Bridge Match 1 - Board 66

Board 66 – Dealer East – NS Vul

My hand: ♠ A K Q T 8 ♥ Q J 7 ♦ 6 5 2 ♣ A 2

I open 1 spade in second seat. Partner bids 2 spades as both opponents pass. I invite with 3 spades and partner passes. West leads the K of diamonds.

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

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

Well, I have 3 diamond losers, a club loser, and a heart loser. I can trivially get rid of a diamond loser by ruffing one on board. I might be able to get rid of my club loser if I can set up a long heart to pitch it on, but that seems unlikely.

K-4-7-2. 3-8-A-5. East shifts to the J of spades. J-Q-6-2. A-5-3-3 of clubs. K-7-4-T of diamonds.

Now that trump is drawn I switch to hearts. Q-A-2-9. East fires back another heart. 3-4-T-J. That establishes the 8 of hearts on board, so I make up one.

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

Professor Jack disagrees with my opening bid. He (correctly) notes that I have a 1NT opener. I donno though, with only 15 points and such a beefy spade suit I like opening 1 spade here. Of course, I didn't even think of 1NT (I'm going to blame it on playing weak NTs with Andrew).

While we're critiquing bids, what's with 2 spades, Jack? We're playing Bergen raises here, you should have bid 3 spades with 4 of them.


On the replay my hand opens 1NT. North bids Stayman despite only having a 4 count. I really wish declarer was 2-3-4-4 or 2-3-3-5 with a minimum here and they'd get screwed by that bid. Stayman should be invitational at least. South super-accepts the Stayman bid by jumping to 3 spades ostensibly showing 5 spades and a maximum. Nice maximum, Jack. I wish your partner only had hearts and not spades.

The play goes the same, including East throwing away a heart trick by signalling count with the 9. At least Jack was consistently terrible on defense this time. Up one.

Nick: 170
Jack: 170
IMPs: +0 (+21 total)

Bridge Match 1 - Board 65

Board 65 – Dealer North – No Vul

My hand: ♠ K 9 2 ♥ J 5 ♦ A T 5 2 ♣ J 6 4 3

East opens 1 diamond in second chair. I have nothing to say. West bids 1 spade, partner bids 2 diamonds, and East jumps to 3 spades. What in the world is partner's 2 diamond bid? It can't be a strong hand since he passed in first chair. It can't be a diamond preempt since he again passed in first chair. He could have doubled instead... I guess double would show a stronger point hand but a less distributional hand so I'd guess partner is 5-5 in hearts and clubs. If I had any semblance of faith that that was true I'd consider bidding 4 clubs here, but I don't, so I pass as does everyone else. Partner leads the A of clubs.

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

West	North	East	South
	Pass	1♦	Pass
1♠	2♦1	3♠	All Pass
15-5 Hearts and Clubs

A-9-3-7. Partner shifts to a diamond. 4-3-A-7. I return a diamond. 2-9-5 of spades-6. Partner then cashes the K of clubs. K-T-4-5. Declarer is tight and I have the K of trump offside. Down they go!

Unfortunately declarer has the K of hearts so other than the K of spades he's up. Down 1.

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

Professor Jack disagrees with my pass. He would have bid 4 clubs, presumably because he had faith that partner actually had his 5-5.


On the replay I don't think they're playing Michaels, so North gets in there with 1NT instead of 2 diamonds, though apparently it showed 5-5 as well. East still jumps to 3 spades and South still passes. I hate you, Captain Jack! The play itself goes a little different (North doesn't cash his club K and therefore gives declarer a chance to make if he didn't have identical suit distributions in hand and dummy) but the result is the same. They get a diamond ruff for down 1.

Nick: 50
Jack: 50
IMPs: 0 (+21 total)

Bridge Match 1 - Board 64

Board 64 – Dealer West – EW Vul

My hand: ♠ T 9 4 ♥ 7 2 ♦ Q T 9 6 4 3 ♣ 3 2

West opens 1 club, partner overcalls 1 diamond and East jumps to 2 spades. I feel like being randomly destructive and jump to 4 diamonds. West doubles for penalty and leads the Q of spades.

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

West	North	East	South
1♣	1♥	2♠	4♦
Double	Pass	Pass	Pass

Well, I have 2 club losers, 3 spade losers, 2 diamond losers, and 1 or 2 heart losers. And not much to say about any of it, really. I have to pick a way to finesse in hearts and beyond that there's nothing interesting to the hand. West shifts to a diamond after the first spade trick and my J from board holds. I lose a club. East cashes his A of spades and West pitches a club. K of spades, and a heart pitch. East then cashes a club, and then leads out the J of spades. I get to pitch a heart and ruff with the 8 of diamonds on board, removing my second heart loser. Down 5, doubled.

