The Stars & Platinum Robot Individual has concluded after three exciting days of competition. There have been some big changes in the composition of the leaderboard over the course of the tournament.
Among the 1201 participants, Paul Gruenke (the taker) from Germany emerged as the champion with an impressive overall score of 62.07%. He started with a score of 54.54% on Day 1, followed by a strong performance of 68.68% on Day 2, and maintained consistency with 62.99% on Day 3.
In second place is Brad Theurer (BatmanBrad) from Gaithersburg, MD, with an overall score of 61.26%. He started well with 63.09% on Day 1, followed by 59.28% on Day 2. He ended well with a score of 61.40%.
Securing the third spot on the leaderboard is Jim Munday (jmunday) from Albuquerque, NM, with an overall score of 61.03%. Jim had a strong start with 65.78% on Day 1 and maintained consistency with 62.42% on Day 2. He ended with a score of 54.89% on Day 3.
Congratulations to Paul Gruenke, Brad Theurer, and Jim Munday for their impressive performances in the tournament.
Play the board of the day:
West leads the ♦3, and you play the ♦K from the dummy, which is won by East with the ♦A. East returns a club, and you play the ♣Q, which is won by West with the ♣K. Next, West plays the ♥K, which you win with the ♥A in your hand. How would you like to proceed?
When deciding to ruff a club, don't forget the risk to get overruffed. In this board, dummy has good diamonds, we need to find a way to establish an entry to the dummy in order to take all the diamond tricks.
Let's take a look at how Paul Gruenke played this hand on Board 7 of Day 2:
After winning the ♥A, Paul's plan was to draw trumps. He started by cashing the ♠K to knock out the Ace and create an entry with the ♠Q. However, what if East decides to duck the ♠A? In that case, play a small spade. If West followed with a small card, then play the ♠9, and if West played the ♠J, then play the ♠Q. After winning the spade in the dummy, Paul then claimed the remaining tricks, knowing that his diamond tricks were already established.
Congratulations once again to the top 10 prize winners and big thanks to everyone who took part and made the event so exciting. We look forward to seeing you all again next month!
Prizes
Overall winners: