Kaitlyn S

Answers: 1. [hv=pc=n&s=sat953hk62dk5ck74&d=n&v=0&b=1&a=1dp1sp4sp?]133|200[/hv] Hint: How well have you described your hand? Could you have far less on this auction? Answer: You have not described your hand within a narrow range - you could have had six points and four spades. In spite of the fact that you could have six points, partner bid 4S to make. Partner should have about 20 points and you should have enough for slam. If you know Blackwood, you can bid it to make sure you're not missing two aces; otherwise just bid 6S. Your partner's bid can't be a closeout because your partner has no idea how strong you are. 2. [hv=pc=s&s=sakqthk2dakj53c64&d=n&v=0&b=1&a=1dp1hp2sp4sp?]133|200[/hv] HInt: Have you described your hand within a narrow range? Answer: This time your partner knows that you have 19-21 points and has bid a game based on that knowledge. You described; partner decided. His bid is closeout. If you have enough for slam, it's partner's job to bid it after you bid 2S. You should pass 4S. 3. [hv=pc=n&s=s52hkq74dak653c63&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=1dp1hp2hp3np?]133|200[/hv] Hint: What has your partner told you? Is his bid a final decision? Answer: You have limited your hand to a narrow range; and your partner decided that game is the correct level. However, his bid is not closeout - he has shown four hearts and is giving you a choice between 3NT and 4H. Sometimes you are stuck for a rebid and feel that the best bid for the hand is a 3-card raise even if you "promise" 4-cards, and your partner is catering to that possibility. You have a clear preference for playing with hearts as trump and should bid 4H. 4. [hv=pc=n&s=sqt74hakj864dk92c&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=1hp1sp3sp4sp?]133|200[/hv] Hint: Have you described your hand within a narrow range? Answer: This hand may look familiar to readers of this forum. It was in a different thread and the poster asked what the opener should rebid after the 1S response. Enough posters bid 3S as opener that I thought I could pose this as a problem. Let's say you bid 3S, inviting partner to bid game. You described your hand within a narrow range, partner decided. Imagine the folly of bidding on: your partner could have passed 3S so essentially you are giving him a choice of playing in 3S or 5S but never 4S. Your partner might have stretched to bid 4S. Most of the time that there is a slam, partner would have already looked. Bidding on could cost you a game bonus if your partner can't make 5S. Since you were the describer, your partner's bid is closeout. Pass. 5. [hv=pc=n&s=sak74ht2dk6cakt93&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=1cp1hp1sp3np?]133|200[/hv] Hint: Can partner have enough to make a slam? When your partner bid 3NT, he expected you to pass. However, you have a good 18 point hand (counting one for the fifth club) and partner could easily have bid 3NT with 15 points. You could have enough for a slam, and since partner should have at least an opening hand, a four-level contract should not be in danger. Bid 4NT to invite a slam. (Note: with no suit agreement, 4NT should NOT be Blackwood (ace-asking) here; it is simply an invitational bid saying that you think there could possibly be a slam despite your partner's attempt to sign off.) Your partner's bid isn't purely signoff because you have only narrowed your hand down to a 13-18 (perhaps 12-18) point range which is pretty wide. 6. [hv=pc=n&s=s4hkqt9652d73c652&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=3hp3np?]133|200[/hv] Hint: Does partner know what you have? Answer: Your partner heard that you have a decent 7-card heart suit and not much else. Having that information, your partner decided that 3NT was the best contract. Perhaps partner has something like: [hv=pc=n&n=sakqhdakqj42cjt74]133|100[/hv] He has nine tricks in notrump but can't make 5D or 4H, and he has a good idea that this is true. If 4H is the correct contract opposite your hand, it was your partner's job to bid it. Bidding 4H shows a total lack of confidence in partner. You should pass and assume that partner knows what he is doing.

I teach them as invitational.

