You can now play the hand of the day on BBO+ and compare how you get on with the players in the article.
The Aces On Bridge by Bobby Wolff
Opening Lead: ♥J
Over the last few months I have been addressing this question: How well do computers measure up to humans when it comes to the bidding and play of the cards?
Much depends on how well they are programmed, of course, plus computers still don’t cope with bidding that well. But they frequently best humans in cardplay, especially when the auction has been properly explained to them.
Today’s deal shows how computers stack up against the world’s top declarers. Onno Eskes of the Netherlands tested the computer with the following hand from the Macallan tournament in London a decade ago. At all eight tables the contract was four hearts, against which West led the trump jack.
Three experts went down but five out of eight declarers played the hand in exemplary fashion. The computer GIB joined this expert group (Andrew Robson, Gabriel Chagas, Franck Multon, Lars Blakset and Mark Bompis) by carefully taking the heart queen and leading a spade back to the ace. Then came a heart to the ace and a spade from the table. East could ruff in front of declarer, but he knew he would be ruffing a loser; therefore, he did his best by discarding a diamond. All the declarers won the king, then ruffed a spade in dummy, and were overruffed. East played a diamond to the ace and West exited with a club. But South ruffed, ruffed another spade in dummy, and had the remaining spades plus the diamond king for his 10 tricks.
Bid with the aces
Answer: Pass
Were you tempted to overcall? Remember that the minimum requirement for a two-level overcall is a six-card suit or a very decent five-card suit, but the quality of your clubs is unsatisfactory. If the club two were the king, you might overcall, but you would feel you might be be flirting with disaster.
This Hand of the Day was originally published on aces.bridgeblogging.com.
If you’re a BBO+ member, you can now play the Hand of the Day directly on BBO as part of your membership benefits.
Go to the BBO+ section, select BBO+ Games and Events, then click Play Today’s Deal to give it a try and compare your result with the players featured in the article.
