A True Barometer

I was playing a BBO Hornets tournament with a new partner yesterday. One hand struck out in my mind.

I was east, and dealer, white vs red:

West	North	East	South
		1♣	1♦
X	p	2♣	p
2♠	p	2NT	p
3NT	p	p	X
p	p	p

The king of diamonds was led, and I saw this:

♠ 842 ♥ JT94 ♦ 86 ♣ QJT6

♠ A53 ♥ 63 ♦ KQT32 ♣ A85

Once I lose the ace of spades, I have 8 tricks - 4 spades, 3 hearts and a diamond. I can pick up a 9th if hearts are 3-3, if south breaks clubs for me, or if dummy's diamond spots can be promoted. (One thing I didn't really look at at the table was promoting a club, but the defense is likely to get a spade, a diamond, and at least 3 clubs - maybe more if they don't break well).

I played a low diamond from the board, and north discarded the 8. One of the best things that can happen, I think, is if north has the T or Tx of diamonds. Well, scratch the singleton ten, but the lead is where I want it, so I duck the opening round.

Now, a continuation in either minor (assuming south has the Queen of diamond) gives me the contract. South wisely switched to the heart 6, which I won in hand, to preserve entries to the spades.

First thing I needed to do was deal with spades. South ducked the king but played the ace over the 9, saving me a decision as to whether or not to overtake. Back came another heart, north following.

Time to think.

Both opponents have shown up with 2 hearts and 2 spades. I've given them a chance to give me the 9th trick, and it hasn't happened yet. South seems to have the ace of clubs, based on his continued resistance to leading dummy's void in notrump.

It all seems to be coming down to the heart split, but I can't see how it could hurt to run out spades first. Maybe defense will make a discarding error.

Both opponents follow on the first spade (NOT the suit I needed to be 3-3). North threw the Queen of clubs on the second, South discarding a low diamond. (Poor North must be really dying for a club lead by now.) The last spade takes my 3rd club discard, along with 2 more diamonds. Alas, north did NOT throw the 10 (it was the 6).

No help there.

In hindsight, I think the contract was now cold (assuming I played it properly). At the table, I wasn't certain, but I definitely saw a rough outline of an extra chance.

The key play came next, as I unblocked diamonds by cashing the Ace. South threw the 10 - I hadn't stopped to count, but I did now and it seemed right. Now, I led the 5 of hearts.

Alas, south played the 5 of clubs. No heart split.

I took the queen of hearts, and exited a diamond to south's queen. South was left with the A8 of clubs, and had to give me the king of clubs for my 9th trick.

Looking it over, south had to discard a club on one of my spades. In this way, he could have kept a threat against my J9 of diamonds. (GiB double dummy analysis agrees.)

The two things that I really enjoyed about this hand were how well I kept count, and how I kept giving myself chances to make.

Of course, having gotten this far, I should point out that I played the whole hand wrong, right from the start. Given the indicated lie of the cards, the hand was stone cold, and I blew it.

The correct play is to take the first trick with the ace of diamonds, and immediately play a low diamond towards the jack. So long as south has the queen (and 5 diamonds, I guess), this will always take 9 tricks.

Here's the full deal:

Dealer E Vul N/S Scoring MP Lead ♦K	♠ 842 ♥ JT94 ♦ 86 ♣ QJT6
♠ QJT76 ♥ J974 ♦ AQ87 ♣		♠ K9 ♥ K52 ♦ A5 ♣ K87432
	♠ A53 ♥ 63 ♦ KQT32 ♣ A85

So there you have it - some decent counting and card awareness, missed with blissful ignorance. THAT is where my bridge game is right now.

Bitter

Playing in 3NT, opponents silent.

♠ QJT86 ♥ KJT ♦ A852 ♣ A

♠ 73 ♥ A74 ♦ Q6 ♣ KQT872

Of the 6 tables playing 3NT by south, 4 had a heart lead. At all tables, the heart was ducked to east's queen. I am the only one who ducked the queen.

Where is the justice in the world? The most straightforward way to make is if clubs are 3-3, which in this case they are, but how exactly are the souths who rise with the ace of hearts on trick 1 expecting to return to their hands?

Every south except me got overtricks. Me, I decided to test spades first, seeing that I can also make if spades are 3-3, but clubs are not. Every other south lucked into a diamond entry to hand and 3-3 clubs. Sure, I got 3-3 clubs, too, but out of the 11 hands plyaing 3NT, I was the only one without overs.

But I'm not bitter, really....

Hand of the Year candidate?

For all of us who occasionally play total points or rubber bridge....

I was kibitzing my mentor on Christmas day, when his partner was dealt this:

S AKQJT9862
H
D
C KQ92

Over a third seat 2 diamond bid, the holder bid 6 spades. Partner has the AJxx of clubs, and an outside ace, which was of course entirely wasted. :)

Nice hand to get in a 4-hard total points tourney. Santa delivers to bridge players, too, I guess.

Sane or Insane?

Maybe someday I'll look back and answer my own question.

