Ideal Log

Welcome to My House!

My name is Max and I play a lot of bridge.  I write about some of it here.  I'm a new life master, yet I'm constantly humbled by how much I don't know about this game!  I used to rant about other things but most of my entries these days are bridge-related.  I support my bridge habits by teaching math.  My alias, Maximal Ideal, is a math nerd reference.  Math professors across the country are probably seething at the fact that I scooped up this URL and am using it to talk about bridge.  Then again, 85% of bridge players are math professors.  Then again, that last statistic might not be accurate.  I hope you enjoy what you see.  I appreciate and encourage all forms of feedback.

National Swiss: Brilliance or Luck? (Part 1)

I had the pleasure of playing in the Roth Open Swiss with my friend Cristal. In the penultimate match of the qualifying day, we were doing well, but we still needed about 10 more victory points to qualify for the finals. The fact that we were doing well made me nervous. We would face some tough teams, and we could easily get blitzed twice and be out. Time to focus.

Of course, we sat down against two Grand Life Masters, so we had our work cut out for us. They looked serious and determined. I picked up:

AQ1076

Q

Q10874

Q7

It's a terrible 12-count, but I'm five-five, so I think it's a clear opener. We are at favorable vulnerabilty, and the auction proceeds thusly: 

1S    P      2H    3C(!)

3D    4C    4D    P

4H    P      4S    P

4N    P      5C    P

6D(!!!) All Pass

Let me explain. No, it will take too long. Let me sum up: Two hearts was game forcing, so the vulnerable 3C bidder HAS his bid. Four diamonds was keycard for diamonds, and 4H showed a dead minimum, and lack of desire to answer the question. Four spades insisted that I answer anyway, and 4N said that (kicking and screaming) I had one keycard. (A key point here is that on the auction, my partner "KNEW" that my keycard was the ace of spades and NOT clubs.) Five clubs asked for the queen of trump, and 6D said "I sure hope you know what you're doing partner!"

The opening lead was a spade (just kidding). I ruffed the club lead in dummy, which looked like this:

54

AKJ10986

A965

---

This looks like a pretty good slam. I just need to hold the trump losers to one (and time my entries so I can pitch my losers on the hearts). I cash the ace of diamonds (seeing the jack fall on my left), and lead toward my Q. Righty pops with the king and goes into a very deep tank.

This is a national event, and I've gotten myself in trouble with bad claims before, so I used the time to consider what I would do with every possible return. When I finally decided that I had a valid claim to the rest of the tricks, I peered over the edge of the tank and yelled down that he could come out now. 

We had bid and made a 24-point slam, in competition, against two GLMs! I'll tell you right now that this hand alone is NOT enough to win us this match. Can we maintain focus and pull off the win? Tune in next time...

A Terrible Opening Lead Problem

In a KO match at the NABC in Toronto, I held this hand (spots approximated):

K9

J865

975

Q1086

The opponents have a boring auction to get to six spades. The hand that is about to become dummy has shown a diamond suit.

What's your lead?

I think a pretty good argument can be made for all except three cards (spade king, heart jack, and club queen are out).  The fact that a lot of exploring was done in the auction led me to think that a round suit lead will take away a guess for declarer. I have a lot of respect for someone brave enough to lead a small spade, but I'm not prepared to explain that one to my teammates.

At length, I decided on the five of diamonds. Dummy hit with something like:

AQJxx

xx

QJ10xx

A

Declarer played small from dummy and won the king in hand. He played a spade to the ace, and another spade to my king. While in, I stopped to ask myself if a stiff diamond in partners hand was a possibility. Declarer's play at trick one suggests AK tight of diamonds, but there's no reason on the auction that he couldn't have four. Besides, what other chance do we have to beat this contract? I returned another diamond, partner ruffed, and declarer spread his hand, claiming down one.

I know a lot of people who HATE to lead from three small, in fact I'm one of them, but it worked out spectacularly here.  

Epilogue: Why did declarer refuse the (working) trump finesse? Easy: my low diamond lead was apparently in tempo enough to convince declarer that it was stiff. He didn't want to lose a finesse and a quick ruff. I suppose he must have been hoping that the hand with short diamonds would ALSO have short trumps. Hmm. Well, whatever the reasons, I was happy with the result.

More Toronto hands to come...

A Sexy Defensive Problem

At a sectional last weekend, I held:

KQJ10763

92

Q42

4

My left-hand opponent dealt and opened 2H. Partner passed and RHO boosted to 4H. I decided that it was indicated to bid 4S for two reasons:

1. Everyone was non-vulnerable, and this might be a worthwhile sacrifice.

2. I can imagine a lot of hands partner could have where he would be unable to act over 2H, but 4S would be cold.

Four spades passed around to RHO, who ended the auction with a 5H call. I felt pretty good about our chances of beating 5H, but partner could still be totally broke, so no one doubled.