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

On the plus side they're cold for 7NT so down 5 doubled non-vulnerable is a very good result if my teammates can find their grand slam.


Professor Jack disagrees with my bid and would have passed instead. He also disagrees with my club play and would have drawn trump instead, which actually would have removed my guaranteed play for 1 heart loser. Though as it turns out, West had both high hearts anyway so any finesse would have worked.


On the replay my hand passes and West jumps to 4NT. His partner shows the missing ace. He asks for kings. His partner shows 2. He then wimps out and only bids 6NT. I think with a combined at least 32 points, all the aces, 3 of the kings, and two different long suits you have to try for 7 here. Oh well. North leads a low heart so they have 15 top tricks. Making 7, which is still +8 IMPs. Not the +15 we could have had, but still ok.

Nick: -1100
Jack: -1470
IMPs: +8 (+21 total)

Bridge Match 1 - Board 63

Board 63 – Dealer South – NS Vul

My hand: ♠ K 9 8 3 ♥ A Q 9 7 4 ♦ A K ♣ 5 4

I open 1 heart. Partner bids 2NT which should show 4 hearts and 13+ points. Now there's some system over Jacoby 2NT that I really should know, but I don't. Bidding a new suit is either a short suit or a long one. I have an extra K over an opening bid so I want to bid something... Lets try 3 spades and see what happens. Partner retreats to 4 hearts. Ok, fine, lets be wimps. Hopefully the splits will be bad this hand...

It turns out partner's bid only showed 3 hearts and my bid showed a singleton or void. Live and learn...

West leads the 6 of spades.

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

West	North	East	South
			1♥
Pass	2NT1	Pass	3♠2
Pass	4♥	All Pass
13+ hearts, game force
2Singleton or Void

I have 5 hearts, 3 spades, and 2 diamonds. I get a 4th spade if they split 3-2. I get a club by brute force. I only have 1 loser so unless things split badly I have a good shot at slam. Oh well...

6-7-T-K. I draw trump. A-5-3-2. 4-6-K-2 of clubs. 8-6 of clubs-Q-J. Now if I play on clubs and West has the A I make 6. Or, if East has it, maybe I can force him to return a spade. If he pitched down to stiff A, anyway. It can't hurt to remove the diamond exit just in case...

So I do, and it turns out it can hurt. You see, the Q of clubs won the first trick but I don't have an entry back to my hand. Gotta pay more attention to the trump suit when I'm drawing trump. Oh well. Spades split so it doesn't matter. Making 6.

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

Professor Jack disagrees with my 3 spade bid, obviously. He would have bid 3NT. He also wouldn't have passed over 4 hearts, and would have bid 4NT.


The auction is different on the replay. North jumps to 3NT at his first turn, showing 3+ hearts and 13+ points. South cuebids diamonds and North retreats to 4 hearts which gets passed out. The play is extremely uninteresting since West leads the A of clubs. Making 6.

Nick: 680
Jack: 680
IMPs: 0 (+13 total)

Bridge Match 1 - Board 62

Board 62 – Dealer East – No Vul

My hand: ♠ Q 6 ♥ A K 9 7 ♦ 9 4 2 ♣ K 9 5 3

I open 1 club in second seat. Partner responds 1 heart which gets alerted as Walsh. So partner could have a bad hand with a lot of diamonds. I have a bad hand with 4 hearts, so I bid 2 hearts. Partner acts on and jumps to 4 hearts. East leads the 4 of spades.

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

West	North	East	South
		Pass	1♣
Pass	1♥1	Pass	2♥
Pass	4♥	All Pass
1Walsh

I have 4 hearts, 1 spade, and 2 diamonds. I can get a trick by dropping Q or Qx of hearts. I can maybe get a trick from the K of clubs. I can find a spade honour onside and get an extra spade trick. I can ruff two spades on board for 2 more tricks, maybe.

Loserwise I have the heart Q, 3 spades, a diamond, and a club. There's no way to avoid the diamond loser other than pitching it on the K of clubs or maybe on a spade trick. The club loser isn't going anywhere. Really, my only hope is to both pick up the Q of hearts and ruff some spades on board. Maybe I can pick up a spade trick to save needing one of those.

What spade should I play here? If East has the J then I need to play low from board. If he has the K then I need to play Q from board. If he has neither then I can trivially establish my T of spades by playing low. (I beat his J with my A, then the stiff Q on board forces the K.) So I should play low unless West has specifically the J and East has the K. Actually, even then my T sets up... Low it is!

4-6-9-T. Guess my T set up faster than I thought it would. Lets explore trump. 2-6-A-5. K-Q-3-T. This game is easy. I now have 11 tricks and can finesse a club for a 12th trick. It loses. Making 5.

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

Professor Jack agrees with me all the way!