The bidding goes:

West	North	East	South
		p	1♥
p	1♠	2♣	2♥
2♠	p	3♥	p
3♠	p	3NT	p
p	p

I held:
A4
AQ8543
Q97
85

What to lead?

Well, here was my reasoning. First of all, there are a lot of points around the table. Partner rates to be a bare minimum, with possibly as few as 4 spades, and 0-1 heart. Opponents seem to have a nice club fit, and thus a decent source of tricks.

As for the defense, well, it's hard to imagine partner having a useful 5-7 card holding. If his strength is in the minors, then maybe there's not much I can do to help him.

Certainly, a heart lead can't help. Declarer (east) rates to have the king. It's also very hard to tell if leading partner's spades will bear fruit.

What I chose was to play partner for KQxx in spades, and to lead the ace. Alas, dummy came down with QJxx in spades, so that dream was dead, and with it likely our chances of defeating the contract.

(In reality, maybe an immediate diamond or a diamond switch after the first trick would have worked. Partner was 4171, with 4HCP, including the king of spades and JT of diamonds.)

I'm not sure if my reasoning was sound or overly optimistic, but I think I was asking the right sort of questions, at least, on this problem.

Best of Times/Worst of Times

Hand earlier today. I end up with the boss trump (spades), boss diamond. Dummy has running clubs, and declarer knows I'm out of hearts. Declarer can only lose one more trick when he leads a low heart to the board.

I duck, and watch as my diamond loser goes away. I was honestly yelling, "I am an idiot!"

Later,

West	North	East	South
		1♦	p
1♥	p	1♠	p
2♣	p	2♥	p
3♦	p	3♥	p
5♦	p	6♦	p
p	p

♠ 6 ♥ AKJ5 ♦ J9854 ♣ AK6
	♠ AT84 ♥ Q7642 ♦ ♣ Q954

Ace of hearts won on the board. Declarer runs a diamond to his hand, winning with the 7. Back comes the king of spades.

Only 3 of the 8 diamond slams that were bid made. While I'm no expert on fsf auctions, this time I knew partner was out of hearts. Win 9.3 IMPs, and a tiny bit of redemption.

Honestly, though, I have SO FAR to go.

BBF Indy

I played in the BBF Indy today. I hoped to finish above dead last, but fell just short in my quest.

As usual, it's not the scores that bother me, it's my dumb mistakes. Here are my notes:

1. I wans't sure if this was a good sac or not. Turns out that the result was an average hand. (50%)
2. Once the opponents reach 3NT, they're always going to make 430 I think. (20%), but only because more people weren't in 3NT.
3. I *think* the key reason I went down where others made is the opening lead. Most souths led low from QJ53 of hearts, but at my table kenberg (who won the whole thing) led the Q, which held me to 2 heart tricks instead of 3 when I held AK8 opposite dummy's T94. (33%)
4. One table held N/S to only 8 spade tricks. Defenses who break hearts for declarer, not unsensible, will allow 9. Unfortunately, our opponents were one of the 3 pairs to stop below game, rather than one of the two who bid game. (17%)
5. I was just an observer on this one. E/W make 13 tricks in either black suit. (50%)
6. Opponents bid an unmakeable game. An extra 10% was available if I played carefully and discarded properly. Chalk this one up to lack of counting. (80%).
7. This hand was cold for a top at one point, but partner misread the heart spots. Sometimes it's an easy game when you're dummy. Then again, nobody else was making game, so maybe we shouldn't have even been there.
Is this auction forcing? I thought it might be, but in retrospect, 3C is available as a forcing bid.

West	North	East	South
			p
p	1♠	p	1NT
2♣	3♥	p	?

(0%)
8. Another "what was I thinking?" moment. That said, I think I can pass 2 hearts here, which would still be losing:

West	North	East	South
p	1♠	2♦	p
p	2♥	p	?

(25%)
9. Not sure why we didn't come in here, but we let opps steal one (0%)
10. Supporting with AQx of spades seems to be a winner on this hand. A support double might have helped over the overcall, if I played them.
That said, my opening lead/followup was absolutely horrible. I led A, then Q from AQx, when declarer falsecarded holding the King. /sigh (17%)
11. We got gifted an overtrick here. Still, spades play better, and I think I need to play partner for 5 and bid 4 spades rather than 5 clubs. I did have a question, though.

West	North	East	South
			p
p	1♣	p	1♦
p	1♠	p	1NT
p	2♠	p	3♣

I wonder whether I've shown anything more than a minimum yet. I guess maybe by not passing 1 spades I showed something more than minimum? (50%)
12. We miss a 9 card heart fit here. Partner was the only north who didn't bid, but maybe I need to be balancing here?

West	North	East	South
1♣	p	1♠	p
1NT	p	p	?

I held T542 A8654 A9 Q5.
13.

West	North	East	South
	1♦	p	5♦
?

