gszes

The first question that comes to mind at MP is "does your contract look normal? (normal means - did the bidding seem right looking at each hand individually not how well or poorly they interact)". I am going to assume that the contract LOOKS normal to you. You are doomed to lose against any pair in game that makes so the real question then becomes just HOW unfavorable do the cards have to be for you to fail to make 3? If the safety play is to guard against a side suit breaking 50 it is probably a poor idea unless the bidding strongly indicates it is a much more likely occurrence. You are still competing against the other pairs that stopped short of game so taking drastic measures to avoid taking favorable overtricks is usually a poor strategy at MP.

while I do not share cyberyeti's pessimism about 5c being a poor contract I do believe focusing on 3d and 4d is leading the discussion in the wrong direction. The x (vs 2c) has created a lot of problems here and these problems are mild compared to those that might have been created if partner was bidding hearts vs diamonds. Doubling with shortness in the other major is asking for trouble. Is 3d too much? At MP I would consider 3d automatic where the fights for part scores is ravenous. At IMPS I do not think it is that clear since there is nowhere near enough power for 3n or 5m unless partner can bid over 2s. I would opt for pass and await developments but I am a bigggggggggggggggggggggggg chicken and would not have too much heartache over my partner bidding 3d. I must admit to having a monstrous dislike of 4d however and vastly prefer to hear 3s which should be asking for a partial spade stop (since surely 2n would have been preferred over 3d). Once partner cannot accept 3n they now surprise us with 4c and I would be severly tempted (at imps anyway) to try for 5c since the opps rate to have 9+ hearts when p has made no attempt too bid them and partner's values may all too easily help provide us with 11 tricks.

given the bidding it seems HUGELY unlikely rho can have 4 clubs so lets see if we can cater to lho having 4 clubs trick 1 win the dia 9 trick 2 club k (assuming it holds) trick 3 low club toward the ace (if clubs break 32 hand is over if rho had 4 clubs (ouch) hand is over the other way. we have 2 scenarios 1. rho ruffs the club we pull a 2nd round of trump asap and it makes no difference if rho shows out on 2nd round or not cash the club A ruff a club with trump K come back to hand and claim (there may be technical things like cashing the spade AK to pitch a heart etc. 2. rho ducks the club trick 4 win the ace trick 5 lead a 3rd club at this point we still have Kx of trumps in dummy to ruff our 4th club and proceed as noted above. 6n? am I really going to lead a heart at trick 2 hoping lho has a singleton honor AND lho has 4+ clubs AND 6+ spades rather then rely on clubs breaking 32?? sigh only if this is set up as a play problem where taking the most likely path to success fails.

hmmm lho passed hand and rho has made a preemptive bid AND I have very few HCP (though lots of offensive potential). Partner rates to be strong and the 4s bid can make their life quite difficult. Unlike the scenario where partner opened 3d, where any action we took was expected to go down a lot, this situation if far less fraught with peril. I have no problems with bidding 5c now and if p corrects to 5d I will chime in further with 5h. The doubling may start now but there is just too much offensive fire power here to not give our side the best chance at not only strain but slam.

PASS IF lho was not a passed hand it might be worthwhile to consider 5c (solely to try and make it tougher on the opps to get to slam) just in case partner has a fit but it is VERY risky. Since lho has already passed the odds of the opps getting to slam border on nonexistent and that means any venture on your part is almost certainly doomed to big numbers vs a max of say -480.

i will arrive around 145

available

I see zero benefit to ducking the first heart since I might all too easily need my 3rd heart to throw east in to lead away from the spade K. The opening bid makes it a virtual lock that rho has the dia A and spa K so I am completely unconcerned with lho ever getting on lead again. I do not have the entries to find out how many club winners I have so I am forced to try for 3c 2d 2h 2s and if clubs happen to break hope I can make an overtricks. Lho rates to have the majority of diamonds in most and that makes them a prime candidate to hold the dia J. So I will hold my breath and at trick 2 lead a low dia toward the T. I will be ready to apologize to poor partner when it loses to dia AJ (while we had 4 club tricks all along and were ice cold for 3n).

having no club stop is a serious defect to bidding 3n (Where did the 6N thought come from opposite a passed hand?) My main concern is missing an easily making 5 or 6 diamonds while settling for maybe 300 in 3cx. I would make peace with myself and throw the 5d card on the table knowing that at the very least partner will not expect me to have a club control for such bidding (else 4c followed by 5d).

butterfly net carrying peeps aside-- what are we hoping to gain from a 5c bid? 1. Lead direction? nope we are almost surely on opening lead if we do not win the contract. 2. Make? possibly but since we have only 5 sure winners (plus 2 more with a little help) we need help for at least FOUR and maybe five more winners from partner. Is this impossible? no but how will we ever shut partner up short of seven if we bid 5 now? 3. SAC? maybe possible but lets look at the tactics. We rate to have maybe 1 club trick (IF p has the ace).l If p has 2 other tricks for us that puts us at close to ten tricks but we also should have 4/5 defensive tricks so it is mostly phantom. 4. We are trying to get our name in the funny papers? That might work as long as we are willing to gamble -1100 to -1400 in order to achieve such fame (and we wonder why the partnership desk always closes when we get close to it hmmmmmmmmm. 5. MAYBE just maybe (perish the thought) partner might be able to make a reasonable judgement about how to proceed over 4h if we pass since they are looking at their cards and we are not.