On the replay the auction is the same but the opening lead is different. East knows North doesn't have diamonds so he leads a diamond. Declarer still found a way to set up the T of spades so he makes five as well.

Nick: 450
Jack: 450
IMPs: +0 (+13 total)

Bridge Match 1 - Board 61

Board 61 – Dealer North – All Vul

My hand: ♠ 9 4 ♥ A K J 9 5 ♦ A 9 8 6 ♣ A 9

I open one heart in third seat. Partner jumps to three hearts. I figure I can afford to make one good slammy move, so I bid 4 clubs. Partner retreats to four hearts and I pass. West leads the 7 of spades.

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

West	North	East	South
	Pass	Pass	1♥
Pass	3♥	Pass	4♣1
Pass	4♥	All Pass
1Control in clubs for hearts

I have 4 hearts, 1 spade, 1 diamond, and 3 clubs. I need a 10th trick which can come from picking up the Q of hearts, by somehow ruffing a diamond on board, or by setting up a club trick. Unfortunately this is quite a good lead for the defense as it knocks out my only non-club entry to board.

I have a spade loser, 2 diamond losers, and potentially a heart loser. If clubs split 4-3 then I can pitch my losing spade. If they split 5-2 then I need to pick up the Q of hearts or go down, though that does become easier to do if they ruff my Q of clubs. I also may be able to manufacture an entry to board in hearts with the T of hearts. I think my plan is to run clubs and pitch my spade and see what develops from there.

7-A-6-9. Over to clubs. 2-3-A-4. Now that I count a little closer I see that, in fact, the opponents only have 6 clubs so they won't be splitting 4-3 or 5-2 at all. Both opponents signaled an odd number of clubs so the odds of 3-3 seem pretty good. Might as well go for it I guess... 9-T-K-5. Q-6-4 of spades-J.

Ok, so my clubs are good if I can both get rid of trumps and end up on board which seems hard to do. I do still have the diamond ruff to fall back on if I want here, or I can play a club and hope for the triple ruff or pitch a diamond and force West in which will let me pick up Qxx in West. But he can just not overruff in that case so I think that would be playing for opponent misdefense. I think it's diamond time.

But wait, if I don't finesse hearts now I never get to, so I could be throwing away the contract when East has Qxx. I could also ruff a spade to eliminate that exit and then throw them in with the diamonds hoping to get a good heart lead. Sure, lets try that and see what happens.

2-5-5 of hearts-3. Now to diamonds. 6-3-J-Q. West returns the K of diamonds. K-A-7-2. I exit a diamond. 9-T-5-4. My diamond is now high, so I'm good. West returns the K of spades. I ruff with the T of hearts. K-T of hearts-J-8 of diamonds. Guess it doesn't matter that the 8 of diamonds was high...

Now it's just a matter of picking a heart play. If West has stiff Q or Qx then I should play for the drop. If East has specifically Qxx then I should finesse. Qxx in East is 3/5ths of 1/2 of 68% or 20%. West has Q 1/5th of 1/2 of 28% or 2.8%. West has Qx in 2/5ths of 1/2 of 68% or 13.6%. 20 vs 16.4 means I should finesse, so I do. It works. Making 5.

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

Professor Jack disagrees with my club bid, and would just settle for 4 hearts. Considering partner had a good 10 count which loved my club A and we only made five he may be right. On the other hand, all I need to do is play for 2-3 hearts and 3-3 clubs and I do make 6...

Later on, Jack disagrees with my decision to attack clubs. He wants me to just draw trump which can't be right when they have 7 clubs but just might be when they only have 6... Along the same vein, he disagrees with my second club play as well.


On the replay North jumps straight to 4 hearts on his own. West starts by attacking diamonds. Declarer immediately cashes the top two hearts which gives the opposition a heart trick. They eventually get a diamond as well for up one.

Nick: 650
Jack: 650
IMPs: 0 (+13 total)

Bridge Match 1 - Board 60

Board 60 – Dealer West – NS Vul

My hand: ♠ A T ♥ 9 8 4 2 ♦ A 6 2 ♣ K J 5 3

West opens 1 diamond, partner passes, and East responds 1 heart. I don't really have anything productive to say so I pass. West jumps to 3 diamonds and East goes to 3 no trump which gets passed out. I lead the 3 of clubs.

WEST ♠ 8 6 ♥ Q J ♦ K Q T 9 5 4 3 ♣ A 6
	SOUTH ♠ A T ♥ 9 8 4 2 ♦ A 6 2 ♣ K J 5 3

West	North	East	South
1♦	Pass	1♥	Pass
3♦	Pass	3NT	All Pass

3-6-Q-7. Looks like they're down, since I have 2 clubs, a diamond, and a spade on top of the club partner just won. Or at least I would have, if partner had returned a club. Instead he returns a spade. 2-K-A-6. Maybe we can get more tricks if I play along with partner, but screw him. I pound out a club. 5-A-8-2.

