Aaron Haspel

Nov 062002

Dear Dr. Robert:

I am fascinated with Gee’s theories on captaincy. Is there a limit to the number of times that the captain and the crew can switch identities during the course of bidding a hand? Also, when one member of the Gee partnership leaves in disgust after a disastrous hand, does the remaining member inherit the title of captain so that he may go down with his ship? Just sign me,

–Andrea Doria

Dear Andy:

The number of captain/crew role reversals is limited only by the number of bids in an auction. I have witnessed hands where Gerard was captain, then crew, then captain, then crew, then first mate, and eventually swabbing the decks of the bloody mess he left behind. Besides, a limit to the number of switches might prevent Gerard from becoming captain at the end of a difficult auction to save the hand before his partner drags them both down! After all, the last thing we all need is more website material for Aaron. [Well, perhaps not the last thing. –Ed.]

When one member of the partnership leaves in disgust, all ranks cease to exist. Now think: a helpless life raft with one frightened passenger is about to be swallowed up by a tidal wave. You need a captain and crew?

Man overboard!

Jacks or Better

Nov 062002

Both Vul
IMPs
Dealer: South
Lead: 3

	o_bones A J 6 K 5 K 9 6 5 4 A J 10
pierri K 10 4 3 J 7 2 Q 7 Q 9 4 2		Maestro 5 2 A 8 6 J 10 8 2 K 8 5 3
	misu Q 9 8 7 Q 10 9 4 3 A 3 7 6

West

Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass

North

1
1NT
2
3NT

East

Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass

South
Pass
1

Pass

Guest columnist Phil Hernandez writes:

Today finds North/South, misu and lower-case bones (not the Bones Principle author himself but a confederate), in a pushy notrump game. They are playing weak notrumps, so the 1NT rebid shows 15-17. 2C by South is new minor forcing, showing five hearts, and 2S completes the description of a 4-5 hand with 9-11 points, or 8 with Gee on lead.

The stretch does not pay immediate dividends, as Gee opens a club, best for the defense. Declarer takes the club queen with the ace and, lacking entries to set up the hearts, decides to play for diamonds to break and the spade king onside (or ducked). As he leads toward the diamond ace our hero decides to give count and drops D8. This will figure prominently later on. Declarer continues with a winning spade finesse and plays HK. Gee wins the ace — neglecting to duck, which does no harm on the actual layout — and clears the clubs.

Declarer’s last hope appears to be diamonds breaking. But when he cashes the DK, Gee thinks better of his original echo idea and drops the ten, which must be an unblock, or a falsecard, or something. In any case, with the queen and seven falling from West, this brilliancy allows declarer to bring in the diamonds for one loser, making nine tricks.

“Why the diamond ten, partner?” Pierri asks.

Gee thinks for a moment. “The jack would have been no better,” he explains.

See Gee Spot Run

Nov 042002

None Vul
IMPs
Dealer: South
Lead: 3

	wildcats 5 K Q 10 8 6 A K 8 7 5 Q 2
bilgin 9 4 3 A 9 5 4 3 Q 4 3 10 3		sauron K Q 7 6 J 2 J 10 9 6 2 9 5
	Maestro A J 10 8 2 7 — A K J 8 7 6 4

West

Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass

North

1
3
6

East

Pass
Pass
Pass

South
1

Pass

The diligent reader may recall a recent discussion of the Gee Spot, which, to review, is the percentage difference between the optimum line on a hand and Gee’s actual line.

Today, for instance, N/S reach an excellent club slam after a rather shaky auction. Myself, I wouldn’t want to sign off in my 5-card suit with a 5-1-0-7 four-loser hand after hearing my partner force twice and promise no support, but I’m funny that way. In any case North guesses to jump to 6C, and his guess proves out. Almost.

West finds the excellent lead of a trump, without which the hand is cold on almost any layout. Let’s pause and calculate the Gee Spot. The optimal line is to win in hand and lead a heart. This wins whenever West holds the heart ace, or East holds it but lacks another trump to lead, provided neither defender can ruff in on the red suit winners. Adding all the possibilities we wind up at 58% or so for the optimum line.

