ♣K and finesse the 9.

A nice enough (triple) guard squeeze without the count, but it seems to me it's possible to do better.
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Spingold bidding problem -- outcome

I posted this last week:

Both Red at IMPs, you, East, hold:

♠	Q 8 3
♥	A
♦	7 5 2
♣	K J 10 6 5 4

South	West	North	East
1NT	Pass	2♥	?
2♠	Pass	Pass	?

Do you act at either opportunity?

In the comments, basically everyone passed (with one exception bidding 3♣ after 2♠ was passed around). This is also what happened at my table.

Partner had something like: xx/Jxxxx/AQJ/Qxx. So we had 10 tricks available in clubs (not surprisingly the ♦K was onside) and instead went -110. In practice this was a push, though we don't know the result at the other table (we think it was 5♣ down 1, in fact).

My instinct (and takeaway for this deal) is that people generally fear losing 14 IMPs too much in competitive auctions and should be more willing to take that risk in order to win 5 or even a game swing: bidding directly over the transfer might be required to get the game-beating lead, for example.

Bidding early also may put opener in a bind. Probably will be unwilling to pass or double with 3+ spades, and how firm are everyone's agreements here anyway?

Of course, partner has to be on the same wavelength and not drive too high with a fitting hand.


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Defending preempts

At summer nationals (forget which event) I held (approximately) this hand:

♠	A K Q J 8 3 2
♥	A
♦	5
♣	K 9 6 4

What is your plan if the opponents open 2♥?

Does it matter if they open 2♦ instead? For me, a cuebid is michaels in this auction (if you don't play that way I think it's right by a lot) but not over 2M. Read more!

Trivia question answer

Last week in this post I posed a trivia question. If you haven't seen it yet, go check it now. There's a hint below the fold of the original post, and further hints in the comments.

Now for some final hints, with the answer below the fold.

1. As suggested by the lead and some strange features of the play (most notably North signaling with the ♣7), this deal was played at Whist.

2. The character's initials were H.H.



Answer: Horatio Hornblower, in _Beat to Quarters_. For what it's worth, I'm a huge fan of the whole series.

http://www.amazon.com/Hornblower-Beat-Quarters-C-S-Forester/dp/0316289329

[I get nothing if you buy the book, just posting for convenience]
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Team trials bidding problems outcome

These 2 hands were previously presented as separate bidding problems (North post, South post):

♠	Q J 6
♥	Q 8
♦	J 8 7 4 2
♣	A 10 4

♠
♥	J 5 4
♦	A K 6 5
♣	K Q J 9 5 2

South	West	North	East
			1♠
2♣	4♠	Pass	Pass
Dbl	Pass	5♣

I think acting with the South cards is right, but now prefer 4N to double. I also think bidding over double is right with the North cards, though that was not a popular choice in comments. In fact, the opponents can make 4♠ if they double hook in trumps, which is probably marked if you pass. 5♣ is down one (you must lose a diamond).

In practice, the double took 20-30 seconds behind screens and that was enough to get the result rolled back to -790. For what it's worth, the committee concurred that 5♣ was the right call, but concluded it was also suggested by the hesitation.





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Spingold bidding problem

Both Red at IMPs, you, East, hold:

♠	Q 8 3
♥	A
♦	7 5 2
♣	K J 10 6 5 4

South	West	North	East
1NT	Pass	2♥	?
2♠	Pass	Pass	?

Do you act at either opportunity?



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Unusual right-siding problem -- Solution

This deal was solved in comments fairly quickly. West to lead and defeat 5N. 5N with East on lead cannot be defeated:

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

The only positional possibility is in the club suit, so West must need to lead a club. The interesting variants are, after declarer wins ♣A:

1. Declarer attacks hearts. East wins and plays a spade. If declarer ducks, he has 11 tricks set up, but West can tangle his entries by leading a 2nd club -- this would not be possible if East had opening led the ♣Q as South would have a tenace. If declarer wins and plays ♦Q, West had better cover or declarer wins, takes ♦A and all the hearts and has a (non-repeating) triple squeeze for his 11th trick -- in the 3 card ending West must hold ♠K, ♦K, and the guarded ♣J. If West does cover, then in the 4 card ending he can only hold 1 diamond which can be stripped with ♦J, then a spade exit would force a club lead away from the J. Again, it is critical that the opening lead have been from West so that East's ♣Q guard against an endplay.