T63
AQJ532
v
KJT8
Double, right or wrong, netted me a passout, and +800 for 83%.
14. I blew 50% on one trick, not taking my good king. I think I thought I was playing notrump or something. I can blame it on stamina, maybe, but I seriously need to slow down and think before each play. This was not hard, and I could have had 83% instead of 33%.
15. By now I was playing way too fast. We wound up in a hopeless 26 point 3NT, but rather than just flip cards as the losers went by, I should have watched discards closely. I turned down 1 into down 2, and ~50% into 8%.
16. A defensive disaster. We took fully 3 less tricks against 1NT than anyone else. I think partner leading low from AJTxx in clubs may be partially to blame, though I may have missed an upside down signal in spades, holding AQJ98. (0%)

Rust

Well, we've moved - and I promptly got sick.

During my convalescence, I snuck in a few hands. This one stuck out.

♠ AQ8 ♥ QT875 ♦ AKQT ♣ K

♠ K9752 ♥ K9 ♦ J3 ♣ AT83

West	North	East	South
p	1♥	p	1♠
p	3♦	p	3NT
p	4♠	p	4NT
p	5♠	p	6♠
p	p	p

I was ok with the auction. Looking it over, slam should make on a 3-2 trump split. If trumps are 4-1 and the Jack or Ten falls, I can probably make the right inference and make.

So I won the 4 of diamonds, and cashed the Ace of spades - 6, 2, 3. The queen of spades drew a discard from west. Down 1.

Well, I would have been, except that in my vacant-headed exuberance, I "remembered" to unblock clubs before my brilliant plan of running diamonds and throwing my hearts on the diamonds. Only the plan was not so brilliant, as RHO had discarded 2 diamonds on trump by that point, so the chances of east going 4 rounds of diamonds were basically nil.

The first lesson was to pay attention to the discards!

I think there were 2 better lines (obviously excluding the club play - as I'm always going to have entry to my hand). Both rely on the ace of hearts being with west.

The first is to run a low heart to the queen. If it holds, I only need to discard one heart on a diamond, and I can do that on the 3rd round - meaning I only need diamonds to be 5-2 or better. The problem is that I'm not so sure many defenders will duck the first round against a slam contract - especially at IMPs.

Maybe the better line is simply to concede the 4th round of spades. If east does not have the ace of hearts, she has to guess the right suit to return. Maybe I'll get a club return, and I'll be free to run diamonds, discarding my hearts.

Interesting hand.

Moved!

My bridge play has been curtailed over the last weeks, due to the impending move. We're in the new house, now, though, and once the unpacking gets underway I foresee a lot of bridge in my future.

Plus, there are 11 days to go until bridge book day. :)

I'm starting to get some feedback on my posts, and I have to say I really appreciate it. I don't mind making an idiot of myself in bridge or in blogging (how else will I improve?), and it's nice to have my errors pointed out to me.

Beyond Point Count

A hand I kibitzed yesterday, in a team match:

	♠ K84 ♥ 8 ♦ QT4 ♣ AKQJ92
♠ T3 ♥ KQJT3 ♦ 9852 ♣ 73		♠ 765 ♥ 962 ♦ K63 ♣ T864
	♠ AQJ92 ♥ A754 ♦ AJ7 ♣ 5

This hand has excellent play for 7 Spades. Both 5-0 spade splits can be picked up, and 13 tricks can be had if clubs are 4-2 or better, OR if the king of diamonds is with East.

The harder part is bidding the grand. If you're a slave to point counts, the 31 points will probably suggest to you that you would do well to make a small slam.

In the teams match, at one table, south bid 4NT, and finding all the key cards present, bid 6 spades. At the other table, north bid 4NT, and finding all key cards present, jumped to 7 spades. Win 11.

The key, I think, is north has a huge source of extra tricks in clubs. While I'm not sure that I would have found the right bid at the table, this hand is a clear lesson, I think, in looking beyond point count.

Interregnum

The next few weeks promise to be busy, as we'll be packing up and moving. Hopefully, on the far side of this, I'll be rewarded with some extra time to read and play.

My play this week has been solid but not outstanding. My counting/concentration has not been very deep at all, and I look forward to rectifying that.

In the meantime, I've been planning out the books I'd like to read next. Here's my shorlist:

Bidding Systems
Standard Bidding with SAYC book (Downey and Pomer)
Two over One Game Force (Max Hardy)
Workbook On The Two-Over-One System (Mike Lawrence)

Bidding Judgement
Improve Your Bidding Judgment (Neil Kimelman)

Declarer Play
Off-road Declarer Play. (David Bird)

Defense Play
Killing Defense at Bridge (Hugh Kelsey)
Eddie Kantar Teaches Modern Bridge Defense (Eddie Kantar)
Eddie Kantar Teaches Advanced Bridge Defense (Eddie Kantar)

General Play
Countdown to Winning Bridge (Bourke/Smith)
Master Play in Contract Bride (aka The Expert Game) (Terence Reese)
Bridge Odds for Practical Players (Kelsey & Glauert)
How to Read your Opponents Cards (Mike Lawrence)

Even one or two of these books would probably help my game. Plus, they're bound to be more exciting than Watson, which I still haven't finished. :(

Losing My Mind

I played in a teams match this weekend. 11 of the 12 boards were decent - maybe I made some fundamental error I'm overlooking, but by and large, I think I did ok. My cardplay, in particular, was good (I think).

Nonetheless, I'm quite down on myself over the whole thing.

