Monday, January 31, 2011

Bridge Match 1 - Board 118

Board 118 – Dealer East – EW Vul

My hand: A T 9 6 2 A T 4 3 Q J 8 6

East opens 1 diamond. I double. West bids 1 spade and East jumps to 3NT which gets passed out. I lead the 6 of clubs.

WEST
J 8 5 4
J 8 5
Q T 6
A 7 3



SOUTH
A T 9 6 2
A T 4
3
Q J 8 6


West North East South
1 Double
1 Pass 3NT All Pass

6-A-2-5. Declarer floats a diamond around. 6-5-7-3. 2-2 of spades-T-4. Q-3 of spades-8-6 of spades. Declarer has 4 more diamonds in hand and stranded himself on board. Presumably he has an entry to his hand (K of clubs) and will make regardless. He does in fact play a club to the K, so I have 4 winners in hand. I pitch my losers and am up when he's out of diamonds. Just in.


NORTH
7 3
K 9 7 6 3 2
5 4
T 9 2

WEST
J 8 5 4
J 8 5
Q T 6
A 7 3

EAST
K Q
Q
A K J 9 8 7 2
K 5 4

SOUTH
A T 9 6 2
A T 4
3
Q J 8 6



Professor Jack disagrees with my double. He wants me to just bid 1 spade. I feel like I'm happy if partner wants to play in any of the non-diamond suits so I like doubling.


On the replay my hand overcalls 1 spade. This causes West to bid 1NT. East still goes to 3NT but they're playing it from the other side and don't know to avoid a spade lead. North leads a spade, setting up 2 spade tricks for declarer. Unfortunately it turns out my side can run hearts if they lead the A crashing the stiff Q on board, which they know to do since the stiff Q is open at their table. They take 7 tricks off the top for down 3. Ouch.

Nick: -600
Jack: 300
IMPs: -14 (-20 total)

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Bridge Match 1 - Board 117

Board 117 – Dealer North – NS Vul

My hand: A K Q J 9 7 4 9 K J 6 4 T

So... Nice hand, eh? I open 1 spade in 3rd seat. West doubles and East bids 2 spades, alerted as an unassuming cuebid. Partner's probably completely broke here, so they're probably making 4 hearts. I don't rate to go down much in 4 spades, if any, so I will bid at least that. Should I go to 5 spades right now? At any other vulnerability maybe, but red on white I'll wimp out and just bid 4. West doubles again, this time for penalty. East pulls to 5 clubs.

If 5 clubs is making they'll score up 400 points. West will certainly double me again, so if I go down 2 it's 500 points. Down 2 seems pretty likely and I may end up pushing them into a making slam so I pass. West bids 5 hearts which gets passed to me. I pass again. Maybe I should have started with 5 spades after all?

Partner leads the 3 of spades.


NORTH
3


EAST
6
K Q 8 4
8 2
K Q 8 7 5 4

SOUTH
A K Q J 9 7 4
9
K J 6 4
T


West North East South
Pass Pass 1
Double Pass 214
Double2 Pass 5Pass
5 Pass PassPass
1Unassuming Cuebid
2Penalty

3-6-A-2. Do I want to let partner get some pitches or should I try for a club ruff? I can't see us taking 2 more tricks unless partner has the A of clubs, so might as well. T-2-3-Q. Oh well. Declarer draws trump. 4-9-A-6. 3-2-Q-4 of spades. 8-7 of spades-J-T.

Declarer shifts back to clubs. 9-6-K-9 of spades. And now a diamond. 2-4-A-7. Clubs again. A-J-4-J of spades. A heart to board. 5-5 of spades-K-Q of spades. Dummy's clubs are up. Making 6.


NORTH
T 8 5 3
T 6 2
Q T 7
J 6 3

WEST
2
A J 7 5 3
A 9 5 3
A 9 2

EAST
6
K Q 8 4
8 2
K Q 8 7 5 4

SOUTH
A K Q J 9 7 4
9
K J 6 4
T


Professor Jack disagrees with my 4 spade bid. It's too aggressive and wildly optimistic. I bid it as a preemptive sacrifice, Jack. It was supposed to be aggressive.

He then disagrees with winning the first trick with the A of spades. He wants me to play the J to let partner know I have the suit locked up. I'd think partner already knew that. And I don't want him ever returning a spade if he has more than 1. (Leading the 3 from 4 small? What?)

He then wants me to return a spade. I almost did, think partner's lead had to be stiff. How could he possibly have 3 or 4 spades on this auction? It would have given them a ruff and sluff which might have been the only way they could make on a different layout.


On the replay my hand only bids 3 spades. West bids 4 hearts which gets passed to my seat who then bids 4 spades. If you were going to bid 4 spades over 4 hearts why didn't you start with 4 spades and take away their bidding room!?! West doubles for penalty and East pulls to 5 hearts. It also makes 6 for a push.

Nick: -480
Jack: -480
IMPs: 0 (-6 total)

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Bridge Match 1 - Board 116

Board 116 – Dealer West – All Vul

My hand: 8 2 A J 4 Q 9 5 4 T 8 7 5

West opens 1 club which gets passed to me. I can't find a bid. Partner leads the 6 of diamonds.


NORTH
6



EAST
T 9 7 5
9 8 2
A 8 7 3 2
2

SOUTH
8 2
A J 4
Q 9 5 4
T 8 7 5


West North East South
1 Pass Pass Pass

6-2-Q-K. Declarer continues diamonds. T-4 of clubs-3-4. Partner fires back a low heart. 3-2-A-7. Time to kill board. I return a diamond. 5-J-6 of clubs-7. Partner draws trump. J-2-5-3. Q-8 of diamonds-7-A. 9-K-8 of hearts-8. I have the only remaining trump. If we have one more trick in the majors we set them.

Partner finds a trick by playing the K of hearts. K-9-4-5. 6-5 of spades-J-Q. Declarer goes to spades. 3-Q-7-8. A-9-2-J. I ruff the next spade and have to give dummy his A of diamonds. Down 3.


NORTH
A Q 6 4
K 6 3
6
K Q J 6 4

WEST
K J 3
Q T 7 5
K J T
A 9 3

EAST
T 9 7 5
9 8 2
A 8 7 3 2
2

SOUTH
8 2
A J 4
Q 9 5 4
T 8 7 5


Professor Jack agrees with me all the way!


On the replay the auction is the same. The play starts the same, However every time my hand plays a diamond he plays a high one (I always played low, hoping that would be suit preference for hearts). Partner seems to agree, as at the other table North cashes the A of spades, giving them a spade trick. But then declarer ruffs an extra diamond for no reason, removing the endplay that existed at my table. Down 3.

Nick: 300
Jack: 300
IMPs: 0 (-6 total)

Friday, January 28, 2011

Bridge Match 1 - Board 115

Board 115 – Dealer South – EW Vul

My hand: J T 4 2 K A Q J T 7 A 5 4

I open 1 diamond. Partner responds 1 spade. I raise to 3 and he goes on to 4 which gets passed out. East leads the 3 of hearts.

NORTH
K Q 7 6
A J 4
5 4
Q J 9 7


EAST
3

SOUTH
J T 4 2
K
A Q J T 7
A 5 4


West North East South
1
Pass1 Pass 3
Pass4 All Pass

I have 3 spades, 2 hearts, 1 club, and 1 diamond. I have lots of ways to set up extra tricks in the minors with ruffs or finesses. As far as losers go I have a spade loser and maybe a club and maybe a diamond. My plan is to draw a couple rounds of trump, find out if spades are 3-2 or not, and then set up diamonds. 3-K-9-4. I play trump. J-3-6-A.

East shifts to a club. If I duck this then I may get ruffed back if clubs were 5-1. That doesn't seem that likely and ducking guarantees me at least 1 extra club trick. 6-4-2-7. Interesting. I go back to trump. K-2 of hearts-2-5. So West had 4 trump after all. Can I afford to draw them all? If I draw trump and finesse a diamond then even if it loses I'm only in trouble when diamonds split 5-1 as I then lose 2 diamonds and a club to go with the spade A. Or I can finesse right now. This is only bad if West ruffs? No, then I can ruff for an extra trick. Lets do that up. 5-2-T-6. Now I can make by just ruffing two diamonds in hand. A-8-4-3. 7-9-7 of spades-K. I now have 2 good diamonds, two aces, and 2 high trump as long as I don't get ruffed coming to hand to draw the last trump. I don't. Making 6.


NORTH
K Q 7 6
A J 4
5 4
Q J 9 7

WEST
9 8 5 3
Q T 9 8
9 8 6
3 2

EAST
A
7 6 5 3 2
K 3 2
K T 8 6

SOUTH
J T 4 2
K
A Q J T 7
A 5 4


Professor Jack disagrees with my 3 spade bid. I'm too good to invite and he wants me to jump straight to 4 spades.


On the replay my hand jumps straight to game and North passes. At least they're on the same page, but I'd seriously consider driving to slam when I have a 13 count and partner jumps to game after my simple response. Jack fails to untangle his entries and cash his tricks properly and ends up having to lead away from Ax of clubs at the end with the stranded A of hearts having been pitched the trick earlier. He makes 5.

Nick: 480
Jack: 450
IMPs: +1 (-6 total)

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Bridge Match 1 - Board 114

Board 114 – Dealer East – NS Vul

My hand: Q 9 8 Q 8 2 K J 9 8 T 8 6

East opens 1NT. West transfers to Spades and East bids just 2 spades which gets passed out. I lead the 9 of spades.

WEST
K 7 6 5 3
6 4 3
Q T 6 4
J



SOUTH
Q 9 8
Q 8 2
K J 9 8
T 8 6


West North East South
1NT Pass
21 Pass 2 All Pass
1Transfer

9-3-A-4. Partner shifts to the A of hearts. Are we cashing out? Should I signal high to show my Q? I suppose so. A-7-8-3. 5-K-2-4. Declarer shifts to a club. K-6-J-9. A-8-6 of hearts-3. And now diamonds. A-9-4-3. 2-K-6-5. I switch back to clubs. T-5 of spades-4-2. Declarer ruffs a diamond. T-7-T of spades-8. And now draws trump. J-Q-K-2. He cashes the high diamond, throws me in with a spade, and then has a trump left. Making 3.


NORTH
A 2
A J 9 5
7 5 3
Q 9 4 3

WEST
K 7 6 5 3
6 4 3
Q T 6 4
J

EAST
J T 4
K T 7
A 2
A K 7 5 2

SOUTH
Q 9 8
Q 8 2
K J 9 8
T 8 6


Professor Jack disagrees with my opening lead. He wants me to lead my small heart. Every lead seemed dangerous and I kinda wanted to keep declarer from ruffing in his hand. If partner had returned a trump I think we might have held him to just in by preventing him from setting up diamonds. Oh well.


On the replay the auction is the same. My hand leads the 8 of diamonds! Declarer inserts the T and wins. He crossruffs and manages to induce North to ruff in with his A on a trick South was going to win. They end up making 4.

Nick: -140
Jack: -170
IMPs: +1 (-7 total)

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Bridge Match 1 - Board 113

Board 113 – Dealer North – No Vul

My hand: K Q 2 T 4 2 T 8 K 9 8 6 3

West opens 1 diamond in fourth seat. East responds 1 heart. I pass again. West jumps to 3 diamonds. East bids 3 hearts. West gives up and bids 3NT. East doesn't care and bids 4 hearts which gets passed out.

I'm on lead. I'm thinking West is probably something like 3-1-6-3 and East is 2-7-1-3. I'm thinking leading a diamond to try to cut communication and maybe start tapping declarer sounds good. I lead the T of diamonds.

WEST
A 3
8 6
A K J 9 6 5
A 4 2



SOUTH
K Q 2
T 4 2
T 8
K 9 8 6 3


West North East South
Pass Pass Pass
1 Pass 1Pass
3 Pass 3Pass
3NT Pass 4All Pass

T-K-7-2. Partner encouraged, so he must have the Q. Declarer cashes a second diamond, pitching a club. A-3-5 of clubs-8. Then he draws trump. 6-7-K-4. Q-2-8-J. A-T-2 of clubs-T of clubs. And another. What is he trying to do? He had 6 diamonds and 1 heart, so he started with 6 black cards. He has 10 tricks guaranteed. I'm going to keep all my spades and Kx of clubs, so I start pitching clubs. He ends up taking a ruffing finesse in diamonds and takes all 13 tricks. They have a 26 point frigidly cold grand. Huh.


