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For those who pencil in a 4621 as partner then if you didn’t open 1D partner couldn’t open 2H now holding a four card spade suit (it was your 1D bid that activated our 2H problem now) so those who pass the hand out will get a good score anyway For those who pencil in ~3631 as partner then if you don’t open 1D then it’s a simple 2H from partner and now it’s a clear pass. But I have a lot more bidding knowledge now Assessing the field is usually far too problematic to try to second guess everyone, but I think its reasonable to assess a few things on this one: Of my 3055 11hcp most will open 1D and a few will pass, reflecting the postings thus far. Of those who passed one or two will be passed out because partner has the 4621 hand (so can’t open 2H) and the others will play in 2H passed out If that the right then my MPs will be very good for passing out and the rest will be average poorish for minus two or three Is it really so hard to hit the 3 Minor target now for a minus one or even a winning make? As regards partnership style for a 3C bid: yes my thoughts are more from my home village where 3C isn’t forcing and just shows a 5th club, and not from the city of forcing new second suits and two levels But when I first saw this I thought obvious pass and didn't even expect the Editor to show as news...and if Mr Ace is quite clear I'll happily just shut up now :)

At imps as soon as smell “misfit” you pass, but it’s Match Points so I’m focussing on how can I best beat the field? Opponents are quiet even though they have the spades so I’m going to pencil in either the balance of points with us or West holds a decent Heart suit over partner. In one case we might be ok in a minor fit and in the second case I’d rather not watch partner struggling with such a nasty layout in 2H My 2 Club bid hasn’t quite shown my hand yet: 3 Clubs shows the 55 minors whist repulsing the Hearts And provided 3C is not forcing.... There are two suits where we might fit compared with one suit we certainly don’t so I’m going for it- my partner never just bangs 3H without a thought and quietly bids 3D where I gather a pretty Club Heart cross ruff after taking a few top Spades too- just -1 beats the field for -3 for 100%.

It looks like the 1N bidder has a red hand so will likely support a major, and unlikely you will buy the contract in clubs. Chances are you will be on lead (after your partners 2 club overcall) anyway: I suppose you lead a small club with an honour or a high one without and all that seems pretty routine without worrying about a Rkz doubles or raise? Should the 1N bidder get to 2/3NT partner owns the clubs and I presume will lead a club whether or not you x or 3C, and your honour will go up trick 1 anyway, so again I’m struggling to see a big opportunity: using a Rkz doubles look rare birds? They exclude other more common doubles- penalty, co-operative or just “do the right thing partner” doubles that might be more useful? I’m not really sure what “used through the 2 level” means, but I found this if of any use: “If the bidding has gone 1d/1h/1s, a Rosenkranz Double of the 1 spade bid is purely informational” http://tommybridgeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2009/04/rosenkranz-doubles-and-redoubles.html Forgive me, that is not desperately supportive or informative for you poser, but thats all i can offer. Good luck!

I suppose POXI must be positional as double game tussles tend to crop up with voids, so opponents are likely double your voidwood bid and you can’t now pass in 4th. Maybe resurrect DIP O’s dead cousin RIP O?....☠️

The short answer to your question is “no” I offer this: The DOPI idea is that f you have no Ace you must double. Partner then either stands in their doubled contract or moves to our safe 5 level contract. The idea is we are prime movers and opponents are sacrificers so logically I can offer a little Ace knowledge allowing partner to make a decision- typically small slam or sacrifice As I see it there is a problem to this. It might not be so clear as to who is the sacrificer, and I don’t want to have to allow opponents to make their doubled contract. And it could be that we are the minor holders and they are the major holder, so we can’t bail out from their doubled contract without exposing us to worse Now you suggest the double shows 4/1 Ace and not 0, based on your reversal in RKCB. Now you are not committed to doubling opponents unless you have a little more stuffing. To my mind that’s a useful improvement! Pass quietly with no Ace-fine. And Redouble is based on more stuffing DIPO it is! I presume it’s licensed and full immediate disclosure is made Bravo!

