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.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Thursday, September 4, 2008
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:
Kudos to partner for leaving the double in, as this scored +1100, for a cool 90%.
Next hand:
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.
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.
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.
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:
| ||||||||||||||||||
|  |
| ||||||||||||||||
|
| 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:
|
| |||||||||||||||||
|  |
| ||||||||||||||||
|
| 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.
|
| |||||||||||||||||
|  |
| ||||||||||||||||
|
| 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.
|
| |||||||||||||||||
|  |
| ||||||||||||||||
|
| 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.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Second Indy
I started off with some huge boards, then tapered off.
Finished up again over 50% - 52.43%, tied for 17th of 52. Not bad.
Board 2.
partner:
J6
AT8
KJ7
KT542
me:
832
KJ752
32
AJ3
The bidding (partner dealt):
1C P 1H X
P 1NT P 2D
all pass
This was a bad board for us - 2 hearts, 3 clubs, even 2NT seemed to score better. At the time, I wondered if we were wimps for selling out too easily.
In retrospect, though, I'm not sure who should be moving.
Board 10: partner opens 1 spade. I held:
832
J54
AQ543
K7
Should I bid 2 spades? 3 spades? Something else? I opted for 2 spades, which was a losing choice when 4 spades made.
Board 12.
The bidding, with me sitting in 4th position:
1S P 2H 3C
4S all pass
Dummy comes down:
J8
AJT965
K875
7
I held:
6
Q7
AQJ432
AQ53
I won partner's 9 of clubs lead with the jack, declarer playing the ten. I exited a spade, but I think cashing the ace of diamonds is required. Dummy looks to have very runnable hearts, and I know declarer has a massive spade suit. If I don't get my winners now, I may never do so.
Finished up again over 50% - 52.43%, tied for 17th of 52. Not bad.
Board 2.
partner:
J6
AT8
KJ7
KT542
me:
832
KJ752
32
AJ3
The bidding (partner dealt):
1C P 1H X
P 1NT P 2D
all pass
This was a bad board for us - 2 hearts, 3 clubs, even 2NT seemed to score better. At the time, I wondered if we were wimps for selling out too easily.
In retrospect, though, I'm not sure who should be moving.
Board 10: partner opens 1 spade. I held:
832
J54
AQ543
K7
Should I bid 2 spades? 3 spades? Something else? I opted for 2 spades, which was a losing choice when 4 spades made.
Board 12.
The bidding, with me sitting in 4th position:
1S P 2H 3C
4S all pass
Dummy comes down:
J8
AJT965
K875
7
I held:
6
Q7
AQJ432
AQ53
I won partner's 9 of clubs lead with the jack, declarer playing the ten. I exited a spade, but I think cashing the ace of diamonds is required. Dummy looks to have very runnable hearts, and I know declarer has a massive spade suit. If I don't get my winners now, I may never do so.
ACBL Indy
It's been a long, long time since I played in an ACBL tournament. Today, after reactivating my membership, I played in an INDY on BBO.
I ended up with a 53% - a healthy mix of my mistakes, partner's mistakes, and opponent's mistakes. Here are some of my bigger ones:
Board 4, 50%: 2H by LHO
Dummy, RHO:
KQJ8
QJ82
v
KQ754
I held:
AT64
5
J432
AJT9
It came down to a decision as to whether or not to hold onto clubs or spades. I chose clubs, which was a mistake, allowing the 8 of spades to take a trick. In retrospect, opponent is going to try to cash the KQJ pretty much no matter what, so I think the choice was clear.
Board 7:
playing 4H, on the lead of the ten of spades:
dummy:
Q752
KJ82
K985
5
me:
A
A764
AQJT6
KT6
LHO had overcalled, so I oped to finesse him for the queen of hearts. This failed, and RHO alertly returned a heart.
I should have ruffed two spades before drawing trump. I make this mistake a lot, I think.
Board 10:
I open a weak 2 in hearts. Bidding goes double, 4 hearts, 4 spades, all pass.
Dummy comes down:
AKT
J6
JT32
A852
I hold:
42
AKT532
93
K75
I cash the AK of hearts (should have done King then Ace, but oh well). I underlead my king of clubs - partner wins with the ace, and returns a club to my king.
At this point, I need to exit with a diamond. I force through a club, which allows declarer to discard a diamond on the established club honour on the board (declarer started with 2 clubs). Not sure if I should see this or not.
I ended up with a 53% - a healthy mix of my mistakes, partner's mistakes, and opponent's mistakes. Here are some of my bigger ones:
Board 4, 50%: 2H by LHO
Dummy, RHO:
KQJ8
QJ82
v
KQ754
I held:
AT64
5
J432
AJT9
It came down to a decision as to whether or not to hold onto clubs or spades. I chose clubs, which was a mistake, allowing the 8 of spades to take a trick. In retrospect, opponent is going to try to cash the KQJ pretty much no matter what, so I think the choice was clear.
Board 7:
playing 4H, on the lead of the ten of spades:
dummy:
Q752
KJ82
K985
5
me:
A
A764
AQJT6
KT6
LHO had overcalled, so I oped to finesse him for the queen of hearts. This failed, and RHO alertly returned a heart.
I should have ruffed two spades before drawing trump. I make this mistake a lot, I think.