NORTH
T 7 5 4
J 7
Q 7 4 3
Q J T

WEST
A 3
8 6
A K J 9 6 5
A 4 2

EAST
J 9 8 6
A K Q 9 5 3
2
7 5

SOUTH
K Q 2
T 4 2
T 8
K 9 8 6 3


Professor Jack disagrees with my diamond lead. He wants me to lead the K of spades, though he agrees the T of diamonds in the systematic lead.


On the replay the bidding is the same. They manage to take their 13 tricks for a push.

Nick: -510
Jack: -510
IMPs: 0 (-8 total)

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Bridge Match 1 - Board 112

Board 112 – Dealer West – EW Vul

My hand: Q J 9 3 Q 8 3 A K 9 5 T 8

Partner opens 1 club and East overcalls 1 spade. I pass. Partner pulls to 2 clubs. I should bid 2 or 3 NT here I think. Assuming partner has 5 club tricks and they lead spades then I should have 9 tricks. Yeah, good enough. I bid 3NT which gets passed out. West leads the J of hearts. *gulp*


NORTH
K 7 2
7 4
4 3
A K Q 9 7 5

WEST
J



SOUTH
Q J 9 3
Q 8 3
A K 9 5
T 8


West North East South
Pass 1 1 Pass
Pass 2 Pass 3NT
Pass Pass Pass

Well, partner has 5 club tricks for me, probably 6. Unfortunately he has a spade stopper and not a heart stopper. Unless East has both the AK of hearts I'm down 1 off the top. J-4-K-3. East returns a low heart. The only way I'm not down is he's underleading his A here (or West lead low from AJ tight?) so I pop the Q. 5-Q-A-7. He continues the T of hearts. I have tricks out the ying-yang after they cash out. It turns out West has 5 hearts so I lose 6 tricks. Down 2.


NORTH
K 7 2
7 4
4 3
A K Q 9 7 5

WEST
4
A J T 6 2
J T 8 7
J 3 2

EAST
A T 8 7 5
K 9 5
Q 6 2
6 4

SOUTH
Q J 9 3
Q 8 3
A K 9 5
T 8


Professor Jack disagrees with my initial pass. He wants me to jump to 2NT right off the bat. I was sort of hoping partner would reopening double and we'd get to mash them, but maybe that was a pipe dream. (It turns out West runs to 2 hearts and partner jumps to 3NT with no stopper in the new suit. Great?)


On the replay my seat bids 2NT instead of passing. Partner raises to 3. West finds the heart lead. Declarer chooses to risk going down a lot to have a shot at going down only 1 by cashing his diamonds and banking everything on clubs coming home. They do, so he's down 1. (West also doesn't lead to East's A of spades. Sigh.)

Nick: -100
Jack: -50
IMPs: -2 (-8 total)

Monday, January 24, 2011

IMP Point Strategy

Sky asked (and rightly so) why I accepted the invitation last board with a pretty mediocre hand. I did have a 5th diamond and a full 13 points so I don't think my hand was the worst it could have been for the bidding but it was still pretty bad. The reason is I've been told you should stretch to bid vulnerable games at IMPs. I want to math it all out though, to justify following that advice in the future. Maybe it's hocum.

At any rate, assume the same number of tricks will be made at each table. (Not a guarantee, look to board 106 for an example.) Assume you don't get doubled in any situation, since it should be at least close if you're talking about accepting an invitation. Then we have the following pay-out table, with 4 possible cases. (We bid 3 or 4, they bid 3 or 4.)

3-33-44-34-4
Make 20+3-30
Make 30+6-60
Make 40+10-100
Make 50+10-100

So now to determine our expected IMP gain with each action (pass or accept) we need to work out the odds of the opponents going on and the odds of each result.

Assume they always wimp out and stay in 3. Then by passing we get 0 IMPs no matter the result. By going on we lose 3 IMPs when the board makes 2. We lose 6 IMPs when the board makes 3. We gain 10 IMPs whenever the board makes 4 or more. Let's abstract things even more and assume the board never makes 2 or 5. We make 3 p of the time and 4 1-p of the time. Then the equilibrium point is when -6*p + 10*(1-p) = 0, or when p = 62.5%. So if game is 37.5% or better and the opponents pass then we need to bid on.

Assume they always blast on to 4. Then by bidding on we get 0 IMPs no matter the result. By passing we gain the 6 IMPs when it fails and lose the 10 when it makes. Again, the equilibrium point is the same 62.5%.

So, the question then becomes, does game make 37.5% of the time or better when holding QJTx - xx - AKTxx - Kx and partner invites? Partner should have 10-12 points for an invite here I think, so can we build an optimal 10 count fitting his bidding to make? AKxx - xxxx - Qx - xxx makes on a club lead. AKxx - xxxx - Jx - Qxx makes whenever you can pick up the Q of diamonds, which is better than 37.5% for sure. 9xxx - AKxx - Jxx - Qx is pretty much the same, making whenever you can pick up the Q of diamonds. Or maybe you should be ruffing a diamond to try to set them up whenever they split 3-3 (36% itself, plus you make on the 4-2 splits with QJ doubleton). Hands where this is true are hands like Kxxx - AKxx - xx - xxx when you actually make 5 on a club lead when diamonds are 3-3 and can also ruff twice on any 4-2 diamond split when trumps are 3-2. Kxxx - AKxx - Qx - xxx is pretty much cold for 4, but that's probably not an invite at all but a blast to game.

But there are plenty of invites with no play. Kxxx - KQxx - Qx - xxx loses 4 tricks off the top whenever they don't lead a club and East has an entry.

Was this hand an accept? No, probably not, but I think it's pretty close. Turn the K of clubs into points in any other suit (even QJ tight in hearts) and I think it is an accept.

