Justin Lall

National Pairs Champ! November 27, 2011

Feels great to win a national pair game! My partner, Ish, played double dummy the second final session.

Recap April 18, 2007

I flew home two days ago after an exhausting 2 weeks of bridge. First was the San Diego regional, and from there I went to Gatlinburg. Overall I would say both of these tournaments were successes.

San Diego was a beautiful place to play a regional and had the most amazing weather I’ve ever seen. Being a Texan I’m not accustomed to anything other than scorching heat. I really enjoyed going on walks and being near the beach, it reminded me of when I lived in LA. I started off staying with my first time partner Grant Baze. We went over our card and knew what we were doing, but we did have an accident in the finals of a knockout because we had never played together before.

The auction went 1 on my left, X by Grant, 1 on my right, and I bid 2. Grant thought 2 would be the cuebid and 2 was natural, while I thought I was cuebidding. This resulted in an embarrassing down 5 in 2. In retrospect I think I shouldn’t have risked bidding 2 undiscussed and that he shouldn’t have risked passing. Generally it’s best to safety play the auction and discuss it later. Grant was a great partner though and didn’t say a word. This is a good auction for all partnerships to discuss, but we waited until after the session to discuss it. We lost this final by 3 so this was a decisive board.

We got redemption later in the week in a swiss team that we won in amazing fashion. With 1 round to go we were in third place pretty far back from first and second. We needed Joe Grue’s team to get either 13 or 14 VPs, and we also needed a blitz. Basically we needed a miracle. We managed to get the parlay and ended with 93 VPs while the other two teams had 92 and 91 VPs.
Later in the week my friends from BBO, Phil Clayton and Matt Haag, came in and I got to party with them. We ended up going to Phil’s house on a whim one night which was about an hour and a half drive (Orange County). It was a lot of fun and they were both great guys. Phil even grabbed an expensive dinner bill from me and refused to let anyone but himself pay.

Matt ended up being my nemesis in the next swiss team (where I played with Mike Passell as Grant had another date). We had to lead after 2 pass 4 with something like Kxxx of diamonds and xxx clubs and the spade ace. I opted for the aggressive lead of a diamond which let the contract make while Matt led a club. This match proved crucial as we ended up tied for second with Matt’s team. I still like my diamond lead, I think it’s best to lead aggressively on this type of auction as dummy will often have a long suit to establish and we need to set up our tricks first.

I was happy with how I played with Mike and Anita Cokins in the swiss teams, but early on in the knockouts with Grant I was playing terribly. I’m not sure why but I was very disappointed in my performance the first couple of days. My teammates Anita, Grant, Chris Compton, and later Mike Passell, all played very well. Luckily I was able to bounce back and play well at the end.

From San Diego I flew in to Knoxville and hung out with my best friend Jeremy Fournier. We had a good time, especially when we played Donkey Kong on SNES. I hadn’t played that game in about 12 years but it was just like riding a bike, you never forget how to do it.

From there we drove to my house in Gatlinburg which was completely awesome. I had 9 roommates, all good friends of mine and mainly junior bridge players, and we had even more people coming over at night to hang out. Somehow I ended up playing pool for money even though I am a terrible pool player. Hustled yet again.

The bridge area was the craziest thing I had ever seen. There was a sea of people; I couldn’t even find my teammates half the time. If you’ve never been to Gatlinburg, you should go, it is the biggest regional of the year. This year it broke 10,500 tables which is bigger than some nationals. There were 33(!!!) brackets of knockouts, and we were in the top bracket, so the competition was very tough. We ended up getting a 2nd and a 3rd/4th in 2 knockouts as well as winning 2 swisses. This was good for 120 masterpoints. That might sound like a lot, but there was a team that broke 230 masterpoints! That is the most anyone has ever won in a regional.

My teammates were John Kranyak, Kevin Bathurst, Shannon Cappelletti, and Stacy Jacobs. My partner was Ron Smith. I really loved this team and it had great harmony and chemistry. Everyone got along really well and played very well, and even in the heated post mortems no one ever said anything mean spirited. I really believe team harmony is important. Playing with Ron was a real pleasure, he encouraged me to do whatever I wanted and told me he would never hang me. Right he was!

