rosetrees

I'm probably missing something here. I'd wonder why the robot responded with 1NT. It had length and points in ♦. Surely a ♦ bid would have been more appropriate. This would have set you on the path to a ♦ contract.

It's fourth suit forcing. There's little point in bidding the fourth suit at this point. Partner has told you that they hold at least 5 spades and 4 diamonds and they can't support hearts. Fourth suit forcing is a way of asking your partner to tell you something more about their hand. A rebid of spades tells you they hold at least 6 spades. If you have 2 spades you can support, otherwise you would probably bid No Trumps.

In Acol bridge I've been taught that you should lead an unbid suit - so don't lead the spades. Look at leading the fourth highest of your strongest suit - in this hearts, BUT you shouldn't lead away from the Ace in a suit contract, so that rules out the hearts here. I would look at leading the fourth highest of the next longest suit, so 3 Clubs.

True. I am becoming convinced though, that they don't always play each game the same way. Can robots cheat, I wonder? When I compare my performance with others, I'm often certain (or am I??) that other people have a higher score even on games where the robots alone have bid the contract and played the game.

Thanks for that. This is my first time on this forum. I'm a recent member of BBO and so far have been playing only with robots. At least they forgive me my mistakes and I often find myself saying to the screen "there's a clever robot" when my partner wins a tricks. Is BBO bad for your mental health, I wonder :unsure: