smerriman

The robots haven't been touched in years. I don't think they've gotten worse, but they frustratingly consistently make the same mistakes. (It's possible the play has gotten a bit worse due to the server load resulting in less time to calculate, but not bidding database issues like these.)

https://webutil.bridgebase.com/v2/tview.php?t=ARDCHALLENGE:fb9c3b72.57e0.11ec.b879.0cc47a39aeb4-1638938434&u=smerriman&v3b=web&v3v=6.0.2 Whew, won the last 29-25 for a narrow 2 IMP victory. Thanks for the match kgr and for being an excellent first-time competitor :)

kgr won the 3rd 20-9, giving him a 2 IMP lead going into the last. https://webutil.bridgebase.com/v2/tview.php?t=ARDCHALLENGE:150ad63b.5775.11ec.b879.0cc47a39aeb4-1638892091&u=smerriman&v3b=web&v3v=6.0.2

You bid 2NT when you're pretty sure on the strain (almost always partner's suit or no trumps), but aren't sure about how high to bid. You can bid a new suit when you're not sure on the best strain and want to suggest another. Generally you're hoping partner can raise; if not, they'll usually be taking it back to their suit but a level higher, which is why you need a reasonable hand to do so. At the weakest this could be something like a good 5 card major with tolerance for partner's suit, so you're very happy if they raise, but not too upset if they can't.

It depends on what type of tournament you are playing. Robot Reward tournaments, for example, are not human-declare (and that's a big part of the strategy). It will say 'Human declares when dummy' in the tournament description section if it applies to that tournament. You can't control this yourself.

There's a bug in the forum that the view count doesn't update until after the first reply. I don't see anything contradictory in the numbers though - the people on the leaderboard just don't happen to all be online right at that moment. The leaderboard resets daily as per http://doc.bridgebase.com/Solitaire_Bridge/About_Solitaire_Bridge.html

If south passes, yes, but there's no way that will ever happen.

Thank you all! Semifinals have now been determined: billyfung2 vs elyk25 smerriman vs kgr Complete four 16-board, best-hand, IMP challenges. If tied, 8-board challenges will be played until there is a winner. No definitive deadline but as usual aim for about a week to complete each semifinal. Congrats and good luck!

Yes, both people see the description. NB - in Standard American, a 1NT overcall shows 15-18 points (slightly wider than a 1NT opener). Double followed by no trumps would be stronger, and double followed by a suit would imply a strong one-suited hand.

Use the handviewer link, and then click on the username of the hand you want to reveal. That hand (as well as dummy, after the lead) will stay visible with the others hidden as you click through the hand.

I'm going to push the deadline back until the end of the weekend (I realised the NABC was on in the middle which may have put people behind a bit.)

https://webutil.bridgebase.com/v2/tview.php?t=ARDCHALLENGE:69fa6e53.525a.11ec.b879.0cc47a39aeb4-1638330882&u=smerriman&v3b=web&v3v=6.0.2 smerriman 69 - 10 elyk25

While it doesn't adjust the 'other hands' section, someone recently released a Firefox addon which (among many other things) adds it to the MyHands database.

https://webutil.bridgebase.com/v2/tview.php?t=ARDCHALLENGE:3b16bd7e.500c.11ec.b879.0cc47a39aeb4-1638077400&u=smerriman&v3b=web&v3v=6.0.2 smerriman 53 - 48 zupey

Will depend on agreements but I would assume it shows clubs. So I'm also leading the queen, hopefully followed by the killing switch.

Ah yep, you're right. You can't afford to throw the T before declarer leads to the ♦J, but can't afford to win a spade trick after declarer leads to the ♦J. So have to keep both options open to avoid the clever spade play to endplay you in hearts later. Bridge is fascinating sometimes.

[hv=https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?n=S9654H84DJ94CKJ84&e=S82HQJ65D765CAT95&s=SAKQHK972DAKT2CQ6&d=n&v=b&a=PP2NP3CP3HP3NPPP&p=SJS4S8SQCQC2C4C5C6C3CKCAS2SK]400|300[/hv] On the 4th trick, West must play precisely the 7 from T73 to defeat the contract, despite the fact that the next round of the suit will be won by South's remaining stiff Ace. What exactly is going on here?

..

https://webutil.bridgebase.com/v2/tview.php?t=ARDCHALLENGE:4fec0b6c.48a0.11ec.b879.0cc47a39aeb4-1637261391&u=smerriman&v3b=web&v3v=6.0.1 smerriman 25 - 60 cherdano https://webutil.bridgebase.com/v2/tview.php?t=ARDCHALLENGE:3a350a52.484b.11ec.b879.0cc47a39aeb4-1637224847&u=smerriman&v3b=web&v3v=6.0.1 smerriman 24 - 19 Stephen Tu

Exactly - over 1♦ it would only be 4432 (unless you opened that 1♣, in which case it's nonexistent), and slightly more likely over 1♣. But it needs to be rare and very precise given the space it wastes. (And yes, to me the raise denies a major.)

Somewhat the opposite - the problem with jumping to 3NT is that you've skipped over two entire levels of bidding room, so it's almost impossible for responder to safely bid on if they're interested in slam. The system described in the link above suggests 3NT show 18 points with 3 cards in the minor - the worst possible strong hand, so responder will almost always pass unless having plenty of extras themselves.

A balanced 15-17 would open 1NT. But as for the rest, I much prefer an inverted raise being forcing to 3 of the minor. That way 2NT can show both the lower and upper ranges to save space for slam investigation. See https://bridgewinners.com/article/view/1m-2m-now-what/

It's not about the South hand, or the North hand. It's about the fact your double dummy sim sees both the East and West hands, and therefore knows exactly how to play the club suit, making your numbers way higher than reality.

Not me.

I agree with this. With 5 spades you'd go through 4SF, and with 5 clubs you'd start with 2♣, so you're probably 42(34), or maybe 4144 without interest in diamonds. The problem is the range.. simple logic inherited from other auctions would dictate that a jump to 3NT should be balanced minimums, while stronger hands can bid 4SF then 3NT to show extras. But that doesn't work here at all, since 4SF then 3NT is also used for a minimum with 5 spades. A couple of possible solutions: - make 2♠ the artificial game forcing bid to free up extra room (requiring 1♥ - 2♠ to show hands you'd normally rebid 2♠). - or make 1♥ - 2♣ a nebulous 2♣ bid, which includes any balanced GF hand.