On one hand, a competetive auction, I massively overbid, giving up 10 IMPs single-handedly.

This seems to be a recurring theme. While my card play is slowly (slowly!) improving, my bidding seems to be fundamentally unchanged from the rubber bridge "one-upmanship" battles of my youth.

What it may come down to, fundamentally, is that I lose my head. Something happens, I get flustered, and my judgement runs away from me. I either stop thinking, or get an idea fixated in my head and I can't be fully rational about it.

If I'm well on the road to "card sense", then when I get there the next road I'll take will be to "sound judgement".

In the meantime, it would be nice if I would stop embarrassing myself.

Focusing

My play this week hasn't been very good. I'm noticing that I'm counting less and less, and playing on cruise control more and more.

I played 3 hands before work this morning, with the intent purpose of focusing on counting. (Naturally, I was dummy on the first hand. Bleh!) While I made 2 mistakes (missed a club discard on one, forgot that declarer opened 1NT, not 1 spade), it felt very good to take the time to reason everything out. It's not really all that much harder, and in the long run it's a lot more fun to play when you "know" what everyone has.

One thing I am curious about. When I'm on defense, I'll often assume that declarer has a minimum, for the purposes of estimating what partner might have. I wonder if this is how other players commonly approach the problem, or if instead they just set a range and adjust as the hand plays out.

First in Canada - Erin Berry Rookie Master Game

It's official - my partner and I managed to finish first in Canada in the rookie master game, out of 589 pairs.

Results here: http://www.cbf.ca/Rookie/08EBresults-1.htm

Stoppers

West	North	East	South
	p	1♣	1♠
?

♠ QT4 ♥ 52 ♦ AKT8 ♣ AT94

I wimped out, but the AKJ of spades were all on my right. I think, in retrospect, it was worth bidding 3NT.

It's a Trap!

♠ AK842 ♥ 9865 ♦ 432 ♣ J

♠ J ♥ AK743 ♦ KT98 ♣ K54

West	North	East	South
		p	1♥
p	1♠	p	2♦
p	3♥	p	4♥
p	p	p

Opening lead: Queen of spades.

Interesting lead. Glad I paid attention to it. The full deal:

Dealer E Vul N/S Scoring Imp Lead	♠ AK842 ♥ 9865 ♦ 432 ♣ J
♠ Q ♥ Q2 ♦ AQ765 ♣ T9862		♠ T97653 ♥ JT ♦ J ♣ AQ73
	♠ J ♥ AK743 ♦ KT98 ♣ K54

At least one table played a spade on the second round. Sure, it's unlikely, but the lead is a clear warning sign.

Quite Possibly the Coolest Thing Ever

While I have ambitions to be a very good duplicate player someday, bridge for me will always be about sitting around a table with friends and family having fun.

So, once a week I get together online and play with some good friends who have moved out west. We either play rubber or IMPs, but it's always laid back and fun, with craziness and laughs. I'm the only player who could be called even remotely serious, and I always, always have fun.

During last week's game, though, something very cool happened.

♠ AQJ52 ♥ KJ8 ♦ 987 ♣ 53

♠ 9 ♥ AT5 ♦ KJ2 ♣ KQJ982

West	North	East	South
p	1♠	p	2♣
p	2♥	p	3NT
p	p	p

The 7 of spades was led. I suppose a rule of 11 would have told me I could with with the 9, but I put in the jack anyways, which won.

A club to the jack held, and the queen drew the ace from LHO, both following. A low diamond was won by RHO's ace. She returned the 3 of diamonds, and I decided that the king was clearly right.

By now, I already have 10 tricks, so the contract is assured (2 spades, 2 hearts, diamond and 5 clubs). Nonetheless, my mind was fully engaged, and I was pretty sure I had count for what had happened so far.

On the first club, LHO followed, while RHO discarded a heart. The next round brought 2 hearts, then the round after 2 spades. (I threw the 2 and 5 of spades off the board).

In my mind, I very clearly thought, "Once LHO discards on the 2 of clubs, I'll stop and try to reason this out." What I had in mind, of course, was a possible squeeze for the 11th trick.

This was the layout, with 5 tricks left.

	♠ AQ ♥ KJ8 ♦ ♣
♠ KT ♥ Q6 ♦ Q ♣		♠ 6 ♥ 97 ♦ 54 ♣
	♠ ♥ AT5 ♦ J ♣ 2

On the 2 of clubs, LHO discarded the queen of diamonds, and I claimed (jack of diamonds, ace/king of hearts, ace of spades.

While the discard made the right play easy to spot, I truly believe I would have reasoned out the right line regardless of what LHO discarded. I knew from the opening lead that she had 2 spades left before the discard. I was also very aware there were only 4 hearts left, and there was a good chance my jack might be promoted if more hearts were discarded.

So, while I can't fully take credit for pulling off a squeeze (I don't think), I can be awfully proud of the position I put myself in - I remembered the opening lead and what it implied, I had count, I didn't blindly guess the 2-way finesse, and I kept thinking "there may be a squeeze here".