Declarer starts to play diamonds. Q-7-8-?. There's just the J left. Would partner have signaled count with the J from J-7? I hope so, which means declarer has it and I should hold up a round. I play the 2. Declarer plays another diamond. 9-J-3 of spades-6. Guess it was good he didn't signal with the J...

But by playing low I no longer have an entry to my clubs. Partner shifts to a spade. 4-7-T-8. Somehow I'm in with my T of spades. I can cash out for down 3, but partner has to have spade tricks over there. If I exit a heart, what can go wrong? Well, declarer might cash out 5 heart tricks, for one thing. I should just cash out. They get the rest since declarer has the AK of hearts in hand. Down 3.

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

Professor Jack disagrees with my play to the diamond suit. He wants me to win the first trick with the A instead of ducking with the 2.

He then disagrees with my choice of hearts to play after I cashed out. I played the 2 which encouraged and should play the 9 to discourage. Well, since dummy is up unless partner has the A of hearts I don't see how it matters!


On the replay the auction is the same. My hand also leads the 3 of clubs and his partner also shifts to a spade. My hand wins the first diamond and cashes out. Declarer wins the spade return in hand with the Q, crosses to the J of hearts and cashes out the diamonds. Down 1.

Nick: 150
Jack: 50
IMPs: +3 (+13 total)

Bridge Match 1 - Board 59

As a point of information my new computer died a week ago, so I'm back to the settings from my laptop.

Board 59 – Dealer South – No Vul

My hand: ♠ 8 ♥ A J 7 ♦ J 9 6 5 2 ♣ A K T 2

I open 1 diamond. West doubles and both partner and East pass. This is an interesting situation. What can I bid that makes any sense? The opponents likely have at least half the deck pointswise and should have better trump than me, but no other spot can possibly be better. I might want to redouble in the hopes the opponents run? More likely I'll have to play 1 diamond redoubled and lose a lot of points. I pass. West leads the Q of diamonds.

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

West	North	East	South
			1♦
Double	Pass	Pass	Pass

Well, partner's J of clubs means I only have 1 club loser which is something. Assuming I can draw out trump without losing control (ha!) I can take 4 offsuit tricks and probably only go down 2. Or maybe I can crossruff with East...

At any rate, Q-7-3-2. T-2 of hearts-K-5. East should have A-8-4 of diamonds left. If I don't touch diamonds I will get 2 tricks there. East shifts to a spade. 2-8-K-4. West shifts to a heart. K-3-3 of clubs-A.

I'm in, and East has already pitched a club. Given that he had a heart void it seems likely that East is 4-0-5-4 and West is 4-4-2-3. So I can probably cash 2 clubs now, but then I'll lose 2 more clubs. Alternatively I can duck a club and as long as East has the Q of clubs then I still get my 2 clubs and won't lose the last one. It will get ruffed, though...

Or I can draw trump. I can safely lead the J, and still get my 2 trump tricks if I don't lead them again. What is East even going to return? A trump gives me a trick, a club lets me riskily finesse, and a spade lets me pitch a heart... Seems ok?

J-5 of clubs-4 of hearts-A. East returns a spade. Did I mean it when I said I'd pitch a heart? Yeah, I think I did. 3-7 of hearts-A-5. West cashes the Q of hearts. Q-5-7 of spades-J. And then the T of hearts. T-6-J of spades-?. I can ruff in and score 2 diamonds and 2 clubs for down 2. Can I get 5 of the last 6 tricks? Well, what can West return if I pitch a club?

I have the high spade, so East needs to ruff, letting me draw his trump. I'm guaranteed the same 4 tricks. The same is true with a heart return, as I have the high heart. And if he returns a club I get 3 clubs and a trump for 4 tricks. I don't really see how I get 5 no matter what I do but pitching doesn't seem like it can hurt.

West comes back with the 9 of clubs. 9-J-Q-K. I lose the 8 of diamonds and get the rest. Down 2 doubled.

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

Professor Jack disagrees with my heart pitch on the spade lead. He would have ruffed in. He also disagreed with my club pitch, and would have ruffed in. In both cases it didn't matter, I still only take 5 tricks.


The auction is the same on the replay. The play goes a lot differently but it really doesn't matter. Declarer scores AAK and 2 trump just like I did for down 2.

I decided to replay myself and redouble to see what would happen. Partner runs to 1 heart and they end up playing 4 spades after about 4 signoff bids. They go down 2. But really I think they should have played 2 spades and made. Either would be better than what happened though!

Nick: -300
Jack: -300
IMPs: 0 (+10 total)