This is part of the "beginner" series which is much easier than the I/N series. Hi - these problems should be very easy for experienced players but a beginner needs to think about the right things in an auction. If you are a beginner and get them wrong, don't feel too bad as long as you understand the rationale for the answers. I'll provide the answers later but I'll put a hint as a spoiler. Try to solve the problem without the spoiler. Also, let me know if you would be interested in seeing more of these from time to time. Assume you are playing Standard American (a natural system with 15-17 1NT openings), IMPS, and nobody is vulnerable. When you open a major suit, you show at least five cards. Some background: Sometimes your partner bids a game and you are wondering if he is asking you to pass. Simply ask yourself if your partner has a description of your hand. If your partner knows your hand pretty well (i.e. you have described your hand within a narrow range), your partner's game bid is probably signoff (strongly suggesting that you pass, or at least go no further than game.) If you have not described your hand within a narrow range, your partner is making a descriptive bid which allows you to bid further. 1. [hv=pc=n&s=sat953hk62dk5ck74&d=n&v=0&b=1&a=1dp1sp4sp?]133|200[/hv] 2. [hv=pc=s&s=sakqthk2dakj53c64&d=n&v=0&b=1&a=1dp1hp2sp4sp?]133|200[/hv] 3. [hv=pc=n&s=s52hkq74dak653c63&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=1dp1hp2hp3np?]133|200[/hv] 4. [hv=pc=n&s=sqt74hakj864dk92c&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=1hp1sp3sp4sp?]133|200[/hv] 5. [hv=pc=n&s=sak74ht2dk6cakt93&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=1cp1hp1sp3np?]133|200[/hv] 6. [hv=pc=n&s=s4hkqt9652d73c652&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=3hp3np?]133|200[/hv]

14? Not where I come from. From the Bridge World Standard 2017: ♠ A K Q 10 x ♥ A K x ♦ Q x x x ♣ x is slightly too strong for a one-spade overcall of one club with neither side vulnerable. By "slightly", they asked experts what the lowest diamond honor would make this hand too good to overcall 1S. Most experts would simply overcall 1S if you changed the DQ to the DJ. http://www.bridgeworld.com/indexphp.php?page=/pages/readingroom/bws/bwscompletesystem.html#VIA (the page this came from)

If your style is to double on a 4342 or 4252 with slight extras I bid 4nt last time and thus time. Otherwise I bud 5C last time and this time.

I have never ever seen one writeup of a hand played by Meckwell where they underbid, and I've seen a lot of hands they have played.

Sure. I play it as a game forcing raise with a singleton or void in clubs. Says nothing else.

Or a discussion about honor leads, The OP said the king asked for count.

I just noticed that your subtitle was "Is there a forcing bid I can make here?". I think you are asking the wrong question. The question you want to ask yourself is "Should I be the describer or the decider?". Or perhaps "What bid will maximize the chances of getting to the best (or a decent) contract?" On this hand, you have four-card support for partner. You know it but your partner doesn't. You should let him in on the good news ASAP. You will notice that all the respondents agreed that you should show spade support in some manner - that you describing your hand to partner was paramount. I agree. Let's pretend you do not play splinters. Every player here would tell you to bid 3S or 4S. Neither of those bids are forcing, but each of those is the best bid, in the opinion of those who chose it, to get you to your best contract. The problem with making a forcing bid (which can't be in spades) is that you will never convince your partner that you have four spades later; and if partner responded 1S on four small spades, they are probably going to try to correct any spade contract you choose (which might be OK if they correct to hearts, but it's a level higher, but they may try to correct to whatever suit you made the forcing bid in, and you certainly don't want that.) You will do better in the auction if you always ask yourself "Where?" and "How High?" and bidding the correct contract only when you know the answer to both of those questions. If you don't know the answer to one, typically your best action is to make a bid that further describes your hand to partner in hopes that he will be able to answer both of the questions. Some people play complicated artificial relay systems where the correct question could be "How do I get the information I need?" but most natural systems have somebody that doesn't know the answer to both questions making a descriptive bid.