Board 10:
I open a weak 2 in hearts. Bidding goes double, 4 hearts, 4 spades, all pass.
Dummy comes down:
AKT
J6
JT32
A852
I hold:
42
AKT532
93
K75
I cash the AK of hearts (should have done King then Ace, but oh well). I underlead my king of clubs - partner wins with the ace, and returns a club to my king.
At this point, I need to exit with a diamond. I force through a club, which allows declarer to discard a diamond on the established club honour on the board (declarer started with 2 clubs). Not sure if I should see this or not.
Friday, August 29, 2008
What Did I Just Do?
When I look back in years to come, I may see many mistakes here. In the end, I surprised myself by making the contract. Maybe what just happened will stick in my mind, and I'll know what I'm looking for next time.
Holding:
AQ986
A8
A2
AK97
Unsure of whether to upgrade or not, I settled for 1 spade. Partner raised to 2, and bidding game was easy.
Here was the hand:
The 8 of clubs did not look like good news, as GiB leads 3/5. I need the 2 of diamonds to throw round suit losers, so no trump ruff.
I decide to play ace and low to the board, hoping to catch a doubleton honour. In retrospect, low to the board then ace is probably better, but again, I'm not sure and need to think about it. The second round loses to the jack, with the king still outstanding.
Back comes the 5 of clubs from lefty, and the club split dream is no more. No point in drawing trump, so I play ace of diamonds, diamond to the jack. The next round of diamonds is trumped by RHO with the king, onto which my heart loser disappears. I win the heart return, and for some reason think I still need the club split, so I concede a club trick.
Upon winning the heart return, I finally notice that there's still a trump on the board, taking care of my club loser in hand. Making 4.
I think that, with the exception of the spade honours, I played this hand reasonably well. (If there's a clearly better line, it doesn't jump out at me.) I just wish I'd seen how it was going to fall down before it actually happened.
Holding:
AQ986
A8
A2
AK97
Unsure of whether to upgrade or not, I settled for 1 spade. Partner raised to 2, and bidding game was easy.
Here was the hand:
| ||||||||
 | ||||||||
|
The 8 of clubs did not look like good news, as GiB leads 3/5. I need the 2 of diamonds to throw round suit losers, so no trump ruff.
I decide to play ace and low to the board, hoping to catch a doubleton honour. In retrospect, low to the board then ace is probably better, but again, I'm not sure and need to think about it. The second round loses to the jack, with the king still outstanding.
Back comes the 5 of clubs from lefty, and the club split dream is no more. No point in drawing trump, so I play ace of diamonds, diamond to the jack. The next round of diamonds is trumped by RHO with the king, onto which my heart loser disappears. I win the heart return, and for some reason think I still need the club split, so I concede a club trick.
Upon winning the heart return, I finally notice that there's still a trump on the board, taking care of my club loser in hand. Making 4.
I think that, with the exception of the spade honours, I played this hand reasonably well. (If there's a clearly better line, it doesn't jump out at me.) I just wish I'd seen how it was going to fall down before it actually happened.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Reasoning
Playing 2/1, partner opens 1 club. Opponents are silent, and you hold:
S KJ
H QJT753
D AK5
C J8
The bidding goes:
1C 1H
1S 3H
4D ?
What does partner hold?
It took a moment, but I rationalized that partner's distibution was 4045. Ergo, I opted for 5 clubs.
As it turned out, both 4 hearts and 5 clubs were making, though 3NT making was the most common contract.
Interestingly, GiB at other tables bid clubs, then diamonds, then spades. This made it easier to get to 3NT. I do wonder, though, if both ways of bidding show 4045. If so, what is the implied difference between the two methods?
S KJ
H QJT753
D AK5
C J8
The bidding goes:
1C 1H
1S 3H
4D ?
What does partner hold?
It took a moment, but I rationalized that partner's distibution was 4045. Ergo, I opted for 5 clubs.
As it turned out, both 4 hearts and 5 clubs were making, though 3NT making was the most common contract.
Interestingly, GiB at other tables bid clubs, then diamonds, then spades. This made it easier to get to 3NT. I do wonder, though, if both ways of bidding show 4045. If so, what is the implied difference between the two methods?
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Distribution = Strength
Lest this blog become simply a collection of my failings (and believe me, I'm making a lot more mistakes than are showing up here), here's a hand from yesterday's Beginner/Intermediate Lounge Indy Tourney.
2nd hand, I held:
void
KQJ654
3
K87643
I simply could not let myself be held out of the auction. I chose hearts, and decided to bid clubs next round, even if things got high.
P 1H 2S 3D
4S 5C P 6C
X P P P
As it turned out, 3D was a misclick, and the slam was colder than penguins. On the King of Spades lead, partner laid down:
2
AT8
KJ84
AJT92
Win 12.5 IMPs, on my way to 3rd place out of 20.
2nd hand, I held:
void
KQJ654
3
K87643
I simply could not let myself be held out of the auction. I chose hearts, and decided to bid clubs next round, even if things got high.
P 1H 2S 3D
4S 5C P 6C
X P P P
As it turned out, 3D was a misclick, and the slam was colder than penguins. On the King of Spades lead, partner laid down:
2
AT8
KJ84
AJT92
Win 12.5 IMPs, on my way to 3rd place out of 20.
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