Really it comes down to partnership agreement. If partner is inviting with a bad 8 count and would blast on with the above 12 count then clearly passing is right. But if I can trust partner to not be a moron with his invites and if he's a little conservative with his 11-12 counts then accepting is going to be right.

But why is this important when vulnerable and not as much when non-vulnerable? Well, instead of the numbers being -3, -6, +10, and +10 they're -2, -5, +6, and +6. Then the equilibrium point is 54.5%, so you should only stretch to bid 45% games instead of 38% games. That doesn't seem like enough of a difference to really warrant a truism, but it is still a difference. Working to include the making 2s and making 5s should widen that gap as well, but not by a whole lot.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Bridge Match 1 - Board 111

Board 111 – Dealer South – NS Vul

My hand: Q J T 5 8 7 A K T 6 3 K 5

I open 1 diamond. Partner responds 1 heart. I bid 1 spade. West finally gets in there with 2 clubs. Partner jumps to 3 spades. I go on to 4. West leads the A of clubs.

NORTH
9 4 3 2
K Q J T 3
8 4
Q 3
WEST
A



SOUTH
Q J T 5
8 7
A K T 6 3
K 5


West North East South
1
Pass1 Pass 1
PassPass Pass

Huh. Why did partner jump in support with only 8 points? We have 2 spade losers, a heart, and a club. There's no way to avoid any of them. Nothing gets ruffed by the opponents before I can get rid of all their trump so I'm down 1.


NORTH
9 4 3 2
K Q J T 3
8 4
Q 3

WEST
A 7
5 2
J 7 5
A 8 7 6 4 2

EAST
K 8 6
A 9 6 4
Q 9 2
J T 9

SOUTH
Q J T 5
8 7
A K T 6 3
K 5


Professor Jack disagrees with drawing the second round of trump when I did. He wants me to lead a heart instead. Maybe his plan is to have West duck his A or something? I donno, with trumps 3, 4, 5, and 6 I like just pounding out trump and then winning my side suit winners.


On the replay the opponents don't get in there with 2 clubs at any turn. North still jumps to 3 spades but my hand wimps out. They lose the same obvious 4 tricks and make.

Nick: -100
Jack: 140
IMPs: -6 (-6 total)

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Bridge Match 1 - Board 110

Board 110 – Dealer East – No Vul

My hand: K Q T K Q 7 4 5 J 8 5 3 2

East opens 1 spade and West responds 1NT. East continues with 2 diamonds. I double. Hopefully since I didn't double the first time and did double this time partner can divine short diamonds and not so short spades. West bids 3 diamonds, partner bids 3 hearts, and East goes to 5 diamonds which gets passed out. I lead the K of hearts.

WEST
7 6
A T 3 2
K 9 7 6 3
7 6



SOUTH
K Q T
K Q 7 4
5
J 8 5 3 2


West North East South
1 Pass
1NT Pass 2 Double1
3 3 5 All Pass
1Take-out

K-A-9-9 of clubs. Declarer now draws trump. 3-T-A-5. 2-2 of clubs-K-J. Now declarer shifts to a spade, presumably trying to set up his long spades in hand. 6-5-J-Q. Unless partner has the A of spades he can now go A and ruff a spade, setting up 2 spades in hand. I can't tap him out at this point. So I have to hope partner can cash two club tricks here. I lead a club. 8-6-A-T. Q-K-3-7. Oh well. Declarer does play A and ruff a spade and is up. Making 5.


NORTH
9 8 5
J 9 8 6 5
J T
A Q 4

WEST
7 6
A T 3 2
K 9 7 6 3
7 6

EAST
A J 4 3 2

A Q 8 4 2
K T 9

SOUTH
K Q T
K Q 7 4
5
J 8 5 3 2


Professor Jack agrees with me all the way.


On the replay my hand stays silent. They get to 5 diamonds anyway. My hand leads the K of hearts. They lose the same two tricks for just in.

Nick: -400
Jack: -400
IMPs: 0 (0 total)

Friday, January 21, 2011

Conquest Points

Over the last week or two I've put a lot of effort (and gold) into setting up my tanking and DPS sets properly. I'm pretty much at the point where only raid drops are going to help either set, so I need something new to focus on. I'm close to 9k achievement points, so that seemed like something to look into. There are three categories of achievements I'm really falling behind in; Player vs Player, Quests, and Reputation. The next guild perk to be unlocked is more rep gains, so I want to hold off on that for a little while. Quests involves running around low level zones mostly and is certainly something to work on. The biggest gap, however, is in the PvP category. I haven't paid much attention to PvP in a long time (pretty much since Arena Season 2) and there are some easy points just sitting out there for the taking if I get into it. And it's also a complete set of gear I can start collecting!

Now, it turns out the way you earn the top PvP gear has changed since I last cared about arena and it's actually a lot easier to work things out. There's all sorts of weirdness with personal ratings and team ratings and 4 different ones of each (2v2, 3v3, 5v5, rated battlegrounds) but it seems like that stuff is mostly for achievements and matchmaking. What it comes down to is you have a cap on the number of conquest points you can earn each week. This cap is based on your highest personal rating from a team that played a game the previous week. (So if you have a high rating you can earn points faster than someone like me with 0s across the board.) Then each time you win an arena match you earn a fifth of that cap. So five arena wins and you're done for the week. Only have time for one game? Fine. If you win, you get a fifth of your cap. Rated battlegrounds are worth even more, with you earning a third of your cap for each win. You can also earn a trivial number of points for doing the daily battleground but when an arena win is worth up to 600 points and the daily is worth 25, well, it's just not worth doing. Even for me with a 0 rating, I get 270 points for an arena win and the same 25 for the daily.

Someone made a chart showing how the cap scales with your rating which I hope to embed here.

Clearly you want to up your rating by playing a lot of games at the start of the season (oops!) and then just play 5 wins a week to scoop up gear. By the end of the season you want to play a lot again if you're pushing for a title or whatever they give out now. But for now, clearly, I should just find someone to play 2v2 arena with and earn a few points.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Bridge Match 1 - Board 109

Board 109 – Dealer North – All Vul

My hand: 8 7 5 4 7 4 A J 9 8 2 7 6

My hand is not interesting or good. Partner never bids and neither do I. They make it to 3NT. Partner leads the 2 of clubs.



