rmnka447

Count declarer's tricks! Declarer has the ♦ K (already won), ♦ A,4 ♣ tricks set up in dummy. The 3 NT bid probably shows 16-17+ balanced or semi balanced at this vulnerability. Declarer has already shown ♦ K and ♣ A -- 7 points. Missing honors at this point are ♠ AKJ and ♥ AK. If declarer holds both As and a K, or ♥ AK and ♠ K, there's no hope of beating the contract. So you must play partner for an A and a K minimum. If that's the case, you need to set up tricks in a hurry before opener can develop a 9th trick. ♠s show no hope as dummy's ♠ Q98x will always provide a second stopper. So your only hope is to find partner with something like ♥ A10x(x..) or K10xx(..) to go along with a high ♠ honor. To retain the lead if declarer holds the ♥ K, switch to the ♥ Q.

Close call between 2 ♣ or 1 ♥. No objections either way. If you open 1 ♥, then I think 3 ♣ has got to be your rebid. Once partner responds, I think you want to be in game. Bidding it 1 ♥ - 1 ♠ - 4 ♥ depends on your take on what the 4 ♥ rebid means. Some people like to play it as a strong opener with a solid suit. The problem with it as a rebid is that it takes up so much space and partner has no idea exactly what your hand is. It may make it more difficult to find slam when it's there. The rebid came up in a discussion group and it was interesting to find out that there was some pretty wide and differing views of exactly what it showed. The advantage of opening 2 ♣, I think, is that partner has an idea of how many losers you have and you can bid out your hand pattern.

Bid 3 ♦. It's your best chance to get to the right game. Partner will know you are either 4-5, 4-6 in the pointed suits or have a forcing hand with a ♦ suit. 3 NT is a crap shoot. You might be OK if pard has ♣ stops. If not, it might get pretty embarassing if the opponents run off 5 or 6 ♣ tricks.

Put me down for a 4 ♣ splinter on this hand.

North 100% for bidding 3 NT without a stopper. South's double is card showing because the initial 1 ♦ response is ambiguous. It could anywhere from 5 to 18 value, so South needs some mechanism to show values when no clear cut bid is available. If South would have bid 4 ♣ or 4 ♦, it would more or less commit the hand to an 11 trick minor suit game. But a 9 trick 3 NT game is still a possibility if opener can stop ♠. At IMPs, it's much less important which game is bid when both 5 of a minor and 3 NT are makeable. But if only one makes, it's critical to find the right one. If North properly makes a 4 ♣ second rebid, then South carries on to a good 5 ♣ game.

The hand is not quite an opener unless you blindly follow the rule of 20. The issues are whether to preempt and, if so, what level of preemption to choose. I just hate preempting at the 4 level if they are likely to have the majors. It seems like someone always Dbls and they end up playing 4 of a major. So it comes down to either bidding 3 or 5. NV, i'm going to be aggressive in making them guess what to do! 5 ♦

I play stone age 2/1 is still on after a X. So the auction would go 1 ♠ - X - 2 ♥ - P 3 ♣ - P - 3 ♥ - P 4 ♥ 3 ♣ shows extras and/or distribution, 3 ♥ shows 6+ ♥.

North should open 1 ♥, but that didn't happen. I see no problem with opening 1 NT in third seat with the South hand. It is 12 HCP, but only has 1 1/2 QTs. It is a borderline opening hand at best. So opening it is a bit aggressive, but that's OK if partner would take that into consideration. After the transfer, North's bid is 2 NT if South is known to push a little opening in 3rd seat. I agree the 3 NT bid was North trying to catch up after failing to bid 1 ♥ in the first place. If you make a judgement on a hand, stick with it unless partner makes a bid that substantially increases the value of your hand. That didn't happen here, partner only puppeted to the transfer spot.

I'm starting with 4 ♦ because that describes my hand best at this point. It's pretty hard to see that we'd lose more than 2 tricks if the opponents hold the remaining ♠ honors. Partner then almost assuredly holds most if not all the values in the rounded suits.

Not exactly. If you are going to bid ♣, then 5 ♣ is the call to make. A lesser ♣ bid gives the opponent's some room to explore game vs. slam. By bidding 5 ♣, you may occasionally goad the opponents into slam. But just as likely if not more often, there may be enough uncertainty that neither opponent can bid a perfectly makeable slam. If partner holds a little more, bidding 5 ♣ puts the opponents in the position of having to make a decision about competing to 5 ♠ or doubling. In any case, the double of 5 ♠ should never be made.

