zenbiddist

It takes extra mental effort to try and work out what's going on without a diagram, so I made one for you: [hv=pc=n&w=st874ht4dk32ck976&e=sqj2hkq73dat84cq3&d=n&v=0&b=1&a=p1d1hdp1nppp]266|200[/hv] I'm still trying to piece together what happened. Trick 1: Club to North's ace 2: Heart ducked to South's jack 3: ♥A 4: Club won in East 5: Declarer knocks out a top spade 6: Sounds like North won and exited the ♠9, and you played high from Hx in your hand? Or South cashed two top spades, and you unblocked? 7: South exits a third round of spades, dummy's ♠T winning Perhaps you could find the hand for us here, and post the handviewer link: https://www.bridgebase.com/myhands/index.php?&from_login=1

Some friends and I have taken over a monthly Youth Bridge bulletin. It's quite immature and rude. Our goal is to entertain uni students and others who are new to bridge, as well as amusing ourselves. The first issue is up here. Click here to sign up for future issues.

If you like the idea of a daily bridge column in your newspaper, please sign this petition to protect Ron Klinger's fantastic Sydney Morning Herald column. On December 2nd it will be cut to twice-weekly, and after that, who knows? Petition: https://www.change.org/p/sophie-milionis-help-save-the-smh-s-bridge-column?recruiter=50147443&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=share_petition Thanks!

Hi all. My friend and I are using Latex to produce a bridge bulletin, and our next challenge is trying to embed BBO Handviewer diagrams (like this one, with play included). Has anyone successfully done this? Thanks.

Thanks Jennifer. The 5-5 hand with two aces that you're hoping partner has won't exist because partner will have opened that at the 1-level. 3Dx will often make if the preemptor has a spade void (their bad diamond suit suggests a secret weapon) and they have club tricks, ie ace king and ten or better. That's not out of the question, but a lot of the other times 3D goes down one or two and 4S is defeated on DA lead, or when declarer mispicks the hand. Passing seems like the winner to me.

Hi there, I prefer the old software when I'm on a slow connection. It still works for me, but when I tried installing it on a friend's laptop just now, it begins loading, then auto-quits and redirects to the website. Is there a fix? Thanks, John

[hv=d=e&v=b&b=10&a=1h1sp2d2h2sp]133|100[/hv] Experts: What do you think a minimum and maximum 2♠ rebid look like? Draw me some South hands please. That decides the next question I guess - how much does North need to bid 3♣ here? Thank you!

7T Double Hesitation - Thanks Nick. Do you have a movement plan for it? 7.5T Hesitation rather than Blackpool (because revenge sit-out) - excellent! I'd forgotten about that. Thanks

Hi there, I like to be ready for all sorts of awkward numbers, and these are the scenarios I'd like help with. For each of these scenarios, the ideal solution would play 27 boards, and have as many stationary pairs as possible, and be the best compromise between simplicity/balance. Thanks! 4.5T - is there something simpler than a 9x3 Howell? 5.5T - EDIT: 8x3 Double Hesitation allows for four stationary North-Souths (message me for the Compscore template). 6.5T - EDIT: 9x3 Double Hesitation (message me for the Compscore template). 7.5T - is there something better than a 10x3 Blackpool (cut short) or hesitation? Cheers! Ps: does anyone have the .CSV files for the movements? I don't have the templates in a form recognised by Compscore, which is what I need.

[hv=pc=n&s=skq43ha8dakt86ck8&n=s65hkj542dqjcqj43]133|200[/hv] 3NT South, ♣5 led You play low and the ♣9 appears, you win with the king. You have eight tricks (including the ♣K you just won), so what's your line to maximise overtricks? (Those are all the details I have - can't remember who the opponents were, or their carding, etc)

South's call over 3♠ was 4♦. I guess I'm wondering how to interpret the Laws - I'm not sure if the mistaken explanation damaged South so much as their own bid did :)

[hv=pc=n&s=saqthk32dat9863ca&d=w&v=n&b=12&a=ppp1d2n(%22Majors%22)p3s]133|200[/hv] What are logical actions for a club player sitting South here? What would they be if West's bid had been alerted as "Minors"? The ruling hinges on whether North-South have been damaged by a mistaken explanation, because East-West's agreement for 2NT is "minors". (Yes - that's a poor agreement but that's what it is.) Thanks!

[hv=pc=n&s=sa96hj654dkqjt4cq&n=sqjhk8d73cajt9753&d=n&v=b&b=1&a=1c1dp1h2cp3nppp]266|200[/hv] My dad gave me this hand from a local teams match, and I think it's actually quite intricate. LHO leads the ♦2 to RHO's ace. RHO returns a diamond, LHO pitches. Your go. Once you've decided on your line, read on: If you overtake the ♣Q, RHO holds up as long as possible with ♣Kxxx. If you play another club, he exits a diamond.

1C / 1S / 1NT / / X What does partner hold for her double? With which hands would you pass? Thanks

IMPs [hv=pc=n&s=s9hakt8dj82ckt854&d=n&v=0&b=1&a=1n(15-17%20bal)3d]133|200[/hv] What do you bid and why? Double would be take-out. If you think this is completely clear, adjust the hand to make it a tricky problem, then tell me what you'd do. Thanks Cheers

No major OR game force with diamonds

[hv=pc=n&s=sakt7ha53dj842c62&n=shqjtdaqt965caq54&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=1c(2%2B%20%5Ball%20bal%20hands%20%3C5M%5D)p1s(No%20M%20%2F%20GF%20!D)d(Takeout)1n(Any%20weak%20NT)p2h(GF%204%2B!h)p3d(Fit)p4dp4np5sp6dppp]266|200[/hv] Low spade lead. What's your line?

What are you thinking and bidding over partner's balancing bid? IMPs. Thanks [hv=pc=n&w=sk4ha864d72ckqj62&d=n&v=0&b=1&a=1sp2spp2n(2-places)p]133|200[/hv]

Good question! An excellent habit to form is to name each pip. Rather than simply call for a "spade please", say "three of spades". It trains your mind to observe pips. I practice recalling the opponents' pips best when I play in person. Before I turn over my card, I repeat the pips internally twice. It starts to happen automatically after a while: "Two, four, queen, ace" "Three, seven, king, eight" Simply remembering "low, low, king, low" often backfires if later in the hand you check their system card and it says "odd pip = blabla, even pip = blabla" :) I'll follow this thread and see if other people have better techniques or a link to effective software

If you read the intro to the paragraph you'll see I'm quoting Nick Jacob. Asking rhetorically then answering would be quite a funny thing to do :)

[hv=pc=n&s=s9hqjt43djt42caq9&d=e&v=n&b=2&a=ppp1sp2hp2np]133|200[/hv]

Nick Jacob gave me a very thoughtful answer: "The actual cuebid is becoming less important in today's bidding theory. The priorities are 1) establish fit including specific trump length 2) establish degree of interest (eg none, some, lots) 3) describe where shortness is 4) only now check that all suits are under control I don't have hard and fast rules about cuebidding shortness in mate's suit. Here are some things I might consider: - Do we need a side source of tricks for slam? If so I would be reluctant to cue shortness if partner thinks it will fill in his suit. - Is it control in one suit or another that I particularly need for slam? In this case I will be more than happy to cuebid my shortness to give partner extra room to make the cuebid I need to hear - How real is his suit? on an auction like 1D - 1H; 3D - 4D; I will not be worried about cuebidding a heart shortage, he could just have four kinda motley hearts here."

When would you cue bid a shortage in a suit partner has shown? The only examples I can think of are splinters and exclusion - but am I missing some spots? I ask because I thought cues in partner's suits were made with things, not shortages. However, a friend questioned this approach, so I thought I'd ask experts and see if I'm missing something. Thanks

Thank you both. I can concoct examples to flesh out Paul's link if necessary, just hoping someone had gone to the trouble already because I'm currently busy. Thanks!

Hi. If you were going to teach newish matchpoints payers IMPs strategy, which demo hands would you use? Thanks