NORTH
2



EAST
Q
Q 9 8 6 5
K Q 7 3
K Q J

SOUTH
8 7 5 4
7 4
A J 9 8 2
7 6


West North East South
Pass 1 Pass
1 Pass 2Pass
3NT Pass PassPass

2-J-6-8. Dummy switches to hearts. Q-7-3-K. Partner pounds out another club. 5-Q-7-9. Declarer pounds out another heart. 5-4-T-J. Now that partner's clubs are probably set up he shifts to a spade? 2-Q-4-6. Declarer is back to a heart. 6-5 of spades-9 of spades-A. Now a club. Guess they weren't set up, yet. 4-K-7 of spades-A. Turns out he didn't have any clubs set up at all, since declarer now cashes the T. T-3-3 of diamonds-8 of spades.

Now declarer cashes a spade. K-3-7 of diamonds-2 of diamonds. He plays a diamond which I win and then board is up. Just in.


NORTH
J 3 2
A K J 2
6 5
5 4 3 2

WEST
A K T 9 6
T 3
T 4
A T 9 8

EAST
Q
Q 9 8 6 5
K Q 7 3
K Q J

SOUTH
8 7 5 4
7 4
A J 9 8 2
7 6


Professor Jack disagrees with all my spade pitches. I guess if partner had actually had spade tricks I should have help them for an exit, but it didn't matter as the hand played out.


On the replay the auction is the same. North leads a club and declarer cashes the Q of spades before playing hearts. He ends up not giving away as many heart tricks so they make an overtrick.

Nick: -600
Jack: -630
IMPs: +1 (+0 total)

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Bridge Match 1 - Board 108

Board 108 – Dealer West – NS Vul

My hand: A J A A Q J T 8 7 3 2 A K

The astute among you will note I've skipped a hand. I was showing the software to a friend on the weekend and he played a hand to see what it was like and I'll end up confused with vulnerabilities if I try to go back. And this hand is awesome and I don't want to waste it. That too. The hand he played was a push anyway.

It's three passes to me. I open 2 clubs. Partner bids 2 diamonds which is waiting which I still don't understand. I bid 3 diamonds. Partner jumps to 4 hearts. So clearly he has something somewhere. If I big Blackwood he's going to think it's for hearts. I can ask him for the Q of hearts and that will let me know how many kings he has. (Unless he is off A and Q of hearts.) If he has two I want to play in 7 diamonds. What if he has 1? Then he'll have bid 6 diamonds and I can pass. The only danger is he pulls 7 diamonds to 7 hearts but I don't think that will happen.

He bids 5 clubs, showing 1 or 4 keycards. (Clearly 1, the K of hearts. Now if he has any entry at all I can pitch my spade loser. So if he has the K of diamonds I make 7. I bid 5 diamonds to ask for the Q of trump. He bids 5 hearts denying it and saying nothing about kings. I bid 5 NT. He bids 6 hearts, showing 2 kings so 7 is cold. I bid 7 diamonds and he passes.

It turns out my bids didn't mean what I thought they did, so I hope I'm not screwed. Oh well!

And the reason my bids didn't mean what I thought they did is I didn't reset the convention card after Aidan played so I'm using SAYC. Not sure how to handle this. All his bids showed were some hearts and no aces. Nothing about kings at all. I'm going to replay with my actual card before I see the layout and hope I get to 7 diamonds anyway.

The auction ends up the same up to 4NT. He shows 0 or 3 keycards. I ask for the Q of trump with 5 spades and he bids 6 diamonds showing 1. I now know he doesn't have the K of hearts and has only one other king. So I have 12 tricks and my only chance at 13 is he has a black queen and I have a working finesse for a missing king. That doesn't seem likely so I pass 6 diamonds. That was my plan earlier when I was going to ask for the Q of hearts, so I don't feel too bad about passing here. I don't feel like I gained anything from the bad auction.

I pass. East leads the J of clubs.


NORTH
K T 9 4
Q T 9 6 3 2

7 3 2



EAST
J

SOUTH
A J
A
A Q J T 8 7 3 2
A K


West North East South
Pass Pass Pass 21
Pass 22 Pass 33
Pass 4 Pass 4NT4
Pass 55 Pass 56
Pass 67 All Pass
1Strong
2Waiting
3Forcing
4Ace Asking for Hearts
50 or 3 Aces
6Queen Ask
7Queen of Trumps and 1 King

Well, as long as diamonds aren't 5-0 I have 12 tricks. If they're 4-1 with a stiff K I have 13. The lead isn't ruffed. Diamonds are 3-2. So I make 6.


NORTH
K T 9 4
Q T 9 6 3 2

7 3 2

WEST
Q 8 7 6 5
J 8 5
K 5
Q 5 4

EAST
3 2
K 7 4
9 6 4
J T 9 8 6

SOUTH
A J
A
A Q J T 8 7 3 2
A K


Professor Jack disagrees with my slam try. He wouldn't bid 5 spades, he would have just bid 6 diamonds. See, I think if he shows 2 kings you're cold for 7 so it's really worth asking.


The auction is pretty similar at the other table. South asking for aces, North says 0 or 4, South bids 6 diamonds. I wonder why he bothered asking a question he knew the answer to when he could have just big 6 diamonds if he wasn't willing to investigate further for 2 kings for 7. At any rate, they are also cold for 6.

Nick: 1370
Jack: 1370
IMPs: 0 (-1 total)

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Glyph of Vampiric Blood

I've read in several places that this is actually a good tanking glyph. My gut feeling has been that I wouldn't use it even if it didn't occupy a glyph slot but I haven't actually looked at what it does.

Unglyphed Vampiric Blood increases healing taken by 25% and gives a last stand ability for 15% of my maximum health. These effects last for 10 seconds and the ability has a 60 second cooldown. Typically I use it if I unexpectedly dip low. Frequently I also hit Rune Tap at the same time. Sometimes I just use it as a 'tanking cooldown' on high damage aspects of a fight when Icebound Fortitude is on cooldown.