I have no problem with the auction through 2 ♥. East has opened a 5-5 Rule of 20 hand with 2 QTs -- that's OK. South has a NV overcall. West makes the negative double to show the ♠s, can bid NT later if need be. North certainly isn't getting into the auction when West presumably shows 4 ♠s. East bids out the hand pattern. West makes the proper preference knowing East presumably has 5 ♦s. North makes a competitive bid in ♥, it's OK with a doubleton at this point. Playing 2 ♥ isn't much different than ending up there after a forcing NT auction (i.e.[opponents passing] 1 ♥ - 1 NT - 2m - 2 ♥) If East is going to make another bid over 2 ♥, it's preferable to bid 3 ♣ and finish bidding out the hand pattern. As happens in this hand, West will frequently preference to ♦ holding 2 ♦, 3 ♣ because a 5-2 7 card fit usually plays better than a 4-3 fit. If East bids 3 ♣, E/W have found there best contract. Whatever East does, South doesn't have any further bid. If North had any decent hand with 3+ ♥s, a raise would have been made directly over the negative double. That leaves North with either a hand with 3+ ♥ not strong enough for a direct raise or a hand with a doubleton ♥. In both cases, with South's minimal overcall, a big penalty is possible at 3 ♥.

At IMPs, it pays to bid thin VUL games (approx. 35%+ chance of making is the break even point). That's because of the big IMP swing (+10 IMPs) for making versus the lesser loss for not making (- 6 IMPs). So I'm bidding 2 ♣ with this hand. There is a possibility that either 3 NT or 4 ♠ could make. ♠ Q may be a possible entry to the ♣ suit at NT if a hold up in ♣ is made. The ♣ is a potential source of tricks at NT. If rhm's simulation probabilites are correct (53% of the time game makes), then you should definitely make the try. Make the hand 7 scattered points with a mangy 5 card ♣ suit and I'd pass.

I was being a little playful about opening 1 NT with the West hand. If E/W are, in fact, playing weak NTs, intervening with the North is even worse. I spent some time a number of years ago working out how a one of a minor opening is affected by the NT range. Based on the possible distributions and probability of the various point counts, here's how it fall out: Playing a weak NT (12-14), there's about a 65% chance a one of a minor opening (with any distribution) has 15+ HCP. Playing a strong NT (15-17), there's about a 25% chance a one of a minor opener (with any distribution) has 15+ HCP. (75% of the time it's am minimum hand.) While I don't advocate major changes in how you compete. The difference between the sets of minor openings is something to consider especially with borderline competitive hands.

Yeah (snicker,snicker), West should have opened 1 NT(15-17). Vulnerable, the North hand is not worth either a double or a 2 ♦ Michaels cue. If North wants to compete, then the best choice is to make a major suit overcall. Even if South holds a maximum pass, North can see that N/S likely have less than half the points. The spectre of off 2 or off 1 doubled vulnerable should temper North's aggressiveness in competing a tad or two. Both 5 card majors in North's hand are pretty mangy, so I see no problem with passing the North hand. Given that North has doubled, IMO, South has a clear 1 NT response. In order to convert a T/O double to a penalty double, South needs to be sure that his ♦ holding is much better than West's. There's no guarantee that's the case with South's ♦ AKxxx holding.

North's 4 ♠ bid was primarily a sacrifice. So, as others have said, once you've forced the opponents to make a decision, you have to sit. The only time to ever consider carrying on to 6 ♠ might be if they strongly and voluntarily bid on to 6 ♥. Even then, holding the stiff ♥ A, it's probably not a good idea to do so. Also, the higher you sacrifice, the more distributional you want to be to minimize the penalty, especially shortness outside their trump suit. On the bidding, partner likely has no more than a doubleton ♥. So partner, like you, must have minor cards. So neither of you may be able to ruff away losers in those suits. But say, North's hand held ♥ xxx and a minor suit stiff instead of the stiff ♥ A. Now North would be able to ruff some minor suit from South's hand and reduce the overall sacrifice penalty.

I'm bidding 4 ♣ as the double is clearly for T/O. IMO, passing and bidding 3 NT are taking a big view on the hand. Passing risks yielding a game swing on a part score hand which is not good at IMPs. Bidding 3 NT probably requires your side to have 8 running tricks after the opponents knock out your ♥ stopper. On the actual bidding, partner can't have more than a stiff ♥. So the opponents will be able to cash 4 ♥ as soon as they get in. You'd have to be clairvoyant to know that partner has the right hand for you to make 3 NT. Partner may also be making a double with several types of big hands. They may include: - a hand with 4 ♠ and a long minor where bidding 4 of the minor may preclude finding a perfectly good ♠ game, - a big single minor hand too good for a direct 4 of a minor, or, - a big 2 suiter where partner is hoping your response hits one of his suits. In the end, I can defend my 4 ♣ bid easily in any post mortem. That's a lot easier than trying to explain away a -530/-730 for passing or bidding an unmakeable 3 NT game to my teammates. It's in line with some great advice received years ago from a long gone Detroit area expert. "Especially at IMPs", he said, " I never try to do anything in the bid or play that I can be criticized for in the post mortem." It's an insight that has served well over the years.