Gee wins the lead in hand and, postponing the problem of disposing of his spade losers (how? somehow), leads a second round of trump, discards a heart and a spade on the two top diamonds, and attempts to play AJ108 opposite a stiff for one loser. This is only a near-zero play; it wins whenever East holds exactly K9, Q9, or KQ9. The total chance of success rounds up to 5%, giving us a Gee Spot on 58% – 5%, or 53.

After the hand North, the normally mild-mannered wildcats, is moved to observe that the hand was cold — I exclude several exclamation marks — not that he means that in a negative way. The specs buzz, as ever:

Spec #1: what a surprise – the 1st time its been played off :)
Spec #2: is this an exp table??????????????
Spec #3: H trick 2 seemed auto pilot
G: I think I am too tired
G: make this the last…
Spec #4: yeah, that’s the reason
G: when I reach that point, I can’t think any more
G: but I did not want to go to bed without playing a few with you:)
Spec #1: i think the barracking from the spectators put him off and he should be allowed to replay it:)
Spec #5: not sure he makes in replay
Spec #6: that won’t help
Spec #7: I swear I might start saving these hands for a book for novices on typical mistakes to avoid

Word to Spec #7: Don’t even think about it. I’m writing that book.

Nov 042002

“Those who can’t lose 1700 can’t win 1700 either.”

Permalink November 4, 2002 No Responses »

Nov 012002

IMPs, None Vul

As South, you hold:

Q 6
A 7 3
K Q 6
K Q J 6 3

East opens a weak two hearts in first seat. WWGD?

Action	Score	Votes
Double	100	5
Pass	80	1
3	40	1
2NT	0	1

The STCP™, holding a balanced 17 points and ace third in the opponents’ suit, would give some thought to 2NT. Our expert panel wasn’t fooled.

The panel’s view is best summarized by Chorush: “I think G might rule out 2NT because of the lack of a spade stopper as well as because it is the least misdescriptive bid.” Similar contrarian thinking comes from Wiss: “One of the facets of the Gee Burger bid is that he bids 2NT when anybody’s first five guesses would bypass it, and the corollary is that he would almost never bid it if five out of five other players would.” Fair enough. But there are other considerations.

Ross: “He feels this hand is too good to overcall 2NT due to his excellent heart stopper, good spots and source of tricks.” True. Those sixes and sevens could prove key.

Smith: “2NT is obviously wrong and it’s a trap for the STCP™. We don’t want the heart lead coming into our ace of hearts. We want it to come into partner’s Qx or J9X or other soft heart stopper. If it is right to play in notrump we want partner to do it.” He understates the importance of having Gee play the hand, but all in all, a shrewd analysis. In fact, it is the consideration of “right-siding” the hand that leads one of our panelists into error.

Larsen: “My best Gee guess is 2nt to insure the right hand is declaring final contract.” Chris hasn’t yet entered the Twilight Zone, where hand-hogging just isn’t enough. See Chorush above.

And all of our panelists, save one, overlooked the most obvious objection of all.

Robert: “2NT is clearly unusual for the minors.” Clearly. And the rest of you guys call yourselves experts?

Three clubs was taken more seriously. First we will turn to the sole panelist who was taken in.

Tuncok: “I think Gee would bid 3C. And if the opponents are smart enough to compete to 3H, he then would be obliged to rebid his good club suit at the 4 level. A humble guess for the final contract is 4CX.” Wrong, but for the right reasons. It is the planned rebid of 4C that earns 3C 40 points instead of a zero. But the objections to 3C are best expressed by

Smith: “We don’t want to bid 3 clubs. Our hand is not suit oriented at all, especially in a minor. We don’t want to mislead partner like that. Our hand is too balanced and notrump oriented with a source of tricks. Three clubs is out.” Of course this makes sense only if we refuse to bid 2NT as well. A further point:

Robert: “17 points is too good to make a simple overcall!” The rest of the panel used elimination.

Chorush: “Three clubs is a poor bid but why would we spend our time discussing bids that are merely poor, when we have double available, which is atrocious?”

