Named ACBL player of the year many times,world champion and member of the Hall of Fame, Zia Mahmood gives you a hard time every month during Funbridge Points Tournament!
Discover 3 deals analysed by Zia Mahmood from his March tournament.
Board 9 : You can fool a robot
| ♠ 4 3 ♥ A Q 10 6 5 4 ♦ A 10 2 ♣ 6 5 |
| ♠ K 10 9 8 5 2 ♥ J 9 7 ♦ 9 8 5 ♣ K |
 |
♠ A J 7 6 ♥ K 2 ♦ K J 7 4 ♣ A J 7 |
| ♠ Q ♥ 8 3 ♦ Q 6 3 ♣ Q 10 9 8 4 3 2 |
| West | North | East | South (Zia) |
| PASS |  |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
PASS |
| PASS | DOUBLE | PASS | PASS |
| PASS |
Contract: 4♠ doubled by South. Lead: ♣ 8
North made a rather strange pass as dealer – maybe it thought it was too strong for a two-bid and not strong enough for a one-bid. East opened a routine 1NT with its 17-point maximum, and I decided to see whether the electronic brains could handle interference. A 2♣ overcall would be conventional, but even if it would not I wanted to take away bidding space, so I tried a natural 3♣.
This didn’t inconvenience West greatly – it bid its six-card major and was raised to game by East. But now the chickens came home to roost – North was deceived into thinking I had something for my bid, so it doubled the final contract.
Of course, there was no defence – we came to the Ace of hearts and a couple of diamonds in the fulness of time, but that was still 590 in the minus column. I was expecting a complete zero for this, but I actually registered an 11% board. Maybe some other Souths had failed to recognise that a robot partner, unlike a human, will always take you at your word.
