[iandayre]

You pass a 3S opener on your right with KQ5, AQT862, 932, 7. Pass, partner reopens with a double. You conservatively bid 4H ending the auction. Your conservatism is rewarded when partner shows a dead minimum:

6, KJ954, KQ76, KT6. This should be a very easy hand. Yet, 10 of 19 declarers who faced this problem went down! The opening lead is a spade to the A, and a spade back, opponent following. What do you play from fourth hand at trick 1? Then what?

[Cyberyeti]

Spoiler

I discard a diamond at trick 2, draw trumps, discard another diamond on the other top spade and just give up my other aces before ruffing 2 clubs and a diamond.

I bet people discarded clubs.

[eagles123]

pitch D draw trump spade pitch another D claim =

[steve2005]

maybe not everyone opened 3♠ and never got a spade lead then not so obvious.

[iandayre]

Steve, it was an ACBL robot tournament, 1 human and 3 GIBs at each table, so 3S was opened at all tables. Obviously those who answered are correct, it is amazing to me that over half of declarers in virtually any field would go down in this cold contract. Some things never change, the skill of the "average" bridge player remains well below average.
'

[Vampyr]

iandayre, on 2014-July-26, 18:36, said:

it is amazing to me that over half of declarers in virtually any field would go down in this cold contract.

LOL how did you arrive at this conclusion?

[gordontd]

Vampyr, on 2014-July-27, 06:39, said:

LOL how did you arrive at this conclusion?

I don't think it was a conclusion, it was a statement of fact given in the original post, although perhaps the wording in the more recent post was not as clear as it might have been.

[Zelandakh]

Cyberyeti, on 2014-July-24, 16:34, said:

I bet people discarded clubs.

As they lie it is not enough to discard a club on the second spade, you also need to play diamonds (or discard a second club) before playing up to ♣Kx. Incidentally, this thread arguably breaks the forum rules, since it is essentially giving 10 easily findable names and saying how bad they are. Whereas it seems to me that the OP simply has the wrong idea about the average bridge player under online conditions. If they were playing the correct line every hand they would not be average!

[Vampyr]

gordontd, on 2014-July-27, 11:52, said:

I don't think it was a conclusion, it was a statement of fact given in the original post, although perhaps the wording in the more recent post was not as clear as it might have been.

No, it was clear, though perhaps it was not anything like what the OP meant to say.

[iandayre]

I get Vampyr's point, I was certainly not suggesting that the majority of declarers would go down in most fields, but rather that I was surprised that most would go down even in just one field, presumably not consisting of players who learned the game last week.

Of course I was not trying to point out any specific players. I stated all the necessary facts in the OP. If some find it necessary to seek out the actual hand, that's their right I guess, I didn't consider it.

And as for Zelandakh's point, I think I have exactly the right idea. Neither I, you or anyone else plays the correct line on EVERY hand. Anyone who misplays this particular hand either had some sort of blind spot or is a very weak player.

[Zelandakh]

Ot just got home from work and had not engaged their bridge brain yet...or is distracted by children and/or animals...or did not care because they went -2300 on both of the last 2 boards and just want to reach the end of the tournament quickly...or a million and one other possibilities. I played a hand just as badly myself today when playing straight after work. Perhaps that makes me a very weak player to you; you would not be the first or last to share that opinion. On the other hand, perhaps some, or even most, of those 10 declarers were average players with some other reason for going wrong. Neither of us will ever know and, quite frankly, who gives one?

[billw55]

Without a spade lead, it is easy to imagine some average players starting spades high from hand. Especially if they are playing very fast which is common in robot events.

Also, I suspect many players don't give their best effort on every board in a robot tournament. There is no partner to let down.

[Vampyr]

billw55, on 2014-July-28, 14:25, said:

Also, I suspect many players don't give their best effort on every board in a robot tournament. There is no partner to let down.

Quite. Half of them were probably watching TV.

[Zelandakh]

Vampyr, on 2014-July-28, 15:11, said:

Quite. Half of them were probably watching TV.

I nearly always have a TV window open on my PC in the background when playing on BBO.