Wiss: “What is left is a semi-reasonable 3C and a less reasonable X. I vote for the latter.”

Mori: “Bidding 2NT (the correct bid) without enough heart stoppers and no spade stopper is out of the question so Gee is left with the choice of bidding 3C, his long suit, or to cover all situations, he has double. He has to double.”

An absolutely wretched, almost winning choice, that most of our panelists failed to consider is Pass. This is N/S’s best chance to go minus, since 2H may actually make. Yet only three of our panelists even mentioned it.

Smith: “We are a little too strong [to pass] but if partner bids spades or notrump we are happy to raise.”

Wiss: “Pass wins, you say? Drat.” Doesn’t win, but damn close. And the panelist who voted for it displays a solid understanding of captain-crew theory.

Robert: “Those weaker minded among us might try to double, but the problem with that is your partner is captain, and will bid a new suit in reponse to the double. And since the crew can’t pass a new suit by the captain, you would be stuck bidding again! Clearly unacceptable. So that leaves a heroic pass, which is the only logical choice on the hand. My guess as to the final result is 2h down 1, for -7.2 for Gee. His side had 3NT making? How unlucky!” Hard to argue. The master, however, is the final arbiter, and the master chose double, again for captain-crew reasons.

Mori: “He has to double. If partner bids spades he would never do it without the appropriate length to cover Gee holding this hand so the average expectation in that case is 6 spades. Gee gave the captaincy to his partner by doubling so he is now absolved of all blame in further developments.” It’s always wise to take the post mortem into account.

Smith: “Double. If partner bids 2 spades, then we can bid 3 clubs showing them a decent hand without spades, if they have hearts stopped and a good hand, they can go on. If they have 6 or 7 spades and a good hand, they can jump to game. It is the most flexible bid and the one that I feel Gerard has picked.” So flexible, in fact, that another panelist has a different rebid in mind entirely.

Ross: “Gee doubles planning to bid NT if partner bids spades.”

Bonus points go to one of our panelists for suggesting, though ultimately rejecting, a bid that occurred to no one else.

Smith: “3 hearts — Northern Cue — telling partner we have a heart stopper and a good hand and asking them if they have a source of tricks. This may be too tough on partner to figure out the source of tricks. We do have stoppers in every suit and they may not count their broken suits as a source of tricks even though they should.”

The Moral

At the table West raised to 3H over Gee’s double. North held:

K J 2
10
J 10 8 5 2
A 9 5 4

He had his own ideas about “right-siding” the hand and bid 4S, with which some of our panelists may not concur. (I’d bid 4H myself but I’m just moderating.) It goes down three for -150 and a 12 IMP loss. 3H is off 1, 2 on a trump lead. 5C is cold, and West holds both missing aces so 3NT also makes.

Two-Part Harmony

Oct 312002

E/W Vul
IMPs
Dealer: South
Lead: 5

	daffydoc 10 7 6 2 J 8 7 5 9 5 K 10 5
harmon J 4 A K Q 10 2 A J A Q 8 6		Maestro A Q 3 4 3 K Q 7 6 4 3 2 2
	balkam K 9 8 5 9 6 10 8 J 9 7 4 3

West

1
2
2
Pass

North

Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass

East

1NT
2
3NT

South
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass

Harmon and Gee weren’t always deadly enemies. As little as a year ago they were partners. Today’s hands may have played a part in the rupture.

Gee, East, hears his partner open one heart in second seat. In Harmon’s not unusual style this often shows some cards. Gee holds a five-loser hand, 11 hcp, and a decent seven-bagger. Certainly this calls for a forcing bid, perhaps, even, some forcing bid other than 1NT. Harmon temporizes with a 2C rebid; with 20 points and 7 controls I might venture 3C myself. (Opening 2NT, another possibility, also works well on this hand.)

Gee bids 2D, showing some extras, a hand like Kxx x KQ10xxx J10x. This bears only a small resemblance to his actual hand. 3D, assuming one is unwilling to bid 2D over 1H in the first place, seems warranted. Harmon replies a forcing 2S, asking for a spade stopper, one surmises. And Gee surmises the same, signing off in 3NT.

