Playing IMPS at our weekly game, you pick up the following hand that would go well in a Master Solver's problem. Vul vs Not at IMPS, you hold A75 QJT7 J53 A83 and hear it go 3D on your left, Double by partner, 5D on your right, so now what?
I would love to make some kind of invitational bid, but partner is not going to interpret 5H as forward going, I think this is all up to you. Are you going on to slam, or are you bidding 5H. I do not think too much else other than perhaps Double enter the picture.
On the plus side for the 6 level, partner made a Vul Double at the 3 level, so should have a decent hand, and there is a good possibility that partner is void in Diamonds, the opps have shown a lot of them. On the minus side, any tenaces that you need to pick up through partners hand are not likely to be working, and partner may have stretched a little for the double, since he is short if not void in Diamonds.
I think it is around 50-50 whether you go on, and partnership style probably plays a lot to do with it, along with perhaps state of the match. In a grinding match, you want to take your probable plus and go for 5H or Double, in a swingy match, or if you feel you are down, lean a little more towards the 6 level.
At the table, I opted for 6H, which was not a success when partner put down the wrong good hand, KQxx Kxxx x KQJx. I like the TO double, but RHO put the pressure on when she bid 5D with a balanced hand and the KQ tight of Diamonds. But that is what Bridge is all about, pressure, and it worked this time. Have to see about next time :)
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
Diamond Madness
Helping some friends practice for the CNTC Playdowns at the end of the month, had 2 very interesting slam hands come up involving Diamonds as the central theme. You are playing IMPS on both hands.
On the first, you pick up 4 AQ74 KJ87 T853 with everyone Vul and Pass in first seat. The opps are silent throughout and you bid a forcing NT over partners 3rd seat 1S opener. Partner now makes your hand better by jump shifting to 3D. So how do you plan to catch up in the auction now?
This hand bid 3H, planning on a delayed raise in Diamonds, but partner KO’d that idea by bidding 4H. This hand now bid 5D, and over partners 6C cue-bid, settled in 6D, the final contract. In the discussion afterward, it mainly centered around should this hand start with a Diamond raise to 4D, or show where the values are to start, and if so, how to catch up, since 5D can be a lot weaker hand. My suggestion that the person holding this hand liked, was to start with 3H, but then over 4H, show the strength and primary Diamond support by jumping to 6D, not 5D. After all, your hand has gotten awfully good on this auction, with partner virtually guaranteeing short Clubs.
This would have made it relatively easy for the other hand to raise to 7D on AKQ75 KT3 AQT64 ---. Since hearing that partner has a good hand with Diamonds and cards in Hearts is exactly what it needs.
The next hand, with everyone Vul, you pick up A943 K7 KQT8752 --- and hear it go Pass on your left, 1S by partner, Pass on your right. You make a 2/1 2D bid, and it goes 3C on your left, 4C by partner, 5C on your right, what now?
At the table, my partner bid 6C with this hand, showing the first round control and seeing where partner was going. I bid 6D, confirming that my 4C cue-bid was for Diamonds, and partner decided that I pretty well had to have the required cards on this hand to carry on to 7. Not sure if the interference propelled us to the grand, since there was a pretty good chance we were going there anyways on this hand when I showed a good hand in support of Diamonds.
This was not a play problem as I put down KQJ75 AT94 A43 T. I also liked the fact that partner played the grand in Diamonds instead of Spades. We have at least a 10 card Diamond fit, so the chances of a ruff on the opening lead are higher in Diamonds than in Spades, our probable 9 card fit.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Couple of Failures at Slam Bidding
Have not posted for a while as I have been travelling and busy a lot the last month, but home and playing again. And coming up with some not so good examples of slam bidding.
On the first, you pick up AQT74 2 --- AKJ8753 and hear partner open 4C (Namyats) in first seat. Oh well, so much for playing in a Black suit. At least you have 1 Heart and a good void, not the other way around. You bid 4D, which asks for partner to describe their hand, and partner makes a bid you have not talked about, 5S, which gets doubled on your right.
Over 4D, you have agreed to play 4H showing a suit with 1+ losers, 4N shows no suit with 2 quick losers, and 4S/5C/5D show a suit with 2 quick losers, and imply no other suit with quick losers. You have not talked about much else in the basic discussion over these bids. So you are on your own with what partner decided 5S would mean.
