Worst Plays

[hanp]

I'm not sure about the worst plays but it's gotta be one of rogerclee's. Oops, no names!

[ArtK78]

This weekend I played 6 ♠ with:

 

AT98

AJ9

AQJ87

KQ

 

opposite

 

KJ7654

KQ75

K

87

 

I got the lead of the ten of diamonds to my king.

I played the king of spades- all follow.

I played the jack of spades, small one- I thought about what to do????

 

I played the ace, the right one discards a club.

 

I claimed one down, loosing the ace of club and the queen of trumps.

 

How does these things happen?

Why didn't I spot the obvious solution to discard my clubs on diamonds and claim 6?

 

I have no idea....

 

 

It is a truly remarkable hand. Spades break 2-1, but the ♠Q does not fall in the first two rounds.

[PassedOut]

Three from the mental archives.

 

1)  I was kibbitzing a team match many years ago.  Friends of mine (declarer is now a grandmaster) reached 3NT in an uncontested auction and the opening lead was a small spade.  Third hand held the AQx of spades and dummy had a small singleton spade.  Third hand, apparently thinking that he needed to maintain communications with his partner, played the Q.  Declarer's singleton K won the trick (yes, opening leader held Jxxxxxxx of spades).

I have books that say Q from AQx is correct, to prevent declarer from holding up the king. So is this one bad or just unlucky?

I recall a matchpoint hand where my partner, playing 4♥, scored the singleton ♣K when the pro on his right played the queen from ♣A-Q-x with ♣10-x-x in the dummy. After the play was over, the pro blasted his client for failing to open three clubs.

[Dirk Kuijt]

My candidates for worst

 

1. After the dummy goes down:

 

Dummy

 

♥Qx

 

Declarer

♥A

 

Opening lead is the ♥J; low, and East plays the ♥K. To be sure, this was in college, and we had been playing all night.

 

2. Opening leads. I think it would be hard to show that any opening lead was 0%, though of course there are 100% leads. So, I don't know if I can meet Justin's standard. However, this one has to be close. I don't remember partner's entire hand, but he led the singleton ♣K against this auction: 1NT-2NT-3NT.

[G_R__E_G]

It's funny that this topic just came up considering that I'm pretty sure that my partner played a hand as badly as it can be played on Friday night. To make matters worse she seemed to have dipped into some sort of fog and even after it happened she didn't realize the mistake.

 

We were playing Swiss teams at our club and it was the 18th hand of the night and it was the first time she had been declarer. The ops have bid and raised hearts up to 4♥ and she sacrificed to 4♠ which was doubled. We were white on white and taking what should have been -100 against the cold -420 was a great sacrifice. I had ♥KQ9 and when the opening lead came through me my king was covered by the ace and partner dropped the 10. I'm mentally begging my LHO to return a heart but he's normally a decent player so the odds are pretty much zero. Well I guess he had a brain fart and he returned a heart into my Q9 tenace. So what does partner do? Ruffs it of course. Then she can't back over to my hand without losing the lead so instead of getting to get rid of her two small diamond losers on my two good hearts she proceeds to lose those two diamond tricks. So down 3 wasn't really a great success. I asked her why she ruffed the heart at trick two but the only answer she was able to come up with was that it was her first hand of the night. I really want to ask if she meant to say "the first hand of her life" but I'm too nice to do that. :angry:

[kenberg]

I'm sympathetic. When you have a 7-3 heart fit it is unlucky to have the outstanding hearts split 3-1.

I don't mind partner for missing that- I mean the shock of a free finesse was a lot to bear.

But hopefully someone noticed that the deck had fourteen hearts and only twelve clubs.

 

Perhaps E held only six hearts and a third club? KQx? If so, after the heart finesse succeeds at trick 2, declarer can guarantee eleven tricks simply be cashing the ace of hearts at trick 3 and then giving up a heart (clubs are high, spade on third diamond). If greedy, he could cash a club at trick 3, ruff one at trick 4, finesse another heart, cash the ace of hearts coming to 1 spade, six hearts, 3 diamonds. 1 club high, 1 club ruff. At any rate, a diamond at trick 3 seems odd, but then a hand with fourteen hearts is also a bit odd so it's tough to say.

 

 

It has often been noted that winning at bridge depends much more on avoiding mistakes than it does on running compound squeezes. Much like life, I guess.