One hand in third seat I opened light and Ron did not force to game with KTx AJxxx xxxx x. Remarkably I ended up in 3 making (they could have beaten me) with the opponents cold for slam! Ron didn’t hang me with 5 trumps and a stiff by bidding 4, instead just giving a limit raise and figuring out by the opponent’s 1 minute hesitations that he should just pass me in 3. Ron was also a very encouraging partner and never said a mean word.

Everyone on our team played well and I was happy with my play other than two hands. It was always fun to compare with Shannon because she would always have a ridiculous +600 on her card from nowhere. I started expecting it, and the one time she didn’t have one of those Stacy did!

It looks like I will be playing a lot more this year so I’m going to buy a laptop so I can actually blog from the tournaments. I know I had a lot of good hands but just can’t remember them right now. It’s pretty much all a blur. I really love playing though and am looking forward to playing more.

Update: It turns out that Stacy has other talents besides bridge; she is also a blogger/writer. She wrote about Gatlinburg as well and has a picture of our team so go to her blog if you want to read more.

Nightmare Set Conclusion September 12, 2006

After trouncing us 55-0 in 8 boards, Italy was down just 41 imps with 8 to go. If they could complete their comeback, it would likely be the greatest in the history of international bridge.

On board 9 our opponents bid to a 19 point 5. The contract needed a finesse and a 2-1 break and made. I thought it was likely our teammates would find the game as well, and sure enough they did. They also got doubled as their auction made it sound like they were saving. Something strange happened in the play though. Joe Grue with a club suit of AKT975 opposite 8432 led low to the seven! Joe felt from the tempo that clubs were 3-0. He was wrong this time, but what makes him so great is his courage to back his judgment and buck the percentages. Nine times out of ten he is right. This time we lost 11 imps.

Italy 66 USA 0

Thankfully for us at this point there were 5 flat boards where we were outscored 3-1. There was a game that both tables went down in that was makeable, but both declarers took the correct percentage line.

Italy 69 USA 1

On board 15 I picked up 7 AJ3 KQJ86 T875. Ari opened 1 and RHO bid 1. I had numerous options here. I could bid 2 to show a good club raise, or 3 to show a game forcing club raise with spade shortness. My club support seemed very weak for both of those actions though as partner may have a 3 card suit, and diamonds might well be our best spot. I could bid a simple 2 to be followed by a club bid, but I was worried that the opponents with a big spade fit may preempt to a high level and leave us guessing. I decided to make a fit jump with 3 to show diamonds and clubs and invitational or better values. This gave Ari a difficult problem with AK4 42 9732 AK94. With such weak hearts, 3N was out. Would 3 show spade values and heart weakness? Similarly, would 3 show the same thing? We were not on firm ground, and Ari’s prime values argued for suit play anyways. He bid 4 and I raised him to 5. That went down with 3N cold. I knew this was a very poor result, and it ended up being a 10 imp loss when our counterparts found 3N. In retrospect, I think my hand was not pure enough for a fit jump and I should have just taken my chances with a 2 bid.

Italy 79 USA 1

On the final board of the set, I held KT2 9 AKQJT92 54. Ari opened 1, I forced to game with 2, and LHO came in with 3. Now Ari bid 3N. This brings up an interesting theoretical question, should 3N show extras or just a double stopper? If it showed extras then with a minimum you can pass and bid 3N if partner Xs. However, if it shows a double stopper then passing and bidding 3N would show a single stopper. Theory didn’t matter much to me at the table though, I had to make a bid. I had a great hand, but not good enough to force it to slam (especially if partner just had a minimum). I didn’t want to risk any spade ruffs playing diamonds, so I bid a quantitative 4N. Ari, who thought he hadn’t shown extras, drove it to slam with AQ AQ752 86 QJ98. The AK of clubs was on lead and doubled us for -200. At the other table the Italians got to 6. Now the AK of clubs was not on lead, and the contract can actually make with a spade lead via a strip squeeze! John found a heart lead, which broke the communications for the squeeze and held our loss on the board to 3 imps. Had he led a spade we would have lost 17 imps on the board, and won the event by a single imp!

Final Score: Italy 82 USA 1

Wow! We had held on to win by just 15 imps. Let’s analyze how the Italians had managed to pick up so many imps in the last set.