Seeing the layout after the hand, and seeing that the squeeze had, in fact, been on, was one of the coolest things I have ever experienced in bridge.

Team Match Results

We lost 44-14. I managed to pull off a hattrick - costly declarer error, costly defense error, costly bidding error.

I don't feel like I played hideously, but at least 2 of the mistakes are ones that I feel I should not be making.

I won't complain too much though. Partner is gracious and constructive, and losing at bridge is still more fun and "productive" than a lot of other things I could be doing.

Success/Failure

2 hands from my pracice session tonight.

1. Partner dealt
1S 2D
3C 3NT
Opening lead was the 2 of spades.

♠ Q753 ♥ Q5 ♦ 86 ♣ KJT8

♠ K ♥ T742 ♦ AQJ54 ♣ A75

I think I played this right, though maybe I overlooked something. I read spades as being 4/3 based on the lead. Win the king, run the club finesse which wins. Yay! Run the spades, discarding 3 diamonds (over my partner's instence to immediately finesse diamonds). Concede a spade.

I now lose 3 hearts, but my 10 is promoted (LHO shows out on the third round). A diamond is returned. No question, I go up with the ace. Cashing the ace of clubs, RHO is now out. Forgetting the ten of hearts is good (because it doesn't matter), club to the jack, King of clubs, 5 of spades. Making.

Partner was very gracious and congratulatory. I think this line is clearly superior to immediately finessing diamonds.

Hand 2:

The bidding was:

West	North	East	South
p	p	1♥	1♠
2♥	p	p	2♠
p	p	3♦	p
3♥	p	p	p

I chose the Ace of clubs to lead.

♠ AJ42 ♥ 865 ♦ 54 ♣ J875
	♠ KT9876 ♥ AJ9 ♦ QJ ♣ A9

Partner threw the 3 of clubs, declarer the 2. So much for that idea.

With ten spades in sight, I tried the ten of clubs. Ace, 5, 3. A diamond came around to my queen. I tried a spade back, but partner had the queen. Ruff, ace of diamonds, 2 of diamonds from declarer.

Now what?

From the bidding, I thought declarer might be 5/5 in the reds. Having shown out on the second round of spades, that meant 2 clubs - and I knew he had the king.

I saw diamond ruffs coming on the board, and I also wondered if partner could really stop diamonds from running. Of course, maybe declarer was 5/4 in reds with a third club....

I think I was at my limit in terms of picturing hands, which is a shame. This is the actual layout.

	♠ ♥ 43 ♦ K7 ♣ QT64
♠ J2 ♥ 865 ♦ ♣ J87		♠ ♥ KQT7 ♦ T92 ♣ K
	♠ K876 ♥ AJ9 ♦ ♣ 9

I ruffed with the 9, cashed the ace, and exited with the jack of hearts. It was no use - declarer won in hand, ruffed the last diamond, and claimed.

I think I'm better to throw the club, something I definitely considered. The main advantage is that declarer is put on the board, and he may err from there. If I concentrate just a little harder, I should see that I can't stop diamonds from being established. (GiB double dummy analysis seems to indicate that the 2 of diamonds lead allows the contract to make.)

My vision needs to be just a little bit better.

First 2 Hands, Erin Berry Rookie-Master Game

Board 7: Partner and I come to 4 hearts, opponents silent.

	♠ A97 ♥ Q87 ♦ Q7 ♣ AQJ42
♠ JT862 ♥ KT54 ♦ T82 ♣ 8		♠ Q53 ♥ J ♦ KJ9653 ♣ K73
	♠ K4 ♥ A9632 ♦ A4 ♣ T965

I rose with the Ace of clubs. I used a spade to get to my hand, then led low towards the board. LHO rose with the king, and RHO played the jack. I think I got a diamond return, Q, K and A. Now, a low heart to the 8 held my losers to 1 club, 1 diamond and 1 heart for +620, and tie for top board in the section.

Board 8: I opened 1 spade, and partner answered 4 spades.

♠ AQT85 ♥ 4 ♦ 7532 ♣ Q97

♠ K9742 ♥ K6 ♦ 94 ♣ AK62

A small heart was led. I had visions of trying to squeeze an overtrick out of clubs, but RHO won the Ace, then played the AK of diamonds. Then RHO exited with a small diamond.

My brain went a bit fuzzy, but I recognized that the only danger was if LHO had no more diamonds, and the jack of spades. I put up the King, and sure enough LHO discarded a red card. When both followed to the ace of spades, the only thing left was to see who had the jack. When RHO discarded on the queen of spades, I shook my head a bit, and one of the masters chuckled.

+420 was predicted to be an average by the hand record (N/S have a good save in 5H), and so it was for us.

Mistakes

I was able to make the 299er game at the club today. Lucked out with a very good partner, but was dogged, by some stupid mistakes. Often, an extra half-second thought would have improved my result.

Of course, there were the requisite bidding and judgement errors that come with my level of experience and skill, especially with a new partner. This kind of thing I can live with at this point.

Two hands stood out.

