mrt2000

I have seldom heard such nonsense in all my life. Although I admit that both hands have to take very optimistic views of their holdings it is a million miles away from anything even remotely close to cheating. My partner of choice and I, playing 2/1 GF, could bid the hands as follows: 1♦ - 1NT 3♦ - 3♥ (Cue bid agreeing ♦) 3♠ (Q) - 4♦ (No ♣ control) 4♥ (Q) - 4♠ (Q) 6♦ - P Not so hard really was it?

If N doesn't cover the 10♥ you go off.

Now you've got to be joking about E not being close to a X of 4♥. In fact, E has an AUTOMATIC X of 4♥ after which W bids 5♣ after giving passing though to 6. Bridge is an easy game isn't it.

And then declarer still loses a club and a diamond !! LOL

Hmmm, I'm just wondering exactly how good a contract 6♠ actually is. If you get a ♥ lead and ♠ are 3-1 then unless ♦ are very favourable I fancy you'll go off in 6♠. Even if ♠ are 2-2 it's still far from laydown. Perhaps not such a good slam after all.

Many years ago, when I was a mad keen learner of our beautiful game my mentor told me that, when pre-empted, you must aim for the best possible score rather than the possible best score. On that basis I X 7♠. All the erudite posturing from my fellow contributors about bidding 7NT because W won't have a ♠ to lead is all well and good, but what if s/he does! In all my years playing bridge I managed to achieve some pretty bizarre results but 7NTX -12 is not one of them, and never will be!

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This is a pre-emptive hand. As such, a good rule is to pre-empt as high as possible as soon as possible. Thus, 4♥ is the bid. There are numerous possible scenarios in play, anything from us making 7♥ to the opponents making 7NT. If it's their hand I've made it as hard as possible from them and if it's our hand P is well placed to move forward.

How about win the opening lead in hand and lead a ♥ to the K. If that scores, play a second ♥ covering E's card. If E wins the 1st ♥ and returns a low ♦ try the K from hand. Assuming W wins and they cash a second ♦ then finesse E for the ♥J.

Did you consider 3NT rather than 4♥? 9 tricks often easier than 10 and on this hand with ♦ favourable it's an ewasy make.

Hi Folks. My name is Paul Tranmer and my BBO user name is mrt2000. I am an expert International bridge player and experienced teacher. I live in Northern Ireland and have had the privilige of representing my country in the Camrose home international series for almost 20 years. I have been teaching Bridge at all levels from beginners to intermediates to those wishing to take the next steps towards becoming expert. I have tutored literally hundreds of students aged from 8 to 88! As I am now about to take early retirement from my day job as a Project Manager I intend to expand my bridge teaching. This post is to invite any prospective students to contact me to discuss their requirements and see if we can arrange something to suit. In the first instance please contact me by email. My address is paul@putter.co.uk

To answer the original question, yes you do have "enough" to bid, but you most certainly should not do so. You should not bid because if you do you are effectively ensuring that your side will never be able to locate a ♥contract as your p will NEVER expect a four card side suit when you pre-empt. There is another good reason for not bidding on this hand. Given the auction to date, it's likely that the hand "belongs" to the opposition. If that is the case, any pre-emption by you will simply make the play of the hand easier for the oppo's. :)

I've scored myself as 777587 on the understanding that the postmortem question applies to discussions away from the table once a session is over!