ArcLight

I ran this through Deal Mater Pro. If pard has a balanced 24 HCP, slam is around 62% (based on 100 simulations). So if pard will only accept with 24, you can make the invite. But as I said, its not a nice hand, and if pard will accept with 23, and has a success rate of less than 50% its not so good. What I found interesting with the simualtor is at first I felt it was an easy pass, but the simualtor implied that with 24 you should go on. Maybe I should run 250 simulations next time.

You have a bad 8. The ace is nice, but the honors are in the short suit, not the 5 card suit, and you have no spots. If pard has 24 and ends up in slam with 32 HCP he has a reasonable chance. He may have the Club honors! If he goes on with 23 he will probably be down. This may annoy pard, that he can't trust your judgment, and he may pass future invites. On the other hand, if you are sure that pard will only accept slam with 24 HCP, you can make the invite. If he stretches, he's likely to be down.

I agree with the Dime play being around 53%. As for 4-2 spades - there is more to it - If spades are 2-4 with LHO having the shortness, what do you do on the third round? Disacard a heart? LHO ruffs and can return a Club. Now when the Trump Ace gets in you have a club loser, for down 1. Even a 1-3 split with a stiff trump ace wont help because the trump Jack will make. If Spades are 4-2, and RHO has the Dime J , and ruffs with it, you are down, provided a Club is returned. If you can instead over ruff, and lead a dime, you are probably in good shape. What complicates this calculation is: how likely is the defense to switch to a Club, rather than continue hearts? ========================== As for the 3♦ bid - When opener bid 3♣, he is showing a better than average hand. He could have rebid 2NT or 2 Spades, yet chose 3 Clubs. I think he is 5-4 or 5-5 in Clubs. If 5-3, then he is balanced and didnt open 1NT, so he has more than 15-17. Maybe 3NT or even 4 Spades is a better game than the diamond game. The problem with Diamonds is the poor quality. Also, pard might be thinking of slam, which can be problematic with a weak trump suit. Still - a 7 card suit is worth considering. I'm not sure what the right bid is. But in Diamonds you may end up in a 7-1 fit in a part score, or game going down, while 3NT makes.

If you play Invereted Minors, then what does 2NT show, given the auction 1m - 2m? This is more of a general question, not necessarily limited to just this hand. When do you bid 2NT rather than 2m?

Lets say your method of cue bidding is to show aces (I'll call this "traditional"), rather than aces or kings (I'll call this "Mixed"). When would you cue bid a king before an ace in another suit? What are the exceptions to cue bidding aces first? I read a post by a world champion (fantastic card player, uses aces first cue bidding) and he said holding S: A J x H: K T 9 x D: K T x x C: T x 1♥ - 3♥ 4♣ - ? (4♣ is a slam try - may be asking for help in that suit) He would bid 4♦, and then 4♠ over pards sign off of 4♥. Are there any general rules as to when to cue bid kings before aces?

One additional minor point, lets say when you start playing clubs, the partner of the Dangerous hand plays the Q, you let it hold, just in case clubs are xxx-Qx with the dangerous hand holding 3. I agree with your analysis.

Cue Bid of Diamonds, probably the Ace. This assumes no mixed cue bididng (i.i could be a Diem ace, and denies the A or K of Clubs) I'm guessing responder had a 3 card limit raise. Since opener has 6+ Spades and more than a minimum responder knows they belong at least in game. I think the responder also has mor ethan a minimum, not a 4333 10 HCP hand.

Opener is probably 5-4 or 5-5 in the majors. They may have 1 or 0 Clubs. Do you wnat to play at the 3 level in clubs opposite 0/1 clubs, or above in another suit? If you bid 2♠ you are telling pard you have a weak hand with Spade tolerance/preference. Pard will pass. If pard had a monster and didnt open 2♣, they would have bid 3♥ not 2.

Just, Why is 4♥ terrible? It seems like a tiny over bid, and the trumps are poor. Is it because pard may go higher, and be disappointed with the trump quality and lack of a long suit (AKQ can never be more than 3 tricks)

I am assuming 2D is witing. Opener bid 3C. That implies a really good club suit, rather than a balanced hand serching for some level of NT, though this isnt certain. What is 3S? Is that showing a stopper for NT? Is it a cue bid in support of Clubs? Responder did not bid teh 2nd negative, so he has some values. To have 4H not forcing shows what kind of hand? 6 Clubs and 5 hearts, both headed by AKQ? Does one typically bid monster 2 suiters via 2 Clubs? Rather than 1 Club - (bids) - 4 Hearts? I think its forcing.

Excerpt from the Kokish interview: >(some defenses to complex methods might be more than 20 pages and can be kept at the table for reference, so we make them as comprehensive as possible); WOW!!!!

Test Your Match Play - Hugh Kelsey. Very good intermediate + (more like advanced) level book on play problems. A few of the hands use outdated bidding that may fool you (I was surprised at the holding of declarer on a couple of hands), but in general these are very nice hands. They involve more than just counting and technique, they involve visualization and imagining how the play will go. One negative - Kelsey admitted that he reused some problems in his other books (Test Your Declarer play 1-6). I recognized a couple of problems, since I just read his test your declarer play books. Still a great book and worth buying. Master Class - Ron Klinger - excerpts of material from many of his other books. If you have read some of books this is just a reprint of taht material. If you haven't read his books you may find some of the chapters intereting and want to read his other books. Intermediate level or below. Tips for better bridge - Bernard Magee. Collection of tips for beginner/ low intermediate players. Decent material on a wide range of subjects, from bidding to play. The bridge player's bible - Julian Pottage. Beginner / low intermediate, a collection of tips, covers an assortment of topics. I found the pages a little hard to read becaus eof the way the hands were presented. Bridge in the Fourth Dimension: More Keys to Winning Bridge Play from Victor Mollo's Bridge Club - Victor Mollo While not quite as funny/entertain ing as the first book in the series (Bridge in the Menagerie) the hands are still very good. They really get into bridge psycology with respect to how you would play against different levels of player. For example - there is one hand where you can ruff a suit declarer is running. Should you do so? 1 - why did Declarer not drawing trumps first? Its becaus ehe doesnt know the location of the Q. 2. Would you ruff from Qxx? That would allow declerer to play A then K and drop your Q. It may expose pards Q if you ruff from xx. Against different skill levels you may act differently. Lots of if this then this cases.