You eventually decide to redouble this, and partner now bids 6H. You are assuming that 5S was a void, with no suit having 2 quick losers. The question is, does partner have solid Hearts for this auction. You decide that he should, and raise to 7H. This is not a success when partner holds
--- AJT87432 AKQT 9.
I held this hand and decided with the lack of defense coupled with a 2 loser hand, I did not want to start with 1H and lose control of the hand (what if one of the opps help partners hand). But over 4D, I decided if partner was asking about my hand, I was going to slam. The problem is I kind of got too cute, and decided to try to describe my hand now, with disastrous consequences, sigh.
On the second hand, you hold AQ T843 J3 KQ852 and over partners 1D opener, decide to bid 1H. Partner bids 3S over this, showing a splinter in Spades and a game forcing Heart raise. Is this enough to move over 4H with?
I figured that when I worked on the splinter values principle, I had 10 working points to add to partners supposed 18-19 min, giving us well over the 24 required to look for a slam opposite a splinter, so moved forward. I should probably go slow and bid 4C over 3S, letting partner asses their hand, but I think we will wind up in the same spot in 6H. Partners hand is 4 AKJ7 AT854 AJ3, right at the bottom end of the splinter and with poor Diamonds, so when the Heart Q is third offside, there is no way to avoid 2 losers. On the hand, I actually just jumped to 6H over the 3S bid, getting there quicker.
At the other table, the strong hand jumped to 4H over 1D-1H, which I think should make my hand even more interested in slam, since they think the Q of Spades is working and the Spades are protected on the opening lead. But they passed 4H and were right, winning 12 IMPS :(
Will try to get back to keeping this up to date, and stay home a little more.
On the first, you pick up AQT74 2 --- AKJ8753 and hear partner open 4C (Namyats) in first seat. Oh well, so much for playing in a Black suit. At least you have 1 Heart and a good void, not the other way around. You bid 4D, which asks for partner to describe their hand, and partner makes a bid you have not talked about, 5S, which gets doubled on your right.
Over 4D, you have agreed to play 4H showing a suit with 1+ losers, 4N shows no suit with 2 quick losers, and 4S/5C/5D show a suit with 2 quick losers, and imply no other suit with quick losers. You have not talked about much else in the basic discussion over these bids. So you are on your own with what partner decided 5S would mean.
You eventually decide to redouble this, and partner now bids 6H. You are assuming that 5S was a void, with no suit having 2 quick losers. The question is, does partner have solid Hearts for this auction. You decide that he should, and raise to 7H. This is not a success when partner holds
--- AJT87432 AKQT 9.
I held this hand and decided with the lack of defense coupled with a 2 loser hand, I did not want to start with 1H and lose control of the hand (what if one of the opps help partners hand). But over 4D, I decided if partner was asking about my hand, I was going to slam. The problem is I kind of got too cute, and decided to try to describe my hand now, with disastrous consequences, sigh.
On the second hand, you hold AQ T843 J3 KQ852 and over partners 1D opener, decide to bid 1H. Partner bids 3S over this, showing a splinter in Spades and a game forcing Heart raise. Is this enough to move over 4H with?
I figured that when I worked on the splinter values principle, I had 10 working points to add to partners supposed 18-19 min, giving us well over the 24 required to look for a slam opposite a splinter, so moved forward. I should probably go slow and bid 4C over 3S, letting partner asses their hand, but I think we will wind up in the same spot in 6H. Partners hand is 4 AKJ7 AT854 AJ3, right at the bottom end of the splinter and with poor Diamonds, so when the Heart Q is third offside, there is no way to avoid 2 losers. On the hand, I actually just jumped to 6H over the 3S bid, getting there quicker.
At the other table, the strong hand jumped to 4H over 1D-1H, which I think should make my hand even more interested in slam, since they think the Q of Spades is working and the Spades are protected on the opening lead. But they passed 4H and were right, winning 12 IMPS :(
Will try to get back to keeping this up to date, and stay home a little more.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
What Does He Mean Now?