There were 4 major swings, 4 medium swings, and 3 minor swings their way. There was only 1 minor swing in our favor.

The major swings were caused by a different lead against a slam, a marginal overcall being made at one table and not at the other, a different guess in the trump suit, and a different game being reached. These swings amounted to 53 imps.

The medium swings were caused by better judgment on a partscore hand, better judgment in high level competition, a different partscore being reached due to systemic differences, and a double made at one table but not the other. These swings amounted to 23 imps.

The minor swings were a couple of overtricks and a double made at one table and not the other. These swings amounted to 6 imps. Our minor swing was only 1 imp.

The Italians were NOT swinging, doing anything wildly anti-percentage, or anything else that could be classified as crazy. They simply played good aggressive bridge, and did it much better than us in that set. We made some mistakes and they made very few.

To me the lesson that can be learned from this amazing set is that no matter how many imps you are down, you should just keep playing normal bridge. This is what Bob Hamman has been trying to tell me for years, but I had to learn the hard way. Who could have guessed that he knew what he was talking about this whole time?

Nightmare Set Part 2 September 10, 2006

When we last left off Italy had outscored us 36-0 in the first 4 boards of the final 16 board segment of the World Youth Teams. They were still down 60 but they had momentum and nothing to lose at this point.

On board 5 systemic differences contributed to a swing. At our table the Italians opened 1 with 4432 shape. This enabled them to easily get to 3 in their 6-2 fit where there was nothing to the play. In contrast, Grue opened 1 and Kranyak had a normal 1N response so clubs were missed. Kranyak could have made 1N by playing for a finesse but instead he took a line requiring 3-2 clubs and 4-4 diamonds. This may seem strange, but it just shows that fatigue is really a factor in these marathon events. Grue and Kranyak played every single board for our team, and this was the last set. If you are ever going to lose focus a 1N contract in a match that you’re supposed to have locked up is the time to do it. Kranyak would never have misplayed this hand had he been fresh, but as it was we lost 5 imps.

Italy 41 USA 0

On board 6 our opponents got to 5 with a trump suit of AJT86432 opposite 7 needing to play it for 1 loser. Playing low to the jack caters to KQx onside but loses to Kxx or Qxx onside. The odds are exactly the same for both plays (2 cases each of 3-1 splits). However, getting to dummy to lead up to the AJT would run the small risk of a ruff should a side suit split poorly so declarer played the ace from hand. It was KQ9 onside so he went down 1. This was a potential plus position for us but in the other room Grue played the same way, no swing.

Italy 41 USA 0

On board 7 Ari picked up KJ7654 T3 K87 AJ. With everyone vulnerable he opened 1 and I raised to 2. He had a preemptive 3 bid available now and had to choose whether or not to use it. Personally, I like passing. The only reason to bid is if you fear the opponents can make something at the four level as you can always bid 3 after passing if they balance. With so much defense and no shortness, that risk seems pretty small. Given that you don’t need to shut them out of the four level, passing is best because you might buy it there. Ari did bid 3 and went down 2 after misguessing the play. In the other room Lo Presti passed in the same position and got to play it there. He judged the play well and made, so we lost 7 imps. Sometimes these seem like nothing hands, but these 5 and 7 imp losses were adding up quickly.

Italy 48 USA 0

On board 8 I picked up A96432 — K765 T87. Partner passed, and RHO bid 1. With nobody vul it felt right to jam them with a 2 preempt. The auction proceeded 3 on my left, 4 from partner, 5 on my right, pass, 6 on my left. Partner now doubled them! He was asking for an unusual lead, so I had to pick which minor he wanted.

I considered laying down the spade ace on the assumption that we needed two tricks, so the ace of spades would need to cash. Then after seeing dummy I could tell which minor my partner wanted. Partner may have a trump trick and a void though, or my diamond king may be scoring so if the spade ace got ruffed that would be a disaster. Obviously diamonds is most likely to be partner’s void since I have more of them, but a club lead was attractive for a couple of reasons. For starters, if partner was void in diamonds RHO may still hold the ace allowing me to set the contract anyways if I could score my king later. However, if partner had a club void a diamond lead would almost certainly let the contract make. Also, if LHO is bidding based on a long solid minor and heart support it is far more likely that he has clubs since he could have all the honors in that suit. It didn’t sound like they had enough HCPs for slam, so they probably had a compensating trick source. After agonizing for several minutes I chose a club to lead.