By the by I asked Forum a few weeks ago ?open on AQ97, QT9, QT9, Qxx, universally “yes!” The actual layout was unremarkable- naturally quite a spread of scores- but best to bag 1N

Don't use a Safety Play In a field of 16 pairs, and as its MPs they were erring for game, so I’m putting down 12 pairs in game, and we and three others in 3H If 10 tricks are the norm then the gamers get 63% and we just 10% If 8 tricks are the limit then the gamers get 37%, the other 3 risky ones get 87% and you alone get the worthy safety play 100%. Your real reward is avoiding game, not you safety play- that only get you an extra 13% over the other 3 And if 9 tricks are the norm then the 3 riskers get 87%, and you only 80% for missing out on a trick. And the gamers get 37%. Again your real reward is avoiding game, moreover it only costs 7% (over the risky 3) by your safety play So the final factor is: how likely will the cards offer exactly 9 and not 8? I’m guessing that as the field are mostly in game then only a really rotten split are going to hold us to 8 tricks: much more likely 9. So I’m guessing that of the missed games the Safety “cost” of 7% will occur several times more often than the Safety “gain” of 13%. To which you’d also lose the 10% if you uniquely took only the Safe 9 when everyone else got 10 Hence I’d avoid the Safety Play (don’t get me going about what a safety play really means….) :)

Burning your boats before losing your paddle up the creek A quick glance at dummy: a sure 12 and plenty of scope for ~10 NT, no need to rectify the count just test the suits until a quick claim? Wrong! 😱 And looking at all the 16 scores no one made 13 (apart from a few mis-defences) The way not to make it: take the top Heart, check the Spades and you might as well take the third whilst you are there chucking a small heart from hand, then cross to the Clubs and blow me they don’t split either so you cash the top ones, the top two Hearts and then King Diamond over to the A Diamond and west gratefully takes the Q at trick 13 The way to make it: exactly as Mr Ace says! The difference is keeping communication open before deciding which suit to take And as ahydra says I hadn’t expected West’s hand but there it is: http://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?s=S75HAKJ6DK3CAKQJ5&w=S8HQ9832DQJ8742C3&n=SAKQ942H7DAT65C87&e=SJT63HT54D9CT9642&d=w&v=o&b=1

So its now: http://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?s=S75HAKJ6DK3CAKQJ5&n=SAKQ942H7DAT65C87&d=n&v=o&b=1

Pairs Match Points http://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?s=S75HAKJ6DK3CAKQJ5&d=n&v=o&b=1 West opens 2D, North 4S, East pass to you South, and you bid 6N, passed out Dummy: AKQ942, 7, AT65, 87 West leads 3H to 7,10 to your J How do you make 13?

5H Bidding a pre-empt in 2nd position is a bit special- it must be good otherwise you just mess up partner, and you don’t want to do that surely? So ideally I’d like to bid 6H with high hopes, and let partner raise to 7 with all top honours But in view of your description maybe 5H might be circumspect? If so 5H= “don’t worry about outside suits partner- just bid 6 with two top honours, but pass if you have only one” The alternative is to try to find a fit outside the Hearts. If so then start with the (natural forcing) 3S. The problem is it will go 3H-3S-4H-? If you probe again with 5C you might soon be looking at the green pass card on the table, and a queasy feeling with a 1732 dead creature on the baize What about if partner tables a 3730 shape? Well North knows there are 8 missing spades, so maybe pencil in 332 amongst the other 3 hands. But South is bagging 7 spaces in Heart so it seems rather greedy to bag 3 spades too. More likely South has 2,1 or even no spades. Then EW has quite a likely 4-1 spade split. So I’d ignore perfect layouts, forget about 7S and play to the odds- as I see it I’d trust in partner, rely on the heart suit, and simply try to assess quite how good her suit is

http://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?s=SAJ7HKQ942DJTCT83&w=ST2H7653D53CAQJ72&n=SKQ54HA8DQ9876C96&e=S9863HJTDAK42CK54&d=n&v=o&b=1

http://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?s=SK63HJ32DKJ64CJ75&w=ST54H9654DA872CAT&n=SJ82HAK7D53CK9843&e=SAQ97HQT8DQT9CQ62&d=n&v=o&b=1

