flametree

Phil beat me to it...

Definitely keep bidding. I'd like to see a poll on what people think of 4S, 4NT, 5C and 5H as possible bids now...

Ha ha. Have you been watching me play?

Your bidding was fine. Any human partner would bid 5H with north's cards rather than double.

You're dealer at matchpoints, playing with an intermediate player. ♠ A ♥ 7 ♦ K.8.3 ♣ A.K.Q.T.7.6.5.4 2C is your only ultra-strong opening bid (2D is a weak opening). I'm going to assume that's what we'll start with, but feel free to say if you disagree. What would you bid next : 2♣ - p - 2♦ - p 3♣ - p - 3♥ - p ?? Partner's response 2D denies more than about 9 HCP. Partner would bid 2H directly with a good 5-card suit and could respond 2NT to show a balanced 8-ish points even with a 5-card major. You did not discuss double negative responses, but at the club most players would use a 3NT rebid to show a negative hand here. or 2♣ - [2♠] - p - [3♠] ?? You have not discussed what pass or double would mean over interference.

Yes, in our club games I'm not sure what crime short of murder at the table would earn anyone a procedural penalty.... The post-hand conversation certainly made it clear what had happened, I was interested in whether I should have called the director after the auction, rather than after the play of the hand. I can just about see how the 3D bidder could say something like "I was control-bidding diamonds, I wanted to hear partner control-bid spades to go to slam - when he failed to do so I bailed in 4H." Though that explanation wouldn't have fitted the cards he held in this instance. PS - I think at my level opposite a reasonable but non-expert partner I'd assume : - a cue-bid here would be a general force, probably asking for a hold or looking for a 5-3 fit in partner's major; - a jump-cue was asking partner to right-side a 3NT contract, probably showing a long minor suit; - a double-jump-cue was a splinter. Though half the room wouldn't know what a splinter was so I wouldn't make one if playing with them...

Is there no rule about how suits should be arranged? I always thought it was trumps on dummy's right and the rest in rank order. Is that merely common practice rather than required? I echo the "after a great board" sentiments. If playing two boards per table I'm always amazed at the number of rounds that go top-bottom for about a 50% outcome against those opponents. I'm definitely more susceptible to silly plays on the second boards where the first went well. My most recent example followed a nice 800, thanks to a good double by me and excellent defence from partner. The hand had taken a bit long to complete, and so we rushed onto the next. I was still trying to imagine whether we had any play for a slam our way, sorted my cards, noted I was dealer and quickly bid a weak 1NT with 4-3-3-3 shape. Only I actually had 0-3-3-7 shape....

At a club game against fairly competent opponents, the auction proceeded : 1♣ - 1♦ - 1♥ - pass 3♦ - pass - 3NT* - pass 4♥ - all pass I was the diamond overcaller. The 3NT bid took at least two minutes to hit the table. Before leading my partner asked declarer what 3♦ showed, and was told "I don't know, sorry. I think it means he has diamonds." Dummy tabled three small hearts, and Kx of diamonds. Declarer had no diamond cover, and 4♥ made 10 simple tricks while 3NT played from his hand would have lost the first five tricks (I held AQJxx). Are we right to expect this contract to be changed to 3NT going light? At what point should I have called the director? For what it's worth, with the director busy elsewhere, we then asked the 3♦ bidder what he meant by the bid and got the following conversation. "I wanted him to bid 3NT if he had a diamond stop." "But he did bid 3NT." "Yeah, true." "Would you have passed 3NT if your partner had bid 3NT in 2 seconds rather than 2 minutes?" "Um, probably."

I don't get that, sorry. South heard partner double a supposedly natural 2C bid, and chose not to leave that double in, believing it was takeout. The only way south would leave the double in is if he/she heard a different explanation from east, in which case the overcall would be artificial and the double would show something in the suit. In which case west would have heard a "correct" explanation, and so could have been entitled to remove the contract to 2H. I don't see how 2C doubled, a contract that simply could never have existed, can be the fair contract. I agree NS are due some rectification, but south shouldn't be rewarded for misreading his/her partner's double, surely?

Thanks, will remember this when/if we make the move.

Thanks Frances, I see. Next question - is 3S invitational, and what's the best use for 2H?

Hi all, I currently dwell in New Zealand but my partner is Canadian, and we are thinking of moving to Ottawa in the next 12 months or so. I was just wondering if anyone from there could tell me about the bridge scene in Ottawa / Ontario. How many clubs, what does it cost, are club nights open to all-comers or streamed based on player quality, ease of getting partners etc? How do tournaments work? I'm a fairly decent club-level player, but thanks to family demands I don't get to play a lot of tournaments. (I speak a bit of French and hope to improve it, so could conceivably play in Gatineau too...) Just as a point of reference, where I'm from we have a couple of not-for-profit clubs, we pay $100 membership annually (about $75 USD/CAD), and $5 per night table money. At my regular club there's a teams night, and one night per week to play duplicate, sorted into four "divisions" based on quality (in theory). Most sessions have 15-20 tables per room, and play around 25 boards. There's an afternoon game open to all as well, plus maybe one social game per week as well. At the club, you need to find your own partner, there's a bar open after the play, and all hands are pre-dealt with hand-records available. The club's website has an excellent record of results and other information. Within three hours drive there's a one-or-two-day tournament maybe every other weekend, and around ten per year within the city I live in. Usually matchpoint pairs, with occasional Swiss or teams. Entry may be restricted by "masterpoint" level. They cost around $25 per day. There's also one major event, the National Congress. This lasts a week with an open 3-day pairs event and an open 3-day teams event, alongside shorter fun, intermediate-level or consolation games. Acol is the standard here for club players, but most of the top players prefer Precision or 2/1 variants. I play 2/1 whenever I get the chance, so that shouldn't be a problem. Learning the alert regulations may be an issue however. Any information much appreciated!

