Kaitlyn S

Hi - these problems should be very easy for experienced players but an I/N player needs to think about the right things when playing a hand. 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. This is the second in a multi-part series on holdups, and will be a fair amount harder than the first set. The basic hold up play and the first set of problems can be found here: Hold Up Problem Set 1 Of course, just because you can hold up doesn't mean you should. Let's see this in action in a few problems. Assume the opponents lead fourth-best and play standard carding. You are playing IMPs so try to make your contract. 1. [hv=pc=n&s=skq5hakjdqj65ca94&n=s973hq64dat92cKt5&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=2np3nppp]266|200[/hv] West leads the ♠4. East plays the ♠J. Do you hold up? How do you play the diamond suit? 2. [hv=pc=n&s=skq5hkqjdaj65ca94&n=s973ha64dqt92ckt5&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=2np3nppp]266|200[/hv] West leads the ♠4. East plays the ♠J. Do you hold up? How do you play the diamond suit? 3. [hv=pc=n&s=skq5hakjdqj65ca94&n=s3hq64dat982cKt52&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=2np3nppp]266|200[/hv] West leads the ♠4. East plays the ♠J. Do you hold up? How do you play the diamond suit?

Why 8+ if you play a weak notrump? Many books and pundits suggest 8+ points for bidding Stayman over a strong notrump (unless you intend to pass anything partner bids) because you need at least an invitational hand to play 2NT if partner doesn't have a major or doesn't have your major. If you're playing a weak notrump, 8 points isn't enough to invite. You need enough points to make game opposite the top of your range. That would be about 12 (perhaps a good 11 if you can distinguish a good 11 from a bad 11) opposite a 12-14 points; or about 11 opposite a 13-15 notrump. Some on here will suggest a point lower, but if you're just learning Stayman, you might want 26 points for game (including points for long suits.) Leave the 25 point games for the experts. Now, it's possible that you and your partner have agreed to use Stayman sometimes to get out of 1NT with a weak hand with two four-card majors (in which case 1NT-2C-2D-2H is pass or correct), but if you play that, you don't need 8 points for this either because you've got more incentive to run with nothing than you do with 8 points. Not playing a weak notrump, I'm not sure which approach is considered standard. Over the strong notrump, the standard meaning for 1NT-2C-2D-2H is still invitational (8-9, five hearts) and with a bad hand, you either pass or bid your long suit (using Jacoby Transfers if you play them, but if you don't, 1NT-2H just shows a hand that wants to play 2H and could have zero points.) Incidentally, if you do play Transfers, the auction 1NT-2C-2D-2H also shows four spades (otherwise you would have just transferred), and Stayman is preferred over transferring when you have 5-4 in the majors. True story - I was recently at an event where people were learning to become bridge teachers (they were already supposed to know the game.) Many were shocked to hear the "standard" meaning of 1NT-2C-2D-2H. It's scary to think that these people will be teaching bridge.

Would you pass 3NT with this hand? Would anybody in a pair that knows enough to bid 3C over 2NT sometimes pass 3NT with this hand? In case there's anybody that would, your partner bid 3C (either showing fear of notrump, or looking for a club slam) without the club ace, the club queen, or the club jack. They also bid 3NT over 3S (with S-AKQxx they would probably bid 4S) so you probably have a spade loser or finesse. Partner bid 3C for a reason - they must have a lot of black cards. A lot of black cards means not very many red ones; meaning that you either lose four diamond tricks when the opponents win their spade trick, or that partner doesn't have help in hearts and there will be an avalanche of hearts when you lose a spade trick.

Frankly, over 90% of the time (maybe even 98%), declarer is going to have the ♥A and enough in diamonds to prevent the defense from taking four diamond tricks, and the mental energy trying to figure out whether to play partner for ♥A or ♦AKJx will usually be better spent on other boards unless you are a mental ironman. Here we have been presented with a problem so we assume the play matters and is important, and we have lots of time to think about it. You don't have that at the table. If you played ♦Q hoping that partner had ♦AKJx or if you played a heart and partner did have ♦AKJx, don't beat yourself up about it. Literally, at the table, I probably would have thought "well declarer probably has 2-2-5-4 with the ♥A, but it appears that partner having the ♥A is more likely than a good holding in diamonds"; and I would have put enough thought to know to win the first trick, but at that point I would have just tabled a heart. If I put much more thought into a hand that where it was unlikely to matter, my brain would be mush for the second half of the match (or pairs game.) If North complained about South's defense on this hand, then North deserves to have a burnt out partner after 13 hands or so (with a lot more complaints to come!) There are many hands that require a lot of mental energy, at the table, this just doesn't seem to be one of them.