Glyphed Vampiric Blood increases healing taken by 40% and has no other effect. It lasts the same amount of time and has the same cooldown.

So, what does that actually do? If I chain it with Rune Tap then unglyphed I immediately get .15 of my max health plus 1.25*1.15*.1 of my max health for an immediate heal of .29375 of my max health. If I chain it with Rune Tap glyphed then I get 1.4*.1 of my max health for an immediate heal of .14 of my max health. So right off the top I'm worse off, but eventually I'll be better off. After X raw healing with Y raw max health I'll be at either 1.25*X+.29375*Y or 1.4*X+.14*Y. The equilibrium point is when X = 1.025*Y. Or, after I've been more than healed to full. So after I've been healed to full any extra healing comes at a discount for the healers (or if it's steady huge damage the extra healing percentage could theoretically keep me standing).

Without rune tap the math is even simpler. 1.25*X + .15*Y compared to 1.4*X. This reaches equilibrium when I've been healed for my max health.

No matter why I'm hitting the button, if I end up at max health I'm going to be satisfied. Unglyphed is strictly superior until I get that much healing poured into me. Glyphed could only makes sense if I never get topped up to full but need healing for way more than my max health in 10 seconds and a 25% boost to healing isn't good enough. (Or this happens every minute and the healers barely run out of mana?) I just can't see it ever being useful.

I feel vindicated.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Journalist Leads

A while ago I posted about Rusinow Leads and mentioned that they only apply to suit contracts (and then only when leading a suit your partner didn't bid). Standard leads suck as much in no trump contracts as they do in suit contracts so is there a way to improve there too? It turns out there's a system calls Journalist Leads for just such an occasion. Again, these only apply when you're leading a suit your partner didn't bid and their usefulness is questionable against slams.

The basic idea here is more that if you're leading a strong suit yourself you care more about what's in your partner's hand than he cares about what's in your hand. As such, many of the powerful leads demand your partner react in a certain way. To whit:

Lead the Ace - Shows a very powerful suit (AKJT, AKQT, AKT9x, etc...) and demands your partner unblock his highest honour if he has one. The idea being if he unblocks on the first trick you may well be able to run your suit, and if he doesn't unblock you now know declarer has the highest outstanding honour. If partner doesn't have an honour to unblock he signals _count_ and not attitude on the first trick. This was you can tell if declarer's known honour is going to drop or not. If it isn't you may try to find an entry to partner so he can lead the suit back, which he should since your initial lead of the ace promised a powerful suit.

Lead the King - Promises either AK or KQT. Requests partner signal attitude. This lets the leader avoid getting caught in a Bath Coup.

Lead the Queen - Demands partner unblock the jack if he has it. Most likely you have something like KQT9 but you could also have QJT. If partner doesn't have the J then he should signal attitude.

Lead the Jack - Flatly denies a higher honour. (You should still have a good reason for leading high though, so you probably have at least the T and maybe the 9. Partner can do what he thinks is best since you're clearly not leading a powerful suit here.

Lead the Ten - Promises an honour higher than the jack, so you have something like AT9, KT9, QT9, AJT, or KJT. Partner can again do what seems best knowing you might have the J and definitely have a higher honour and a touching honour.

Lead the Nine - Promises the ten and nothing bigger. (With the JT9 you lead the J, with AT9 you lead the T, etc...)

Anything else - 4th best, or 3rd/5th best, or top of garbage. Whatever you and partner want to do.


There are two main advantages here. The first is you clear up leading from an interior honour sequence. (Playing standard leads if you lead a J and partner has Axx should he return the suit? If you lead from JT92 then the suit is probably dead and continuing it likely won't help. If you lead from KJT92 then returning the suit gives you 5 tricks off the top. Standard leads there's no way to tell the difference. Using Journalist you'd have lead the J from JT9 and the T from KJT so he knows right away to win his ace and shift if you lead the J and to win and return the suit if you lead a T. The second is the previously mentioned information to the leader when it comes to the unblocking and count/attitude signal demand from playing specific honours.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Bridge Match 1 - Board 106

Board 106 – Dealer East – All Vul

My hand: K J 9 4 3 6 5 T 8 3 2 9 3

West opens 1NT in 3rd chair. East bids Stayman, West shows 4 hearts and East invites with 3 hearts which gets passed out. Partner leads the K of clubs.

NORTH
K


EAST
Q 5 2
Q 7 4 2
A J 6
7 4 2

SOUTH
K J 9 4 3
6 5
T 8 3 2
9 3


West North East South
Pass Pass
1NT Pass 21 Pass
2 Pass 3 All Pass
1Stayman

K-2-3-A. East draws trumps. J-8-2-5. 3-A-4-6. Oh partner. Why? Partner cashes the Q of clubs. Q-4-9-8. Then he shifts to a spade. 7-Q-K-A. More trump. 9-T-Q-4 of spades. Dummy plays a club. 7-3 of spades-J-5. Oh partner. Why? And another club. T-6-2 of spades-2 of diamonds. Now he shifts to diamonds. 4-7-J-3. A spade, which I win with the J. 5-J-8-6. Declarzr is up. Making 4.


NORTH
7 6
A T 8
K 9 7 5
K Q 6 5

WEST
A T 8
K J 9 3
Q 4
A J T 8

EAST
Q 5 2
Q 7 4 2
A J 6
7 4 2

SOUTH
K J 9 4 3
6 5
T 8 3 2
9 3


Professor Jack agrees with me all the way. I disagree with him though. Way to set up a club ruff for me but let my trump get drawn first. Way to cash your high clubs and set up declarer's middle clubs. Bah!


On the replay the auction is the same but West accepts and goes to 4 hearts. This is good if the defense is the same. It starts the same with the club K lead. Declarer starts by drawing trump leading the K, not the J. This convinces North to not hold up, so he wins and gives his partner a ruff. Declarer still has a spade loser so they're down 1. (I back things up and make declarer start with a low trump. He makes.)

Nick: -170
Jack: 100
IMPs: -7 (-1 total)

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Bridge Match 1 - Board 105

Board 105 – Dealer North – EW Vul

My hand: 9 8 7 6 4 K Q 8 2 K Q 7 2

Partner opens 1 spade. I'm going to downgrade my flat hand a little and treat it as a 9 count. I bid 2 spades. Partner bids 3 hearts. I have a maximum so even though his hearts don't help me at all I think I should accept. I bid 4 spades which gets passed out.