Playing in a playdown for a team game this week, I gave my partner a tough bidding problem, yet again. Happy to say that he passed the little test with a perfect score.
No one vul at IMPS, he picked up K863 AKJ862 --- JT3 and over my 1S opener, he bid 2H, which we do not play as GF. I now bid 2N, showing a strong NT+ (and setting up a GF), and he bid 3S, which is a slam try in Spades. I bid 4D, and he correctly signed off in 4S with no Club control. Except that I now bid 5S, what does that mean and what to do?
After thinking about it a while, he bid 6H, trying for the Grand. I signed off in 6S, and even with a 4-1 Spade break, it easily made. His reasoning for going on, he had already denied a Club control, but I went on anyways, so I must not be looking for minor cards, but for how good his major suits were. Since he had great holdings in both majors, he went on to 6S.
My hand to produce this problem for partner was AJ95 Q7 KQT5 AK6. Spades were 4-1 on my right, so an opening Diamond lead might have given me some concerns, but the Club lead meant I could safety play the Spades. And yes, we do play 4 card Majors, so this is not an auction that the world would duplicate.
Next week is off to Louisville for the first part of the NABC and the NAOP pairs. Will post some of the interesting things that happen when I get back.
No one vul at IMPS, he picked up K863 AKJ862 --- JT3 and over my 1S opener, he bid 2H, which we do not play as GF. I now bid 2N, showing a strong NT+ (and setting up a GF), and he bid 3S, which is a slam try in Spades. I bid 4D, and he correctly signed off in 4S with no Club control. Except that I now bid 5S, what does that mean and what to do?
After thinking about it a while, he bid 6H, trying for the Grand. I signed off in 6S, and even with a 4-1 Spade break, it easily made. His reasoning for going on, he had already denied a Club control, but I went on anyways, so I must not be looking for minor cards, but for how good his major suits were. Since he had great holdings in both majors, he went on to 6S.
My hand to produce this problem for partner was AJ95 Q7 KQT5 AK6. Spades were 4-1 on my right, so an opening Diamond lead might have given me some concerns, but the Club lead meant I could safety play the Spades. And yes, we do play 4 card Majors, so this is not an auction that the world would duplicate.
Next week is off to Louisville for the first part of the NABC and the NAOP pairs. Will post some of the interesting things that happen when I get back.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Do You Take a 2nd Call?
Playing IMPS in a pick-up teams game on BBO, you enter the last board down some to a tough team, and pick up this hand with no one vul, 7 --- KJ9543 AJ8763. It goes 1S on your right, so you overcall 2N (anyone for 4N and get it over?). This now goes 4S on your left, P, P back to you. So do you or don't you?
At our table, this hand decided to bid 4N, figuring he had to have a good place to play it. This now went 5H on his left, P by partner, 6S on his right, oops. So not what, do you try 6N, or let them play on their bad splits.
This hand now passed, and on the A of Clubs lead, dummy put down J932 AQJT976 T 4, might have been worth some kind of Heart call over 2N, but whatever. The A of Clubs holds, and when you lead a Diamond and partner follows, declarer claims with the A of Diamonds, solid Spades, and the K of Hearts.
Fun hand, turns out any major suit slam from the solid Spade side makes, and Hearts also makes since there is no ruff. At the other table, the 2 hands bid to 7 Clubs, and got their Diamond ruff for +800 after a Spade lead, and A and out a Diamond.
At our table, this hand decided to bid 4N, figuring he had to have a good place to play it. This now went 5H on his left, P by partner, 6S on his right, oops. So not what, do you try 6N, or let them play on their bad splits.
This hand now passed, and on the A of Clubs lead, dummy put down J932 AQJT976 T 4, might have been worth some kind of Heart call over 2N, but whatever. The A of Clubs holds, and when you lead a Diamond and partner follows, declarer claims with the A of Diamonds, solid Spades, and the K of Hearts.
Fun hand, turns out any major suit slam from the solid Spade side makes, and Hearts also makes since there is no ruff. At the other table, the 2 hands bid to 7 Clubs, and got their Diamond ruff for +800 after a Spade lead, and A and out a Diamond.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
How Abuse Works on BBO
Played in a pickup team game on BBO today and got lucky to have a super nice, very competent partner to play with. Unfortunately, the same can not be said about the person playing to my left, his partner was incredibly abusive and resulting every board, with what he had done wrong.