The problem with a 3S "value bid" is that when partner passes, you don't know whether you're taking 7 or 11 tricks. I assume you're playing IMPs and since 4 has play opposite most minimums and I can't even make 3 if partner is all clubs, I'd like to be in game. Once I've determined that, I'll bid 4S with a partner that has 'beginner' or 'novice' in his profile and no conventions listed. (This is the N/B forum.) If I am confident that partner will both understand a splinter bid and be able to evaluate his hand opposite one, I'll bid 4C. By the way, with my regular partner, I would bid 3H (splinter that isn't forcing to game) if the clubs and hearts were reversed. While I would guess to bid a game if I can't find out how partner likes my shortness, I'm willing to invite if I'm allowed to tell partner where my shortness is. I almost didn't mention splinters in this forum but the horse was already out of the barn so I did. I'm hoping those that aren't ready for splinters can ignore the whole splinter discussion.

I was looking to see if the results were posted anywhere by searching for Posty. It appears that there is a Posty competition every year but winners have not been posted since 2012. Am I missing something?

I use Kaitlyn S. I played a lot in the summer but I'm busy now and rarely play but I'll be back again next summer. I had not even considered the GIB aspect of it.

I've made this argument before but it does apply here. I'm not sure how to see the other players' averages either but my average (the last 50 hands, I don't know how to look at anything else) ia +1.1. Does this mean I'm a decent player? Of course not. If I got the +1.1 with my favorite partner with many agreements in the Relaxed Room choosing to play against beginners, I could be totally wretched. The last time people made this argument, I tried an experiment to see how high I could run my average. I ignored the tougher competitive team matches (where my opponents were frequently regular partners and I don't have any regular partners here) and just played in the Main or Relaxed Bridge Club in situations that didn't look suicidal, and ran my 50-board average to about +3.6. I wasn't any better player but my IMP average was pretty high. After playing 50 hands this way, I decided to find an enjoyable game where I found a reasonable partner who found two of his reasonable playing friends to play against. It was great fun but playing against a seasoned pair put us at a disadvantage and I appeared to be in Zelendakh's "low intermediate" category with my IMP rating. So I maintain that you can tell little about a player's skill by looking at his IMP average on the last 50 hands (even if you could see his average for all his hands, I'm not sure you can tell.) Several factors apply here: Does the player have a regular partner with agreements? Does the player play with a weak regular partner? (some spouse or significant other partners can really drag your average down) Does the player play in the competitive team games, and further, does he look for the strong matches? Does the player look to play against tough opponents or against beginners? There are many others. I know how well (or how poorly) I play and refuse to give myself the label "Expert" as I feel it should apply to people that others would be willing to pay to play with. I know that I will never approach the level of play of many of the posters here such as Phil or Timo so probably I won't ever be a self-labelled expert. However, I don't think you can get a good clue about my ability from my IMP average.

Unlike most notrump/suit decisions, in this case the opponents already know what the likely best lead for their side is, which is more important in notrump. If the overcaller has a single stopper in spades, it's very likely it's going to get knocked out with the opening lead, and unless dummy has a solid second stopper, any minor high spades in dummy simply get finessed at T1. RHO has five spades AND most of the opposing strength for the side, so unless you have nine running tricks or enough running tricks to squeeze RHO, you don't make 3NT.

I'll try a heart to the ace, club back, lead HK, if honor drops, lead HQ, discarding diamonds. If the other honor drops, I'm playing for an overtrick. Cash the DA and clubs and run hearts and if nobody has set up a minor suit card, run spades. If the other honor doesn't drop, I lead the H9 promoting the last heart (discarding a diamond.) The fifth heart back is probably their best defense but you mentioned that they were weak so I assume they'll lead to the bare DA. I cash the cub tops and play my last heart (I'll cash my DA early if they don't take it out.) If no honor drops on the first two hearts, I lead the H8. Assuming they are 4-3, I'll again play the DA and club tops and run hearts. If hearts are 5-2 with no honor dropping, I'll need a miracle. If West has the doubleton, I'll assume he has all the guards and discards to allow himself to be squeezed again. If East has the doubleton, I might hope that West decided to lead the unbid suit from queen third and then try for a spade-diamond simple squeeze, making if spades are 3-3.