The loss is only 9 IMPs, since the diamond grand is only about 90% on a red suit lead. (100% on a spade lead, considerably less on a club).

Now let’s watch the two amigos on defense, in the same session.

None Vul
IMPs
Dealer: North
Lead: A

	daffydoc Q 7 6 3 A Q 5 3 K Q 8 2 6
harmon J 9 7 6 9 3 K Q J 7 5 3 2		Maestro A 9 8 5 4 K J 10 2 6 5 10 9
	balkam K 10 2 8 4 A J 10 7 4 A 8 4

West

4
Pass
Pass

North
1

4NT
6

East
Pass
5

Pass

South
2

Pass

Harmon and Gee do a fine job of jamming the auction here; 5CX is down only 2. South’s 2D is inverted, showing a strong hand with diamond support, and 5D shows two key cards in response to North’s 4NT inquiry. Daffy’s 6D is a bit of a flyer. Make South’s spade king a club and his club ace a spade and the slam has no chance at all. Even with Balkam’s actual, and excellent hand, it is a serious underdog, requiring four tricks in the majors.

There are extra chances, however, with Gee on lead. Either a club or a diamond beats the contract easily, provided he ducks in spades; but Gee takes his own advice and leads his ace. Harmon, of necessity, drops the jack, and Gee takes stock. With K10x in the dummy, under what circumstances would Harmon drop the jack? From Jxx, forfeiting a certain trick if partner has the 9? Nah. From Jx? No point. From QJ or QJx? He’d play the queen. From a stiff jack? Gee whiz, ya think?

Gee shifts to the deceptive ten of hearts, giving declarer his thirteenth trick. It proves not to be necessary.

Quack Quack

Oct 282002

None Vul
IMPs
Dealer: East
Lead: 10

	petit_g J 9 7 3 8 5 4 2 9 2 6 4 2
krt K 6 5 2 A 6 3 10 Q J 9 8 5		taryk A Q 8 4 K 9 A K 8 5 4 A 10
	Maestro 10 Q J 10 7 Q J 7 6 3 K 7 3

West

Dbl

North

Pass

East
2NT
Pass

South
3

Pass

Today Gee sits South and hears a first-hand 2NT opener to his right. In a red suit his hand can be expected to take approximately three tricks. Applying the rule of six, which states that one should always preempt six tricks above expectation at equal vulnerability (seven favorable, five unfavorable), Gee accordingly bids 3D, showing diamonds and another. STCPs™ should note that this is simply the old 2-3-4 rule of preempts, adjusted for expert play.

West doubles, showing cards and an interest in penalty — it would be unfair to call it Bones when he knows that E/W have at least three-fourths of the deck — and North, the long-suffering Mini-Gee, passes. It looks to the casual observer like he should take the logo save; three hearts goes for a mere 800 on best play. But Mini realizes that in hearts he, not Gee, would be declarer, and the three-trick expert adjustment would no longer apply. (Students of Gee, as opposed to Gee himself, are entitled to a one- or two-trick adjustment at most.) Under the circumstances he has no choice but to pass.

East is delighted to leave in the double with his trump stack, and West leads the D10, ducked to Gee’s jack. One trick for declarer. Gee leads a spade, won by East, who returns another spade, pumping the chump. Two tricks for declarer. Gee switches to the HQ now, too late. East wins the HK, cashes the two top trumps, and plays a third round of spades. Gee discards a club, which doesn’t help. Club ace and another club to Gee’s CK. Three tricks for declarer. Another heart to West’s HA. West cashes clubs, and Gee ruffs in with the DQ for his fourth, and last, trick.

Of course it is only fair to note that had Mini-Gee shown up with a stone yarborough, instead of the SJ, slam in spades or notrump would be cold for E/W, and sticks and wheels would be a mere setback instead of a calamity. In fact six spades is an excellent contract, going down only because of the bad trump break and the offside CK. And how could our hero be expected to foresee that?