2. Declarer wins and plays 3 rounds of clubs. Now West must play the ♦K to kill the heart suit. A bit unusually, South could prevent the hearts from being killed by ducking, except that then ♣J, ♦K, and ♥A are 3 tricks for the defense.

A nice collection of communication disrupting plays.

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Unusual right-siding problem

Played in my annual club game recently and noticed something funny in the deep-finesse analysis of the hand records. On the deal below, North can make 5NT, but South cannot. So the question is, what's the killing opening lead for West? Given the siding analysis, that actually shouldn't be that hard (but still took me a while to believe). Once you've got that, then how does that hold it to 10 tricks?

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

Might not publish the answer to this until I see it in comments.

Have a great Labor Day weekend. No new posts until Tuesday.




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Trivia question

I read this deal in a book novel. The exact spade-diamond shape in the North hand is not certain:

♠	x x x
♥	Q x x
♦	x x x
♣	K J 7 x
♠	x
♥	A K x x x
♦	A K Q x x
♣	A x

Here's how the play went:
♥K led to the first trick, then ♦K, ♥A (everyone following), heart to the ♥Q, diamond to the ♦Q, running diamonds, North pitched ♣7 at his first opportunity, then (after all the diamonds), ♣A, club to the ♣J (winning), ♣K at which point South pitched a spade and claimed the last 2.

What book novel is this from? A hint is below the fold.

The book's protagonist, North, shares initials with a well-known fictional bridge player.

UPDATE: There is an additional hint in the comments.

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Suicide squeeze

There isn't much to this story, but I don't see a suicide squeeze every day so here it is:

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

I opened 1N and bought it. The defense started with a low club to the ace and jack. I won and continued the suit; LHO won that and played a 4th round, North and East both pitching hearts. I tried a heart and LHO won the king and continued the suit. I won in dummy, and ran ♦9 to LHO's ♦A. Another heart came back and RHO pitched a diamond without trouble. This is the end position:

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

With 4 in the bank for each side, I tried a low spade, and when LHO played the ♠Q the defense was finished. In practice, he cashed the long heart and squeezed his partner, but a spade or diamond would not have been any better. At this stage, the only winning defense is to let RHO win the ♠10 and continue with ♠K.



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Constructing double-dummy problems

A while back I posted this double-dummy problem. At the time, I promised some follow-ups.

At some point, I offered the hand to Hugh Darwen, author of a great book and website on double dummy problems, both called Bridge Magic. I constructed the hand to demonstrate an interesting squeeze ending, but was interested to learn that to a problem connoisseur that was not enough: it lacks precision. He identified 2 problems:

1. There's some freedom to the order in which early major suit winners may be cashed.

2. More importantly, when North pitches a diamond on the 3rd heart the play becomes significantly more precise and interesting (i.e. wouldn't it be nice for the problem to be forced down this line).

Given this feedback, I tried to modify the problem somewhat, but was unable to address both issues at once. Of the 3 constructions (the original linked to above, and 2 below respectively addressing the above comments), I think the last one below is the most interesting.

In all cases, you're to make 6NT after the ♦Q opening lead.

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

On a non-diamond lead, there's a red suit squeeze (duck a club). On a diamond lead, declarer must win, play ♠10, ♥A, ♥K, ♠Q, ♥Q. However, either a club or a diamond may be pitched on the last heart, and the diamond pitch is more interesting.

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

On a non diamond lead, there's a nice delayed-duck squeeze in the red suits. On a diamond lead, declarer must win, ♠A, ♠K, ♥A. Now, major suit winners can be cashed in any order so long as the last heart comes before the last spade (imprecise). This serves to make the play a little more interesting when East unguards hearts (♣A, ♣K, heart). Also, the diamond menace against West is a little more interesting, requiring a throw-in to give it full force.

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