Partner led the ace of spades, and I faced this particularly nasty defensive situation:

Dlr: S Vul: Nil 4 K103 K965 AJ1065       KQJ10762 92 Q42 4

 

What now? (Seriously, make a defensive plan before you read on.)

Looking at dummy I can say goodbye to my hopes of getting a second spade trick, or a club ruff. I am nearly 100% certain that partner has the ace of diamonds, and two diamond tricks seem like our best chance of defeating the contract (did I mention that this was IMPs?).

I carefully played my KING of spades under partner's ace. We have the standard agreement that when dummy shows a stiff in a suit contract, we signal suit preference. I didn't just want partner to switch to a diamond. I wanted it to LOOK like I was SCREAMING for a diamond switch. I realize that this was asking a lot from partner. I needed him to study my signal, and then SMOOTHLY underlead his ace. It was our only hope. 

Alas. Partner didn't come through and the contract made. We still won the match, but defeating this contract would have turned our win into a blitz and put us second in the event instead of third.

Of course, declarer can get it right by popping the king, but would she? I doubt it. I guess we'll never know.

Epilogue: The result at the other table? A hilarious +200 when our oppoents sold out to our teammates 3H contract. 

 

 

A No-Cost Play to Make Seven

How often do you get the chance to find out that a finesse is going to fail before you take it? Furthermore, how often do you get to take two finesses in one hand, and still take all the tricks even after one of the finesses fails?

I'll show you:

Playing at the club with a good partner, we had the following (uncontested) auction:

1D     1S

2NT    6NT

A small(ish) diamond was led, and here was what I saw when the dummy came down:

 

Dlr: S Vul: Nil AJ1098 A84 J10 KJ9           K3 K9 AKQ64 A1043

Off the top I have two spades, two hearts, five diamonds, and two clubs. That's 11 tricks, and I will have 13 if I can find either of the black queens. Given that the spades are longer, I think I'll try them first. The other reason to try spades first, is that there is no guess; the finesse is only one way. Maybe I can get some more information before testing the clubs.

So I win the diamond in dummy, and I lead a spade to my king, and a spade back (intending to finesse the jack). As I lead the second spade up, lefty pitches a heart. Now the lazy thing to do would be to let it run to the queen and claim 12 tricks, and that's exactly what several declarers did.

Not me.

What if both black queens are on my right? Then I have an extra chance. I have effectively discovered that the spade finesse will fail before I have to take it. Furthermore, finessing a club into West can't cost because she will have no spade to lead to partner's good queen (unless she does, and then I'll still make six with the revoke!).

So I hop with the ace of spades, unblock the jack of diamonds, cash the king of clubs, and run the jack. It works! Plus 1020, and a fair chunk of matchpoints are my reward. This was one of many good plays that led us to first overall. It was a pretty good day.

Afterthought: I probably should have opened 2NT in the first place. The excellent five-bagger is certainly worth upgrading 1 point. My only possible excuses were that I was playing with a partner I rarely play with (and didn't know how he would feel about my two doubletons), but mostly it was literally the first hand of the session (way to set the tone!), and I hadn't quite settled in yet.

 

Ending the Louisville NABC with a Bang

I had a great time in Louisville, even if the results left something to be desired.  My dad and I Qed for the final day of the Red Ribbon pairs, but failed to make the underalls. That game is just too weird. At least at the club I know what to expect.

A team of Salt Lakers and I were about two game/slam decisions away from Qing in the national Swiss, but we didn't quite make it.  At least we won some matches, and some platinum.

The Sunday Swiss on the final day was mostly disappointing except for two things: 

1. We beat a team of national champions in the first round 29-1 (on the 30-VP scale).

2. My bidding on the very last hand of the tournament won us our last match, but then my play almost gave it right back, check out this hand:

A10965

10

KQJ72

106

It's only a ten-count, but most good players will tell you that this is an opening hand. I happen to think that this is a GOOD opening hand, so I opened 1S in first chair.  Would any of you actually pass this hand? Partner raised to 2S, and knowing that, with my distribution, the auction wouldn't die there, I took the bull by the horns and made a game try. I bid 3H showing shortness and asking partner to bid game with no wastage. Partner took me to game, and put down a beautiful dummy:

Dlr: S Vul: All K743 A965 103 875           A10965 10 KQJ74 106

 

On the surface it looks like I should just have to lose one diamond and two clubs (as long as the trump split 2-2). But on further examination, the lead was the spade jack. I decided that restricted choice was a tough concept, but it wasn't beyond me, besides, there was NO WAY this woman was good enough to lead from QJ tight. So I won with dummy's king, and promptly finessed right into her doubleton-queen. D'oh! 

