kgr

From Hugh Kelsey's excellent book "Kelsey on Squeeze play" (Hope this is sufficient compensation for using this hand): [hv=n=sqxxha8xxdtxxxct3&s=sakjhktxdjcakqj72]133|200|[/hv] Contract 6♣. Lead is small ♣ which you take in hand and you play the ♦J now. Book says that if ♥ comes back you should win with the K. Is it not better to win in dummy with the A to leave an automatic squeeze as opposed to a positional?

I thought that this was a 'clear' Club lead (♣7). (I'd prefer however to have the ♣T iso the ♣9). Is underleading an ace that bad after a 1NT opening?

I wonder if it would be interesting for me to take a subscription to Bridge World. - Is this magazine targeted to beginners...experts? - What kind of articles does it typically contain (bidding, play, trounement reviews....)? - What is the price and nbr of magazines per year? Shipment costs to be added to Belgium (...or Flanders in case Belgium would split)? It would be interesting if somebody could list/review the articles of the last one (not that I ask much :unsure: )

Not SAYC: I play T-Walsh and the DBL here shows 4+ ♠'s. - 1 ♠ is 3 card and forcing - 2 ♠ is 4 card and weak

1C-(P)-p-(1NT) DBL In another post experts say that they pass with a balanced hand with 19 HCP (I think that was all Vuln). What hand do you need for this DBL?

♦'s were 3-1. LHO had Qxx

...Think with the beginner :) (I made this slam, but not sure I played it optimal or my thinking was ok. I hope to learn something from the experts). - I took first trick with ♥A (that was easy). - Because I did not have a lot of entries in my hand I continued with the ♠J. I thought ♠J is better then small to the Q. That leaves me with a later finesse for the ♠T. Not sure this is best? - ♠J was not covered and RHO immediatly played ♠T under it. Clearly a singleton, considering the level of RHO. - Because RHO probably had 5 cards in ♦/♣ I thought playing for ♦'s 2-2 was best. (..not sure this is right, I didn't think about that, but actually LHO has 7 cards in ♦/♣ so maybe more ♦'s then RHO?) - I continued with ♦K and ♦A to my hand. (even if ♦'s are 3-1 this is maybe a good safety play, not that I thought about that at the table :unsure: ). - Now I finessed ♠K again followed by ♠A (discard ♣) and a ♠ ruff. Back to dummy with a ♥ruff and discard last ♣ on a ♠, making 6♦ (I would surprise me if you spot any play errors in this last sentence :o ).

[hv=d=s&v=b&n=saq98xxhdkjxxckxx&s=sjxhaqxxdatxxxcxx]133|200|Scoring: MP[/hv] 1♦-(p)-1♥-(3♥) p-(p)-6♦ 1♥=transfer ♠ 3♥=preempt 6♦=opps seems to have the ♥ points, this makes my void gold. LHO leads ♥K. What is the best line on this hand? (you play in a weak field. You don't expect that more then one other pair will be in slem). Thanks, Koen

Is 3♠ not showing a better hand then 4♠?

I did bid 4♥ (I thought 4 card ♥ and singleton ♦ would be good news for partner. 4♥ DBLed -1 was a probably a 0 (opps can make 4♦)

[hv=d=e&v=b&s=sqjxxxhqjxxdxcxxx]133|100|Scoring: MP[/hv] (1NT)-Pass-(2NT!)-Pass (3D)-Pass-(Pass)-3H (4D)-?? You play MP's. RHO opens 1NT 15-17. You play multi Landy and could have bid 2C for the majors, but -Vulnerable- you are not strong enough for this. LHO bids 2NT, transfer to Diamonds and RHO bids 3D (This is not alerted but you know that 3C would have shown an accept of a diamond invite). Partner balances with 3H and RHO bids 4D (not sure if his 3D bid was wrong and should have been 3C or if he is overbidding now). What do you bid? (Would it be different at other vulnerability?) Thanks, Koen

Thanks all!! (I play a lot of pick up games on BBO. Up till now I avoided udca profiles because it was not clear if that would also include discards. I'll be more confortable with this now)

pick up partner's profile on BBO says udca and you agreed to play his profile. What does udca include, Is it only when following suit or also when discarding?

