biggerclub

Paul: As I said in your other thread, I am up for online. Not sure we can get the West Coast/East Coast thing together for live play.

I am not passing. Seems like the Ah is at least 40% behind me and maybe more. Seems more likely that OPPs make 4 than 2. If P has perfect cards (AKxx,x, Axxx, Axxx) AND the AH is well placed, then 3H is down, true. (Opener is unlimited 11+ (or a very good 10+) w/5-6 Hearts, Responder is 10-11 with 4-5 hearts; Partner has 15 in three suits minimum -- since I have 5 HCP it seems like everyone is minimum for their bid. If I have to choose a player most likely to be light, it's . . . sorry P . . . P. Hope it's NV v NV.) 3NT is only good if partner takes it out. In which case 4c is just as good. There is no slam here and we are just trying to get out alive now. Unless P has AKxxx(x), -(x), Axxx, Axx, with which she might have tried 3s, we are going to get killed. Best hope is down 2 x'd vs. a heart game that makes. The good news is that we are going to win the post mortem. Although in fairness to P, our K rated to be more likely in a minor than in H's. 4c it is. Although it's going down at least 2.

Over (2d) 3d (4d) opener has a rather easy 5d and again the inference that this is a void is rather easy to make. 5h has the same meaning as before (or shows a card and a slam try, either way) and when opener jumps to 6s responder can carry on to 7s. Over (2d) 3d (5d) opener bids 5h = extras on the way to 5s at a minimum. Responder definitely has enough for 6c at this point (being capable of inferring on one loser max in d), followed by 6d by opener (does this show more? it should show zero losers in d at a minimum), 6h by responder. Now opener must sign off in 6s having shown everything he can and with neither A nor K in clubs and I am not sure that responder can as easily see the Qc in opener's hand here. The question arises: does 6d show a full 13 HCP opening in addition to the d void? Otherwise stated, is opener the sort to rebid the same values? (5h already showed more than min opening -- either a void (d) or at least 13-14 HCP -- does 6d show even more?) Over (3d) 4N (5d) opener bids 6d as before and we likely get to 7s but R does have to assume that 6d shows at least a 14HCP opening bid (much more likely here than in the previous auction). Is that a safe assumption given a partner who voluntarily committed to the small slam? I just don't see opener doing anything other than answering the (4NT) question with xxx in clubs. So this voluntary move should show the Qc or a strong two-suiter in the majors.

I feel like P should be able to work out that 3c is weak, not strong (because so many other strong bids are available -- 3H, 3N, any 4-level bid). In fact, I see nothing left for 3c but pretty much exactly what I held. Just naturally but it does require partner to think about what else I might have bid. At matchpoints, and lacking Lebensohl or other sign-off relay systems, the bid screams weakness to me. It just seems to have to mean exactly what I held -- invitational values, not 4s, no preference in minors and worried that 2N will be down if P has only a single stop. When I said P is more experienced than that . . . what I meant was that she is capable of thinking about what bids mean in light of what was not bid, but might have been. Whether that sort of thinking is what you would call intermediate . . . IDK.

So . . . do I just respond 2s (holding QTx, xx, AT98, AJxx) at MPs to the x? As I said higher up in the thread, I have found myself in more than 1 3-3 fits bidding like this in my younger days. If partner is right, that she unqualifiedly has 4 spades (or 16+ HCP) to x 1 heart, then 2s is the right call, IMO.

One thing I know, if I bid 2d, I am winning the PM. Not always a good aim, but tips the balance here.

You have to use your entry to the table to do it.

Zel: I could not find the Find a Partner Forum. A little nudge?

Paul -- I invite you to look me up online. I love Precision and other big club systems -- played a lot of big club + canape (opening 4 card majors) on the limited hands at matchpoints (to avoid missing 4-4 major fits in partials). Anyway, it's unlikely that I can travel all the way East and I wouldn't expect you to travel all the way West so if we play it will likely be online. But again, I love Precision and my two favorite system books are Power Precision by Alan Sontag and Match-Point Precision by CC Wei and Ron Anderson. My masterpoint totals are even lower than yours (I have been a lapsed ACBL member for about 15 years now), but I doubt that you will be disappointed with my play. Lets try it out on bridgebase and see where we go.

