temp3600

You hold AT8x - Q98 - 98xx - A9, no one vulnerable at IMPs, and the bidding goes : (1♦) - p - (1NT) - p (p) - ? Opponents' 1♦ promises at least 4, or 3 with 4=4=3=2 exactly. 1NT denies a 4-card major. What do you do now ? Bonus question : More generally, what kind of hands with no 5-card suit and less than 14 HCP would you pass 1♦ and subsequently balance with after this sequence ? Michael

I play 2H as the minimum, nothing-to-add rebid. So 5 hearts (maybe 6, but not 4), and 8 - 11/12 points.

Here is the full hand :[hv=d=w&v=n&n=s5hj8632dkt52ct73&w=sakj962hkdqj4cqj2&e=s743haqt7d8763ca4&s=sqt8h954da9ck9865]399|300|Scoring: IMP[/hv] A trump lead picks up partner's queen for declarer. A heart also makes it easy for declarer. On a club lead, declarer will probably go down. A diamond lead makes the defense interesting. If we return the ♦9 and partner gives us a ruff, then the defense only takes three tricks. However, if partner finds the nice defense of a club switch at trick 3, declarer can go wrong.

Here is the full hand : [hv=d=s&v=e&n=sk62hat4dkqjt7c82&w=s9543hj987d53ca63&e=saqjt87h32da862c4&s=shkq65d94ckqjt975]399|300|Scoring: IMP[/hv] Both 4♠ and 5♣ are cold.

I voted for a club.

You are North and hold 5 - J8632 - KT52 - T73, red vs white at imps. West deals and the auction goes (1♠) - (3♠) - (4♠). 3♠ shows 10 - 11 support points with 3 or 4 trumps. What suit do you lead ? Also, do you have strong feelings in favor of or against the lead of a certain suit ? Michael

You are dealer, white vs red at IMPs, with _ - KQxx - xx - KQJT9xx, and the bidding has gone : 1♣ - (P) - 1♦ - (1♠) 2♣ - (3♠) - 3NT - (4♠) ? Do you agree with your bids so far ? Now, do you : - bid 5♣ ? - pass and remove your partner's X to 5♣ ? - pass and pass your partner's X ? - other ? Comments are of course welcome. Michael

In partner's suit : lowest (count), unless partner knows i have 3 in which case the highest, denying an honor. In a suit not bid by partner : highest, no honor.

Possible problematic sequences : 1♣ (pass) 1♦ (1♠) pass (3♠) ? 1♣ (pass) 1♦ (4♥) pass (pass) ?

If X is punitive, doesn't it make sense to play 2NT as takeout ? 3♦ would clearly be for the majors, so 2NT implies ♣ tolerance. I think - if X is punitive - 2NT should show this hand exactly ! :)

"ONLY STRONG REAL EXPRTS PLZ NO PRIVATE" = those are the real experts

We can have a game, so i don't pass. 2♣ gives up on punishing the opponents ; i prefer double. I have a question of my own. Suppose the bidding goes : 1♦ (1♥) pass (pass) X (pass) 1♠/1NT (pass) ? Does 2♣ now promise extras, or simply a hand that wanted to cater to partner having a penalty double of ♥ and cannot stand ♠ ? Would you jump to 3♣ with a strong hands with minors ? (maybe 2♣ is enough then, even with a strong hand)

Echognome described the situation very well : it is as if you had psyched 2♥. When 2♥X is passed to you, you can bid 2♠. There can be no UI, because you see in your OWN hand that you don't have hearts. When you bid 2♠, your partner can and should alert and when asked answer that 2♥ was a psych, that you don't have hearts. Now, your partner believed you had hearts and spades, and surely longer hearts than spades. Why didn't he give preference to hearts then ? I think your partner's second explanation and his last pass don't match. I don't know how to rule about it. Michael

This should be pretty close to the standard in France : ** suit contract. 3rd and 5th leads. A from AK(x...) attitude > count > suit preference. ** NT. 4th best. highest or second highest from a bad holding. the opening lead of a K shows 3+ honors and asks for count or the unblocking of the J. on A, Q and anything else partner signals attitude or count in the classical way. first discard attitude or Lavinthal (suit preference), no clear standard.

I would bid 4♠, because of the ♦Kxx. I would probably double and then bid spades with Axxxxxx Kxx xx x. I like the 2♠ bid to have 10+ HCP, rather than 10+ points including distribution, so to me this hand is too weak for 2♠.

Thanks for your replies. It's funny ; when i played this hand on BBO i immediatly went for the complete elimination play, missing the simple line of playing for one well-placed king. It was only a bit afterwards (and after going down when East had ♥KJxx while the ♣K was onside) that i realised i had overlooked it. So i was wondering, when you first saw the hand, did you weight both lines, or were you, shall i say, immediately inclined towards one, quickly dismissing the other ?

[hv=n=sxxhqt8xdk865caqx&s=sakhaxxdaqjt742cx]133|200|Scoring: IMP[/hv] West leads a small spade against your 6♦.

I think it is a bad idea to include in the 3♥ bid hands with just a long suit and little defense. It seems way simpler and also better structured (to me :)) to bid those hands with an immediate 4♥, and keep 3♥ for good game-forcing hands, either with a self-sufficient heart suit, or a decent suit and a hand still unsure about the strain. Another point. NS are vulnerable here and EW are not. I think this explains opener's double (at matchpoints) because he otherwise has a poor hand, way too offensive, to double. Now if we consider that responder is removing this double, which seemed like a good score already, with a hand good enough to bid a game forcing 3H on the previous turn, it is, as awm said in his post, a clear slam try. The doubleton HK is a great card, and 6NT to protect the CK (and since it's matchpoints), doesn't sound unreasonable, if maybe a little aggressive.

Hello, I think the standard meaning of 4NT is key-card blackwood with spades agreed. It seems difficult to describe a good 5-5 in the minor, x - xx - AQxxx - AKxxx for example. 4♥ sounds like a slam try in spades. I would start with 4♦, followed by 5♣. Michael

All right, i surrender ! :)

Winston : I'm still thinking about this hand ; i find it quite interesting. Let's call heart to the ace then heart to the jack line 1, and heart to the ace then spade to the king line 2. You seem to imply that in the example you gave (in which East has Qxx of trumps), line 2 fails whereas line 1 is cold (barring a bad split somewhere or an unlikely ruff, etc.). Are you sure about that ? Playing line 1, what do you do after the HJ wins and West discards ? I'm probably missing something but it seems to me the contract is not cold and you go down if you make the wrong guess(es).

Let's hope partner had ♣874 ! Michael

Thank you for your replies. 2NT seems like the best compromise, even at IMPS.

Thank you all very much for your replies !