On the first, I ended up leading a diamond from Kxxx against a 3NT contract (only unbid suit). Dummy came down with long clubs, and AKxxx spades. I held QJxx in spades. When the clubs were running, I was given the lead. Partner had signaled disinterest in diamonds, but my heart holding did not seem right to lead from, so I returned a diamond anyways. Declarer had the AQ, so I essentially gave up a trick.

The killing lead was spades, and it's maybe not too hard to see. Declarer was single, and if I burn his entry, he has to run clubs and spades, and give me 2 spades, or partner some red tricks.

I'm not angry that I didn't see this, but it certainly wasn't impossible to guess. Hopefully I've learned a lesson on this hand.

The other hand that stood out was inexcusable. Dummy held AQJxxx, with me having T9 in hand. I needed to play this suit for 3 winners, needing a discard, and having no extra entries to dummy. When the ten held, I continued the 9, and for some reason felt I HAD to play the ace. For some reason I had it in my head that I had to overtake (correct), but that only the ace would do.

Clearly, I'm capable of making the right play here. Not rushing would have helped a lot.

In the end, we were 52%, and in the points. Decent, but I'd like to think that with a quality partner I should do better.

Erin Berry Rookie-Master

So for the first time in over 6 years, I ventured out to a local bridge club. What finally dragged me out was the Erin Berry Rookie-Master game. I competed in a rookie-master game maybe 7 years ago, and remembered it being a lot of fun. Rookie-Master games are a great opportunity, they're not overly competetive, everyone is extremely friendly, and it's a great opportunity to play with a very good player.

All of which meant that, unlike a lot of my earlier club experiences, I wasn't very nervous at all.

My expectations for the game were pretty meagre. I really just wanted to get out and have fun. I was far more concerned about how it would FEEL to play in a club, especially given my long absence, than with how I would perform. Naturally, I wanted to play well. Actually, playing well was far more important to me than actually scoring well.

I'll try to post on some of the hands later (I'm hoping they'll release the hand analysis online - I forgot to grab one). The very first two hands that I played were barnstormers, and they set the stage for a very good evening. We defended a lot, and I was pleased to be told "good defense" on more than one occasion.

One thing that I did find is that even 21 hands was a lot for me. Playing online like I do, I will often only play 4 or 5 hands before logging off. I was definitely tiring towards the end of the session.

Beyond that, what really stood out for me was my awareness. My partner was unbelievable - she always seemed to know what I held (or needed to hold) on the last few tricks, and could analyze what contracts should and should not make after the hand, based on her recollection of the play. While I wasn't up to that impressive level, I found myself to be far more aware, especially on defense, than I can ever remember being in that environment. There were definitely hands where I knew what cards I needed to keep at the end, and what suits were too dangerous to lead away from, based on discards and play. It wasn't perfect, but it probably kept me from making a few rookie mistakes along the way. All in all, this made me very happy.

Afterwards, my partner complimented me on my card sense. This really made me happy, because I've often heard the concept of "card sense" be praised in developing players, and I had never really visualized the label being applied to me before. That compliment alone made the evening completely worthwhile.

When the scores were posted, the 73% game didn't hurt either!

For me, though, the legacy of this event will likely be about a great deal more than one good score. By returning to an environment that I hadn't visited in years, I was able to perceive just how much my game has evolved since then. While the evidence across the table tells me that I have a long way to go before I arrive, even at the club level, I am so happy about the confidence and sense of progress that I felt last night.

While I've always dreamed of being a really good player, last night was maybe the first time that I've really seen the path to get myself there.

Counting Progress

I played a dozen hands on BBO last night. I'm happy to report that there is some progress in my quest to improve my counting. Unfortunately, I still have a ways to go.

The urgency of counting seems to present itself more on defense. On one hand last night, I was able to determine declarer started with a 5521 distribution before the last card fell. I was also able to determine that I had no defense to the contract. On another hand, I was able to place partner with a 4441, only to be surprised on the last trick when it turned out declarer had overcalled on a 4 card major. On yet another hand, I was trying to determine what HCP partner held to bid a new suit over an overcall by LHO. Turns out he only had the king of clubs.

This kind of awareness is fantastic, and I hope that it continues to improve the more I play.

Unfortunately, I still go to sleep sometimes as declarer, including this rather hideous example from last night.

♠ Q8743 ♥ KT76 ♦ 7 ♣ K52

♠ K5 ♥ A854 ♦ K64 ♣ AJ96

The 2 of spades was led, ducked to east's ace.

Two things were on my mind, the finesses that jumped out, and the hockey game on TV. The key point on this hand is that I played the King of spades, then crossed to the board in clubs to cash the queen BEFORE DRAWING TRUMPS. With trumps being 3-2, I was actually home, but hadn't been counting spades.

The 8 and 7 of spades were good. They were in fact, far better than the losing finesse I took.

Getting Away With It

I was playing rubber bridge with my wife last night, and made a mistake. Unfortunately, with this kind of mistake, I often get away with it. Last night, I realized my mistake as soon as I'd made it, and it likely cost us a trick.

Opening lead on defense, I underlead my king (Kxx or Kxxx I think). Partner put in the Jack, and declarer won the ace. From this, I deduce the position of the queen.

