robert2734

Yep. The entries make squeezes clunkier than I thought. If LHO has diamond K10x the hand is unmakeable unless he also has 5 or longer hearts. Then the last club forces him to pitch a diamond. If there's a spade-diamond squeeze, it isn't simple. Please explain.

Advising the players they can cash out for down one or try to make their contract at risk of going down five isn't in my job description. Advising both the NOS and OS what's going to happen after an insufficient bid yes. I wish testilying wasn't a valid skill. If you don't like the fact your opponents gain an advantage because of their more thorough knowledge of the Laws maybe try studying the laws yourself. I don't like the fact my opponents gain an advantage because they know how to execute a left shoehorn double squeeze.

Fluffy always has the right to an appeal. I'm not here to defend his director. It isn't until we have an established revoke and the defenders have taken a subsequent trick that I know there's going to be a one trick penalty. At that point I'll announce to the table there's a one trick penalty and call me back if you have additional questions. I'm not here to help either side with their play. Often quoting the rulebook conflicts with getting the truth out of people.

As a director I don't think it is my duty to tell my peeps how to use the laws of bridge to their best advantage. If they happen to know the rules that's fine. I'm suppose to be neutral right? On this hand, once it is clear that the defender did not win the trick she revoked and did win a subsequent trick I'll tell them there's a one trick penalty so I can get back to my comfy chair. The rest of the play is of no interest to me. When I make a ruling I tell them under what law is applicable. To help them with their appeal and to appear less capricious than applying the laws of bridge already makes me be.

Is the second heart larger or smaller than the heart led?

If we rule the 5 of clubs is a major penalty card and there is a lead penalty. Declarer can require east to lead a club. East doesn't have any so he can lead anything he wants and cashes all those red cards. Or declarer can forbid the lead of a club and the defenses cashes all their red winners. Or he can allow east to lead anything he wants and the club stays on the table as a penalty card. On the run of hearts the club gets discarded per force and now the defense cashes their diamonds. There is a one trick penalty for winning a subsequent trick but not the trick on which he revoke. That appears to restore equity given declarer's line of play.

Intuitive, feeling, judgemental.

Maybe north with four spades wants to encourage and then the two is suit preference for clubs. Of course north has a higher spade than the three but "the six might be valuable". Always make your signals as confusing as possible and then blame partner. Another theory is north is a robot that plays his spot cards at random. Or one of my many partners who doesn't think there's a difference between the three and the two. Following Lawrence "dynamic defense", north with spade 5432 can play 5 then 4 to ask for a diamond shift and 5 then 2 to ask for a club shift. North can play the 2 on trick one to ask for an immediate shift but can't specify suit.

Partner with S AKQJxxx H xx D xx C xx just needs two finesses out of three. Not even if the clubs set up. I bid six spades any vulnerability. I'm not sure RKC really helps because partner can have a trump loser and no side losers.

Does south really have S AKxxxx and didn't make a weak two? I can't make heads or tail out of north carding. Doesn't have a high card. If he has 4 cards, he'd have higher spots to signal with. S doesn't have SAK HKJT CK because he is a passed hand. Anyway , I'll try option one. Then I come to my hand with a diamond to lead heart to the queen. If the trumps are 2-2 I'm home and if S has H Kxx he can't have the king of clubs so I take the ruffing finnesse in clubs to throw a diamond.

I open a diamond. If partner bids 1H, I raise to 3H showing 15-17 which is what I have. Over a spade I bid a no trump. If partner has C Axx or C Kxx, we want to play no trump from my side. If partner is 5-4 spades and hearts or 5-4 spades and diamonds he should bid again. Over 2C (not 2 over 1) I bid 2H, not showing extras but partner won't pass.

Say we know on the bidding declarer is 6-3-3-1. Can he have the queen of diamonds rather thsn the queen of spades?

We're reduced to taking all four aces.

I can answer question three. .............................. S 2 ...............................H AK2 ...............................D ...............................C ................S..............................S ................H QXX..........................H Jxx ................D A............................D ................C..............................C A ...............................S A ...............................H 3 ...............................D 2 ...............................C 2 In this position, South has no entry in the common suit which is hearts. The squeeze card of the ace of spades must be played from the south hand. If we switch the ace and 2 of spades, the squeeze fails because there's no way to reach the south hand. ...............................S A ...............................H A32 ...............................D ...............................C ...............S.............................S ...............H QTx.........................H J9x ...............D A...........................D ...............C.............................C A ..............................S ..............................H K4 ..............................D 2 ..............................C 2 Here south has an entry in the common suit so the squeez card can be in north. On the ace of spades, east throws a heart to retain the ace of clubs, south throws the two of clubs and west is squeeze.

If partner has S Txx or better C Axxxx we can put declarer out of control by making him ruff clubs three times. The other possibility is to cut declarer off from the heart suit. If declarer is 6-2-4-1 without the queen of diamonds, we lead a diamond and make the dummy ruff. then there's no entry to the heart suit.

You drew an inference at your own risk about the opponent's behavior. Which you are entitled to do but the key phrase is at your own risk. Now if they delibertly mislead you (taking forever to play their singleton) you can ask for redress.

Back to my player hat. If partner knows we aren't getting any matchpoints for defending 2H, I trust her judgement and pass. If partner passes any six point hand, I bid 3C hoping to push them to 3H.

Back to my player hat. If partner knows we aren't getting any matchpoints for defending 2H, I trust her judgement and pass. If partner passes any six point hand, I bid 3C hoping to push them to 3H.

Your partner's hesitation is perfectly legal and even when you then make a bid that would not be chosen by your peers, I make no insinuation that you did anything unethical. So you don't "deserve" a bad result. You make an usual bid and it happens to work out, that's duplicate bridge. Your opponents mess up the defense so you get a good board and because it is a zero sum game the other N-S get a bad board, that's the way duplicate bridge is. To the extent I can can figure out that your bid was influenced by the long time partner thought about it, rather than just the fact he passed, I can adjust the score.

As a director, the director may of upheld your bid because it should of been punished at the table. Not because there are no plausible alternative that other ACBL members may have been chosen. And when the opponents slip on defense they own their result. They can't then come to director and get bailed out.

If the QH loses and the clubs are 3-3, there's no squeeze. That's the down side. You do gain if there's T9x of hearts coming down or the same hand has long clubs and long hearts. If the QH wins, you gain if north has long clubs and the king of hearts. Or if north has Kx of hearts. You break even if the clubs are 3-3 i.e. you still make your contract.

Cash the spades and then duck a club. There are some interesting squeezes if you play a heart but none of them are with the odds.

The name of the convention may or may not be a full and complete explanation of the partnership methods. But the opponents can ask again for a clearer explanation. For example, I don't play cappeletti but opponents often think the one word explanation "cappeletti" is explanatory. Then I have to ask , "well what does two diamonds show?"