March 2011 - 40

Jerry Helms

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spouse) by remarking that "they
probably missed a slam!"
The hand record shows East-
West making 6, 6 and 6. How
should the bidding go? What is the
clue that slam may be possible?
Very truly,
Gobble, gobble

www.jerryhelms.com

Dear Jerry,
Dlr: West  K Q J 10 7 5
Vul: Both  Q 9 5
Q2
52
43
A
N
K32
 A J 10 7
W E
J953
AK76
S
Q973
 K J 10 4
9862
864
 10 8 4
A86
The bidding at our table:
West
Pass
Pass

North
2
Pass

East
Dbl
Dbl

South
4
All Pass

Down three and plus 800 for us.
The turkey playing South tried
to calm down his partner (his

Dear Gobble,
The observant spouse who recog‑
nized your missed slam was 100%
accurate. Besides missing the cashing
A, declarer would have to drop the
doubleton Q (as opposed to leading
the jack, planning to pin a doubleton
10), and, facing a two‑way guess in
hearts, play the preempter for the
Q. It seems that every time I pub‑
licly guesstimate percentages, I am
inundated by the mathematicians of
the world, eager to point out my sta‑
tistical deficiencies. Let's just say that
if you reached a slam on these cards,
the probability of taking 12 tricks is
fairly low.
The results on the hand record
you referred to utilizes a computer
program called Deep Finesse, which
analyzes the deal then identifies all
possible contracts that can be made

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40 Bridge Bulletin March 2011

on a "double‑dummy" basis. In bridge
jargon, the term double dummy does
not refer to two people of inferior in‑
tellect. According to The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge, double‑dummy
problems are "problems in the play of
the hand in which the solver knows
the holdings in all four hands."
Deep Finesse is infallible. Gazing
at all four hands, the program always
chooses the perfect opening lead and
follows with perfect defense, only to
be countered by perfect declarer play.
It is sometimes difficult, however, to
imagine how a particular contract
could ever be reached or how the re‑
sults on the hand record could ever be
achieved. For instance, versus a suit
contract, underleading A-Q-x into
a suit bid on your right to find part‑
ner holding K-x to get the first three
tricks is no problem for this program.
If your left‑hand opponent had
passed or raised only to 3 , you may
have collected plus 500 against 3
doubled, or perhaps have reached a
minor‑suit game taking somewhere
between 10 and 12 tricks. Somehow,
I think I would have been more than
pleased to record plus 800 on my con‑
vention card. Just curious: Did you go
back after the game and find out your
actual matchpoint score on this deal?
If it was below average, remind me to
never play in this particular club -
the competition is way too tough!
I think the information provided
by Deep Finesse is interesting and
useful. I look at hand records, note
what Deep Finesse says I could make,
then note what I would need to do to
achieve this particular result. Then
I try to decide if a perfect result was
realistically obtainable or, as is more
often the case, possible only if I had
the hand records before beginning
play or sneaking a peak into the op‑
ponents' hands.
On this deal, I think you were more
of the gobbler than the gobbled.
r
http://www.jerryhelms.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March 2011
