wanoff

Take the ♥KQ first and you also beat some 4-1 spade breaks.

Pass. When you say 10+ I presume you upgrade 9 with a decent 5 cd suit. If you're feeling lucky then 4NT is possible.

Agree, though to allow one switch would also be easy to understand and apply.

Why would there be an infinite loop. The example given was of penalty doubles over your weak 2. If for some reason the op wished to swap to intermediate 2s, are you saying that a defence of takeout or penalty doubles to this would be so uncomfortable that the loop would continue? btw I have no real interest, good intermediates or suit would suffice and I'd just let them play their c**p defense.

It does sound like gibberish, but maybe he meant that since 2NT could be the minors, at first he would respond accordingly. Did the field really make 8 tricks in spades? Most of my partners would make 7 :)

Assuming diamonds are 7-1, I don't think you can do it now unless spades are 3-4 (trumps need to split). A diamond ruff and then the ♦A will squeeze East but we don't have the entries. So I'll play ♣A, AK trumps, pitch a club, ruff a club and go for West to be 3271 or 2272 and ♣Hx. You might have ducked the spade at trick 2 as I'm not sure if E has enough information to duck ♠A.

It could be right to bid, especially if you know your opponents will never defend - for the lead or even a make if partner has say ♦AJ. But I wouldn't, it's way against the odds and partner may lead a heart anyhow. If East has 4cd support the auction may be duplicated at other tables.

Its actually called guessing. With 10 cd majors I prefer to invite by 2C-2D-3M (6-4) or 2H-2S-3H (5-5)

Not totally happy about the vul. but don't want to waste an opportunity to wheel out 2♠ showing spades or clubs. Opponents may not know what they're doing and/or it may stop a relay sequence.

Take the ♥J and finesse ♠K. If East covers, ruff, draw trumps, safety play diamonds and park the club losers on the ♠Q and ♦J. If East ducks, pitch a club and later use ♠Q to pitch a diamond followed by trying to ruff diamonds out.

Can I choose ? 1% of the time they make 4♠ and then I prefer 5♣. The rest of the time I'll take the money.

There was another hand like this a while back, and I thought the consensus was 3♠.

I'd like to compete so Dbl What's partners double exactly ?

Don't like losing a cheap trick to ♠Q so would always lead Ace. Blockage is less of a problem when partner is marked with points (here 6-14) and we may have a side entry. AKxxx may be different, it depends on intermediates and possible side entries.

A good shot, which I'm pretty sure would have worked at the table. What about following the same line but cashing the ♠A at trick 2 hoping for split honours? I know it would fail miserably here. The full layout, [hv=pc=n&s=sa965haq98daq72c7&w=skq3hjt43dt4ct862&n=sj874hdk965cakq53&e=st2hk7652dj83cj94]399|300[/hv]

This was Norths view. Couldn't 5C be silly though if North has a singleton diamond. There a 9 possible singletons and half of them improve 3NT. Could North be Jxx AKx x AKxxxx on the bidding ?

You're right in that trumps and clubs break. Unfortunately even though East has the ♥K, he doesn't hold ♠Hx.

[hv=pc=n&s=sa965haq98daq72c7&n=sj874hdk965cakq53&d=s&v=e&b=3&a=1d(4+)p2d(Inverted)p2h(nat)p2s(relay)p2n(3+%20spades)p3c(relay)p3h(4441)p3np4dp4h(cue)p4s(cue)p6dppp]266|200[/hv] Recent IMPs deal. ♦10 led, East follows with 3. What's the best line ?

[hv=pc=n&s=skthqj5dq985cq753&n=sa872hak73dckj984&d=n&v=n&b=5&a=1c(4+)1d2d(good%20raise)3d3hp3nppp]266|200|<br>[/hv] Recent IMPs deal. Pick the bones out of this disaster where slam has better chances than 3NT. 2NT by South would have been natural.

Usually it would be the ♦2 but I'm prepared to be educated on more attacking leads.

Maybe RHO was unhappy with himself.....................having realised that he'd relinquished 2 chances to show diamonds. On a good day he might declare 5♦ or if the oppo save in 6♣, partner will defend differently.

Back in the real world, declarer has the ♥A and tapping dummy is the normal defence for anyone who's played before. We can take the ruff and sluff out of the equation as that wasn't envisaged, and Jallerton was left with close to a 50/50 guess. Didn't follow the tempo stuff......basically spades are out so ♦2 says not hearts. Since a diamond is marked, there's a case for count.

Easts play is consistent with Kxxx spades and wishing to remove one of dummys entries. Or he might be bluffing without KS and trying to encourage you to switch lines. Have a slight preference for the latter position since West with a singleton spade might just play a trump. So will take a spade finesse at trick 2, draw trumps, and repeat the finesse. On the bidding - what's the best way of playing 1♠-2♣-4♦ ?

If the hesitation was agreed I'd adjust but I'm not a trained director. Q♥ would be the normal lead but if not, you're on a 3 to 1 shot except for dummy probably having less than 4 spades.

Cyberyeti has a point because even with those fantastic AAJ cards, but with one more heart and one less spade, the slam goes from good to below average.