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And we hope they did not have a wire on the board- perhaps they were just shooting for a top?

Playing with a regular- check out Eddie Kantar's book Roman Key Card Blackwood the final word,he talks about when to use what responses and asks. For other play, try to put something on the card by agreement if possible. SAYC is not so suitable for complex auctions. Try 2/1 or Bridge World Standard that can make a number of agreements understood (get the pamphlet) that can be looked up.

You have not shown an actual hand here and that may make all the difference. Have a good suit rich in outside A/K OR A semi-solid side suit. Perhaps transfer and then bid 4 to show a mild slam try with 10-11 working points. Perhaps stayman first then bid another suit or ace ask? A worse hand seems headed for 4NT assuming decent intermediates. As the folks above said, 2NT can be a slam killer as the balanced 20-21 usually has some holes. With a nearly solid major you might just use an ace ask to start and then go with 6 with positive answers. partnership agreements very important in slam bidding- being on the same wavelength as to what each response normally shows.

Terrific hand- thanks for posting! When it is your day with sharp mind it will be found. But we suffer from time pressure in these on-line affairs. In an important match the extra time more likely to be taken and your intuition could help (and the stake of the match-should you try to duplicate the other table's play and win on another board?) I guess I would play ♦A and ruff a diamond. Then run trumps. If a diamond honor falls that paints some possible roadmaps. We should ask Rodwell, whose wonderful book on play gives clues on where to find the 13th.

helps to have extensive agreements over 1nt (range?) covering many responder hand-types. In Western Style 2/1 Game Force 3♥/3♠ were often used to show 5-5 weak (3H) and 5-5 strong (3S) in the majors. You might look at expert pairs convention cards to see what they use. In my research over the last year I have copied about 25 top pairs cards to my computer and watched how they play them. Strong club and other systems would differ, as would Polish Club based systems. Find one that works for you and your fav partner.

1♠ might be OK if partner doesn't pass, has 3 or 4 of them and raises, or perhaps bids 1NT. However, bidding 3♦instead seems most likely to get to a making game. Here it seems that would be the final contract unless you play it forcing to game. Got to have some agreements with partner.

Good discussion. ACBL and other events might have somewhat different alert requirements- so perhaps a tutorial or two might have value.

Bidding 7 risks a good score where 6NT might be made on a finesse or squeeze. Did the 3♠ bid confuse or was it at IMPS vs a superior team. In that case 7♦seems better.

Poor applications programming to say the least- it is happening to players when waiting for the robot to act and so on...

Run it at 4:59:59 ??

I like that name because it seems there is no single person to name it after. Or we could name it after Zia+Rosenberg who list it on their convention card (but allow for a holding of 4 spades also_)

Thanks in spades good people! I had lost my original copies between moves- many hours of fun

Partner seems to have a singleton diamond- so A diamonds unless you are italian and then the Club ace is it...

Some unlucky guesses here. Certainly at imps 5♣ seems perfect as you lack defense of the red suits. Depending upon who had what for dinner at matchpoints gives a tossup. I would bid 5♠ as East in case partner had the magic AKJxxx or better in spades.

Fun hand. Well analyzed. These are the hands that the robots seem to get me on in the Tournaments mostly because of the field going for the max and then getting the right distribution. With no excellent fit it seems like 6 NT is best. At least the play of the Club A followed by the spade finesse gives us about 52% chance of a top score?!

GIB is GIB. But the 8 HCP hand was discounted to less (perhaps correctly because of flat shape and 2 Queens.) The opening hand has a defect with 7 points in a doubleton. I would therefore open with something besides 1NT. That something depends upon the type of event and type of partner. Often you would rather overbid at IMPS because your opponents are likely to do so. I like 1♦ because it is lead directive and leaves open a response in a major. If I had short spades I would vote for 1♣ intending to reverse or bid 2NT. Given the "bots" poor hand evaluation in general sometimes you are the statue and sometimes you are the pigeon. Good discussion hand. 8 points is just a useful guideline for using stayman- some values are promotible in a distributional responder hand.

Possible but risky would be to call 3NT not double. I today;s climate some thought to playing penalty doubles in some cases. Pass stands out here since the auction is not over and partner will double with most reasonable hands.

Perhaps the Laws should be rewritten for greater clarity? And when extraneous info is overhead the Laws do REQUIRE said individual to call the Director and let the official decide what to do. Of course, the timing is always a concern since the player may not know he heard UI until they pick up their hand ,,, A sloppy declarer (depends on their level of experience/expertise) should not be allowed to profit- as to whether they can change courses or whether a Procedural penalty issue might be up for discussion.

An accurate and complete discussion. Never always- your question on most hands is would you be unhappy if partner passed with 3/4 points? Bid 2♣ if yes. 2NT feels accurate, but in some cases I would open 1♠. It might depend on what event I am in and who my partner is. One of my now deceased fav partners voted for 14-16 NT and 19-21 2NT ranges making this hand too strong. Thanks for giving us this hand to discuss.

3NT right spot at matchpoints. 5♣ at IMPs (6 if a swing is needed). I think after the spade Q wins is to play ♦AK then PLAY FOR symmetry with Qxx in the OPPOSITE hand. Typical hand that drives us crazy at matchpoints...

Nicely done. Never say never as software has limited imagination. I call it an instantaneous inverse trump coup. Declarer always has an advantage and we never give up. Thanks for the fun!

I have used them for 40 years with partners who like that approach. Bridge World Standard uses them now. Not much is written specifically about them but I do recommend the following book: Partnership Defense in Bridge by Kit Woolsey for its landmark approach to this part of the game. He notes on page 155-6 how it works especially that many times declarer cannot false card you. A new approach I admire is Zia+Rosenberg who USE STANDARD carding at Trick 1, UDCA thereafter. Discards are always UD. Try them. Nothing, of course, always works given that choices of cards is limited sometimes.

A hand to test the partnership. I suspect most do not have real firm agreements on this auction. I would love to force 3♣ by partner and then bid 3♠. If I could arrange to bid RKB over our fit and then make a specific control ask about clubs that would diagnose the level. I might just bid 6♦ at teams or 5NT pick a slam. Partner could consider bidding on. Question: Does X promise 4 hearts? Can partner bid 2Nt over 2♠ with a hand this weak? All trouble spots. How strong is the field? On it goes so take your best shot! Thanks for a very intriguing hand.

A bit unlucky, but at a high level trump quality is key. Both are a bit at fault because Jxxx leaves too many holes and the A of spades may be an indication of a misfit when the diamond void is considered. Bidding 3♥ at Imps is sufficient unless 3♠ guarantees holding 4 + a void. But the worst bad luck is that neither partner can make a key card or trump ask holding a void safely. In any case NORTH should sign off at 5. Win the match on some other board?

Zia uses the following bids: 2NT shows ♦/3♦says opener likes/ 3♣ shows minors. better clubs Game Force 3♦ shows minors, better diamonds, Game Force 3♥ singleton GF with 3 or 4 spades. 3♠ 1-4-4-4 GF 2♠ is either range ask or clubs... Just in case that is to your liking.