After quietly congratulating her on a nice lead, I won the heart switch, and led the ten of diamonds, "running" it to her ace. When she returned a heart it was all over. I pitched dummy's losing clubs on my diamonds, and claimed.

Her partner immediately started railing on her in his French accent about how they didn't get their club tricks. She insisted that it didn't matter, and I did a double-take: "Was this the same woman who just made the "brilliant" lead of the spade jack?"

Had it been in the midnights, I might have congratulated her on her excellent beer defense. . .

An Impossible Auction

Playing in the bracketed pairs in Atlanta partner and I produced the following (impossible) auction:

1C*    (1S)    2C*    (2S)

3D     (3S!)    7H(!)    (P)

7NT    X        All Pass

My hand was:

AK87

7  

AKQ1098

Q6

As the doubler prepares to make his lead, partner grumbles something about this auction being impossible. LHO leads the ace of diamonds (!), and after I recover from my initial state of shock, I call the director.  

Partner knew the auction was impossible because he was holding the king of diamonds AND the ace of spades!  How could I bid like such a crazy person missing the AK of my long suit, AND the ace of the opponent's suit?  

 

Easy, I couldn't. I had my bid.

 

Epilogue: Of course the board was misduplicated, it was unfortunate that all the cards happened to be yellow. Suffice to say there was some serious adjusting.

A Cute Defense

Second choice title: Never Give Up!!!

Playing at the club with my dad the opponents produced the following auction:

1N    2C    

2S    P

Okay, a standard garbage Stayman auction.  I'm on lead with the following hand:

QJ93

KJ102

6

10865

I feel pretty strongly that I should be leading a trump, but right before I led I heard Zia's voice in my head saying: "You have a singleton, why aren't you leading it?"

So I led a diamond.  In the full layout, we'll make me West, and dummy North:

Dlr: S Vul: N/S A32 8743 A10975 3     QJ93 KJ102 6 10865   104 A6 K8432 J972     K865 Q95 QJ AKQ4

 

What a dummy!!!  I doubt even North was expecting dummy to come down with two aces after this auction.  I guess his plan was to invite if partner bid hearts or diamonds (no major) and pass spades. (Maybe he would have passed 2D.)

Declarer played a small diamond from dummy. Partner won the king, dropping declarer's jack. Now I'm taking stock: Declarer has 4 spades, QJ doubleton of diamonds, two or three hearts (didn't respond 2H to Stayman), and 4 or 5 clubs.  With 4=2=5=2 shape he might not have opened 1NT, so I'll give declarer 4=3=2=4 shape. It's fun to have a full count on the hand at trick two!

Partner returns a highish diamond for me to ruff, and I return the heart jack: a surrounding play. I have one more natural trump trick, so I'm not looking for more ruffs, and I hope partner is in on the joke and returns a heart.

Nope.

Partner leads another diamond and declarer pitches a heart. Okay, so I cash the king of hearts (dropping declarer's queen), and stop to think a second. My remaining QJ of trumps are about to get pulled, and South can ruff any clubs in dummy if he needs to (although at this point, he pretty much needs AKQ of clubs to have a 1NT opener). We've taken a diamond, two diamond ruffs, and two hearts. I don't really see any way to take any more tricks, and I'm about ready to throw in the towel, but at the last second I see another chance:

I lead a SMALL heart. I was careful to lead a small heart so as to not set up dummy's fourth heart (in case partner has a club trick and declarer was screwing around). My wish comes true, partner ruffs with the spade 10, declarer overruffs with the king, and now my QJ of spades must score one more trick.  Plus 100 is worth all the matchpoints (of course) because everyone else was taking 8 or 9 tricks in no trump.

So the moral of the story is don't give up. This is a restricted choice situation. I asked myself if there was ANY way to set the contract, and after almost deciding NO, I realized that there was one card partner could have that would bounce the ball our way.

So what if I had led a trump? Well then we'd take two trump tricks, three hearts, one diamond, and you wouldn't be hearing this story right now.

:)

The Best Hand of a Horrible Set

Enroute to scoring a grand total of 31 victory points over five matches, our team did have one spectacular win.  One of the biggest contributors to that win was this hand:

Dlr: S Vul: All Q KQ965 J72 AJ65           108 76 AKQ10983 94

 

I started the auction with a gambling 3NT, followed by two passes. East tanked for a minute, and then the questions started:

"That's a gambling 3NT?"

"Yes."

"Does he promise anything on the outside?"

"No."

Etc. Finally East bids 4S, and I have a decision. Partner thinks I can make 3NT. This means she's got stuff, and I have a real chance at making 5D. It seems like East has a lot of distribution, and doubling 4S probably won't be too profitable. Enough thinking, I bid 5D, and West pulls the red card out almost immediately. Oops. Well, as you can see, I didn't step in anything too squishy because partner puts down a great dummy!