So if a jump to 2S shows a minumum, what would 1S show?

Oops. Can't change topic subtitle? Should be "5-2 or 4-3"... Auction begins 1NT-2C, 2D-2H. You have 3=2=4=4 shape. Assume partner's 2H guarantees 5x hearts and 4x spades and a very weak hand. Do you play in the 5-2 heart fit or the 4-3 spade fit? Do honour placement or spot values affect the decision?

Yes I realised that if it began 7-2-?? and I held AT943 and dummy KQ5 then I have an easy "encouraging" signal as there is no point playing a higher card. In which case there isn't a problem. But what if it begins 7-8 or if dummy has KQ8? Now it seems hard for any card to be unequivocably encouraging.

Defending 4S, you hold Axxxx of hearts say, with no other entries to your hand, and dummy on your left has KQx. Dummy wins trick one, and has only four small trumps. Declarer leads a trump from dummy and partner wins it with the king. Partner now switches to the 7H, declarer plays low. You take a while to think - if partner has AKx of trumps (possible from the bidding), then he may have a ruff coming in hearts. So has he led a singleton or a doubleton? If a singleton you need to win the ace and give him a ruff, if a doubleton you need to duck and hope he continues the suit when in with his ace of trumps. Declarer seems to have no way to shed a heart to avoid the ruff. You think back to the auction, and realise that declarer pretty much denied a four-card heart suit. So partner has a doubleton rather than a singleton. Only thing is, all this thinking (which yes, should have been done as soon as dummy came down) has taken 20 seconds or so. Since the only reason for such a pause is to decide whether to win the trick or not, if you do duck, is the UI that you do in fact have the ace a problem for partner? Or can partner carry on with his original plan of playing two hearts to get a ruff?

I think I bid 3C and hope partner can judge what to do next. 3NT may be the best spot, while 11 tricks seems a stretch. I would assume with a "good" pick-up partner that an immediate 3-level bid here is forcing.

I'd lead the 4H. Every once in a while the suit sets up without need for an entry (eg, partner has KQx, declarer Ax). If you don't lead the suit now, you probably won't get to win those tricks. I think the heart is the "normal" lead here, and I can't see any reason to go against the field. If I was aware I was having a very bad session and wanted to try a swinging action, then I might try something else. Maybe a club? After all, partner in fourth seat has a decent hand, and couldn't bid anything, so there's a fair chance he doesn't have five spades.

Agree with all the above. If playing in a regular partnership, you should a) be very clear about the cut-off point, and b) consider raising the level of takeout doubles to at least 3S. I'd recommend going up to 4H myself. You do then need to think about when doubles might not be take-out, of course... East needs a good reason to bid beyond 3NT. A take-out double here is best as it's the only bid which keeps 3NT in the picture and that may well be our best spot.

My first thought about this hand is that if you're going to bid this badly, it seems almost unfair that you might have a convention in place to allow you to be rescued! (My second thought was that they probably got a black suit lead, made 12 tricks and went away thinking they'd done great...) I play a lot with "I"s from the B/I range and many of them can't even get their heads around when it is right to use Blackwood or if I'm lucky, RKCB. (I may know that north in the example above, for instance!) So I'd be very reluctant to give them problems like when a 4S bid may or may not be ace-asking for hearts vs natural vs some other meaning.

I don't like picking up monster hands. My two most memorable were : ♠ AKQxxx ♥ ♦ ♣ AKJxxxx Down one in 7C when partner didn't have the queen and they split 3-0 offside... Even worse, 6S was cold on a 6-1 split when the opposition's spades were 3-3. The other was a 26HCP balanced hand, the most I've ever picked up. Something like AKQ - KJ97 - KJ2 - AKQ. Down 2 in 3NT when partner couldn't even find a 10 to help me out.

Hopefully they'll provide us with the best defence?

Hi all, I play in an area with about 50% Acol players (the rest being strong club or 2/1 players), so come across the weak no-trump a lot, but also a lot of other no-trump ranges. I'm trying to develop a better system for my more regular partnerships, where we have a penalty double of a weak no-trump, but abandon it against a strong no-trump opening. My question is, regardless of the actual defence you choose to play against 1NT, and assuming you play a penalty double of a weak no-trump, at what point of the oppposition's range do you stop playing the penalty double? 10-12 X = penalty (I've never actually encountered someone playing a mini, but just in case) 11-13 X = penalty 12-14 X = penalty 13-15 X = ?? 13-16 X = ?? 14-16 X = ?? 15-17 X = something else. Also, do you recommend abandoning the penalty double when bidding in fourth seat against any range? (If there's been a "definitive" defence to 1NT thread previously, feel free to just link me to that.) Thanks, Matt

Ok, seems unanimous. I was worried a 4S bid would make partner think I was stronger than this and try for slam... Unfortunately my timid 3S bid encouraged LHO to compete, and he bid on to 5H for a good result for them. (5S would have made in reality though not double dummy - RHO could get a diamond ruff if LHO led the ace and another). I suspect an initial 4S bid would have shut LHO out. If I were stronger (say KJTx in diamonds, Ax in clubs), would you use Exclusion Key Card to look for slam, or is there some other way?

Pass from partner (dealer). 3♥ from RHO. What do you bid with : ♠ A.K.Q.9.8.7.6 ♥ - ♦ Q.J.T.2 ♣ 7.6