Jeff was too tired to play tonight after clinching a spot in the Bermuda Bowl by beating Mexico this weekend.  So I decided to play in one of the GIB tournaments on BBO.

Most bridge players know that GIB is a computer program that plays bridge.  I think some guy from Eugene (Matt Ginsberg) invented it (while I was living in Eugene, I think, I met him a couple of times, but I wasn't very active in the Eugene bridge community (too busy with school.))  Anyway, when you play in these tournaments your partner is GIB, and both your opponents are GIB.  The objective is to score as many points (total points scoring) in 25 minutes as you can.  You're allowed to avoid the result on the last board (by stalling) if it's going to be minus (and your partner isn't declaring.)  After 25 minutes, whoever has the most points wins. 

The rules sound kind of silly, but it's set up this way so as to be 100% cheatproof (so you can play for money, which is what it's set up for.)

There were a couple of interesting hands.

First a couple of bidding problems.

Q732 / AQ / J42 / AK73

1 Diamond on my Right. 

I bid 1NT.  Stoppers are for sissies.

GIB partner then bid 2 Diamonds.  I started to bid 2 Hearts, and then remembered that you could click on GIB's bids to find out what they mean.  (Ordinarily this would be cheating, but it's intentionally designed this way so that people don't complain that their GIB partner made bids they didn't understand and cost them a bunch of money.)  I found out that a cuebid is Stayman.  We narrowly avoided our 4-2 Heart fit (when I responded 2 Spades) and played in 3NT instead, making 4.

The next bidding problem reminded me of a recent comment by Jeff that 'Playing with GIB is like playing with Ed (JZ's father.)  He trusts all your bids and hangs you every time you step out.)  (Incidentally, Ed is a fantastic player, as I'm sure Jeff would agree.)  You pick up

AQ53 / AT / AQ72 / Q96

I opened 1 Diamond and it went 2 Hearts on my left, passed back to me.  Double is pretty automatic, I think.  Now my GIB partner bid 3 Diamonds.  Since I was already down about 500 points to the event leader (the scores update in real time, so you know what you have to shoot for) who had bid a slam on the first board (each player plays random boards, again to preclude cheating) I decided to try 3NT.

And GIB's next bid on Txxx / xx / JT9x / Axx ?

6 Diamonds, of course.  Isn't it obvious?

Unfortunately the declarer play hand I wanted to blog has disappeared (these tournaments don't show up in bridgebase.com/myhands.)  I'll try to recreate it from memory.

Axx / Kxx / Ax / T8xxx

KQx / Axx / Qx32 / KQx

GIB opened the 1st hand 1 Club (pretty aggressive robot) and I bid 3NT (pretty conservative human.)

The lead was the Heart Queen.  I didn't have all day to consider my play, since 25 minutes is all you get and I had surprisingly gone down in that 6 Diamonds hand and had some catching up to do.

I ducked the Heart and LHO surprisingly switched to a low Diamond.  I ducked in dummy, RHO won the King and fired back a Diamond.  Now what?

Well, if the Ace of Clubs is onside or the Jack is doubleton you're gin.  I played a Club to the King, losing to the Ace (boo!) and the Jack of Diamonds came back.

Now what?

You can take the straightforward play of playing on Clubs and hoping that either the Jack is doubleton or that the person with the long Club doesn't have the long Diamond to cash or you can play all your side suit winners and hope that whichever opp started with 4 Diamonds also started with at least 3 Clubs (including the Jack.)  So that after cashing all your major suit winners:

- / - / - / T8x

/ - / - 2 / Qx

When you exit the Diamond, that opp is endplayed into leading away from their Club Jack.

I think the Club play is percentage but I wish the hand was still around so I could look at the spots (particularly the Diamond carding by GIB.)  Unfortunately my LHO showed out on the Queen of Clubs and I was toast.

East started with 3-2-4-4 shape and the endplay would have worked.  Sigh.