Trumpace

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No no nothing as complicated as that. Only that, you have to discard something from dummy...

Agree, but it is hard to give that as part of the problem statement without giving away the main theme of the hand. I hope you do agree that once we arrive at the crucial point, the bidding + fall of the cards will pretty much suggest only one line of play.

Play the HJ and then the 9. If east pitches a spade, play low from hand. else overtake with ♥Q...

btw, Old York might have thought it obvious and forgot to mention one thing about trick 2.

Sorry I should have requested no quick spoilers from adv/+. Can you please hide your answer old York?

You somehow reach 3NT after E/W determined that their suit was spades: [hv=n=s2haqt873da43cajt&s=sk83hk2dqj8752c96]133|200|Scoring: Rubber LHO leads ♠Q, RHO overtakes with A, and continues with a spade.[/hv] Plan the play.

Thanks. Just for sake of completeness, making the hand record part of this thread itself: [hv=d=e&v=b&n=sqt6hqdaqt987caq9&w=sak74hkj83d5cj874&e=s9852h762dk32c652&s=sj3hat954dj64ckt3]399|300|Scoring: IMP P - P - 1C - 1D P - 1H - P - 3NT P - P - P[/hv]

Err.. for those who don't know, can someone please post the hands and the auction? Thanks. [Edit] Hanoi beat me to it [/Edit]

Yes. More like 16-18 I guess. Ok. Thanks.

At least five, but usually six. It's not forcing. That's not necessarily bad, but we do have quite a nice hand. Thanks! Apparently, the vulnerability information is missing from the original post. I guess that probably matters...

Sorry for the ignorant questions: How many hearts does 3H promise? What is wrong with bidding 3S?

Probably none at all for me. But do you see the difference between "Partner's shape is 2524" and "2524 is his single most likely shape, amongst the many possible shapes he can hold"? Yes.. so? I am not saying that 2NT is incorrect, just that I haven't seen any compelling reason for it (apart from maybe the below)... (Sorry for the basic question:) does 2NT show a balanced 15-18 count?

If we are going for a forcing game, a heart might be better as that might be partners longest and partner rates to have a better hand with the entries to cash the last rounds. Who knows, we might hit partner with a nice heart holding too. What did you have in mind, Phil?

Yup.. all the points I had in mind seem to have been covered.

How many 2524 hands will partner have, where he won't overcall 1H (or something else other than pass) over 1D and we have a 3NT?

You are South and reach 5♠ after East shows a 6 carder club at some point. [hv=d=e&v=n&n=st9h7542d98742ca3&s=sak86432hakd5ck74]133|200|Scoring: Rubber Lead Club T.[/hv] Plan the play.

On the topic of open-mindedness someone had posted a nice video in the water cooler sometime back. Here is the link to the video: Link to the thread: http://forums.bridgebase.com/index.php?showtopic=31421

Yes that is pretty much the correct line, though ..

You reach 6D. LHO leads a heart. You see: [hv=d=s&v=n&n=saq95h62dakq3cak3&s=sk4hak5djt95cj972]133|200|Scoring: Rubber lead ♥.[/hv] Plan the play.

Umm... Does starting a thread called "Cardinal Rules" to spread the gospel qualify?

Bidding not required?

btw, I think the ♠ return is correct too.

It seems like LHO is trying to make us believe he has the heart length...

Maybe we should concentrate on cutting down our own mistakes first :)