I'm leading small.

I'll join the unanimous panel 1) Y 2) N

Answers: 1. [hv=pc=n&s=sa873ha5dakqj62c4&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=1dp1hp2sp2np?]133|200[/hv] Hint: If partner has a single club stopper, do you fear notrump? Answer: Your jump shift is forcing to game, so if you wanted to express doubt, you could bid 3D as a forcing bid stressing diamonds. However, partner is very likely to have a club stopper in this auction; after all, he could have bid 3D rather than 2NT in many cases. If partner does have a club stopper, I don't want him to think it's not enough because I can produce eight tricks and any club stopper is enough. If I bid 3D, partner may worry about having a single stopper and having to give up the lead, and could bypass 3NT. We don't want that to happen. Bid 3NT. If partner as a minimum response, there might not be an alternative contract to 3NT. You have no heart or spade fit, and you have a lot of spade losers to handle in 5D. 2. [hv=pc=n&s=sqj5h7dk653cakj52&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=1cp1dp2dp2np?]133|200[/hv] Hint: Do you have enough for game? How would partner know that 3NT isn't the best game? Answer: You have enough to accept - partner should have 11 or 12 points and both majors stopped. You aren't worried about spades but you're quite worried about hearts. Bid 3S which has to be forcing (you can't have spades as you didn't rebid 1S after the 1D response), and pinpointing the heart weakness Partner will only play notrump with hearts well stopped. By the way, if partner bids 4D here, I think you can pass - partner has limited his hand to a very narrow range and there isn't much sense in using 4D as a slam try or a choice of games here. If partner wants to be in 5D, he should bid it. 3. [hv=pc=n&s=sa873hq5dj652cqt3&d=n&v=0&b=1&a=1h1s1n2s3sp?]133|200[/hv] 3S = forcing; doubt about where the hand should be played Hint: Do you think you can take nine tricks off the top? Answer: Your partner's 3S bid can't be a suggestion to play in spades as the opponent has overcalled spades. Your partner could bid 3NT if he was so inclined but there must be something about his hand that makes him think that 3NT might not make despite partner (who is forcing to at least the level of 3NT) having a strong hand and you having shown a spade stopper. Sounds like your one spade stopper isn't enough, as you will probably have to give up the lead and East with five spades will take four spades and the trick he gets in with to set you. You do have a decent hand for your prior bidding, and you have two hearts to an honor, having denied three hearts, so bid 4H and play the 5-2 fit. 4. [hv=pc=n&s=s873hkqjdq75cj643&d=n&v=0&b=1&a=1dp1np3dp?]133|200[/hv] Hint: Are you accepting the invitation? Is there a way to avoid a hopeless game even if you have the points for game? Answer: You are accepting the invitation; you are maximum for your 1NT response and you have a fitting diamond honor. However, partner could easily have a hand like: S-2 H-A65 D-AKJT32 C-A98 where the opponents are almost certainly leading spades against notrump. On the other hand, your partner could have S-AK2 H-6 D-AKJ932 C-T98 where 3NT is easy. Bid 3H to show your values in hearts. Partner knows that you can't have four hearts because you failed to respond 1H. Partner will avoid 3NT with the first hand and will bid it with confidence on the second. 5. [hv=pc=n&s=sq842h5dk7653caqj&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=1dp1hp1sp2np?]133|200[/hv] Hint: Are you accepting the invitation? Answer: While you could bid 3C as accepting the invitation and showing doubt about partner's heart suit, this hand doesn't want to accept any game invitations. It wasn't that good when you opened it (Kaplan-Rubens hand evaluator says 12.65, Danny Kleinmann's evaluator says it's worth 11.) It only got worse when partner responded 1H. You have no source of tricks. You should pass 2NT and hope partner plays it well.

