Vikings in Space

Hi all

Here are two slam disasters from the regional pairs in Santa Clara. It happened to be one of those days where we just should have stayed in bed, everything Drew and I tried just crumbled to a smelly pile of untouchable refuse.

1. Shows extras
2. Shows shortness with support
3. Cuebid
4. Suggesting a place to play
5. I’m not playing a minor in pairs when we have a Major suit fit

Of course West (surely a son of Priam!) led a , rose with trump Ace and gave his partner a ruff. Good for us! We found the single slam out of the four possible that had an Achilles heel. 6, 6 and 6NT are all spectacularly glacial.

1. Shows shortness with support
2. Cuebid, I still like my hand, even with those poor trumps
3. Let’s try it again

As you can see I was unsuccessful in piloting 6 to safety. The disgusting split in trumps led to down three. East surely must have felt sorry for us, I’m usually not that forgiving (in pairs) on the 6-level with five trumps to the King-Ten and an outside Ace. Both 6 and 6 are marvelous slams, but it’s far from easy to figure that out when you have established a Major suit fit already.

This weekend we’ll take a shot at qualifying for the GNT’s in Louisville. Let’s hope dark days are behind us.

Hi all

After West opens and rebids , South gets to declare 4.

West kicks off with the Ace of and switches to the Ten of . On first sight there doesn’t seem any trouble at the horizon, you can afford to lose a trump and two . But if that is a singleton and the trumps break 4-1, your halcyon days in paradise are about to be disturbed.

At the table the Jack of won the trick and so did the Ten of . Without a sign of worry you play dummy’s other trump, but East shows out. West reveals his evil plot when he cashes the King of before exiting with a to dummy.

Urgh!

So West is 6-4 in the pointy suits, and the promotion of the 9 cannot be prevented anymore if that actually was a singleton…

The antidote to that fatal trump promotion is … liberating. You need to extract West’s exit cards before continuing drawing trumps. So go back in time for a moment and right after you ran the Ten cash the Ace & King. Now you can continue trumps and West can win anytime he wants but is left toothless. Forced to play you can wrap up your ten tricks.

Unscathed you can enjoy the warm sun on your face again.

Hi all

I haven’t posted for a while. Busy with work (understanding RF technology, testing & writing python code), holidays on Hawaii, friends and friends with babies.

Here’s a nice defence from Drew and me in San Francisco. With gentle hand we set declarer in 2NT (weak NT – Invite – No thanks). Let’s look at Drew’s analysis at the table:

Drew sees me leading the 3 (3rd – 5th). He inserts the Jack and it wins the trick. So he knows instantly that I have led from KQ32. That leaves Declarer with T7. So returning the 9 is expensive, because of the 8 in dummy. The 6 hits the table via the Ten, Queen and Ace.

Declarer played a to his Jack and a to dummy’s Ten for Drew’s Jack. After cashing the 9 Drew found himself cornered. Declarer can be counted out perfectly: Ace, AJ and the King. So switching to a Major will solve declarer’s problem immediately. And even is not without danger if declarer holds the Ten. So Drew played me for that card, and returned a small via my Ten to dummy’s Ace.

Declarer could have shined now by endplaying Drew with two more rounds of , but he chose to set up his 13th . When the smoke cleared we pocketed two tricks in both black suits and one in each red suit.

Deep finesse says that South should be able to clear 8 tricks in NT … Well, you need to take the second , take a finesse and then endplay East with three rounds of . East can take another and a 13th , but then has to lead away from one of his Major suit Kings. In that suit you can endplay East again to lead away from the other King.

Hi all

First you’ve got to check out this YouTube movie. It’s incredibly funny.

Alright, back to semi-serious business. Last deal (probably) and story of 2010, it all happened on a Wednesday Piedmont teams night. I’m holding a fairly good hand:

1. GF, 4+ support
2. More than average (we play step responses to 2NT)
3. Cue
4. RKC
5. Two keycards with trump Queen, or extra length
6. You’ve got to be kidding me!

Over 4 I decided not to show my void in because partner made a cue bid in that suit. Perhaps I should have Void-wooded myself instead of handing the captaincy to partner. West decided not to trust our bidding and for reasons only known to him pulled a pretty experimental and expensive double from his bidding box. The full deal proved to be like this:

I claim 13 tricks in trick one and I am pretty certain I haven’t seen a +1820 score before. West, though, screams for the director. It seems we should not have alerted during the keycard sequence [as we did], but inform our opponents that we had a keycard sequence [as we did not].