There are some clues here that have not been discussed. We have 19 HCP and a pre-empting OPP lacking AKQJ. Does he psyche -- is it possible he has a pre-empt in spades given that so many are missing and no one has come in to show them? LHO should have at least 8 HCPs here unless it is a psyche with KQJxxxxxx(x) in spades. That leaves 13HCP for P and RHO. In the absence of any other information split them evenly, 7 and 6. We have RHO who coyly passed over this pre-empt, when she might have advanced especially with a Yarborough. She cannot possibly know that we are so hopelessly stuck. She also likely has 5 or 6 spades but did nothing -- which would be customary even looking at strength facing a pre-empt where she has no fit. We have a partner who passed despite shortness in the pre-empted suit and so is much less likely to have as many as 13HCP. We have a first seat opener whose pre-empt should be sound, but obviously isn't. This being MPs it is fairly safe to assume that we are already in a top or bottom situation, so we should do our best to get a top out of it -- and not worry about the improbable but possible down 5 doubled. We are unlikely to get a top without the game bonus or an equivalent penalty defensively. If 3hs is miraculously the right place, then every other pair in the room will be in a comfortable partial making 3 hearts. I think the chances of finding partner with any considerable strength is fairly low. Hopefully he will assume that we already put him on 7 HCPs when trying to figure out how to deal with this pre-empt (he should). He may have a K more, but there is no reason to put every missing point in his hand and even if they are there, we are not in too bad shape with a fit somewhere (note that as little as Th stiff may be enough of a fit to manage this hand in either Hs or Cs). I do expect partner to have at least 5 spades and possibly 6 or 7, but it is even more likely that one or both opponents have considerable spade stacks. I expect partner will start thinking (always but especially) when I do something like double and he is looking at D shortness while responder did nothing to advance the auction. We would like P to be declarer if at all possible to avoid the deadly opening suit preference ruff, return, ruff, etc. I am going to start with a x, expecting partner to call 3s (unimpeded) upwards of 75% of the time. I am cue bidding 4d over 3H or 4c (accepting and slam seeking). I am reading 3NT as asking me to pick a suit and I will be happy to choose 4h's, not expecting the auction to end there -- seriously, someone has to have the spades, don't they? If Partner jumps in h's or clubs, I put him in 6. If partner cue bids 4ds I am signing off in 4h (duplication in the worst way). So that leaves the spade bids to deal with. I am converting 3s to 4h and then to 5c if he persists. I am converting 4s to 5c, although this could be bad (AKQxxxx, x, xx, xxx). Doubled or not, btw on these auctions. On the off chance that our table's auction is standard, I expect to have company in whatever the final contract is.

West likely has the Js from the opening lead. I don't like it but QJxx(x) seems more likely than Q8(xxx). So the Ts is a threat against that. Which is good. Play A (the K could be single -- in which case you can still run this squeeze for the OT -- but you have other options as well) and, whether the d's are not good or not, a diamond pitching a club. Win any return in hand or with the A of clubs if necessary and in this latter case, come to hand with a heart to the Ah. Now run the remaining diamonds, pitching clubs, then hearts, coming down to Ts, Kh, Jh on board and 4d, 8h, 9c in hand. Play the 4d and if the Ts is not good pitch it. Play the 8h and if West follows, go up with the K as West should be holding the Js as his last card. Obviously if, at any point, the OPPs have both followed to 1 round of hearts and pitched 3 hearts total, stop pitching hearts, run off the diamonds and other winners in your hand and play a H to the K. This line will work whenever the Js and Kc are split or if either or both minor suit K(s) is (are) singleton. We have 8 diamonds so the chances of a 4-1 split are 28%. 20% of those times, the K will be single. 4.6%. We have 6 clubs so the chances of a 6-1 split are 7%. Approximately 15% of those times the K will be single. Add another 1%. If indeed we are right about W holding the Js, then E will hold the Kc 67% of the time (three unknown cards including the KC, E has two of them). What if when we toss the Ts, E throws the Js? Now if two hearts are out at the end and W follows low to our 8H, I am playing him for the Kc (if three Hs are out, we have to play him for the Qh, else we have zero shot) and going up. I am not going to work out all of that because a lot depends on how you can expect your OPPs to discard but I would say that the total chances for the slam are over 75%, perhaps over 80%.