On the first board, the opps got to 3D in a competitive auction. My partner found a truly inspired lead of a trump, and when the smoke cleared, declarer was down 2. Turns out any lead but a Diamond sets up at least 1 trick for declarer, and gives him time to work on a ruff in dummy. With the trump lead, declarer was left to set up suits himself, and with most suits being frozen, his breaking them meant we got the extra trick, and were able to exit trumps each time. As soon as the hand was over, my RHO piped up with a truly supportive comment, with any kind of reasonable play, 3D should make. This was total fantasy, on a trump lead and continuation from us, looking at all 4 hands, you might hold it to down 1, but are never making it, but since there was a lead of one of our suits at the other table and it made, 3D had to be makeable, so it was his partners poor play.
On the second board, my LHO had to lead from AK8642 of Spades after a 1C-1H-1N auction. He selected the A of Spades, then shifted to a Heart. When the smoke cleared, I had made 9 tricks and his partner started in on him, “you must lead a small Spade from that holding”, right on this hand since his partner had JT tight. A small Spade lead turns out to hold me to 1, so it cost a couple of overtricks, but that was not our hero's point.
On the third board, my RHO arrived in 3H after showing 55 in the majors. So now he could shine. Except that he managed to short ruff his hand, lost control, and wound up down 2, not much was mentioned about that hand. The 4th hand, my partner played very well in 3S on a competitive auction to make 4, picking off a J and Q from the non-openers hand to wrap up the overtrick. Since my LHO had been the person on lead the whole hand, nothing much was said. 5th Board, RHO overcalled 2S over a strong NT on his right, buying the contract, and making 4 when his partner layed down a very nice dummy for him. 6th Board, my RHO opened 1S light in 3rd seat, and I overcalled 1N, buying the contract. LHO led his stiff Q of Spades, which I won, and eventually made 7 tricks when RHO ducked the K of Spades later.
The 7th hand, RHO held K862 AK853 KT 95 and opened 1H with all vul. His partner bid 3H, limit, and it went 5D on his right. He decided to double this, and with the Clubs wrong, my partner had to go for -800, for a 4 IMP loss. Then the true fun started.
My RHO heard this auction, 1H-1S-2S-4S with his side silent. He held K7 T962 AQ86 T63 and decided to lead the 10 of Clubs. His partner, holding AJ2, won the A on the first trick and returned a Club, assuming his partner would ruff this or the next one, since he had a later entry in the K of Hearts behind dummy. This proved to be fatal, and my partner wound up with an overtrick. This is where the fun started, he started accusing his partner of not knowing bridge, being an idiot, and generally making life nasty for his partner. He had wanted him to read that the 10 of Clubs was a top of nothing lead from length, and that he should have known to switch when in with the A of Clubs. When in actuality, it was the lead of the 10 of Clubs that gave away the entire suit and the contract.
On the next hand, my RHO showed the other side of his sportsmanship. My partner wound up in 3N, and with AT8 of Spades opposite KQ752, ducked a Spade early to make sure of the 4 tricks in the suit he needed. This proved to be fortunate, since Spades were 4-1 on the hand. When my partner next got in, he played the 8 of Spades before the A, an obvious misclick, and tried to get an undo before the next player had played a card. This was of course refused. He asked again, and my LHO stated he had no objection, but it was again refused. So my partner played on. Fortunately, my RHO did not really understand bridge either, he had started with the lead of the J of Clubs from JT842 and when his partner dropped the Q under dummy's K from K5, he promptly returned the 8 of Clubs the next time he was in, losing to the 9 as his partner showed out. So now, in the fullness of time, my partner was able to strip him of exits, throw him in with a little Club and claim 3N on the forced Club return anyways. He did not even prosper on the nice sportsmanship play.