I play 1♠ here as either transfer to ♦ or transfer to 1NT and 1NT as 6-9 HCP Difference between 1♠ and 1NT (assuming weak hand) is mostly honours to protect. With the example hand I bid 2♣.

On defense, I recommend that you pause when dummy comes down and -- from the bidding and what you see -- estimate partner's points and declarer's distribution. Update those estimates as play progresses. I routinely do this to estimate partner's points and fllow that during the play. I will take this advice and start looking more at total distribution (instead of suit per suit) as well. I guess it will be easier and more usefull the more I train myself in it.

The problem was that I didn't realise declarers remaining cards whilr I should. If I knew at the table that declarer had 3 ♥'s left and a trump then I would have made him ruff. ... So that's the issue: I need to count better and visualize what he has left.

Defence certainly is my weakest spot. Yesterday I defended a 4♠ contract. Declarer has one ♠ left and 3 ♥'s. Partner had signalled ♥K and I had ♥A myself with ♥Qxx in dummy. I could lead a top ♦ for declarer to ruff, but did lead ♥ myself which made it easier for declarer to develop an extra trick in heart. What technic should I develop to better see what cards declarer has left and what problems he's facing. As Christmas is appraoching and too avoid silly presents: tips for good expert (I'm not really an expert , but want to think I'm) books around this are welcome as well. Thanks, Koen PS: I thought to give this post the title <How better "visialise"?> , but is it visialise or visiulise,..? (too difficult after some Duvel's :P )

I would DBL 2♥. Not sure if I'd DBL 1♥.

right. My partner was following this line and I was already typing to congratulate him with his nice play. But instead of exiting with a ♦ he played ♠K :D

[hv=d=n&v=n&n=saqh983d63caqt942&s=skt9654hk2dk94c75]133|200|Scoring: IMP 1♣-(1♥)-1♠-(3♥) pas-(4♥)-4♠-DBL All pass[/hv] 1: Lead ♥Q for ♥A of RHO. 2&3: RHO returns ♦A followed by ♦7 for your K (LHO playing ♦J and ♦Q). 4: You play a small ♠ to the Ace in dummy and RHO discards ♦2. 5: You play ♠Q from dummy and RHO discards ♦5. How do you continue from here?

Why 5♦? Will opener bid 5♥ without ♣Q in your system? If not it seems better to bid 6♣ instead.

Thanks all for this interesting post!! Interesting. ..but what about probabilty for RHO to have sigleton x compared to Jxxx? So T9x is more likely then T9 and you have to play low to the A next? ...but then we also have to compare probably for RHO Kx vs Kxx. Argh..I don't know. The most interesting part for me is the falsecarding, but I don't think I will be able to do it at the table without thinking about it. So you know what you have to do when you play against me. But I will start watching JTx and T9x and prepare my play in advance..so you never know :) (at least my chanches will increase if you think I'm able to falsecard this :) )

Q of diamonds holds. Is it best now to play low heart to the 10? LHO had ♥J singleton and NPC told me it is better to cross in ♠ and play a small ♥ to the Q. (I already missed the start by playing ♦T iso ♦Q. Q is better as you should play ♦'s for no looser).

1x-(1NT)-DBL-(2Y) Pass-(Pass)-DBL DBL over 1NT is penalty. - My teammates told me it is clearest and best to play 2nd DBL as pure penalty. Partner should almost always pass that DBL. Your 2nd DBL should be a 5-card or a good 4 card. - I tried to convince my team mates that it is better to play it as a 4-card. Penalty oriented, but not pure penalty. Partner passes with a doubleton and can run with a minimum hand and a singleton. What is best? Hope you agree with me and help me convince my teammates :)

I missed a small ♦.