Partner was void in diamonds, but had 5 trumps and ended up with 2 natural winners anyways to go with my spade ace. It was all irrelevant and we collected a satisfying 300. At the other table the auction had the same start except that 3 showed exactly 3 hearts. Grue, with KT AKT65 JT842 9 didn’t like his chances at the five level with an just 8 card fit and the wasted spade king, so he Xed to tell his partner not to bid. His partner obediently passed, but with both opponents void in a red suit the contract proved to be unbeatable! That was 590 and another 7 imps to Italy.

Italy 55 USA 0

After 8 boards Italy had not only shut us out, they had scored an incredible 55 imps themselves! They were down to a manageable 41 imp deficit with 8 more boards left. Usually that would seem like a lot, but since they had just scored 55 imps in the same amount of boards and had tremendous momentum it seemed feasible to everyone that they could win. By the change in their expressions at the table, the Italian players also seemed to believe it.

Nightmare Set Part 1 September 8, 2006

Recently I was almost a part of the greatest comeback in the history of junior bridge. Unfortunately, I was on the wrong side!

At the 2006 World Youth Teams in Thailand, Italy was down by 96 imps to the US team with 16 boards to go. 3 years earlier, USA had come back 60 imps in 1 set against Italy in the semi-finals, only to lose by half an imp. Would history repeat itself with the teams reversed? Would Italy come out firing on all cylinders? This is the story from my perspective, remember I did not know the running score while I was playing.

On board 1 we bid to a 21 HCP 5, but we had a 6-5 fit and a void so it seemed fairly normal. At the other table the Italians also bid 5, but got Xed so we lost 4 imps.

Italy 4 USA 0.

On board 2 our opponents got to a cold 3N with 25 highs and 2 6 card suits. Ari and I missed a profitable 4 save which would have been 500. At the other table the Italians found the save and our teammates bid on to 5. Joe Grue had to judge whether his LHO who had shown the majors was 5512 or 5422. However, as RHO had suggested equal length in the majors and he had 4 spades and 5 hearts between dummy and his hand, he knew it had to be the latter and played accordingly. Well done for a push.

Italy 4 USA 0

On the third board I had QT8 AKQT9 J2 K87. Red/White the auction started 3-X-4 to me. Not knowing what 4N meant, I thought my options were 5 or 6. Partner is a solid player at these colors, and I figured they’d bid slam at the other table so I just jumped to 6. Mateo Sbarigia found a killing diamond lead from 95 – Q9874 QT9643. When dummy came down with AJ32 J642 A65 A5 I was still on a spade hook, but when that lost I was down. The lead was well reasoned; it sounded like we were ready for a club lead and with so much length in that suit it was unlikely they could set up a trick there. I was certainly worried about this result, and sure enough at the other table the contract was played from the other side and Grue was never going to find a diamond lead so we lost 17 imps.

Italy 21 USA 0

On board 4 I picked up this lovely collection: T972 T Q43 98743. With everyone vulnerable, partner opened 1 and RHO overcalled 2. I jumped in there with 3, preemptive. LHO bid 4 and my partner, Ari Greenberg, bid 5. This bid was designed to involve my judgement if the opponents bid to 6. When they did I had an easy 6 bid given my stiff heart and Qxx of partners second suit. This was a great save, going for 500, and I thought it was a sure plus position. Even if our teammates were +680 it was a 4 imp gain. It didn’t work out that way, and we lost 15 imps! At the other table Grue did not overcall with 864 KQJ62 T65 AK and Kranyak did not bid over 3 with 5 A9753 A2 QJT52. Neither bid over 4 and it made. In my view, neither player did anything unreasonable. Grue had xxx of spades and Kranyak had a terrible suit with no way to show a two-suiter.

Italy 36 USA 0

After 4 boards Italy had made up 36 imps. If that pace was sustainable, they would win, but they were still down 60 imps with just 12 boards to play and were huge underdogs at this point.