If I were partnered with me (Oh! what a glorious fantasy!), "our" bidding would go: 1S [2D] 3D [P] 4D [P] 5H [P] 6S [P] 7S [All P] 3D = LR or better. 4D = Void + Slam interest (Note -- NOT 3NT or 4S, so showing extras -- also by bypassing the whole 3 level, showing extra extras) 5H = Suit of concern -- can you help here? 6S = Yes I can (with no first or second round H control, would sign off in 5s; with 2 of top 3 would bid 6h or 5NT for some sort of super accept) 7S = I was trying for a grand all along with 5H and had "you" signed off in 5s, I would have bid 6s. Notice that it is impossible to construct a hand without the Qc for opener at this point. The missing high cards are: AQs, AQJh, AKd and QJc. Opener does not have any of the ds (4d recue) and does not have the Qh for the response to the 5h query, yet has a full opening hand for 4d recue. Notice that no conventional treatments or understandings are needed, every bid is capable of being inferentially decoded and we merely need to trust partner to make a super accept over 5h with AQ. If opener has let us down by failing to super-accept over 5h and somehow lacks the Qc AND has xxx or worse in clubs (almost certainly not possible), 7s is still by no means automatically sunk. If the opponents make it a bit tougher: 1S [3D] 4NT [P] 6D [P] 6H/7S [P] 7S [All P] 4NT = BW or RKC. 5s may be down opposite AQxxx, xxx, AK, Jxx but I am not going to assume the worst. Partner is virtually guaranteed to have a H honor of some sort. 6D = if you are asking, I have plenty, plus a D void. Can we possibly make a grand? 6H = something about H's and I am trying for a grand -- note that this is an excess of caution because partner, again can have nothing in Ds and so must have all or nearly all of the missing cards. 7S = I am good in Hs. Again, no exotic agreements needed. 6Ds in the only unusual bid here but almost every advanced player should be capable of finding it as a response, and working out what it means when it is made as a response. Now . . . if either P or overcaller is prone to psyches. Oy.

Almost everyone is playing it forcing. When in doubt, bid again and give partner a chance to clarify. Even if partner is trying to sign off in 2c, 3c can hardly be that much worse. You can go a long way in bridge if you start thinking about the auction in terms of trying to help your partner out rather than trying to interpret every bid as having one and only one meaning -- and then trying to win the argument in the post-mortem. In fact it is always a good idea when in doubt to list all the possible meanings of partner's bid. Here the possible intentions are 1) game force or even better; 2) as the OP in this thread indicates, responsive -- I have some values, but I am not sure what is best -- tell me more about your hand; 3) natural and sign-off; 4) to the extent different from 1 -- natural and forcing for one or more rounds. One thing that makes 3) unlikely is that partner can hardly expect to be closing the auction with a 2c bid, nor does 2c consume any bidding room -- so with a long club suit and a weak hand, just pass and see what happens. You will get another chance. LHO's 1NT over your x is an admittedly extremely non-standard call. She could redouble to show your majors and suggest that her side had the balance of cards -- she could bring in a suit of her own -- she could raise clubs - - she could make a trappy sort of pass with a lot of hands. To voluntarily jump in with 1NT facing a fairly decent likelihood of being doubled herself seems a bit . . . adventurous. Don't let the opponents bad bidding stop you from trying to help out your partner. One more thing -- with long clubs and a decent hand, partner would almost certainly double the 1NT response rather than bidding 2c.

deleted by author.

I bid 2s, planning to pass 3c (partner should realize), carry on to game over 3 of a major and bid 3 hearts over 3d.

Partner is more experienced than that. She will read this as, using the nomenclature from above, responsive . . . or at least possibly responsive. I am asking her for more information. When she bid 2NT, I did not know if she felt compelled to show a single heart stop. So I offered her an out with 3 clubs. I fully approve of 3NT with KQx even though I still kind of feel that the original TOx was not right. I used to play like that, but now I just pass these balanced 13 counts. Or in this case, 12.

Partner probably won't pass with Axxx, Qxx, Axxx, Ax, but I wouldn't bet on us finding our slam after a 3d start either.

I don't see 3h as invitational. This is IMPs. Even without discussion 2NT should be capable of being inferred as a general invite with any shape asking for more information here. If partner has too much shape and cannot stand that, 2hs should be fine as opener should be capable of seeing that this cannot be dead minimum (pass was available) and cannot be some kind of MP improve the contract bid (because we are at IMPs). Opener has made a very weak 2d bid and responder should trust that opener will realize that, evaluate her hand against the prior box set out by her bidding and carry on over 2h with anything even a little above minimum. BTW -- if responder did bid 2H here, I would find 2s a very tempting alternative to 3 of a minor -- and if I did choose 2s I would have to come fully to life over any further bidding by responder. Therefore, all in all 3h is almost certainly forcing . . . and even if it isn't, an accept is in order because the K, K holding does just fine opposite a 6-5 or 6-6 distribution. As I reasoned in my immediately prior post, I don't see that 3s can be passed -- yet another reason that 3h cannot be invitational.