I'm not sure many people look at this thread. I can tell you what I did when I had time to play a fair amount (unfortunately that isn't now.) I played lots of hands in the Main Bridge Club or in the team matches trying to find compatible partners. In playing a thousand hands or so, I found about a dozen that I thought were somewhat compatible who were willing to friend me here. I sent each of those a message stating that I would like to set up, via email, a somewhat extensive set of agreements so when I saw them online, we could play together and use those agreements. Three of those took me up on it and I have an agreement list with those three people. Unfortunately, real life got in the way and I suspect those players have forgotten about me and any agreements we made, but if I ever get back to playing, they will be the first to know (along with an email with our last set of agreements.) I admit that it was easier for me than you because I was specifically looking for 2/1 partners which are a lot more common than WJ or Precision Club players, and the "Help Me Find A Game" feature is going to pair a lot of SAYC people with you even though you ask for "not SAYC". You almost have to cherry-pick the open seats, which is rough because they frequently get filled by HMFAG. I played Precision back when CC Wei first popularized it and if I was playing more, I might have tried starting a partnership with you just to keep my mind active. Don't give up hope though. Another possible idea: Send a message on BBO to the people that post in the Non-Natural Bidding Discussion forum (you should be able to determine those that might be compatible.) The people that post in these forums tend to be more serious about discussing the game, and are thus more likely to try to develop agreements. I'm guessing that if you send messages to about 20 of those players, you'll probably get two that are willing to form a trial partnership.

The easiest way to "remember" is to realize the goal of bidding every time it is your turn to bid. "Do we have a game?" and "Do we have a fit (usually in a major)?" are the two questions that must be answered in every auction (at least the auctions where the opponents aren't also bidding.) If you know the answers to both those questions, then place the contract. If you don't know the answers, then make a bid that describes your hand and hope partner will know the answers, or that you will on your next turn. I'm assuming you know what the opening 2NT means. If so, if you get the practice of asking yourself those two questions on every call, you will automatically do it when partner opens 2NT. You'll simply add your points to his, realize there's no game and no findable better spot. I guess what I'm saying is that you don't have to remember to pass here as long as you think of your objective on every call.

If East bid 3NT instead of 4S with KQT92, K, T5, K8642, then why couldn't West have bid 2NT with J3, Q7, AJ962. AQT5? While I don't expect that this is the case, I think it's more likely than being able to take four diamond tricks. I win (the first spade in case West has D-AK) and play another heart. Side point: Say West has J3, A7, K6432, AQT5 and partner has suggested a club slam. Doesn't West have a good enough hand to move over 3NT? Ironically, you have no chance to beat it if West is weaker, say J3, A7, J6432, AQT5. It's possible that declarer has J3,A7,96432, AQJ5 but at IMPs, would West sit for 3NT when both red suits are potentially dangerous? East could easily have short diamonds on this auction (say AQT52, K2, 5, K8642.) Note that 5C is excellent and 3NT will go down most of the time the SK is offside because now the diamond switch is a lot easier without that D10 in dummy. If E-W want to bank on the spade finesse, they might as well try 6C. EDIT to add: SEARCH TERM 1D_1S_2C_2H_2NT_3C_3S_3NT SEARCH TERM 1Dz1Sz2Cz2Hz2NTz3Cz3Sz3NT

That's overridden by the rule that says that when your opponent leaves in a takeout double of a part score, you lead a trump if you are fortunate enough to have one. I remember one National event pairs session where my partner left my takeout double of a part score in THREE TIMES. In each case I held a singleton trump honor and led it. Every one was a top, and had I not led the trump, they had play to make every one of them. Still, even with three tops, we were barely average :(

You have two four card majors (both spades) and I would show one of them :D

But you can't suggest five hearts. By the way, I suspect rhm doubles here because I think his heart overcall denies four spades.