Later, when I got in, I thoughtlessly slammed down my king, then immediately winced. Sure enough, partner had the queen, but had to play it under my king (having started with the QJ doubleton), promoting declarer's ten.

Playing low to partner's queen really shouldn't cost.

Hard is Easy

Often, when I play on Bridgebase Online, I play with the bridge robots, GiB. GiB isn't necessarily the most rational of partners, but he plays at my speed (and sometimes, since I'm learning, I like to slow it down.)

Ini] 4th position after 3 passes, playing with GiB, I held:

S AJT5
H 6432
D K4
C AK2

I bid a very normal 15-17 1NT. The bidding continued
1NT 2C
2H 3NT
4S

A nice normal bidding sequence, right? On the lead of the 4 of clubs, dummy came down:

S K87
H Q9
D A62
C J9873

A nice 10 point hand. I'm happy to be in game. However, I'm desperately searching for the 4-card major partner promised with 2 clubs.

Now, I won't say that I entered super-genius mode. In fact, there may be a better line than the one I took. Still, when you're THIS much up against it, the play actually becomes a bit easier. Since I need a lot of things to fall JUST SO, might as well play as though it's going to happen.

GiB leads 3rd/5th best. So I'm playing west for 3 clubs. I put up the Jack of clubs, but the queen covers, so I play the ace. Low to the king of trump, then I play the 9 of clubs (I really think I need clubs to be 3-2 here). The ten falls on my 9, so I win.

Now, back to the board in diamonds for the spade finesse. It holds. Realizing I can't repeat the finesse, I plop down the ace - 6, 7, Queen!!

I collect 4 spades, 2 diamonds, and 5 clubs, for an improbable 4 spades +1 - a completely boring average plus, as (almost) everyone else was in 3NT+1.

Addendum: I guess I can't really complain too much about GiB, though. The other day, I bid a reasonable (?) 5 clubs bid. LHO led the AKQ of clubs in order to defeat me. Fine, but why didn't it double me????

Cautionary Tale

S QJ83
H A8542
D T5
C A7

Passing earned me -4.6 IMPs.

Pay Attention!

My morning set of hands featured me repeatedly missing some very easy plays.

Playing 4 spades, I was presented with a choice of finesses after the opening lead:

♠ Q6 ♥ T42 ♦ KQ96 ♣ AQ92

♠ KR97532 ♥ 6 ♦ 5432 ♣ 8

The opening lead of the ten of diamonds was covered by the queen from dummy, and the ace from RHO.

Later on I had a choice as to whether to finesse the king of clubs or the jack of diamonds from LHO. Of course, if I'd thought of the opening lead (ten of diamonds), I would have realized that the diamond finesse was hopeless. The club finesse, of course, was making. Down 1.

Several hands later, I was defending 6 spades. Dummy and I each had 5 diamonds, and I carelessly discarded one of my diamonds early, allowing declarer to establish the 13th diamond. As it turned out, declarer had a cross ruff working for the trick anyways, but a little forethought might have worked better on another hand.

Rolling the Dice

If there's one thing that I learned from running, it's that no matter how much willpower I have, plans can go awry. When my plans find themselves at odds with the bigger picture, I can either try to fit it all in, or I can be flexible. In general, I've found that adapting to the situation has made for a less stressful existence.

Life got very, very busy in September, and my play time suffered. C'est la vie.

The storm seems to be passing now. He's a hand from this weekend.

♠ K5 ♥ AQ8 ♦ KQT64 ♣ K52

After 3 passes, I chose to open 1NT. LHO overcalled 2C (Capp). Partner intervened with 2S, and I had a decision to make. This was the second hand I'd played with a pickup partner, and I wasn't operating with a lot of confidence as to what he might have. In the end, possibly erroneously, I opted for 2NT, which was passed out.

The club 6 was lead, and I dummy came down.

♠ AT743 ♥ 6 ♦ J5 ♣ JT987

♠ K5 ♥ AQ8 ♦ KQT64 ♣ K52

RHO won the club ace, and returned a heart, which I ducked to LHO's 9. A diamond switch found RHO's ace, and a low heart pulled my queen, and LHO's king. The heart jack drew my ace.

At this point, my trick count was: 2 spades, 1 heart, 3 diamonds and a club. All I needed was for diamonds to be 4-2 or better to collect an 8th trick in diamonds, but when I played the king, LHO discarded a heart.

♠ AT7 ♥ ♦ ♣ JT98

♠ K5 ♥ ♦ QT6 ♣ K5

The clubs look so good, but my problem now, as always* is that I only have one entry to the board, so I can't run the club finesse. I guess there really is only one play.

Of course, this is notwithstanding any mistakes I've made up to this point, or any mistakes I'm making in my analysis of this crossroads. Maybe in 2 years I'll roll my eyes at this post.

The reason I'm sharing this hand is that, 3 or 4 hands later, I couldn't remember how I'd played it. I knew I'd gone down grasping at straws, but all I could thing was "I should have played for the drop in clubs."

As it turned out, I did exactly that. There are 3 clubs outstanding, and it's not impossible that the Queen is single.

It wasn't.