I have no clue yet what p bid 6c with. I am stating that xx now is telling partner IMHO I think the opps have made a HUGE mistake and my hand strongly suggests that ANY reasonable 6c bid will surely bring this hand home. If I am wrong the cost is probably minimal (ie if p gambled poorly how many others pairs will be in 6c so we are doomed anyway). If p had a decent 6c bid it is virtually impossible to imagine a hand where 6c does not make. Another thing to think about is how many times will an opp use lightner to get a ruff but that is all they are due because our side can make 7 w/o the ruff (the operation was a success but the patient died is far more applicable to bridge defense than medicine).

There is zero reason to limit your hand description to only spades when the 1n bids offers partner 2 possible paths to success. A 1s overcall might forever bury the club suit for almost no practical reason whatsoever. 1n describes your hand perfectly and it is not your fault if your partner could not force themselves to compete to 2s.

There are few times when xx is warranted but this is one shining example of a great time to xx 6c. Whatever fears partner might have about playing 6c can be dispatched quickly if you xx. Once in a rare while it will cost a bit but overall this type or reassuring xx will go a long way to keeping partner happy and fearless. Once I get stuck with 6n I have to pass even if I think it is a mistake.

typing error supposed to be KQxx not QJxx ty

1. PASS yes yes this LOOKS so much better than the usual dreck we open but is it really the hand u want to encourage partner with? Game seems far off and should be impossible if partner cannot act over 2s. If we want to get froggy and bid 4d (if partner balances with x) that should be sufficient. If p balances with 3d (which would severely limit their HCP power) I think pass is sufficient switch my hand around to xx AKQxx Axxx xx and a 4d raise even over 3d is warranted. 2. 3c NOW is the time to show these extra values. I do not want partner to think we have some kind of dia support (pass) and we also have a tremendous hand for 3n and a relatively easy path to getting there if partner wishes to explore further.

The hand is the right power/shape for 4c and if we can assume responder is generally weak I think 4c is just right. The problem is that responder may very well downgrade a hand like KQxx (fixed from QJxx ty to cyber) xx xx QJTxx when 6s is a wonderful spot and that is with a WEAK hand what about strong ones where suddenly the AQxx of clubs no longer looks very good? I would go for the reverse concept as having a better chance of finding the right strain/level. Keeping the bidding lower can sometimes yield surprisingly good results.

A plan that caters to lho having 4 trumps just seems wrong --- surely rho looking at 5 spades and a heart void (even if totally broke) will do something over 2s. Another consideration is that IF rho is void in hearts there is a 100% chance they are squeezed in the minors (and we can all but assure we will pick up the hearts for 1 loser) IF we start with trick 2 heart K (this will immediately reveal any 40 trump split and determine how we play the hand). trick 3 small heart covering whatever lho plays. This may seem senseless but something very interesting happens if lho wins the 2nd heart. 1 it is no longer possible for lho to hold 5 clubs (assumed 7spades and 2h) AND if rho holds 5 clubs then the dia finesse will assuredly work on the 2nd round (rho would have 5s 5c 2h 1d) AND the 3rd heart will provide the extra entry needed to establish clubs if they do not break 50. SOOOO assuming hearts break 31 what to do. Cash the top heart and run the dia nine as there is no reason not to try for 7*. other considerations IF rho has 4 (or Qxx) hearts LHO surely has the dia Q for their 1s opening AKQJxxx void xxxx xx is a preempt but AKQxxxx void Qxxx xx is 1s according to the book of bot. The above is based on the very realistic probability that spades break 75 given the bidding.

the 3h bid has warned us that a grand might be very difficult to bid/make since it is unlikely partner has 3+ cards in both of our black suits. I think 3s followed by 6c (unless partner surprises us after 3s) feels like the best path to reach our best possible slam.

JEC can't beat up on poor old me today I hope the clinic across the parking lot does not close due to lack of my business:)) gl all

I can start but have to leave by 315 I will show up around 145 just in case needed

game seems t be a low % probability. If this is MP I see little to do other than pass. If the opps balance with 3c I will be tempted to bid 3s. At IMPS missing game (especially vul) can be irritating and I would feel compelled to bid 2n. If p shows a decent hand and cannot show a club feature we should have a great shot at either 5d or 4h or even 4s and maybe more. At IMPS it seems worthwhile to use another level to properly gauge strain and level.

trick 1 win the club in dummy and play dia AK and ruff a dia with ace pitch last dia on heart ace club to hand laying down spade Q hoping to pull trumps w/o an uppercut ruining my day.

You showed a 12 14 NT and you have 11 outside clubs. Hardly horrific and the dia sequence (in a 4 card suit) is a tremendous asset. If the 5 level is not safe then your partnership requirements for a self splinter are too low. Bid 4d, this does not promise the world merely a hand that is reasonable for slam purposes opposite a club splinter. Your methods after a splinter response will go a long way to determining how far you can progress. Another thing to think about, what would you have bid with 14 outside clubs? If it is also 4d maybe rethink what you should bid with a max. This will allow lower level cue bids to show positive hands that are more marginal for slam purposes:)

How do you get to the dummy to lead low toward the 9?