firechief

I'm just adding my replies. Nothing final in my words, just said confidently :P

good idea, wrong execution. on that line of play, west wins the spade ten, cashes the diamond ace, and spade ace, then club to his partner, who exits a club and endplays dummy to giving the defense the heart queen. if instead you hooked hearts immediately, then led a spade to your 8, i don't see the defense succeeding.

declare: win the club, hook a heart, club off the table. east wins and on a spade return, i win the queen, cash a club (squeezing west while I pitch a diamond), diamond to my hand (forced duck), hook a heart, finish hearts, diamond to west. if west kept a long diamond, i keep diamonds, if west kept a long spade, i keep spades, if west pitched a heart, I laugh and take 9. If east instead ducks a club or returns a non-spade position is easier, I again finish off hearts and cash club jack, this time pitching a spade, and lead diamonds to my hand, eventually west must give me an entry to finish diamonds.

I was youngest life master at the key age of 11, and already in print being called a child prodigy. So, regardless of whether or not I was one, it's an overstatement to say there are clearly *no* child prodigies in bridge. Joel Wooldridge

The trick to the suit combination lies in another combination worth consideration. If you were holding A8xx opposite JTx and you needed 3 tricks, there's no legitimate way to attack the suit. However, the illegitimate attempt is one that will often work...which is leading from the concealed JTx towards the A8xx, and when LHO plays low, insert the 8. This will pick up Q9x and K9x to the left. That having been said, some would say "shouldn't those combinations insert the 9 to stop the finesse of the 8?" Well, that may be true, but now go back to the original combination of A8xx opposite Qxxx. If you lead low from the Qxxx towards the A8xx, and LHO has K9x, he may insert the 9 playing you for JTx (or even QTx). However, if he does play the 9, he'll get a rude awakening when his partner follows with the ten and the jack under the queen on the next round. Joel

I've run into pairs from the netherlands and iceland in particular that play it as a Q-bid. Joel

Before I bid, I cross off leaping michaels on my card, then I jump to 4c ;) Ok, if I can't do that, then I'd start with double and correct partner's 3h to 5c...if that doesn't show a mammoth hand, I don't know what does. I'm bidding 5c next after whatever partner does. Joel

I'll double, but I'm really hoping partner pulls. If partner does sit it out, maybe he's got 3 spades and 4 hearts (crossing fingers). It isn't so bad to start with double no matter what partner thinks I have. I don't like 1nt Joel

I'm a big supporter of psychic notrump openers in general. What might seem futile to some can produce fantastic results. The reason is that many people don't play penalty doubles of a strong 1nt opener. So you should psyche 1nt more often to take advantage of their methods. I would open 1nt and like it. I always like psyching 1nt...it's fun ;) If partner bids stayman, I'll show my spades. If partner transfers to a major, I'll accept. Joel

I think the 4c bid is a splinter in support of hearts. However, I can understand psyching this bid to "simplify" the auction. Bidding a direct 2/1 isn't such a bad choice in an attempt to "simplify." I agree that bidding 2nt after the rebid should be forcing, but it isn't necessary. Playing it as forcing makes many auctions easier to bid, but it loses out when you hold a stiff heart and about 11 or 12 HCPs. With that hand you could easily be on for 4H or 3nt still (partner is allowed to have 7 hearts and rebid just 2). So there's some give and take. If I started with 1s, I don't mind the auction 1h-1s-2h-3d-3nt-4c-4h-5h-p. Alternative would be 1h-1s-2h-4c-4h-4s-5h-p. Here partner devalues his Kx of clubs because he thinks it's terrible opposite a splinter. So maybe the psychic splinter isn't such a good bid with this particular hand. In Europe, it's common to play such a jump as a Q-bid in support of hearts, looking for slam. Joel

After laying down the SA from my hand (there's no reason to lead to the queen), I'd lead a club to the ten. When east returns a spade, I'd run trumps, coming down to -- -- AQ A98 opposite x -- T8x x I'm pretty sure I could get a feel from my opponents whether I should play club to the ace and another club or diamond to the ace and another diamond. It's my belief that the DK is offside due to LHO's non-bid over 3s. This might not be the best technical line, but it employs table feel, which I like to use ;) I'm playing for LHO to have length in both minors or getting a read on my opponent's body language (try to play for a doubleton jack of diamonds). Alternative line is club to ten, spade back, draw trump, club, club ruff, run off trump coming down to -- -- AQ7 9 opposite x -- T8x -- and now lead a diamond and attempt to duck into RHO playing for the show up squeeze on the forced heart return. Joel

In response to Fluffy, you can't respond 1nt w/this hand. You're asking for partner to pass w/something like KQxx Axxx Kxxx Q, and you're cold for 6 spades/6 clubs. I think bidding 2c right away, even if it is game forcing, is the correct call. I don't mind getting to 5 clubs or 4 spades, even when it's wrong because the other option is getting to a partscore a fair amount of the time when game/slam is on. Who's to say that 2 diamonds is going to play any better than 5 clubs? My plan is clubs first then spades twice. Joel

Hey, hey...I don't agree w/justin. What's up with that? I'm bidding 5 diamonds. My hand is all offense after they confirm partner's got diamonds. This is a huge hand for partner. Joel

Probably the best method is to play all the 5h jumps are preemptive. However, if I were playing rubber bridge with a random partner, I wouldn't bid 5h preemptive w/o the opponents entering the auction. Joel