Oct 262002

“Jealousy is what makes Aaron and his followers treat me the way they do.”

Permalink October 26, 2002 No Responses »

Untitled

Oct 252002

None Vul
IMPs
Dealer: East
Lead: K

	youngone 10 5 K Q J Q 10 9 7 A J 10 9
Maestro A Q J 9 8 7 4 9 8 5 4 5 K		jackl 3 2 10 3 2 A J 8 4 2 8 3 2
	conradt K 6 A 7 6 K 6 3 Q 7 6 5 4

West

1
3
Pass

North

2
Dbl

East
Pass
Pass
Pass

South
1

Pass

Today Gee is West. His first bid shows the importance, as he has reminded me many times, of understanding the bidding agreements before passing judgment. Gee is not vulnerable, has a passed partner, six and a half offensive tricks and a nearly useless hand on defense. Three or four spades would be the customary bid here. There is only one conclusion: E/W have agreed never to preempt in spades. Gee chooses the expert bid of 1S instead.

North bids a forcing 2D, South raises, and Gee reenters the auction with 3S, a bid that many STCPs™ might entertain in the first place, but what do they know? North makes one of those doubles that is designed to win the post mortem: could be negative, could be responsive, could be penalty, and whatever partner does is wrong. South interprets it as penalty, as would I, and passes. (Bidding 3NT is the winning action at the table. It makes on a spade lead and goes down on anything else, which is to say, it makes.)

And here we are in the apparently cold contract of 3SX. Hearts break, Kx onside in trump, and the defense cooperates by leading three rounds of hearts, dropping all the honors and eliminating any need for declarer to actually count the suit. (Not that any other defense helps.) South shifts to a club, Gee’s stiff king loses to the ace, and North returns a diamond, won in dummy.

Gee leads a trump and inserts the jack, which holds. He pauses, thinks, and leads…the 13th heart. North, who is already busy rehearsing for the post mortem the 47 reasons his double couldn’t have been penalty, relievedly ruffs with the spade 10. Our hero claims down 1. In fairness, the only card in his hand at that point that would have worked was the spade ace, and you can’t expect even an expert to pull the right card all the time.

Today’s hand also illustrates the situational nature of the Gee spot: if we assume execrable play, it tends to rise with each trick. At trick 1 we have a Gee spot of 20. Gee’s line succeeds whenever the stiff king is onside, for 6%, while the optimal line of play for K or Kx succeeds 26% of the time. But at trick 8, when the defense has cashed their tricks and the trump finesse has held, the Gee spot rises substantially. Gee’s heart play has a 0% chance of success, while playing the spade ace will succeed about 45% of the time (since we already know the SK is onside and trump don’t break 4-0). Thus a Gee spot of 45. The perfect Gee spot hand, then, is one where a 100% line is available at trick 1 and Gee takes a zero line instead. I haven’t found it yet, but when I do you’ll be the first to know.

Oct 232002

Dear Dr. Robert:

There has been much conversation recently about who is the captain and who is the crew. However, this seems to apply only to bidding. “The Best Defense…” raises the question, who is the captain when defending?

–Defense Sitter

Dear DS:

Excellent question! Recall that, in standard captain/crew theory, the first player to bid is the crew. Analogously, on defense the opening leader is always the crew, and his partner is always the captain. The leader (crew) passes information to his partner (captain) with his opening lead, and if the captain needs more information he can use his cards to ask questions to the crew. For example, against a 3NT contract the crew leads the 2 of hearts, passing the information “I have four hearts.” The captain wins the heart ace (from either bare ace, ace king, or ace king queen, as he has no obligation to pass information to the crew) and returns the 2 of spades, asking the question “why did you make such a terrible heart lead when a spade was clearly called for on the auction?” The crew wins the ace of spades (he cannot now have the king, as he does have to pass information to the captain) and returns the 3 of hearts, passing the information “a heart was correct, and your spade play was terrible.” The captain wins the king, throws his cards out the window, and drives home. This asks the question “why did I agree to play bridge with you in the first place?”

And remember, on the trip home, to thank Gerard for perfecting the theory for you.

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