I am not bidding NT with this hand. Ever. Choice is between 3s, 4d and 4c. I am still not shutting out 6-5 (either way) or even 6-6 in the majors and for that reason, I like 3s which cannot be passed. Partner should not assume any better than xx in spades here and K stiff is almost as good. How about QJT8x(x), Axxxx, x, A(x). This is really extremely minimum but 4s still has a reasonable shot. With only 5s, p should really have essentially a solid suit somewhere or significantly more values. The only real disaster is xx(x) in clubs with only 5-5 in the majors, but that hand is likely to feature AQxxx, AQxxx, making both K's superb. 3s also has the virtue of being very minimal so partner will know she has to carry the team to slam if she has that sort of hand. 3s>>4c>4d>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>3NT. If P tries 3n over 3s I am reading that as 5-5 and taking it out to 4c. P now has a complete picture of my hand -- except that the 7th d could be two small in a major. So P is the captain and whatever he bids next is the contract. Including 4N . . . although I am re-evaluating whether "P is a good BB player" if that happens. Note that the stiff K's are by no means a liability even in this misfit condition. btw -- I play 3c (by responder) as unconditionally forcing to game in this sequence and saying nothing about clubs -- so if I were to bid 3H I think you could count on 6-5 or even better dist. Again, the stiff K's are just fine in that case.

6 losers, 12 HCP, two extremely available rebids, 4 controls. If partner is 6-5 (worst of all possible worlds) in the majors you still have a reasonable fit. This is a Roth-Stone (super sound) opener.

I strongly felt that the failure to bid 2s denied 4 spades. P claims that 4 spades are mandatory for her x. Oh yeah? AKx, xx, QJxx, Kxxx . . . . I doubt she's passing. As a younger man I played my fair share of 3-3 fits and got pretty damn good at it too. But eventually I gave up on bidding 3 card majors in response to TO doubles. Not that I ever bid a suit as weak as QTx

P was actually E and I was W. I originally thought this but somehow convinced myself that W was N's LHO. The auction went (1h) x (P) 2h (P) 2N (P) 3c (P) 3N All Pass.

I bid 3c. On the theory that partner is in trouble with only 1H stop and I have a hard time picturing a hand with 2H stops that starts with a x. I did tell her that I could pass 2NT on the theory of making the bid that makes it easiest to blame your partner in the post mortem if something goes wrong. Partner claims I must have 5c for this (3c) bid, but I don't think so. My position is that with 5+c I either start 3c or, if stronger and shorter in Hs, follow the actual sequence with something other than 3c. We both agree that 3c is not forward going as other bids (3NT, 3H, 4S (essentially broadcasting a Moysian fit), 4C, 4D) are available for hands with one more K or so. Partner also claims that her x of 1H must have 4s, which had I known, I would have followed the cuebid with a 3s call. Partner bid 3NT with A9xx, KQx, QJxx, xx. I am not too fond of the double -- but she got us to a top: 3N making, extremely light (and was then mad at herself for blowing the diamond honor as a re-entry to hand to cash the 4th spade). I am happy to make 3N with: East: A9xx; KQx; QJxx; xx// South: Jxx; Txx; Kx; T9xxx// West: QTx; 9x; AT98; AJxx// North: Kxx; AJxxx; xxx; KQ. The play went H to the A, another H to the K, Qd finesse, Jd covered to the Ace (whereupon partner comments something to the effect of "make a plan and stick to it" in a self-critical tone); low spade to the A; Spade to the T and K; another H taken by the Q pitching a C from dummy; Spade to the J and Q revealing the 3-3 split and she is locked in dummy so runs her winners, losing two clubs at the end. We win 2s, 2h, 4d and 1c, losing AH on trick 1, Ks on trick 6; and 2 clubs at the end.

With three losers (only -- you needn't worry about the 4th and 5th d usually) and a self-standing suit, you must open 2c. 2c (4h) p p 4s (p) p 5H Now you can (forcing) pass in good conscience. As written: 1s (4h) p p 4s (p) p (5h) you must guess and I would guess 5s.

Despite the troubling 3 losers in hearts (not to mention another loser in diamonds), I have to bid 5d. I have an AQ more than expected and cannot signoff. Partner needs the equivalent of at least 16+ HCP for this dizzying double. Translates to a typical 6 loser hand. Since I have only 5 losers, a grand slam is likely. (6+5=11, 24-11=13 tricks) However, we already know that this is not a likely hand because of the 4-level opening pre-empt. Partner with a K more than promised can bid 6H and I can pass, knowing that I fully expressed my values. Plus with a super-pre-empt in the auction, I will not be as aggressive in seeking a grand slam because suits are breaking badly. Add to that the chances that the pre-empt keeps some pairs out of slam altogether and 6 should be a good score. Unless I am in a team match against world class experts. If Partner is a Losing Trick Count player, we may well end in a grand anyway. Partner reads me for a max of 7 losers for my cue bid, adds in her 4 losers and concludes we have 11 losers, or 13 tricks. Now -- who will be the genius to figure out that 7NT is the right spot? Unless H's are 4-1. :-/