1. [hv=pc=n&s=sa74hk5dkj82ckq43&n=s53h942daq93caj62&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=1np3nppp]266|200[/hv] West leads the ♠6. How many times do you hold up? Hint: What happens if you don't hold up? What might happen if you hold up? Is there a reason to hold up? Answer: Your winners are one spade, four diamonds, and four clubs. That's nine tricks. Take your ♠A right away, and cash your winners to make 3NT. If you hold up, East gains the lead, and while you expect him to keep leading spades, there's no guarantee. He may switch to a heart, and if West has the ace, you could lose several heart tricks as well as the spade trick you gave up. 2. [hv=pc=n&s=sa74ha75djt65caq4&n=s53h642daq93ckj62&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=1np3nppp]266|200[/hv] West leads the ♠2. How many times do you hold up? Hint: Are you scared that the opponents will take too many spade tricks upon winning the ♦K? Answer: If the diamond finesse wins, you will take four diamond tricks, four club tricks, the ♠A, and the ♥A (in case there are any real beginners reading this, you can lead the ♦J from South followed by the ♦10 followed by a low diamond intending to play the ♦Q, and play dummy's ♦A only if West plays the ♦K, thus taking all four diamond tricks any time West has the ♦K.) So the critical case comes when East has the ♦K, where you will lose that trick but will take the other three diamond tricks. This will still give you nine tricks, as long as the opponents can't take five tricks first. How many spades do you expect West to have when he leads the ♠2? If the ♠2 is fourth best, there aren't any lower cards that are fifth best so spades should split 4-4. It's perfectly safe to win the ♠A at trick one and immediately play on diamonds. If East wins the ♦K, E-W can only take three spade tricks and the ♦K and you'll have nine tricks. What might happen if you hold up? Well, if East held the ♥KQJ10 and the ♦K, it would be child's play for him to switch to the ♥K to set up three heart tricks for himself to go along with the ♦K and the spade trick you already gave them when you held up. While this might be unlucky, East knows by West's ♠2 lead that only four spade tricks are available at most and may switch to a heart from a weaker holding, knowing that if the defense has all four spade winners, he can always go back to spades upon winning the ♦K. So, if holding up is automatic for you, these two examples show that it shouldn't be. 3. [hv=pc=n&s=saj4hak5djt65ckj4&n=st3h642dkq932caq2&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=1np3nppp]266|200[/hv] West leads the ♠6. What do you play from dummy on this first trick? How many times do you hold up if East plays the ♠Q? Hint: You only have to give up the lead once. Can you guarantee a second spade stopper? Answer: Let me first point out some things you shouldn't do. Let's say you play the ♠10 from dummy and East plays the ♠Q. You could hold up until the third round but West could win the ♦A and take his fourth and fifth spades and you would lose four spades and the ♦A. Oops! However, if West wins the ♠A and we don't hold up, our ♠J will provide a second stopper (West can take the king, but then the jack wins.) So we play the ♠10, and capture East's queen with the ace. But this time we are foiled when East wins the ♦A, because East will lead a spade through your ♠J and West will cover whichever spade you play, drop your last spade, and run the suit. Five tricks for the bad guys. Or you could play low from dummy and hold up, winning your third spade. Again, if West has the ♦A, he takes his other two spades. Curtains. The winner is to guarantee a second spade stopper. Play low from dummy. If East doesn't play an honor, you win the ♠J and still have your ace. If East plays an honor, capture it with the ace and your ♠J 4 and dummy's ♠10 guarantee a second stopper as long as you play your ♠4 on the next trick; for one trick will have the ♠10 on it and another the ♠J and the opponents have only one honor left, so one of those tricks will be yours. Since you only have to give up the lead once to promote diamonds, you'll make your contract with one spade, two hearts, four diamonds, and three clubs, and also a second spade trick (which you can promote at your leisure after promoting diamonds but before taking your other winners.) 4. [hv=pc=n&s=sk54hkqjdjt65cak5&n=sj3ha64dkq932ct97&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=1np3nppp]266|200[/hv] West leads the ♠6. What do you play from dummy on this first trick? How many times do you hold up if East plays the ♠A? How many times do you hold up if East plays a lower spade that forces your king (i.e the queen if you played the jack from dummy; the ten if you didn't.) Hint: Can anything bad happen if you hold up? Answer: If East plays the ace, your king is a winner whenever you want it to be, and there is nothing bad that can happen if you don't take it until the third round. In fact, you should hold up until the third round in case East has the ♦A, since you would like East to be out of spades when he wins that card. If East has another spade, the spades are 4-4 and you are okay (assuming West led his own long suit. If East has the long spades, your hold up play wins when West has the ♦A.) If East plays a lower card, you must take your king now! For West could have the ♠A and another high spade (if the jack is still in dummy, East will lead the queen at trick two to squash it, and either hold the lead or West's suit will likely run - East has a third spade because West can't have more than five if the ♠6 was fourth best because there's only one card lower that you don't see.) If you don't take your king when East doesn't play the ace, do you see that you will probably lose the entire spade suit without taking a single spade trick, and also lose the ♦A, going down even when spades split 4-4? No, when East plays a lower card, you must win the king and hope that spades split 4-4 so the opponents can't take too many tricks. Now, what card do you play from dummy at trick 1? Leaving the jack there can't do you any good - it will never help you maintain a stopper since East with the queen can always just lead it to squash the jack, and West's queen will capture it. (You don't have the ♠10 to help out this time.) However, playing the ♠J will pay off when West has both the ♠A and ♠Q, and also holds the ♦A. Your jack will win, and you'll still have the ♠K5 in your hand to protect against the spade suit if West is the one to gain the lead. So the right play is to play the ♠J from dummy; and hold up until the third round if East plays the ♠A, but to capture East's ♠Q with the ♠K if he plays the queen at trick one.