The final hand. My LHO holds 92 A JT2 Q987652 and all Vul hears the auction go 2H on his left, 2S by his partner, 5H on his right. The opening lead is the 8 of Diamonds, and the dummy tracks with K865 T8765 AKQ9 ---. The A of Diamonds wins the first trick, declarer following with the 4, and a small Heart is led off board. This hand won the A perforce, and after some thought, returned a Spade. Declarer soon claimed, and my RHO started screaming at his partner, calling him every name he could think of, telling him not to pollute IMPS games by joining them anymore. It turns out that he had led a singleton Diamond this time, and had 2 Hearts, since declarer was 55 in the reds for the 2H bid. And a Diamond return would have beaten 5H. This may be the only possible holding to beat this contract, but it is not necessary to berate your partner that much for not playing it.
During the round, when the abuse was the worst, I had sent my LHO a couple of private messages telling him to ignore the idiot and just try to have fun. He had responded that was all he was trying to do. I sent a message to the abusive one after the end, telling him that kind of abuse on partner was not called for, and tone it down. Got back a lot of swearing, and a couple of derogatory names, so added this guy to my enemies list, and a big note for him, saying do not play in any game he is part of again.
On the first board, the opps got to 3D in a competitive auction. My partner found a truly inspired lead of a trump, and when the smoke cleared, declarer was down 2. Turns out any lead but a Diamond sets up at least 1 trick for declarer, and gives him time to work on a ruff in dummy. With the trump lead, declarer was left to set up suits himself, and with most suits being frozen, his breaking them meant we got the extra trick, and were able to exit trumps each time. As soon as the hand was over, my RHO piped up with a truly supportive comment, with any kind of reasonable play, 3D should make. This was total fantasy, on a trump lead and continuation from us, looking at all 4 hands, you might hold it to down 1, but are never making it, but since there was a lead of one of our suits at the other table and it made, 3D had to be makeable, so it was his partners poor play.
On the second board, my LHO had to lead from AK8642 of Spades after a 1C-1H-1N auction. He selected the A of Spades, then shifted to a Heart. When the smoke cleared, I had made 9 tricks and his partner started in on him, “you must lead a small Spade from that holding”, right on this hand since his partner had JT tight. A small Spade lead turns out to hold me to 1, so it cost a couple of overtricks, but that was not our hero's point.
On the third board, my RHO arrived in 3H after showing 55 in the majors. So now he could shine. Except that he managed to short ruff his hand, lost control, and wound up down 2, not much was mentioned about that hand. The 4th hand, my partner played very well in 3S on a competitive auction to make 4, picking off a J and Q from the non-openers hand to wrap up the overtrick. Since my LHO had been the person on lead the whole hand, nothing much was said. 5th Board, RHO overcalled 2S over a strong NT on his right, buying the contract, and making 4 when his partner layed down a very nice dummy for him. 6th Board, my RHO opened 1S light in 3rd seat, and I overcalled 1N, buying the contract. LHO led his stiff Q of Spades, which I won, and eventually made 7 tricks when RHO ducked the K of Spades later.
The 7th hand, RHO held K862 AK853 KT 95 and opened 1H with all vul. His partner bid 3H, limit, and it went 5D on his right. He decided to double this, and with the Clubs wrong, my partner had to go for -800, for a 4 IMP loss. Then the true fun started.
My RHO heard this auction, 1H-1S-2S-4S with his side silent. He held K7 T962 AQ86 T63 and decided to lead the 10 of Clubs. His partner, holding AJ2, won the A on the first trick and returned a Club, assuming his partner would ruff this or the next one, since he had a later entry in the K of Hearts behind dummy. This proved to be fatal, and my partner wound up with an overtrick. This is where the fun started, he started accusing his partner of not knowing bridge, being an idiot, and generally making life nasty for his partner. He had wanted him to read that the 10 of Clubs was a top of nothing lead from length, and that he should have known to switch when in with the A of Clubs. When in actuality, it was the lead of the 10 of Clubs that gave away the entire suit and the contract.
On the next hand, my RHO showed the other side of his sportsmanship. My partner wound up in 3N, and with AT8 of Spades opposite KQ752, ducked a Spade early to make sure of the 4 tricks in the suit he needed. This proved to be fortunate, since Spades were 4-1 on the hand. When my partner next got in, he played the 8 of Spades before the A, an obvious misclick, and tried to get an undo before the next player had played a card. This was of course refused. He asked again, and my LHO stated he had no objection, but it was again refused. So my partner played on. Fortunately, my RHO did not really understand bridge either, he had started with the lead of the J of Clubs from JT842 and when his partner dropped the Q under dummy's K from K5, he promptly returned the 8 of Clubs the next time he was in, losing to the 9 as his partner showed out. So now, in the fullness of time, my partner was able to strip him of exits, throw him in with a little Club and claim 3N on the forced Club return anyways. He did not even prosper on the nice sportsmanship play.