Thank you for your advice The Forum looked at opening KQ863 Spade hands a few weeks ago, tweaking jacks etc, and the biggest change from passing to opening was removing the 5th spade. So I was interested to see opening on flatter hands- if the modern systems found on points and most use 11+ hcp would everyone (have to?) open? If not what factors would be used? Whilst waiting for some useful hands to arrive there were some interesting competitive problems elsewhere, and a lot there depended on how many defensive tricks could be relied on by opening a hand. So I wondered if defensive tricks might be an explicit factor in a decision to open A third issue arose whilst typing up the hands and splits for you now- the particular imp scoring system used here I’ll split my posting, first the text and splits below and a separate posting on the hands Here are the hands and the splits A (the AQ97 hand)- see next posting Contract and result NS NS imps EW imps 3NW-3 150 4.2 1NW-3 150 4.2 2NW-2 100 2.9 1NN 90 2.5 1CE-1 50 1.5 1NW-1 50 1.5 2HW-1 50 1.5 Pass 0.1 Pass 0.1 Pass 0.1 1DW= -70 1.9 1NE -90 2.7 1NW -90 2.7 1NW -90 2.7 2SE+1 -140 4.1 B (the 9863 hand)- see the last posting Contract and result NS NS imps EW imps 3NN+1 630 11.1 2SN+3 200 3.1 2HS+2 170 2.5 2HS+1 140 1.7 2HS+1 140 1.7 1SN+2 140 1.7 2SN= 110 0.6 1SN+1 110 0.6 2DN 90 0.2 Pass 2.3 Pass 2.3 Pass 2.3 2CW= -90 4.7 4SN-1 -100 4.7 3HS-1 -100 4.7 The hands were cut-in BBO fun and like the buses two hands cropped up one after another last week On both sets of scores there are some oddities- and certainly if you can’t put the brakes on A it’ll be expensive- and unwise to draw out too much on just a couple of examples. That said: Even if the system says 11+ you don’t have to open if you think it best not to! Given the previous passing and the hcp on East it’s likely that there will be a bidding tussle over part scores here, and there is great advice focussed on what might best On A as it happens neither NS had a major so making EW 1NT becomes the issue, and the Acol 1NT would be perfect on the diamond lead. I suppose EW has absolutely no control over whether NS actually owns a majors. And having to open 1 Club doesn’t attract a lead. Nor does East own fast defensive tricks. If a tussle did emerge and you can find a fit somewhere then you can at least make a total tricks assessment if you like. But on board A EW won’t be tested too much in the bidding- and making 1NT earns 2.7 imps. Good point about the tens here- and without them 1NT could struggle and you don’t want to lose even the 1.5 imps for a -50 B is a perverse hand imo! If you open, and if NS is quietened and E can manage to pass out West’s 2 Club you will get 90 and earn not just the 3 imps per the usual imp table but no less than 4.7 imps! Averaged cross imps? If so how on earth can you assess Easts hand? Certainly getting nearly 5 imps are a royal prize for sure. I hadn’t expect such a reward until I typed up the score here On B NS do have a major suit so if you open 1D then South might overcall, exactly as envisaged by those above. If East pass South might not open because holding the hearts but not the spades might not be attractive as mentioned- it might depend on Souths view on the spade fragment- AJ7 Passing out East’s hand earns 2.3 imps. East has slightly better fast defensive tricks then the East on board A but if NS are minded they can buy 2H and more depending on the defence Thank you again for the advice!

What would you bid on these hands please? System: SAYC 11hcp/Rule 19 all pass to you A: 2nd position non vul they are vul AQ97♠QT9♥QT9♦Q96♣ B: 3rd position all vul 9863♠JT♥AK42♦K54♣ Thank you! sorry ps Pairs imps

North didn’t double the 1NT so is limited to 0-~6, pencil in 3, and your 2 leaves ~35 for the others. Over calling 1NT is usually a strong NT and I’m pencilling in 18 tops with some extras after the X (More than that West first double then bid NT) That leaves South with quite a decent hand. I can easily see South making 2H* and if South has a decent second suit this is going to be really awful. So 3C without a second thought (In my village “X = I have 18 points partner!”

Norths final bid: E/W swept to game despite our 15-19 Balancing choice in the 1C, North cant rely on more than a couple of defensive tricks if using 11hcp/Rule 19 Qx trump might be worthless Only sure AD It’s likely N/S have some sort of spade fit (West didn’t X) but 4 level ain’t the time to explore it now So it’s easy to pass But its match points. If E/W has 4H then you are booking a poor Match points score anyway. Doubling might cost a lot of imps but only a few percentage points at MP. But if they are a trick or two short then they might make money amongst our part score minor contracts, and the best way to get our score out of the thicket is to double. I thoroughly hate it but I’d now double as North PS I just generated a field of 12 boards, 6 in 3 minor tick, 3 in 4H tick and 2 in 4H-1, in one 4H-1 doubled then doubling increases our MP from 32% to 46%, but if they went 2 off then doubling gives 100% over the 32%

North didn’t break the 2H transfer so South can’t expect an especially suitable hand (After the 2S some use 3S as a suit settler and invite control bids, but many use that as Invitation) After 4C North can rely on South solid spade suit, club control and asks North specifically have you a diamond control? Bypassing that risks missing slams so I’d absolutely show the control Some use only first round controls, so without the Ace diamonds it’s (and can only) bid 4H. I think it’s more useful to show second round controls below Blackwood, so 4D it is!