East leads the 9 of clubs.


NORTH
A Q J 6 5
K Q 7 3
T
A 4 3
EAST
9



SOUTH
9 8 7
6 4
K Q 8 2
K Q 7 2


West North East South
1 Pass 2
Pass 3 Pass4
Pass Pass Pass

I have 4 spades and 3 clubs. I can easily set up a heart. I can set up a diamond. I can set up the long club. I can finesse away the spade. I could try to ruff a heart, or I could try to dummy reversal. Lots of options, none of them great.

Loserwise I have a heart and a diamond for sure. I could have a spade loser. I also could have 2 more heart losers. I can get rid of one on the diamond if I bother setting it up. I could get rid of 1 with a heart finesse. Or I can ruff one.

I think my best plan is to ruff a heart, maybe two. I need to win on board to start that plan, so I rise with the Q of clubs. 9-Q-6-3. From the carding I think East started with 9-5 and West has J-T-8-6, so I don't think I can set up the long club.

I lead a heart. 6-8-Q-9. Now I have a problem. If clubs are 4-2 and I return to dummy to lead a second heart then West can win and let East ruff my club A. I think I should play a diamond now. T-A-2-7. I now have two diamonds set up. East fires back another club. What's my plan now?

Well, I have 2 tricks in and if I clear trump I have 2 clubs and 2 diamonds. As long as I only have 1 trump loser I make. East also returned the 5 of clubs, making me think he really does have a doubleton. So I'm going to run this to hand and then play A and out in spades. 5-7-8-A. Switch to spades. A-3-7-2. Q-4-8-K. West returns a club and East ruffs with the T of spades, but I don't have a winner ruffed here. Unfortunately East returns a heart to West's A and I'm down. I have enough winners but not enough tricks to take them all. I messed this up and am down as a result. Down 1.


NORTH
A Q J 6 5
K Q 7 3
T
A 4 3

WEST
K 2
A J 8
J 7 5 3
J T 8 6

EAST
T 4 3
T 9 5 2
A 9 6 4
9 5

SOUTH
9 8 7
6 4
K Q 8 2
K Q 7 2


Professor Jack disagrees with my 2 spade bid. He wants me to start with 2 clubs since I have 10 points. He then disagrees with bidding 4 spades and wants me to bid 3NT instead. I guess that wouldn't have been so bad.

During the play he doesn't like attacking hearts off the bat. He wants me to draw trump instead.
He also wants me to win the second club on board, presumably to draw trump but that would have stranded the diamond winners and forced me to lose 3 hearts, so that seems really wrong. Finally he doesn't like playing the A of spades. He wants me to lead the K of hearts instead. His play loses when East has Kxx of trump. Mine loses when he has xxx. My play seems better.. It just didn't work this time.


On the replay the bidding is different but they end up in 4 spades all the same. East leads a club and declarer wins the first trick in hand with the A. He attacks diamonds right away. East is in and plays a second club. Declarer wins on board, cashes a diamond pitching a heart, and finesses a spade. He then cashes the A, picking up the suit only when West has Kx, which he does. They end up making 5.

Nick: -50
Jack: 450
IMPs: -11 (+6 total)

Friday, January 14, 2011

Bridge Match 1 - Board 104

Board 104 – Dealer West – No Vul

My hand: K J 7 J T A 7 5 2 K Q T 6

Partner opens 1 spade in second chair. I don't like doing it, but Jack thinks Jacoby 2NT only shows 3 spades so I go with that. He bids 3 hearts, showing a stiff or void. So the opponents have a huge heart fit. That means we should have one too, or be double fit, so making a slam move seems ok. I bid 4 diamonds, hopefully showing the A. Partner bids 4 hearts, presumably showing stiff A or a void. I might as well bid Blackwood and see what's up. He bids 5 diamonds, showing 3 keycards. So we have all the aces. I think 5 hearts will ask him for the trump queen, so I bid that. He bids 5NT, showing the trump queen but no kings. We have at least 5 spade tricks, 1 heart, at least 3 clubs, and 1 diamond. I have a feeling we have an unavoidable diamond loser though, and hopefully the two extra tricks come from the long club and an extra spade in partner's hand. I bid 6 spades which gets passed out.

East leads the 6 of hearts.


NORTH
A Q 6 5 3
A
Q 6
A J 9 7 3



EAST
6

SOUTH
K J 7
J T
A 7 5 2
K Q T 6


West North East South
Pass 1 Pass 2NT1
Pass 32 Pass 43
Pass 44 Pass 4NT5
Pass 56 Pass 57
Pass 5NT8 Pass 6
Pass Pass Pass
1Jacoby 2NT
2Singleton or Void
3Control in Diamonds for Spades
4Control in Clubs for Spades
5Ace Asking for Spades
60 or 3 Aces
7Queen Ask
8Queen of Spades, 0 Kings

So it turns out partner has a hidden 5 card suit which I fill in completely as a source of tricks. So we have 5 spades, 5 clubs, and 2 red aces. I can't see a way to possibly make a 13th trick unless the K of diamonds and the KQ of hearts are all in the same hand and I set up a squeeze.

I end up misplaying trumps (I thought I had 9 until I stopped and counted) and had to ruff a heart to hand to draw the last trump, so even that play disappeared. Making 6.


NORTH
A Q 6 5 3
A
Q 6
A J 9 7 3

WEST
T 9 8 2
Q 9 5 3
J 4 3
5 2

EAST
4
K 8 7 6 4 2
K T 9 8
8 4

SOUTH
K J 7
J T
A 7 5 2
K Q T 6


Professor Jack disagrees with my diamond cuebid. He wants me to just bid 4 spades. He then doesn't want me to ask for aces and again wants me to bid just 4 spades. Finally, and bizarrely, he doesn't like bidding 5 hearts to ask about the Q of trump. His reasoning is this is the wrong time to try for slam. Instead I should just bid 6 hearts. If partner had shown the K of diamonds I would have tried for 7, so I think asking was worthwhile.