The final hand. My LHO holds 92 A JT2 Q987652 and all Vul hears the auction go 2H on his left, 2S by his partner, 5H on his right. The opening lead is the 8 of Diamonds, and the dummy tracks with K865 T8765 AKQ9 ---. The A of Diamonds wins the first trick, declarer following with the 4, and a small Heart is led off board. This hand won the A perforce, and after some thought, returned a Spade. Declarer soon claimed, and my RHO started screaming at his partner, calling him every name he could think of, telling him not to pollute IMPS games by joining them anymore. It turns out that he had led a singleton Diamond this time, and had 2 Hearts, since declarer was 55 in the reds for the 2H bid. And a Diamond return would have beaten 5H. This may be the only possible holding to beat this contract, but it is not necessary to berate your partner that much for not playing it.
During the round, when the abuse was the worst, I had sent my LHO a couple of private messages telling him to ignore the idiot and just try to have fun. He had responded that was all he was trying to do. I sent a message to the abusive one after the end, telling him that kind of abuse on partner was not called for, and tone it down. Got back a lot of swearing, and a couple of derogatory names, so added this guy to my enemies list, and a big note for him, saying do not play in any game he is part of again.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Am I Crazy
Had a hand over the weekend that generated a lot of discussion / controversy. Actually, several people called me a little crazy over it. Playing IMPS in a reasonable strength team game, you pick up K6 QT6 KJ76 KJ98 NV vs Vul in 1st seat. Since you are playing 12-14 NT’s, this is an easy 1NT opener, which goes Pass on your left, 2C by partner, Pass on your right. You bid 2D, Pass on your left, and 2H by partner, which is not forward going, rather pass or correct for a major at the 2 level. You are planning to Pass this, when it goes Double on your right. You pass, and after some thought, LHO bids 2NT, which is Passed back to you.
I doubled. My thoughts ran along the lines of RHO has a borderline hand with both minors, since he did not act directly over 2C, but wants to compete now. This hand will not play well for the opps in anything if I have the minors so well placed over RHO. I like the fact I will be getting a Heart lead, and even if partner is virtually broke, the majors should not run. No one ran from 2N doubled, although I think my partner thought about it, and there we were.
The opening lead was the 5 of Hearts and this dummy tracked, Q742 A2 AT5 AQT4, more Spades and perhaps a little better hand than expected, but not that far off. Declarer ducked the Heart and my Q held the trick, so tentatively that gives partner the K. The next question is what Heart to return. I made an error here, since I never want to be in my hand, I returned the 6 of Hearts instead of the 10. If partner has the 9, I want to unblock, and if not, it likely doesn’t matter. So I should unblock for all the cases where it matters.
Declarer now played a Spade off board, winning the J in hand, and pinpointing pretty much the whole Spade suit, and led a Club to the 10 and my J. I returned the 10 of Hearts on which declarer played low and partner dropped the 9, sigh. So I exited with the K of Spades, declarer winning with the A. Declarer now tried a Club to the Q and my K.
I decided to play partner for 2 cards, and played on Diamonds myself, rather than exit a safe Club and delay the play. When partner had the Q of Diamonds, we were soon scoring up +500 on the board for down 2.
After the hand was over, my partner was surprised that I would double this contract, whereas I thought the double was odds on because of the auction and it’s implications. Giving the hand to several local experts, they all said they would pass and expressed surprise at the double. So not sure how far out in my reasoning I was, but seems I was not in the same mindspace as everyone else.
On another note, had a tough bidding decision to make later in the same game. With no one vul, I picked up this nice hand in 1st seat, AQ75 65 AQ AKT83. I opened 1C and with the opps silent throughout, partner responded 1H. I reversed into 2S and partner bid 3H, showing values since we play 2N as the start of a poor hand sequence. So now what?
