Trust the robots

When the opening lead is made, it is too late to worry about what should have been done in the auction. On this month’s deal, declarer in a Funbridge MP game ended in 4♠, when game or perhaps even slam in diamonds would have been easier. The allure of playing in a major is often irresistible at matchpoints, though, so see if you can spot the winning route to an excellent MP score on this deal. 

NS Vul. Dealer North. MPs.

Deal 1
Deal 2

South was reluctant to risk his robot partner passing a takeout double of 3♥, but a natural 4♣ bid would have allowed him to raise 4♦ to 5♦. When, instead, South tried to show the two-suited nature of his hand via a 4♥ cue-bid, his robot partner decided that 4♠ would be a good place to play at matchpoints. You might think it unlikely that spades is the right game if partner could not bid 4♠ over East’s 3♥. It turns out, though, that the robot was right… if declarer was up to the task! 

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2 Comments

  1. .It is exciting play even though the ending prove poor. It was hard to see that East’s hand had only 3 hearts. It can’t hurt though to ruff the heart and lead back to dummy and then go back again. Glad you spotted it. …ZBillz

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