The defense starts with a spade to the king, and a heart back to the ace. After the ace of hearts comes another heart. I put up the king and it wins. Now the contract is cold! I play a trump back to my hand and lead a spade. When LHO shows out, and doesn't ruff, I call for a small diamond. Partner looks at me quizzically and tells me that I have to follow suit. I look at the table only to discover that I've led the wrong black card, a club! Oh crap. Now I have a real problem because with the trump not splitting I don't have time to pull trump, ruff a spade in dummy, AND pitch my losing club on the heart queen. I stare at dummy for a long time trying to assess all my options, and finally decide that my only chance is to hope that LHO has another heart and try to take my pitch now. I lead the heart queen, and RHO shows out. Yes! Now the contract is safe. I CAREFULLY ruff a heart high, make SURE I'm leading a spade, ruff with the jack, ruff a club high, and claim, declaring that I'll play the diamonds from the top.

Plus 750 on the way to a 58-0 win. To bad the 20VPs we got in that match was more than we earned in the rest of our matches combined!

Two Grand Slams in a Row?!?

It's not often that you have the chance to bid two consecutive grand slams.  Here was the first layout:

Dlr: S Vul: Nil KQ10965 KQ8 10 J32           A AJ109532 AK84 A

 

Getting to 7H was not a problem.  A trump was led, and I tried to claim, but got the director called on me. In the hustle and bustle of trying to justify my claim, I chose to state the wrong line, and ended up minus 50. It's a good reminder to not claim early.  Once I see the 3-0 trump break, I just need to unblock the spade ace, finish drawing trumps in dummy, and shake my diamond losers on the KQ of spades. Oh well, when I say that I will draw trump before claiming in the future, I hope that I can hold myself to it!

As a testament to my ability to keep it cool, on the very next hand I picked up:

AKQ9 Q6 10 AKQ987

And saw my partner open 1H!  I bid a calm 2C, and partner bid 2H.  The rest of the auction proceeded as follows:

1H    2C

2H    2S

3H    4NT

5D    7NT

Partner alerted 7NT, and when the opponents asked, he said: "He's not going down on a ruff."  As far as the bid itself was concerned, I couldn't imagine that partner could have an opening bid, with a heart suit that was worth bidding three times, and not have any keycards.  I was right.  Here was the full layout:

Dlr: N Vul: N/S J106 AK108654 A7 10           AKQ9 Q6 10 AKQ987

It's an absolute laydown, but I didn't claim until I had nothing but AKQ in both black suits left in my hand (I was careful to keep a black card in dummy).

My Best Match Point Play of the Denver Sectional

I had a blast playing with my student at the Denver Sectional.  Here is my favorite hand of the tournament:

Dlr: W Vul: Nil K7 KJ A108632 J96           A10 7542 KQJ4 K43

 

The auction started with LHO opening 1S, partner overcalling 2D, and me jumping to 3NT because it seemed like the thing to do at the time.  The lead was the queen of spades.

With 15 HCP missing, LHO is a strong favorite to hold BOTH missing aces, but why take any silly risks early in the hand?  (I've certainly done my share of opening 11-point hands!)  I win the opening lead in dummy (it's important to preserve entries to my hand so I can lead at the king of hearts later), and I run 6 diamond tricks.  On the diamonds I watch LHO discard three spades, a heart, and two clubs.  One of the clubs she discarded was the 10.  This was very strange, and caught my eye.  Having seen 3 spades go, I figured it was safe to lead a spade back to hand and a heart toward dummy's king, but the sight of the club 10 changed my mind.  I called for the club 9 from dummy: small, small, ACE!  Jackpot.  I have nine tricks, another spade stopper, and now I can play for gravy.  LHO panics, and cashes the ace of hearts and leads a heart to the king.  There's one overtrick.  So should I use my spade entry to come back to hand and cash my club king?

NO.

It is totally safe now to lead another club.  LHO has shown up with at least five spades (for her bid), three hearts (presumably at least four to justify her change of tack), no diamonds, and A10x of clubs.  I call for the club 6 from dummy.  If the queen appears, I claim the rest (spade A, and KJ of clubs), but when RHO plays the five, I stop to think.  If LHO has another club (unlikely), and can win this trick (even less likely), I know she has kept two spades, and will have to give me the last two tricks.  There is no danger here.  I play low from my hand and the 6 wins the trick!  I claim the rest for making 5, and all the matchpoints.

Epilogue: The bittersweet (mostly bitter) end to the story is that it turns out this was a Swiss event, and while we won the board, we didn't even come close to winning the match :(