[johnu]

PhilG007, on 2016-May-06, 16:13, said:

I well remember this hand and I still shudder at it. Even with a combined total of 25 points,it can't be made
as the cards lie. You must lose at least 2♥ tricks 2♣tricks and at least 1♦ It's also made all the more difficult due to the shortage of entries to dummy. As the opponents had been silent during the bidding,I took the ♣ lead to be from either Kxx or Qxx With this in mind, I ducked the lead and East won with the queen who then immediately fired back a second club which was ruffed by West. J♠ was returned which I took in dummy to avoid blocking the suit. I took the first ♥ finesse by leading the 10♥ which lost to the jack. The 10♠ came back which I was forced to take in hand. Now,no matter what I did I had to lose another 3 tricks to go -2. I don't think a human player would ever return a club at trick 2 What reason would there be to do so into dummy's strong ♣AJ10 tenace? If West had indeed led from 3 to an honor,returning clubs at trick 2 would simply squash West's club honor and set up 2 further club tricks for declarer. I can only put down my defeat on this deal to a lucky lead that came off 1 time in a hundred

Based on the hand record posted above, I don't see why you are going down 2. West is ruffing with a natural trump trick. After losing the first heart finesse, laying down the heart ace will draw trump and you can pitch a diamond on ♣A and ruff the 4th spade, losing a club, club ruff, heart J, and a diamond for down 1.

[johnu]

1eyedjack, on 2016-May-05, 12:00, said:

Anyway, we should perhaps suspect that something not very nice is expected in trumps after West declines to ruff, at which time I think that we should be resigned to going down and limit our losses. It is not that hard to secure one down once you give up trying to make. Both of us ended up two down, each therefore missing an opportunity to steal the board.

If you think that there is a good prospect of the other table settling in 3H then you have to play to make when in 4H. But this poll suggests that it is sensible to expect the contracts to be matched.

Is the hand record correct? Strange that PhilG007's GIB ruffed the 2nd club and your GIB didn't on essentially the same line of play. I don't see how you lost 5 tricks on any reasonable line of play.

I also don't understand why you and 661_Pete are talking about taking 2 diamond finesses. You can pitch a diamond on the ♣A, losing only 1 diamond, or pitch a diamond in dummy on the 3rd high spade and give up a diamond and ruff a diamond, and pitch a spade on the ♣A

[1eyedjack]

johnu, on 2016-May-06, 19:56, said:

Is the hand record correct? Strange that PhilG007's GIB ruffed the 2nd club and your GIB didn't on essentially the same line of play. I don't see how you lost 5 tricks on any reasonable line of play.

I also don't understand why you and 661_Pete are talking about taking 2 diamond finesses. You can pitch a diamond on the ♣A, losing only 1 diamond, or pitch a diamond in dummy on the 3rd high spade and give up a diamond and ruff a diamond, and pitch a spade on the ♣A

Your line is better, I think.

PhilG007 misremembers the play at his table. But to answer his comment, GIB East by no means played strangely. South had opened 1N, and while *I* might well make that opener with a singleton Club (against GIB quite routinely), GIB will always always always trust opener to have his bid, which trust includes playing South for at least doubleton Club. As he can see 11 of the Clubs before playing to trick 1 (6 in his hand, 4 in dummy and 1 opening lead) the suit is an open book and South is known to start with 2 low and West a singleton.

I would expect a competent human East to arrive at the same conclusion. The only question then is whether to cover and ruff back. If he does not then the defence may come to just one Club trick (trick 1). So while on some lies the adopted defensive line may not gain, on average it might be expected to do so on those occasions when West does not have two natural trump tricks.

So no, I do not accept that there was any quirky robotics going on in this hand.

I did find it strange that PhilG007 did not cover the C9 with CT/CJ in dummy at trick 1. Had West led from doubleton, East (starting with only 5 of them) would have allowed the C9 to win. Initially I thought that East's decision to cover trick 1 was stranger than the trick 2 return back to the tenace, but it is all related to East's accurate assessment of the total Club lie.

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Yeah I played this one v bad also. For some reason I was convinced of bad trump break, as well as the honours being stacked, but then of course West would have ruffed trick 2. Lesson: sit back and have a cuppa when the S4 appears. This ain't no speedball.

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[mikestar13]

I think that sexfight is a reference to sex-, the Lain prefix for six, referring to the number of GIB robots in play. I sincerely hope it is not referring to an altercation over whether or which sex acts would be performed concurrently with or subsequent to the bridge playing.

[PhilG007]

mikestar13, on 2016-May-07, 01:46, said:

I think that sexfight is a reference to sex-, the Lain prefix for six, referring to the number of GIB robots in play. I sincerely hope it is not referring to an altercation over whether or which sex acts would be performed concurrently with or subsequent to the bridge playing.

It's a consummation devoutly not to be wished (!)

[PhilG007]

MIS= Mistakes Something that's always partners fault.
EIJ= Errors In Judgment The perfect get out clause when YOU blunder (!)