I cashed out my diamonds and spades, and exited a club, but there was always either a diamond (RHO) or a heart (LHO) coming back for the setting trick.

I'm glad, at least, that I took a shot at making the contract.


*Against weak defense, I suppose I could have ducked the first diamond on the board, hoping to drop the ace for free and promote the jack to an entry. I considered and rejected this approach.

Restricted Choice

While I wasn't completely certain at the time, it turns out that I have correctly identified a restricted choice problem for the first time.

Dummy's trumps:
AT4

K76532
My trumps.

I led a low trump towards the king, and RHO dropped the queen.

Restricted choice says that it's better to finesse LHO for the jack. I correctly identified this, made the finesse, and lost.

No worries. Statistics is a long-term game. Hopefully I'll start to identify these situations consistently, now that I've seen it once, and I'll reap the benefits of the percentage play.

Lessons Learned

I have reviewed the hands from my lovely 21% game. Two hands jumped out.

On the first, I was invited to game in spades. Holding 14 points (and 4 spades), I declined the invite. On the second, I decided not to compete to 5 spades over 5 in a red holding 5215 distribution.

Both times I opted to pass. Both decisions were in the minority, and both were losing decisions.

I have always known that I'm on the conservative side of things. I know that I'm getting better, and approaching "normal". This means that I need to push myself to be a little bit more agressive.

On Sunday, I played in the Intermediate/Advanced club weekly tournament. One of my former teammates, from this spring's I/A teams tournament, asked me to play. Thanks to some excellent bidding and defense on her part, we managed to win the tournament by several IMPs.

I did catch myself making one very noticeable mistake, though fortunately it did not cost us a trick. I bid 1NT on the way to opponents bidding game in a major. I was very careless on defense, which is unfortunate as my play mattered far more than my partners.

Before the hand was even done I was kicking myself. Hopefully I'll sit a bit straighter next time that happens.

Overall, I can't let the highs (2 first places) or lows (one dead last place) from last week get to me. I need to take the long view, and work on improving my overall game. Bridge is a game where the best and the worst will both have highs and lows. If I play each individual hand well and work on improving, my results will be good in the long haul.

Indy 4

Karma sucks. 21%, 40th of 40.

I'll do my best to review the hands later. I know at least one mental lapse resulted in a zero, but chances are it was only a 10% anyways.

Right now, I don't feel like I played awfully, but every hand wound up a disaster.

Indy 3

Another indy. Kind of a weird format.

Anyways, finished 1st of 44. I'm very pumped. Of course, A) It will probably never happen again, and B) my opponents helped out a lot.

Really, I'm not sure I can take full credit for this.

On to the interesting hands.

Board 3:

	♠ 32 ♥ AQ75 ♦ 85 ♣ K6532
♠ AKJ74 ♥ J63 ♦ J43 ♣ Q7		♠ QT865 ♥ 982 ♦ Q96 ♣ T9
	♠ 9 ♥ KT4 ♦ AKT72 ♣ AJ84

West	North	East	South
1♠	p	4♠	X
p	p	p

Kudos to partner for leaving the double in, as this scored +1100, for a cool 90%.

Next hand:

Board 4

Dealer N Vul All Scoring Imp Lead ♦T	♠ Q98 ♥ Q ♦ T965 ♣ QJ963
♠ AJ4 ♥ A876532 ♦ 3 ♣ 74		♠ 7632 ♥ K94 ♦ Q842 ♣ 85
	♠ KT5 ♥ JT ♦ AKJ7 ♣ AKT2

West	North	East	South
	p	p	1♦
1♥	p	2♥	X
p	3♦	p	p
4♥	p	p	p

Partner asked after the hand if I considered doubling. I did, and maybe it's right. I was concerned, though, that opponent was bidding based on a diamond void, in which case my hand was suddenly devalued. Turns out it was a singleton, and we collected 90% anyways.

Board 10

Dealer W Vul All Scoring Imp Lead ♣2	♠ J8 ♥ 74 ♦ AKT9432 ♣ AQ
♠ AKQT ♥ 986 ♦ 86 ♣ K975		♠ 7642 ♥ KJT53 ♦ 5 ♣ T32
	♠ 952 ♥ AQ2 ♦ QJ7 ♣ J864

West	North	East	South
1♣	1♦	1♥	1NT
2♥	3♦	p	p
p

This one was tough to bid. I'm not really sure I did it right, and was really unsure when we made +3. Fortunately, we took 75% anyways.

Board 12

Dealer N Vul E/W Scoring MP Lead ♥A	♠ K76 ♥ AQJ876 ♦ J6 ♣ KT
♠ AQ8 ♥ T532 ♦ T4 ♣ QJ87		♠ ♥ K9 ♦ Q9532 ♣ A96542
	♠ JT95432 ♥ 4 ♦ AK87 ♣ 3

West	North	East	South
	1♥	2NT	3♠
4♣	4♥	5♣	p
p	p

As soon as I bid 3 spades, it occurred to me that 4 spades was much better. We only scored 40% here - we needed to either bid 4 spades and play there, or double 5 clubs.

I think I should be the one to double 5 clubs, so I take all the blame here.