As others have said North needs to do more. I really think the auto splinter is the way to go. since it must be construed as at least a mild slam try, responders ♠ can't be too shabby. If you don't have any agreements about EKCB, you might get there if opener ends up asking. 1 NT - 2 ♥ 2 ♠ - 4 ♣(autosplinter) 4 ♦ - 4 ♥ 4 NT - 5 NT (odd keycards plus a void) 6 ♠ 4 ♥ has to be the ♥ K. Knowing that, at worst, 5 ♠ might depend on a ♥ finesse. So it seems relatively safe for the NT bidder to ask via RKCB.

Passive would be right if the contract were 3 NT. I'm not so sure it's right versus 2 NT. Dummy has about 11 points -- anything from a really good 10 to a bad 12. I'm leading an attacking low ♠.

The auction sounds to me like somebody has 5 ♥. If 3 ♦ is natural, that would be North (the 2 NT bidder). If it's a transfer, it'll be South (the dummy) . Partner can't have much. If we're going to beat 3 NT, it has to be by setting up my suit. If pard holds a high ♠ honor, South has pushed on to 3 NT with 1-3 points which is illogical. But, it is just possible that partner might have a jack or two. If partner holds any number of ♠ to the J, leading a ♠ won't lose anything. If declarer holds something like ♠ AKJ in hand or Jx in dummy opposite AKx, then leading ♠s may give up a trick. So I sort of like leading ♠ Q. Over here the lead of a Q against NT typically asks partner to unblock the J if it is held. Additionally, leading the Q caters to finding a stiff J in dummy or pard's hand which prevents the loss of a tempo in attacking spades.

1) Low spade 2) Low club. Will feel a little unlucky if dummy shows up with long clubs. Opener's diamond suit is probably real, else opener would probably have been able to support spades. If opener holds 4 diamonds, then 4 hearts are very likely held, too.

Low spade. They've bid aggressively to game, so I'm making an attacking lead.

The claim was premature because declarer has to make a play to your partner's lead to the 2nd trick. He has no reason to know exactly how the suit breaks, so has to make a decision as to which ♠ to trump with. If he makes the wrong decision, the slam can go down. So I see no problem whatsoever with rejecting the claim. Your lead of the ♥ 9 could be from a singleton or possibly a doubleton. Since the 9 denies a higher card, declarer can deduce that there are 4 other cards besides the cards known to be in your partner's hand and his two hands that are unaccounted for. There's only 1 lay of the cards when you've led a singleton, but 4 possible cases where you've led from a doubleton. So lacking any other information on the distribution of the hand, it would seem your 4 times as likely to hold a doubleton than a singleton. So it would seem without any other information, the best play is to ruff the second trick low. It only loses when you hold the singleton or doubleton ♠ Q and a stiff heart. If declarer wants to draw inferences from your rejecting his claim, that's his problem.

100% North. 11 HCP, 2 1/2 QTs, and a 5 card major looks like an opener to me. You could quibble, perhaps, about the hand having 8 losers. With partner doubling and showing opening values, North's first responsiblity is to alert his partner that game is probable. In the US, that would be done with an immediate 2 ♦ cue bid. I don't see any problem with South's double. South has a 5 loser hand, a solid ♠ suit, and even holds a 4 card ♥ suit to 2 honors. If South bids 1 ♠, it may be impossible to ever convince North that the hand is as strong as it is later in the auction. After the 2 ♦ cue, South can jump to 3 ♠ to show a big ♠ hand. Provided North doesn't faint, it should be pretty easy to get to slam after that.

4 ♦ -- not much choice. If opener had a 4+ card ♥ fit and a big hand, then pard could have bid 4 ♥. Likewise, with a big hand and a long ♣ suit, pard could bid 4 ♣. With ♠s well stopped and a big hand, 3 NT may be an option. For me, Double in this auction can't be for penalties. Your 1 ♥ response can be made on even weaker values than you actually hold. You have only 4 ♥s and pard has denied 4 ♥s, so a ♥ rebid is out. So essentially by default, 4 ♦. .