I felt the ground crumbling under my feet. What’s wrong with bridge in the US? Can’t people think for themselves anymore?

Anyway, when the director asked the player agreed he wasn’t hurt during the play, and that he asked for clarification up to the cue bids but then disregarded the rest of the auction. So the director maintained the result. Yay! I got to keep my 6!! result!

Happy & merry holidays to you all.

Hi all

Quick Tricks in San Francisco has a team game every last Monday of the month. Each time it has proven to be a pleasant and challenging night, with interesting deals. Here’s me (South) suffering in 3NT.

Yes, NS have 25 HCP together.
Yes, the lack of spot cards is slightly unsettling.
Yes, you only have four top tricks.

An early (not very thorough) analysis shows that you need to find the Ace of onside, and the suit splitting 3-3. Then if the Jack is located on your left, everything adds up to a fortunate nine.

Well, none of that happened. Both black Aces were in West together with a stinking surprise in . So I’m already down two and I can’t claim yet …

When West cashes the master I pitch a from dummy and the criss-cross position has materialized. It’s pretty clear that East has started with a 4-5-2-2. East discards a seemingly sweaty .

West switches back to for my Ace and I know that my 3 isn’t good. I play a small to dummy’s King confident that the suicide criss-cross squeeze will have been executed properly. Who needs a finesse anyway when you have a nice squeeze?

Already knee-deep in a hellhole, and East doesn’t even have the friggin’ Jack. Really, the odds were 4-3 in my favor! My efforts lead to a nauseating down 3, vulnerable of course.

To add insult to injury, at the other table they took an early finesse against the Jack and ended up down 1. Sigh.

Hi all

Thanksgiving weekend is close, and I’m looking forward to it. I can use the extra days off, I’ve been swamped with work. Even in my sleep I’m clicking through wizards and windows setting up projects for my company’s latest client. But I have been feeling valuable, so that’s a good thing.

This deal is from a sectional in El Cerrito. I was playing with Andrew Gumperz. After the following auction I got to declare 3NT.

I see West leading the Ten of . Right, they didn’t need much time to find my weak spot. But to my surprise the trick runs to my Jack. I doesn’t hurt to rattle of six , and I see West discarding three small and two . East followed suit twice, and then rid himself of two , a and a .

Well, that finesse surely isn’t going to work now. I decide to exit in , maybe some endplay will develop. West won that one with the King and thoughtlessly continued a for his partner’s Ace. On the stream of Trifolium marked cards I have just enough consciousness to retain the AQ in dummy.

The magic has happened. Badaboom! East is endplayed, and has to surrender two tricks to the Ace – Queen.

Maybe West should have cashed his Ace somewhere along the defensive line. Perhaps East could have kept a to keep communications intact. There are some learning opportunities here.

I lost my cool, embarrassingly. I was just staring at the cards on the table, full of disbelief and wonder. Really? Really? Did I actually score up 9 tricks?

Hi all

I have recovered from what proved to be a nuclear cold. My 34th has passed by quite silently. An ant colony has invaded our kitchen and current (Orange Oil fueled) negotiations are stalled. For Thanksgiving we’re planning a roadtrip from Chicago via Denver back home. Tomorrow Massive Attack will be performing in the Greek Theatre in Berkeley. And our 4th batch of beer looks and smells very promising, it should be at its prime by the end of December.

Here’s a deal from a pairs match in Santa Clara. I was playing with Elenalani.

1. I have lost connection to reality

It’s weird, all the others have something to say, but I’m fairly sure I’m the one holding the most points. I couldn’t process what was happening, I had no clue at all.

Full deal:

We held 4 to ten tricks, lead, switch and a ruff. But we’re cold for 5, some people even made an overtrick because of the very favourable position. It actually needs a lead and a switch to beat 6. I should take some blame for not rewarding my partner’s courage for entering the auction at the four-level. On the other hand, Elenalani’s hand looks like a fine preempt to me, why care about those four pips?

Why West didn’t open that hand is a mystery to me. “How to get yourself in trouble?” Chapter 1, Paragraph 1. Usually if I pass hands like this, my partners surprise me with a 3rd seat preempt in my void.

Hi all

The sleep comes in waves, Morpheus carries me to lands far, far away. I sense the presence of an alluring woman around the corner, her chatter and laughter teasing my head and heart. But there are no corners where I am. Then I hear words, words from a popsicle mouth.