If the K9x is in the concealed hand, I might try the effect of leading the 9 towards the AQ7xx. Maybe my LHO is worried I'm about to run it, and will cover from JTxx (no 8). If I were to start with the ace, I would not hook the 9 after the jack or ten falls behind the K9x. I won't finesse because the opponents are supposed to play the jack or ten from JTx. Joel

1) 6H, though I wouldn't mind bidding 6D. I'm jumping the bidding because there's something strange about me having a void in spades on this auction. Either LHO is 5-6 or RHO doesn't have enough to freely bid 3S. I'm guessing the latter. When I jump to 6H, I'm hoping that LHO won't know about the big spade fit, and he'll simply double. RHO won't know know his partner has such a good 3 card fit for his 6+ card suit, so he'll just pass. 2) Pass 3) Double 4) 2H, but I would've opened 1D. Incidentally, I don't have a problem with opening a club w/4-4 in the minors, but I just think this particular 4-4 is more descriptive as a diamond opener. 5) 4C. Maybe partner will help me out somehow. Over 4D I'll bid 4H. If he retreats to 5C over that, I think I'll give up. I'm nervous partner has something like Qx Qx AKJxxxx xx, and 5C is our best spot. If I get a direct raise to 5C, I'll kick it in. Joel

I would pass with both hands. Your partner(s) is/are crazy. I'd want a better heart spot to hit 4 hearts in the 2nd example. Joel

I agree w/fred. I think that a direct 3c bid is correct, since your hand is quite nice for clubs should partner have 4 of them (very likely). Another reason to bid a direct 3 clubs is that if your partner reopens with double you have an impossible rebid problem. Are you really going to jump to 4 to show this hand? Wouldn't that be hanging partner for reopening with a doubleton heart?--not to mention that 3nt is still in the picture. Once I've originally passed, I'd Q-bid 4h. This is beyond the best hand I could hold on this auction. I have the moose of all mooses. I even have a stiff spade! Joel

I'll bid 6 clubs. I don't understand why partner didn't bid 3 diamonds or even 4 diamonds over 2nt instead with both minors. Could he really have 12 or 13 cards in the minors? I think what's more likely is that partner was very short in hearts, and didn't want to reopen with a double. Partner's 4nt is actually a strong hand...something like QJx x AQx AKxxxx. If he has the spade ten also or a 7th club, I'll apologize for not trying harder for 7, even though I doubt we'd get there after I bid 5h. Joel

Here's a seemingly innocent suit combo. You have A8xx on dummy opposite Qxxx in your hand. Your concealed length is unknown, and the contract is notrumps. Other than that, there's no other special circumstances. What's the best line for 3 tricks? I understand if you don't readily see how it matters, but I assure you there's a silver lining in there. Joel

If we're playing 2/1, I'd splinter with 3 diamonds. I'm biased because this hand type has come up several times in my experience, and every time it's been right to splinter. The fact is that this hand has a lot that needs to get described. We have a potential strain in spades, we have a great club fit, and we have both red suit first round controls. If I start with 2s, I'm afraid I'll lose some of the emphasis on my club support/red suit controls, since the auction will get crowded in a hurry. With the 3d bid, we have an easy heart Q-bid next round, and partner will have a very good idea of what our hand is like. Incidentally, splintering doesn't show extra values, it's merely a description of your hand. The description is 4 card support and short diamonds. However, if the splinter did show extras, this hand would still be applicable (huge hand in support of clubs). If partner produces a 3nt bid over this, I'll bid 4s, which will show the 6th spade. Joel

I kind of like a 5 spade bid here. Even if we're going down, it's not at all clear RHO won't consider bidding on to 6h for safety. The 4nt bid is very likely to be very distributional in hearts and clubs. Partner might even be void in hearts! I think partner's double of 5d rates to include AQ long. I'm not claiming that bidding on to 5s is at all clear, it's surely a gamble. I'm gonna go for it, tho...this is a little bit like poker at the bridge table :huh: Joel

agreeing w/justin for the 3rd time. From now on, my default option is "agree w/justin." I'd pass. If partner has either a tip-top limit raise or a little better, he won't simply return to 2s. He'll either bid a red suit at the 2 level, or make some other move. I like my hand, but the reality of it is that I don't have an acceptance yet. I have the inbetween, so I'll make an encouraging noise (pass, not 2s). Bidding 2h is misdescriptive since I have only 3, and partner may upgrade a "double fit" when there isn't one. Against that, I'm more likely to have a stiff diamond when I bid 2h, so there's a mild offset for the misdescription, but I still don't like it. Also, there's a good chance after the double that the clubs are 6-1, in which case I don't want to get too high. If partner has a singleton club, he's just that much more likely to advance when I pass. Joel

woolsey said he'd pass with opener's hand, not responder's. I'd bid to 5s with the responding hand. The auction really sounds forcing, but if the responding hand happens to hold all offense and no defense, I don't think he has to double (may pass). If the opener has enough defense to beat them, he'll double, so if responder is really weak, he isn't losing much when partner passes (assuming pass is forcing). I think opener has a very tough problem over 5c. I'd be sorely tempted to just pass, because 6 cards in diamonds doesn't mean 2 cashing tricks. Take away one of those diamonds, and I'd double quickly. Joel

I'd bid 3s asking for a stopper. If you told me ahead of time partner had a spade stopper, I would certainly want to play 3nt, so I'll try to get there. Joel