Problem Set 19 is available. Problem Set 19

Hi - these problems should be very easy for experienced players but an I/N player needs to think about the right things in an auction. If you get them wrong, don't feel too bad as long as you understand the rationale for the answers. I'll provide the answers later but I'll put a hint as a spoiler. Try to solve the problem without the spoiler. Also, let me know if you would be interested in seeing more of these from time to time. Assume you are playing Standard American (a natural system with 15-17 1NT openings and 5-card majors), IMPS, and nobody is vulnerable. Some background. There are some situations where your partner has suggested playing in notrump. You have the values for game and you're pretty sure there is no major suit fit so you figure you might as well bid 3NT. The opponents attack your weakest suit, and although your partner has the suit stopped, the stopper is knocked out immediately and your partner cannot take nine tricks without losing the lead, You are set, and the result was almost predictable. This is IMPs and there is no shame in playing 5C or 5D if 3NT looks dangerous and 5 of a minor has play. However, if your partner is well fortified in your short suit, 3NT is a fine contract where partner's wasted values in your short suit make 5 of a minor a poor contract. When you've bid two or three suits, and the weakness is in one of the unbid suits, it is very likely that the opponents are going to lead your weak suit. It is optimistic to just bid 3NT and hope that by not giving the opponents information, they will lead your longer and stronger unbid suit. An example: [hv=pc=n&s=s74hak9dkq98632c2&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=1dp1sp2dp2np]133|200[/hv] You have a maximum 2D bid (you expect your diamond suit to provide several tricks) and want to accept game. However, it is not your best choice to say "I'm bidding 3NT - the club stopper is my partner's problem." A better call is to bid 3H, which is clearly forcing. You are accepting the game, but you are telling your partner that clubs could be an issue. If your partner has ♣Qxx, or if he has ♣Axx and doesn't think you have nine running tricks, he probably doesn't want to play notrump. Your doubt about notrump will pay off if these are the hands: [hv=pc=n&s=s74hak9dkq98632c2&n=sa652hq64dj75ca53&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=1dp1sp2dp2np3hp5dppp]266|200[/hv] In 3NT, the opponents will lead clubs and will take four club tricks upon winning the ♦A. 5D is cold. However, your partner might have clubs well stopped in which case 3NT is indicated. [hv=pc=n&s=s74hak9dkq98532c2&n=skj32hqt6dj6ckqt5&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=1dp1sp2dp2np3hp3nppp]266|200[/hv] Here 3NT is a great contract while 5D loses three aces off the top. You stated that your fear was clubs, and partner has them well under control and bids 3NT with confidence. By the way, in the above auction, a 3D rebid (1D-1S-2D-2NT-3D) wouldn't have shown doubt about the unbid suits; it would have shown doubt about making a game. South would be declining the game invitation and choosing to play in 3D rather than 2NT. On the other hand, a 3C rebid (1D-1S-2D-2NT-3C) is more valuable as a forcing bid pinpointing a fear of hearts in notrump than it is a suggestion to play 3C. 1. [hv=pc=n&s=sa873ha5dakqj62c4&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=1dp1hp2sp2np?]133|200[/hv] 2. [hv=pc=n&s=sqj5h7dk653cakj52&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=1cp1dp2dp2np?]133|200[/hv] 3. [hv=pc=n&s=sa873hq5dj652cqt3&d=n&v=0&b=1&a=1h1s1n2s3sp?]133|200[/hv] 3S = forcing; doubt about where the hand should be played 4. [hv=pc=n&s=s873hkqjdq75cj643&d=n&v=0&b=1&a=1dp1np3dp?]133|200[/hv] 5. [hv=pc=n&s=sq842h5dk7653caqj&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=1dp1hp1sp2np?]133|200[/hv]|

Ditto.