I get to relive some tough 3NT.

West leads a small .

At the table I counted three and three after forcing out the Ace. I can set up a , and then a or hook to get to my goal. But East has placed a vulnerable overcall on a very poor suit, so it’s probably safe to assume all the important cards are offside.

I visualize a plan to endplay East.

West wins the second round of and persists in . I win and play a to the King and Ace. Another won by me and I complete the endplay, I think, by cashing the Queen (added bonus if the Jack drops) and two more . I see West pitch a and a . Great! I smile when I surrender my fourth to him. Bring that King to daddy!

No sugar, for West cashes out in and the Jack. Down one.

Still I refuse to put all my eggs in one basket (read: hook), I don’t want to take the hook unless it’s absolutely necessary. The idea of an endplay is sound, but my timing and plan were incorrect.

After East has won the second round of and returned a for you, you should indeed play a to dummy’s King. When East wins and goes back to again, you can win and grant East the he has been craving for. On the run of dummy can miss some number of . But if East started with just two the endplay will be for real now.

A fork in both red suits and communication available in . I should have ended up with three tricks in , three in and three in the red suits.

Now before all the smart asses say that East should duck the to the King. No problem, you cross in (and take the other , too) and play another to dummy’s Queen. East can take two hearts now but you still got your stopper. So when East grants you the lead again you can finally fall back on the hook (scoring three tricks, one , three and two ).

I wake up, feeling nothing but some crumbly soot between my fingers. But I smile.

Hi all

Another deal from Piedmont Wednesday.

It has been a long time ago I’ve had such a clean and powerful hand. Ten absolute tricks from top, unless of course fate spins an evil story on me and gives my LHO four times the Ten and also a doubleton . But how often does that happen?

My LHO opens 1 and RHO responds 1. Perhaps Peter Fredin knows how lure the opponents in a trap here, I don’t know. At my table I wasn’t able to get the opponents to double me in 4, instead they took the push to 5. I have only one defensive trick, so I lift myself to 5. Too much for RHO, the double gets pushed through the table.

1. Obfuscation part 1
2. Obfuscation part 2, complete with theatrical look of insanity
3. Drats!, I’ve been uncovered

LHO leads the Ace of and dummy comes down:

If only I had an entry to dummy! I felt like Indiana Jannes trying to access the Sacred Chamber of The Eleventh Trick. When East shows out on the first , West goes into the tank… and continues a small for East to ruff.

Thank you! Now I can extract the sole remaining trump, and cross over to dummy’s 5 to pitch my losing for +650.

If EW don’t touch or take a ruff, NS can only take ten tricks with as trumps. East can take eleven in because North doesn’t have an entry to give South a ruff.

Hi all

Here’s a deal from the Wednesday teams night at Piedmont. The discussion invoked almost physical violence. In an uncontested auction South gets to declare 6. West leads a small . What’s the best approach?

Two paths: take the safety play in ( King and then small towards the Ten), or, if the lead smells like a singleton play trumps from top.

Do the statistics perhaps provide an answer? Any 4-1 trump split occurs 28.26% of the time, but you can only tackle four trumps in West, that leaves 14.13%. Compare that to the splitting exactly 1-5, which is close to 7.27%. So it looks like we’ve got a winner, safety play beats singleton 2-1.

But…

Bayes Theorem (credits to Geoff for explaining me):

P( singleton | lead) = ( P( singleton) * P( lead | singleton) ) / P( lead)

Read this as:

The odds the being a singleton given a lead are equal to the odds for a singleton , multiplied by the odds for a lead given a singleton, divided by the odds for a lead.

We’ll assume West always leads a singleton if he has one, so:

P( lead | singleton) = 1
P( singleton) = 0.0727
P( lead) = 0.0727 + 1/3 * 0.9273

That last part means that in 1/3 of the remaining space will be the lead chosen. We’ll ignore a broken trump holding as lead option.

This all calculates to more than 19%. So compared to the safety play, this is the superior path.

Well, this was pretty much an eye opener for me, very counter intuitive.

At our table Geoff (East) decided his hand looked like a weak two in . After South’s take out double I took maximum advantage of the vulnerability and put up a massive wall by jumping to 6. Let them figure out if and what slam they have at the 6-level! North took her plus and doubled. When the defence slipped up by not leading trumps twice, we got away for -500. Not a bad deal if you get your odds right.