Really? Put this hand pair in a club game and see how many get to seven. Even in Flight A I would expect at least half the pairs not to reach seven.

If the opponents bid like that, it shouldn't matter what you do on this board, as long as you get to play several more boards against them.

Play problem set 1 is available. It's the first of a three-part series on holding up. Hold Up or Not? Part 1

Hi - these problems should be very easy for experienced players but an I/N/B player needs to think about the right things when playing a hand. 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. This is the first in a three-part (at least) series on holdups, and will be the easiest problem set, although it still might be a tricky set for novices.) Future sets will feature some more challenging problems. First, what is a hold up play? [hv=pc=n&s=sa74haq5dk982ck64&n=s53hk62dqjt3ca752&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=1np3nppp]266|200[/hv] West leads the ♠6. East plays the ♠Q. Your winners are one spade, three hearts, and two clubs. You can easily develop three more in diamonds. Of course, you are going to work on diamonds as soon as you get in. However, the opponents have attacked spades where you only have one stopper, and will have some spades to cash once they get in with the ♦A. If spades are 4-4, they can only cash three spades and the ♦A and you will score nine tricks as long as you don't discard any winners on spades. If spades are 5-3 or worse, there is nothing you can do if the person with the long spades (presumably West who led spades) has the ♦A. However, if you play low from both hands on the first two spade tricks, and wait until the third spade lead to win your ace, the player who had only three or less spades will now be out of spades. If that player has the ♦A, you can safely promote diamonds, as this player won't have a spade to lead and you'll win the next lead and take nine tricks. The whole purpose of the hold up play is to disrupt the communications between the two defenders' hands, hopefully removing from the defender who holds the ♦A the small spade entry he needs to link to his partner's long cashing spade suit. Of course, just because you can hold up doesn't mean you should. Let's see this in action in a few problems. Assume the opponents lead fourth-best and play standard carding. 1. [hv=pc=n&s=sa74hk5dkj82ckq43&n=s53h942daq93caj62&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=1np3nppp]266|200[/hv] West leads the ♠6. How many times do you hold up? 2. [hv=pc=n&s=sa74ha75djt65caq4&n=s53h642daq93ckj62&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=1np3nppp]266|200[/hv] West leads the ♠2. How many times do you hold up? 3. [hv=pc=n&s=saj4hak5djt65ckj4&n=st3h642dkq932caq2&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=1np3nppp]266|200[/hv] West leads the ♠6. What do you play from dummy on this first trick? How many times do you hold up if East plays the ♠Q? 4. [hv=pc=n&s=sk54hkqjdjt65cak5&n=sj3ha64dkq932ct97&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=1np3nppp]266|200[/hv] West leads the ♠6. What do you play from dummy on this first trick? How many times do you hold up if East plays the ♠A? How many times do you hold up if East plays a lower spade that forces your king (i.e the queen if you played the jack from dummy; the ten if you didn't.)

Don't you think a splinter to the 5-level shows more than a splinter below game?

This reminds me of an experience that I had a few years ago when I was teaching a class and one of the players said she was playing with her friend (who was there) and her friend said they should play Jacoby transfers (which I was pretty sure neither of them were ready for.) "Oh no, it's really easy! She just bids 2D to tell me to bid 2H and bids 2H to tell me to bid 2S. We got this." So I gave each one of them a hand and had them bid it. They got to 3NT with 16 opposite 2. I gave them another hand pair. This time they played in their weak 5-2 fit in game. Third time's a charm! They played in 3H (from the weak side!) with a 5-2 fit and 16 opposite 3. My student suggested to her friend "Maybe we better not play those transfers. We know what we're doing with Standard."

I need a "super positive reputation" key for this one! A much better way to learn bidding is to bid pairs of hands (using only your current conventions, if any) with your favorite partner and discuss what went wrong when you don't like your contract. If you still disagree on what went wrong, there are plenty of decent players here to answer your questions!

Why are we talking about squeezes in the novice forum? I agree that 7D would be very difficult to reach for any novice pair. My favorite partner and I might not reach it, but if we did, it would be using a bid that is not appropriate for discussion in this forum.