 

If I start listing my dumb plays I could write a book.

[ahydra]

When playing against me, any player can make me fluff up a contract completely by ducking his Ace (in any suit) early on. I always end up thinking the Ace has gone and play/claim based on this "fact". :/

 

ahydra

[bucky]

I'm sympathetic. When you have a 7-3 heart fit it is unlucky to have the outstanding hearts split 3-1.

I don't mind partner for missing that- I mean the shock of a free finesse was a lot to bear.

Maybe details in spot cards can help. I am curious what makes the 7-3-3-1 14-card heart-suit, or the 12-card club suit.

[bucky]

Three from the mental archives.

 

1) I was kibbitzing a team match many years ago. Friends of mine (declarer is now a grandmaster) reached 3NT in an uncontested auction and the opening lead was a small spade. Third hand held the AQx of spades and dummy had a small singleton spade. Third hand, apparently thinking that he needed to maintain communications with his partner, played the Q. Declarer's singleton K won the trick (yes, opening leader held Jxxxxxxx of spades).

 

2) This was reported to me. A friend of mine was defending a grand slam in spades in a team match. The opening lead was a small diamond. Declarer's holding in diamonds was an undisclosed 11 card fit missing the K, with the Ace in dummy. Declarer finessed.

 

3) One time many years ago a partner of mine had a huge brain fart. With a holding of Ax opposite Kx he won the A in dummy and unblocked his K.

I don't know if (1) is so dumb as to be candidate for stupidest defense. It surely is funny though.

 

These days I've often seen ridiculous plays on bbo from random players, many of which would be good candidates for this thread. However, since it is so inconceivable that a person intelligent enough to understand the rule of bridge would butcher a hand in such a fashion, I would rather give them benefits of the doubt and trust those are just misclicks of cards.

[kenberg]

About the Q from AQx.

 

The Q from AQx, in the abstract, certainly can be right. I think you would need to see the hands and the bidding before you could say in this case if it was or wasn't a reasonable play. Usually it is done when third hand has an entry in a suit declarer needs (?) to establish and, further, first hand may well have no side entry. Maybe third hand has Kx in a suit held by the dummy. Unless you flash the ace, declarer with Kxx in the led suit will surely play the king on the queen hoping to run dummy's suit. Otoh, he will clearly hold up the king if you play the ace and then the Q.

 

But if this were the case, then we would expect the AQx guy to get in with his Kx and all would be well, merely beating it one trick fewer than if third hand had risen with the ace T1. Apparently declarer, unknown to defenders, had 8 other tricks to go with his stiff king.

 

If third hand had no expected side entry it would seem weird to play the Q from AQx.

 

So defense is tough. What else is new? But a priori, this does not qualify as dumb.

[Coelacanth]

Declarer is in 4♥ with a trump holding of ♥AKxxx in hand opposite ♥QTxx in dummy. He has 3 unavoidable losers outside trumps, so he needs to pick up the hearts for no losers.

 

He begins by cashing the ace and all follow small. He now continues with a small heart toward the dummy and my partner (declarer's LHO) shows out. Declarer now goes into a brief huddle...and inserts the ten, losing to my ♥Jxx.

[kenberg]

The above heart play is one of those "Bury me, obviously I am dead" plays. I recall Reese writing of a subtle mistaken play he once made in his youth but, of course, never repeated. Me, there is no play so dumb that I cannot repeat it.

[babalu1997]

i remember a bbo tournament that made me cry

 

first partner has a propensity to play second hand high, and decapitaes my singleton king

 

two hands later in a deal wheredummy shows KJxx and he holds Ax, dummy leads low and he decapiates my singleton Queen

 

what are the chances? in a 12 board game?

 

And then came the lead directing double

 

 

1nt by opp-pass by me-2diamond transfer by opp- dble by partner-pass-pass- 3NT by opp

 

3MT BY OPP , AS FAST AS YOU CAN SAY PEPTER PUMPKIM EATER

 

I sat there salivating holding Kx and i open the King!!!!

