PriorKnowledge

I would have bid 2C initially, even if playing 2/1. over 2D will bid 2S, then 3S. This hand is a powerhouse

Bidding whatever is your 22 balanced. 2C then 2N is common. The hand is too balanced to open 1D. Too easily passed out when game is available.

At IMPs I lead a spade, but at matchpoints, 8C - 2nd from top empty 4+ suit. Every time I don't lead my longest suit in a blind auction, I always regret it. Trying to hit partner is a crap-shoot. Partner could have clubs. Never the JH. Partner needs too many to be useful and dummy is unlikely to have strength.

In other words, you are "eliminating" the defender's safe exits

I think partner's bidding was acceptable and yours was terrible. pass - Partner did not know if you played Gambling 3N, so elected to pass. OK 1S - OK 3N - looks like good gambling 3N now. OK 4C - Unbalanced, looking for slam. I would have passed but 4C is OK 4D - My suit 4S - my suit again 5D - Please, my suit. My 3N bid is now obvious to all at the table but my partner 5S - The most atrocious bid I have ever seen. Aren't you paying attention to the auction? Partner pulled 4SX to 5D. You have now bid this suit 3 times all the way to 5 level, when you showed it to be 5 cards with your first bid. Amazing. What makes you think 3N supported spades? Without discussion, this is natural. Partner could bid Jacoby 2N with support. Why would s/he confuse you? Especially after running from 4SX? And you left and blamed partner?

Unethical is too strong a word. I think you mean "poor sportsmanship." You recieved no UI. You may use any information you glean from the auction, your bridge knowledge, and your hand. For example, suppose you hold 12hcp, LHO opens 1N, your partner makes a penalty dbl and RHO bids 2C, which the opps play shows 8+hcp. From the bidding and your hand, you know LHO psyched the 1N (or partner psyched the dbl). You may use that information. In this case, I consider World Class players psyching against beginners in a tournament both unsporting and poor bridge. Experts can expect to beat this pair easily with normal bridge. If you psyche, you give them a chance to beat you.

I play Sandwich 1N natural and strong. After all, you still have q-bids in 2 suits & 2N available.

Sandwich 1N ( (1D) p (1S) 1N). I keep this natural 15-18. Reason is today's light openings and light responses. After all, you have t/o dbl, 2N, and q-bid in both suits still available.

Most stupid dbl I have ever seen. It steers partner away from the correct lead, risking >2200 in order to gain an extra 100. Dbler should play a game that requires no thinking like war or old maid.

Obvious 1N Just because "Aces and spaces" rhymes does not mean it is good advice.

MUD is the worse. Never lead the middle card from 3. Either lead the highest to tell partner you have no honors or the lowest to tell partner you have 3 or 5. Partner may need to make a decision at trick 2. The lead of the middle card tells partner NOTHING. Agh... I can't believe people are still leading MUD. And good players, too. I don't know how many tricks I've won from MUD leads when RHO cashed the AK setting up my suit looking for a ruff from partner.

Any lead other than a spade is foolish. Don't let the redbl talk you out of the obvious lead. Partner's dbl commanded a spade lead. You comply. Very simple. Trust your partner. Don't even think about it. If I made the dbl with the ♠A and my partner thought for more than 2 seconds before leading a spade, I might never play with that person again. If my opening lead determines the contract's fate, and my partner dbled 7N without the ♠A, I definitely would never play with that person again.

Bid spades to establish spades as trump for 5N GSF. Only info needed is ♠AK. Willing to risk 6S off AK to easily find 7S with AK. 1) After 1N opener, play spades, don't need another trump suit 2) ♠AK is 7 with 5-7 more. So many possibilities: AD, KC, pitching clubs on hearts and ruff last club, ♦KQ ruffing finesse, club finesse, or AD lead with KD in dummy.

Use GSF.... Assuming transfers: 1N 2H 2S 5N Opener might bid 3S 7S If 2D interference 1N (2D) 3S 4S 5N 7S 1C (2D) 2S 3S 5N 7S

Agree 100% with Chamaco

agree with pclayton about respon dbl rules agree with inquiry's pass 2D overcall is fine Dbl was wrong, pass better 4C is OK. Advancer's dbl increases hand After 4C, advancer must bid 4D because overcaller can't be 55 (else un NT), so must be 64 or strong 54. If strong 54, can't pass with 10. If 64, can't play in clubs.

pass.... why does everyone want to overbid to gain a swing? Maybe an underbid might work. Certainly, -1400 will not help win the match. BTW, if you are desperate for a swing, instead of overbidding or underbidding, try taking a non-percentage declarer play. For example, in 4S with trump KJ9x vs Axxx needing no losers, lead the JS and if covered, finesse the 9 on the way back. If that works, you gain 10 IMPs, while risking few % in the play.

X then q-bid opener's suit is a game-force. With spade support, dbler had choice of pass, 2S, 3S, 4S, or 2D. So 2S = game opposite 7-9, 3S=game opposite 5-6, 4S=game opposite little, and 2D=monster

Except that partner may bid 4C or 4H over 3S and then dbl 4S because you made a 2/1 overcall and partner has 13. Trying to divine all 4 hands and results seems over-thinking to me. Just bid what you have.

3N. partner is making a mild game try, which i will accept having a max for previous 1S bid. Just in case partner has only 3s, bid 3N. With 4s, partner will correct to 4S. Partner can't bid 2D, because that is a game-force.

I would reconsider #1. Or maybe the definition of the word "constructive". If you open a 15-17 1N with 13 or 19, both cases misrepresent your hand and may lead to partner taking the wrong action. This one is easy to recognize. If you make a jump overcall with a 12hcp hand, or a simple 2/1 overcall with a 7hcp hand, both cases misrepresent your hand and may lead to partner taking the wrong action. Maybe a little harder to recognize. 10 is the usual cut-off. This hand has 7. Not even close. I am still confused by the comment that a 3H bid may push the opps to a makeable game while 2H would not.

I used to play much 2-handed bridge (I have some great unpublished rules for both 2 and 3 handed, if anyone is interested). A play would frequently occur similar to the following ending position with spades as trump: Offense: ♠x ♥x ♦AQ ♣ Defense: ♠ ♥AK ♦K2 ♣ You play your last spade and opponent must either blank the heart ace allowing you to lead a heart for a diam endplay, or blank the KD allowing you to drop the king. This play occurs, although rarely, in 4-handed play. Does anyone know the name of this type of play?

:P I really try to forget these things... This happened almost 30 years ago.... In a serious money bridge game, RHO opened 3D and I held a monster 6-6. I bid 4D, partner bid 4(of wrong suit), and I persisted with 5D, which seemed to me to say, "Pick a different suit". Partner was confused and passed. So we played in our 0-2 fit down 6 when slam in one of my suits was cold. I think everyone has stories like this. The most interesting would be Contracts that actually made

Actually, this is not correct. Just because a machine's architecture is 32-bit, does not mean that simulating longer bit integers is not possible. Many early generators used 64-bit seeds. The last I heard, 128-bit seeds were in common use.

Oops... I have to learn to count to 2 <_< Twice, I have bid slam off 2 aces AFTER bidding blackwood, because I miscounted the number of aces in MY OWN HAND.