I dont think the bidding was fine. Why was 1♦ not the response by North? If playing Walsh responses to 1♣, then 1♦ is bypassed in favor of a 4 card major with non GF hands. North has a monster so should respond 1♦ then later can show his hearts. That will let opener know responder has a big hand.

> Fantoni-Nunes in favour of Angelini-Sementa. I dont know much (anything) about professional bridge teams. Why was Fantnues not selected in favor of thes etwo?

I don't know Precision, so maybe I shouldn't respond, but doesn't this bidding imply responder has longer ♦ than ♠, and at least 5♠? Why not bid 4S instead of 4H, playing in the 5-3 fit rather than the 6-1 (or 0) fit? As for 3S vs 3H, might responder think you have 4 spades? Pard is not asking for aces, so maybe he has 5-2-6-0 shape?

If you pass, it would not be unexpected to hear LHO bid 1♠. They can then out bid your hearts. If you bid 4♥ it takes very little from pard to make - king of clubs - spade or diamond ace - diamond king with LHO holding the Ace - heart jack, (or heart 9 and enough length that the J drops and you have more trumps) allowing you to take a club finesse and then ruff the thrid round This is not asking for much, even if there are only 10-13 HCP in the remaining 2 hands.

I think opener has a better chance of making 4♠ than you do of making anything. Is the question whether to bid 5♥ as a sacrifice? The spade king is wasted. Probably LHO has few hearts so a finesse or two may work. On the other hand any club finesses will not. Its not unlikley to lose 3 club tricks, and a spade trick. Or a spade a dime, and 2 clubs. Bidding 5♥ is likley down, and on occasion will be doubled. Maybe at MP its worth bididng becaus eyou expect 4S to make > 50% of the time. I dont know about IMPs. If they make 60% of the time, NV, and you are down 1+ 75% of the time NV, sometimes doubled, is it worth bididng? Maybe the expected value is such that its worth bidding, shoing a small plus, hoping you aren't down too much, or that your occasional makes offset you occasional doubled down 2+.

IMPS, Unfavorable RHO opens 2 hearts (6 card suit, not JT5432 but it doesnt have to be 2/3 or 3/5 honors it could be KJ9872) What do you do with: ♠ K Q J x x ♥ T x x ♦ K ♣ K T x x Do you bid 2 Spades or Pass?

1. Opener jump shifted (not reveresed) so we are in agame forcing auction. OPener is at least 4+♦ and 4+♠ (though I think its probaly 5+♦). 2. A ♦ fit was established by responders second bid. 3. I would not assume that opners ♥ bid is agreeing hearts, he has no assurance that responder has length in hearts. Therefor 4NT is RKCBW for ♦.

IMPs Unfavorable RHO opens 1 Club You X with: (any complaints with the X?) ♠ A x x x ♥ x x x ♦ A K x x ♣ T x Bidding goes: 1♣ X 2♦ 3♥ 4♣ What do you do? 1♣ X 2♦ 3♥ 4♣ p p 4♠ X p 5♣ Responder held: ♠ q 9 8 x ♥ a k t 9 x x x ♦ Q ♣x How should the bididng go?

To me x is less than a 9. In fact if a hand were AT987 I would list all the cards, 10s and 9s, especially in combination will be listed. x means crap, that will only win a trick in All through the Pack. :) >Some of us (including me) would in fact force to game if you add a couple of tens to the responder hand Not 10s or 9s, more like 6s and 7s

>Takeout that was unsuitable previous round. 4225 or 4234 or 4144 probably fits the picture. I generally agree. Spade and Club length, with heart shortness. But the opps can have some clubs or spades, so it should be a decent hand. The Doubler didnt overcall Spades so wont have 5. They could have overcalled 1 Spade on a 4 card suit, though not everyone does that. Also, there is a hint that opener didn't raise hearts so might not have 3. Some will raise 1 Heart to 2 if they have 3 hearts.

For problem 2 - the problem is : Do you pass the 3♦ response, or bid game.

[hv=d=e&v=e&n=sa94hkt2dktckt652&w=s52hq9875daj62c43&e=sqt8hj4dq9543caq8&s=skj763ha63d87cj97]399|300|Scoring: IMP[/hv] 1. How should this be bid, playing 2/1? (would you open unfavorable with Westst hand in 3rd seat? - If so what?) 2. Lets say the bidding goes: pass - pass - pass - 1Club Would you overcall as East? p - p -p - 1C 1D - 1S - 3D - ? 3. Was 3 Diamonds a good bid at unfavorable vulnerability? 4. What would you do as North over 3 Diamonds? (I corrected 2S to 1S, sorry)

Unfavorable, IMPS pass - pass - what do you open (2♣, 2NT, other) holding: S: A T H: A x x D: K 9 x C: A K Q J 9 ================================= For a different hand, how do you respond to pards first seat 2NT bid with: S: x x x x H: Q J x x D: J x x x x C: void 3♣, Stayman? (we don't use Puppet Stayman) What do you do over pards 3♦ response?