 

the dummy displayed AQT9x

 

Partner had a singleton jack, opps make 3nt+4

 

i used to like that partner, so i cried, but i cannot play with him anymore, high blood pressure medication is expensive

[ArtK78]

i remember a bbo tournament that made me cry

 

first partner has a propensity to play second hand high, and decapitaes my singleton  king

 

two hands later in a deal wheredummy shows KJxx and he holds Ax, dummy leads low and he decapiates my singleton Queen

 

what are the chances? in a 12 board game?

 

And then came the lead directing double

 

 

1nt by opp-pass by me-2diamond transfer by opp- dble by partner-pass-pass- 3NT by opp

 

3MT BY OPP , AS FAST AS YOU CAN SAY PEPTER PUMPKIM EATER

 

I sat there salivating holding Kx and i open the King!!!!

 

the dummy displayed AQT9x

 

Partner had a singleton jack, opps make 3nt+4

 

i used to like that partner, so i cried, but i cannot play with him anymore, high blood pressure medication is expensive

Can't say too much about the first two plays, and the lead directing double was pretty funny (at least it didn't get sent back), but the lead of the ♦K didn't cost anything (at least in the diamond suit).

 

And I don't know if I can say Pepter Pumpkim Eater. Even if I could, I doubt that I would want to. :)

[Bbradley62]

Individual tournament on BBO:

[hv=d=n&v=e&n=st98hadkq7cak8653&w=sj762hkj5dat8cqt2&e=sq43hqt7432dj65c7&s=sak5h986d9432cj94]399|300|Scoring: XIMP

1C-P-1D-P

3N-all pass[/hv]East leads the ♥4. West inserts the J. North cashes ♣AK and exits to West's Q. West returns the ♥5.

[ggwhiz]

I can't remember the exact hand but I once led the ♦Q from QJx against 3nt. It was an unbid suit and dummy struck with 2 small.

 

Declarer won the Ace and later pard got in, cashed the King and I unblocked the Jack. Declarer ran the rest of the suit for just in. Duh! Pard would have led low if it mattered.

 

Grabbed a Daily Bulletin for the drive home next day (Pittsburgh NABC's) and as I'm driving, pard reading it says "Hey, somebody else defended 3nt just like we did." Ummm nope.

[manudude03]

[hv=d=e&v=n&n=sakq985ha52d6ct65&w=s32htdat9742cak72&e=s7hqj976dkj853cj9&s=sjt64hk843dqcq843]399|300|Scoring: IMP[/hv]

 

Contract is 5♦ by W, ♠A led then switched to a club to J-Q-A. On the first round of diamonds, she finessed the Jack. We still don't know for sure if she meant to finesse or it was a misclick, but she didn't say it was a misclick so.... :(

 

And then when it lost to the stiff Q and another club was led, she finessed again.

[pooltuna]

[hv=d=e&v=n&n=sakq985ha52d6ct65&w=s32htdat9742cak72&e=s7hqj976dkj853cj9&s=sjt64hk843dqcq843]399|300|Scoring: IMP[/hv]

 

Contract is 5♦ by W, ♠A led then switched to a club to J-Q-A. On the first round of diamonds, she finessed the Jack. We still don't know for sure if she meant to finesse or it was a misclick, but she didn't say it was a misclick so.... :(

 

And then when it lost to the stiff Q and another club was led, she finessed again.

clearly she was just practicing her finesses :)

[jdonn]

Guilty not protected...

[pooltuna]

Guilty not protected...

BTDT....HTTSTPI :)

[manudude03]

at least that play would ensure you would get into the bulletin 1 way or another.

[keylime]

I had one from a few years ago at the Victoria Regional:

 

You're playing 4♠ via an unusually normal auction. The lead is tabled, and everyone in British Columbia knows it's a stiff. It goes club, club, J....and you staring at the Axxx in dummy and Kxx in closed hand, DUCK. Another suit is lead and continued, and then a club gets pounded. Hand's ice cold, but -100 you record.

 

As you fret over your vulnerable game loss, when scores are compared, you learn that somehow, the opps also went down in the ice cold game. Imagine how you feel when, you learn the opps did THE EXACT SAME THING you did. Brilliant!

[3for3]

I was on lead against 4 of a major with AKTx. Dummy and partner had xxx and declarer had QJx. I cashed ace, and declarer played queen. I cashed King, and declarer was right there with the Jack. My ten won the 3d round of the suit, and the 13er enabled partner to uppercut declarer.

 

Down 1.