“You draw trumps” hence JS dropped singleton with East, so it’s a problem now if East was 1255. Could still make it if North had the 8 and South the 9 clubs?....:)

Brilliant Jennifer! Thank you! :) After looking at Nige1’s exposition there was nothing I could add, but looking at it now on a whim I googled “whats the best line (at Bridge)” and up came:- Garozzo “slams must be attacked” After smiling I wonder that if I take that pretty literally the Q Clubs is natural and safe but hardly attacking. Does a spade lead and spade exit torpedo the slam for lack of entry? If so who would lead that!? Not me for sure….

Are there enough normal and variant weak 2s around to be worth discarding the routine “double for take out” (which just offer free insurance) in favour of eg Hackett, where tiered bids describe hands (for 4H here) but leaving the double for the axe?

Could there be a hole in either of our majors? If so not NT of course and if the weakness is in H we might not be able to set them up and use them in a S contract on a Diamond lead for lack of entry, and if in S he might simply not be able to get them going. I can’t go to 7 unless I’m pretty sure So what is it? It’s not particularly a strong Club/precision issue now and my Bridge is far too rusty to offer much more on such elegant sequences. I’d reflect closely on what partner did and didn’t bid and then ask Sherlock Holmes! Super question thank you PS: Reflecting on this now Phil as I read it you have shown 16+, shown a hand dominated by your H suit, you have the Ace Diamonds and two other, and you have shown the QH (but he doesn’t know you have the KH) On the basis of that partner has happily driven to 6S and offers you to move if you are sure. That and the silence from opponents suggests that partner has a similar hand in Spades that you have in Hearts If I’ve read all that right then on a good day you can make ~13NT, but if we have majors holes everything looks very iffy, and much will depend on entries. He might only have one Club entry, nothing in Diamonds, a Heart ruff and just the one spade. And although your hand is strong after a Diamond lead you are down to just a club entry. If I’ve read this right I pass and hope for reasonable splits

By bidding 4C N/S agreed a Spade fit and Club control. The difference is Norths strength/playing tricks: was it enough to suggest slam or was it just enough to compete? Which is more efficient? Let’s assume North/South use the latter (mere fit and C control but no certainty of extras) If E/W go to 5C then South should be in a good position to make a decision. South could easily visualise E/W has a Spade void, plenty of Club trumps so any defensive tricks would have to be in the reds. The trouble is South is only looking at very slow tricks there. So South would not be able to X. Which would miss the 800 on offer! Pity South couldn’t rely on some strength too. The 4C that was supposed to help a decision on competing is actually a mirage What about slamming? North and East just switched their red aces, and assumed S did redouble (and not rush unilaterally to the sky), would N bid 4H? I don’t know either! If I just bid 4S it would be my fault if S really did have slam. But if I bid 4H then we could one of those hopeless slams: top control rich but missing playing tricks. The trouble is North can’t distinguish between two different hands, hence N shouldn’t start the conversation For those reasons I think it’s better to show decent extras too: on the hand illustrated it’s too weak to splinter PS If North and East’s whole hands were switched then after 2C by West, vulnerable and under an unlimited North, I’d hope for S to reopen with a double which N can pass again for the ~800 on offer...but as it is...West was lucky, that time :)

Super analysis above, reflecting how N/S actually got into 3N if East has just 2H W would have a very odd quiet holding 8 carder, and similarly after their 3H S might well X not try 3N on just Kx, so at best W has 6 hearts and east ample communications to apparently wreck us. So I wonder if we need to squeeze West out of some of hearts and only so if west also has busy cards too...so action through the diamonds....?

Duck diamond, and if they split 1-4 then end play East with Diamond exit provided South takes one successful Spade finesse and also stripped off top Clubs: playing for 5242 shape?