In any event, I prefer 2D waiting. Jerry Helms has a hand that illustrates the problem with steps. Something like this: [hv=pc=n&s=sakj853h7dakqtca6&n=s2hak643d98654c72&d=s&v=b&b=7&a=2cp2hp2sp3dp4np5dp5np6dp7dppp]266|200[/hv] This auction shows 2D waiting so that 2H & 2S is reserved for a 5-card or longer suit with 2 of the top 3 honors. When you play control steps, your first response is 2S, so opener starts at 3S and the auction becomes really difficult (especially as 4H isn't forcing; after all, an ace and a king doesn't guarantee safety at the five-level on a misfit.) Now, of course, one hand means nothing by itself but I think it's fairly trivial to show cases where even the 2H rebid takes up too much room to find the right game when opener has hearts. As pointed out, control steps work well when the only thing the opener needs to know are controls. Playing in the right strain is much more often the decision to be made. I'm surprised nobody said this earlier. A common misconception is that if you want experts to answer your question, you post in the expert forum! (I confess to having thought that myself when I first came here.) However, experts will answer your question in any of the forums; many are very helpful and are willing to learn. The danger of posting here is that occasionally one of the less nice experts will see your post and say essentially what I just said but in a much more obnoxious way. This is the description for this forum: Expert-Class Bridge Forum designated for expert bridge players to discuss more advanced topics.

It seems as though you could switch the meanings of 2NT and 3NT and have more room for description :D

Apparently this problem draws that feature out. Although 2H is winning 40-7 on Bridge Winners right now, two of the three comments (not counting the one I sent a friend to be posted) are vehemently against 2H. Someone stated that 2H (in 1C P 1H P 2C P 2H) should be constructive. I believe that opinion was widely held several decades ago. There is some small merit in playing it that way but that's not standard.

Agree with first pass. I suspect 3NT is going to play quite well, with spade and diamond finesses expected to win and the clubs double-stopped (not that North has much in the way of entries anyway.) That being said, with the garbage that people preempt on, the score for 3Cx might be better than the score for 3NT. So I pass unless my opponents are known to be sound preemptors; for if partner has little enough to make 3NT a struggle, we're not getting rich against a sound 3C bid.

Almost every bid, regardless of how sensible it is, can be shown to get a bad result with the proper construction. For example if partner opens 1NT (15-17) and you have Jxx, xx, AJxx, KQxx, you would bid 3NT, I would bid 3NT, everybody would bid 3NT (assuming Puppet Stayman isn't being used or isn't chosen.) However, give the opener AKQx, Ax, Qxx, JTxx and it's pretty clear that 3NT is not a great contract, but 4S is. So someone could advocate for using Stayman on my responding hand citing this construction as evidence. They would be wrong, of course, and it feels like what you are doing here. You may or may not have a valid point, but when your examples are the worst possible layout for a particular bid, and can be easily pointed out to be exactly that, you tend to lose credibility. You have to show that your suggested action works out better on more normal layouts. In Problem 6, I survived the 2H bid that you call dreadful despite partner having one of the worst holdings - a void and a hand not suited to an obvious run back to 3C. However, partner saved me by assuming I would know exactly what she meant because IMO it's the only thing she could mean with her 2S bid, and we got to the top partscore in diamonds on a layout in which the Bulletin stated that nobody could get to diamonds on such a sadistic setup. Of course that is quite a construction, I admit, but I get to add that to all the times that opener has two or three hearts, which is a lot of the time, I also get to add in time times that partner is 3-1-4-5 and had to rebid a weakish club suit (of course I have the advantage of knowing my partner isn't rebidding 1NT on this hand, nor is she opening 1D. The odds change slightly if your partner might do either of those.) 2H might be better on those occasions where partner has six weakish clubs and a singleton heart honor. And, of course, the 2H bid breaks even when partner has an awful dummy for 2H but knows that 3C rates to play better, and can actually take 9 tricks. Note that my weak heart suit is a bonus in these situations; normally going to 3C will be a disaster when the strong hearts are stranded, but instead I am offering partner a ♠A and a ♦J10, which is a lot more than she can expect.

When I went to bed, 2H was ahead 11-6. Now it's 28-7, so while I was sleeping, 2H got 17 votes (presumably from the experts coming home from their tournaments) and pass got 1. I asked Paul to post the case for 2H (which apparently got posted after most of these votes were in.) He added his own comment at the end (the traitor :D) The case for 2H: The expected trump length in 2C is about 6.4 and the expected trump length in 2H is almost 8. Also, pass is final; 2H is not final since if partner really prefers clubs, he can go back to 3C, or perhaps bid 2S showing 3-0-4-6. One upside for pass is that it's a lot harder to double 2C when repsonder can be unlimited than it is to double 2H when both partners are limited.