7D like everybody else Probably not. I would start 1D P 3H splinter, but I don't think it's enough. North can't find out about South's CQ and South can't find out about North's CJ. I imagine we'll be in 6D which isn't an awful contract. I play three rounds of diamonds (not the DK), and four rounds of clubs, pitching 2 hearts and a spade. Then I lead a spade to the 10. If West has no more diamonds or clubs, he has to cede the twelfth trick. If that didn't happen, I probably just take the other spade finesse (although if strange distribution suggests doing something else, I'll do it.)

4D has to be some non-minimum hand that doesn't want to play 3NT. If you don't play splinters, I presume it's distributional with short hearts. If you play splinters, it's tough to come up with a hand opposite your hand that would want to do that. Maybe 2-2-7-2? That's tough to buy; why aren't the opponent's bidding their 10-card spade fit? Anyway, I would bid 5D if you play splinters (expecting two heart losers because partner didn't splinter) and 6D (or 4NT) if you don't (expecting no wastage in hearts and perhaps my singleton spade is good as well.)

I don't understand where the problem lies. As I understand it, the suit was: ............ N (declarer) ♠ Q32 W:♠ KJ96 ....... E: ♠AT854 ............ S (dummy) ♠ 7 East led the ♠ 5 to West's king. West returned the ♠ 6. Did declarer play the queen? If so, East wins the ♠A (East expects that West has four, so East clears the suit by leading low, not caring who has the jack.) If declarer didn't play the queen, the ♠6 holds the trick. But even if you switch the spots so that East had to overtake the second spade, East would know that West had four from the card he returned (unless declarer had five) so East would cash the ace and West might have to be aware to unblock. The problem from returning the ♠9 from ♠KJ9x is that this might be the layout from East's point of view: ............ N ♠QJ2 W ♠K96 ...... E: ♠AT8543 ............ S: ♠7 When trick 2 goes ♠9-♠Q, East "knows" West started with 3 so an entryless East ducks to maintain communications. Having West play the true card really helps East. However, if you play the ♠9 from ♠KJ96, you have this debacle: ............ N ♠Q2 W ♠KJ96 ...... E ♠AT8543 ............ S ♠7 East leads the ♠5 to West's ♠K and West returns the ♠9, and East ducks North's queen! Correct play has West returning the ♠6 so that East wins the ace. East realizes his only chance to run the suit is to play low and the suit runs. (Granted, it's possible that declarer started with ♠QJ92 and West ♠K6 but a decent defender in West might realize that problem and switch at trick 2 having started with a doubleton. A more likely scenario is this: ............ N ♠QJ32 W ♠K96 ...... E ♠AT854 ............ S ♠7 East leads the ♠5 to the ♠K and returns the ♠9, covered by North's ♠Q. North might have made a mistake by covering (playing low strands East's spades if East is entryless) but people make mistakes all the time. Since East knows that West started with three and the last spade is lower than the ♠9, an entryless East again ducks, and waits for West to push another spade through declarer's ♠Jx. What happens if you return the ♠9 from ♠KJ96? ............ N ♠Q32 W ♠KJ96 ...... E ♠AT854 ............ S ♠7 West leads back the ♠9 at trick 2 and North optimistically plays the ♠Q and wins the trick as East ducks to maintain an entry! The proper return of the ♠6 leads to five spades for the defense as East gobbles North's queen and leads low to West's ♠J. There are times where it's right to return the "wrong" card to unblock. I don't believe this is one of them. In many of the cases where it is necessary to return the wrong card, partner misreads the situation and messes up the suit anyway, so having a general policy to always return the right card unless both partner and you are experts (real experts, not BBO "experts") is not a bad idea.

You may be looking at the situation sensibly but the reason that your friend might have made such an absurd bet is that he intends to play word games to win - he may agree with you but thinks he tricked you to fall for a sucker's scam.