The auction is very different at the other table but they end up in 6 spades anyway. They get a different lead and have no chance at a 13th trick so they're just in as well.

Nick: 980
Jack: 980
IMPs: 0 (+17 total)

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Bridge Match 1 - Board 103

Board 103 – Dealer South – EW Vul

My hand: Q A 7 3 2 K J 8 2 A 8 4 3

I open 1 club. Partner responds 1 heart, Walsh. I bid 2 hearts and he raises to 4. East leads the T of diamonds.

NORTH
A J 7 4
Q 9 8 6 4
Q 7 5 4


EAST
T

SOUTH
Q
A 7 3 2
K J 8 2
A 8 4 3


West North East South
1
Pass11 Pass 2
Pass4 All Pass
1Walsh

I have 3 or 4 hearts, 1 spade, and 1 club. I can easily set up 2 and maybe 3 diamonds. I can set up a spade trick and can ruff a couple spades. Loserwise I will lose a diamond and at least one heart. I also have 2 spade losers, maybe 3 if I don't finesse. And they might ruff a diamond off the top. Lets see!

T-2-3-Q. Board has lots of high cards but surprisingly few entries. I can brute force a diamond entry later, but I need trump gone before I do that. I guess that's actually good enough, so I draw trump. 4-5-A-T. 2-K-6-J. West shifts to a club. I don't know if my long diamond is set up or not, so I want to delay my pitch. So I ruff in. 2-8 of hearts-9-3.

I play a diamond. 4-6-K-A. My diamonds are now set up. I have 8 tricks now on a cross-ruff. Making 5.


NORTH
A J 7 4
Q 9 8 6 4
Q 7 5 4

WEST
9 8 6 3
K T
A 3
Q T 7 5 2

EAST
K T 5 2
J 5
T 9 6
K J 9 6

SOUTH
Q
A 7 3 2
K J 8 2
A 8 4 3


Professor Jack disagrees with my opening bid. He wants me to open 1 diamond with 4-4 in the minors. I wanted to have a Walsh auction so I started with 1 club. he then disagrees with bidding 2 hearts. My hand is basically a bare minimum and partner could have a 6 count with Walsh. I think bidding low is wise. He wants mt to jump to 3.

He then disagrees with drawing trump and wants me to cash my A of spades, giving up completely on scoring the Q or J. Finally once I've drawn 1 round of trump he again wants me to play spades, though at least this time I can finesse.


On the replay my hand opens 1 diamond and jumps to 3 hearts. They end up playing 4 hearts. Their East choses to lead a spade away from the K, so declarer's Q scores. He draws 1 round of trump, ruffs a club, and draws a second from board, giving up a trick if West started with KJT. It doesn't matter, of course, and they make 5 as well.

Nick: 650
Jack: 650
IMPs: +0 (+17 total)

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Bridge Match 1 - Board 102

Board 102 – Dealer East – EW Vul

My hand: K J 3 J 5 4 2 Q J 6 5 4 2

East open 1 club and I jump to 2 diamonds. West bids 2 hearts and East goes to 3NT. It's white on red, and I'm probably down 4 in 4 diamonds. That's 800, which is worse than them making 3NT. But if partner has even one cover card for me it's only 500. I go for it. West bids 4NT asking for aces. East shows 1 ace and I double which I hope is asking partner to NOT lead a diamond. East bids 6 clubs which gets passed around to me. 6 clubs vulnerable is 1370. Down 6 doubled is 1400. The odds of partner having a cover card have gone down, but even the Q of hearts is good enough. I think I should definitely sac if they're making. Could they be going down? Partner needs 2 good cards to make that happen. I think my EV play is to pass, so I do.

I'm on lead. A spade seems super terrible. I have hearts "stopped" so shouldn't lead those. Partner didn't support diamonds ever, so maybe he can ruff one? I fire out the 5 of diamonds.

WEST
A 6 4 2
A K Q 7 6
9
A J 2



SOUTH
K J 3
J 5 4 2
Q J 6 5 4 2



West North East South
1 21
2 Pass 3NT 4
4NT2 Pass 53 Double4
6 Pass Pass4 Pass
1Preemptive
2Ace Asking for No Trump
3One Ace
4Penalty

5-9-T-A. Declarer draws trump. 6-2 of diamonds-2-3. Show off. 7-4 of diamonds-J-4. A-5-8-6 of diamonds.

Now he switches to hearts. Q-8-3-2. 6-9-9 of clubs-4. That sets up his long heart. He runs trump. T-5 of hearts-2 of spades-5 of spades. He has 6 more tricks assuming he has any spades. He does. Making 7.


NORTH
T 9 7 5
T 9 8
T 8 3
5 4 3

WEST
A 6 4 2
A K Q 7 6
9
A J 2

EAST
Q 8
3
A K 7
K Q T 9 8 7 6

SOUTH
K J 3
J 5 4 2
Q J 6 5 4 2



Professor Jack disagrees with my preempt. My suit isn't good enough for 2 diamonds. Jack wants me to only bid 1 diamond. I'd like a better suit to bid 1 than 2!

Next he disagrees with 4 diamonds. In fact, his comment is "4D must be a mistake." he then disagrees with my penalty double. It also must be a mistake. I didn't mean it as penalty but as anti-lead directional. Guess we don't play that.

He then disagrees with my opening lead. If I lead a diamond I should lead the Q, but he wants me to lead the 3 of spades.

Finally he disagrees with my heart play. He wants me to play the 5 of hearts to show an even number. It doesn't matter on this hand, but it's entirely possible giving proper count lets him pick up my J, so I disagree with Captain Jack here.


On the replay my hand overcalls 1 diamond and then shuts up. They have a long auction with cuebids and asking bids that results in them finding 7 clubs. They have 13 top tricks and don't screw up cashing them, so they make.


I gave it a shot and tried 6 diamonds. I can't claim objectivity since I knew the layout but I only went down 5 which is better than 6 clubs and much, much better than 7 clubs. I guess my rampant overbidding convinced them to settle for the small slam, huh?

Nick: -1390
Jack: -2140
IMPs: 13 (+17 total)