I have extra values (some) for the reverse, but not particularly robust suits. I like my tenaces, and wanted to make sure NT was played from my side, but still wanted to show some interest in Hearts. I finally decided to bid 4D on the hand, and partner bid 5N over this. Completely forgetting the auction, I raised to 6N, thinking I would be playing it, after all, isn’t intent to bid something the same as bidding it? Unfortunately, neither opponent bought that argument at the table when I brought it up.
Anyways, we managed to now wrong side 6N, the best contract, but fortunately the K of Diamonds was onside when Hearts went 5-0, providing the 12th trick. My question was, should I bid 3N, does it give full value to my hand, even if it sets up the right side for the contract. 4N sounds like key card in Hearts, something I do not really want to do, so not sure what the best action is. Partners hand was always going to force to a slam, but that is not a requirement on all hands we want to get to slam on. Partner had KJ3 AKT743 42 Q7. My only suggestion to partner on the hand was to avoid bidding NT, the most likely contract, while making a forward going move, I thought 5D might be best for that, since it is unlikely to be a possible spot to play on this auction, but I have played in 2-2 or worse fits before.
I doubled. My thoughts ran along the lines of RHO has a borderline hand with both minors, since he did not act directly over 2C, but wants to compete now. This hand will not play well for the opps in anything if I have the minors so well placed over RHO. I like the fact I will be getting a Heart lead, and even if partner is virtually broke, the majors should not run. No one ran from 2N doubled, although I think my partner thought about it, and there we were.
The opening lead was the 5 of Hearts and this dummy tracked, Q742 A2 AT5 AQT4, more Spades and perhaps a little better hand than expected, but not that far off. Declarer ducked the Heart and my Q held the trick, so tentatively that gives partner the K. The next question is what Heart to return. I made an error here, since I never want to be in my hand, I returned the 6 of Hearts instead of the 10. If partner has the 9, I want to unblock, and if not, it likely doesn’t matter. So I should unblock for all the cases where it matters.
Declarer now played a Spade off board, winning the J in hand, and pinpointing pretty much the whole Spade suit, and led a Club to the 10 and my J. I returned the 10 of Hearts on which declarer played low and partner dropped the 9, sigh. So I exited with the K of Spades, declarer winning with the A. Declarer now tried a Club to the Q and my K.
I decided to play partner for 2 cards, and played on Diamonds myself, rather than exit a safe Club and delay the play. When partner had the Q of Diamonds, we were soon scoring up +500 on the board for down 2.
After the hand was over, my partner was surprised that I would double this contract, whereas I thought the double was odds on because of the auction and it’s implications. Giving the hand to several local experts, they all said they would pass and expressed surprise at the double. So not sure how far out in my reasoning I was, but seems I was not in the same mindspace as everyone else.
On another note, had a tough bidding decision to make later in the same game. With no one vul, I picked up this nice hand in 1st seat, AQ75 65 AQ AKT83. I opened 1C and with the opps silent throughout, partner responded 1H. I reversed into 2S and partner bid 3H, showing values since we play 2N as the start of a poor hand sequence. So now what?
I have extra values (some) for the reverse, but not particularly robust suits. I like my tenaces, and wanted to make sure NT was played from my side, but still wanted to show some interest in Hearts. I finally decided to bid 4D on the hand, and partner bid 5N over this. Completely forgetting the auction, I raised to 6N, thinking I would be playing it, after all, isn’t intent to bid something the same as bidding it? Unfortunately, neither opponent bought that argument at the table when I brought it up.
Anyways, we managed to now wrong side 6N, the best contract, but fortunately the K of Diamonds was onside when Hearts went 5-0, providing the 12th trick. My question was, should I bid 3N, does it give full value to my hand, even if it sets up the right side for the contract. 4N sounds like key card in Hearts, something I do not really want to do, so not sure what the best action is. Partners hand was always going to force to a slam, but that is not a requirement on all hands we want to get to slam on. Partner had KJ3 AKT743 42 Q7. My only suggestion to partner on the hand was to avoid bidding NT, the most likely contract, while making a forward going move, I thought 5D might be best for that, since it is unlikely to be a possible spot to play on this auction, but I have played in 2-2 or worse fits before.
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