Trumpace

Where would the winner of the trick place the cards won? At the bottom of the his stack? If he can place at the top, then there could be an infinite loop, I believe.

FWIW, I agree with the pass. My comment was directed at the post which claimed that the law implies that we pass this out (sorry should have quoted it). I guess by "The Law", people mean different things (some include adjustments, some don't).

Assuming we have 9 card fit and opps have 8 card fit we have 17 total tricks. Assume the law holds. 1) If 3D goes down, 3S makes, it is 100 vs 140. 2) if 3D makes, 3S is off, -110 vs -50. Bidding 3S seems the right action (assuming no contract is more than 1 off and no doubles appear). Even if 3S is doubled, we might be ok. What am I missing?

Nice writeup, V. Just a minor point: if you play the Q and drop the T from dummy, then LHO shouldcover the 9. If you don't drop the T, LHO should play low on the 9, leaving you stranded in dummy (you will have to overtake the 9).

Yes! So, just so it is clear to other B/Is, can you please state your line of play starting at trick 2 and if possible try to explain the reasoning of why you chose it?

1. People who suggest opening this 2♣ need to take some lessons, IMO. 2. 2NT rebid shows 18-19, so bid it. Let partner bid 3NT with a 7+ point hand. If you are worried about losing game frequently enough opposite a 6-7 point hand, then fine, go ahead and bid 3NT. But, that does not seem too likely to me (you have 6 tricks and need help for 3 tricks from partner with a min 6-7 point hand). I don't think it is close choice between 2NT and 3NT at all. 2NT seems clear. If you had a 5 card suit with AKQ, then 3NT is a good bid, IMO. btw, do you remember the spots in this hand?

What if the 9 gets covered? Say, LHO has K87x.

All I shall say is that this is quite a lot harder than it looks at first sight. I agree, but I still think this is the right forum for this.

ArtK78, please! Spoiler = solution, whether hidden or not. I believe you fall in the Adv/Adv+ bracket...

You are in 3NT, playing Rubber Bridge. West leads a heart and RHO plays the Q. You see: [hv=d=s&v=n&n=sajt3h2d432cakjt9&s=sq92hk43dakjt9c32]133|200|Scoring: Rubber Lead heart, RHO plays ♥Q[/hv] Plan the play. (As usual Adv/Adv+ please refrain from posting spoilers too early).

Art's reasoning seems right to me... What am I missing? I don't know where he is getting those numbers, he is way off. If you are playing a suit like AKTx vs. Qxx, cash A/Q then lead the third, and LHO follows, then at that point you have eliminated all but one specific 3-3 break and all but one specific 4-2 break. The odds of any one 3-3 break are 1.7764%, of one 4-2 are 1.6149%, so the drop is a 52.38% favorite. Nowhere near 3-2. The numbers could be off, but the reasoning that 3-3 is better than 4-2 seems right. I was wondering about Jdonn's post about this reasoning being similar to beginner's reasoning in AKJx vs xxxx (and so incorrect).

Your third paragraph is the same argument by which beginners try to drop the queen doubleton offside with AKJx and xxxx. They cash the ace then lead toward the king, lho follows, they say "well if the suit is 3-2 onside, it's as likely RHO's last card is the missing x as it is the missing Q, so my play is a 50-50 guess." Art's reasoning seems right to me... What am I missing?

Maybe Reese was referring to the fact that: if you play two rounds, both follow, and on the third round, you see one of the opps follow (them playing second to the trick), then a 3-3 break is more likely. For instance in: AKQT opposite xxx You cash AK, then play x towards QT. If LHO follows, drop is better than finesse.

There is a lecture on BBO about takeout doubles by Geoffrey Spavin which might be useful. Login to BBO -> Other Bridge Activities -> Bridge Library -> English -> Lectures -> Transcript of Takeout Doubles.

I think the answer is to not return a ♦. It is probably better to return a heart as declarer knows that you have it and it won't give him any extra information. Declarer's best line is to ruff in dummy, throwing a ♦ from hand, then play a ♦ to Q, planning to play a ♦ to T later (after coming in with his last trump). (Frances had started a thread in the A/E forum about declarer's best play: http://forums.bridgebase.com/index.php?showtopic=30680)

A and low to Q? You can pick up any 3-2. You can pick up singleton 9 or T with RHO. You can pick up singleton K with either opp.

I would probably just play ♦A and ♦ to Q, even if trumps are 2-2. Only difference would be that if trumps are 2-2, the chances of making increase.

I liked the book and would recommend it to others. Here is a hand from the exercises: N/S, E/W playing standard american with standard leads etc. East is dealer and the bidding goes 1D - X - Pass - 2NT Pass - 3H - Pass - 4H All Pass [space] You are south, and West leads the Diamond 2. You see: [hv=d=e&v=n&n=saqhk95dkj943c932&s=skjthajt83d8cq875]133|200|Scoring: Rubber lead ♦2[/hv] You play low from dummy, East wins the ♦Q, cashes AK of clubs and leads club J, you win with Q as West follows. Your contract now depends on locating the trump Q. Who would you pick? (As usual Adv/+ please refrain from posting spoilers too early).

Currently, I can see an option to use hands from Vugraph matches when creating a table, but only one match option (2000 Spingold Final 1, Meltzer vs Welland) seems to be available. Is there a plan to add more matches there? Also, Is it possible that users can use existing vugraph .lin files (i.e. ones not available in the create new table dialog box) and upload them when creating a table (perhaps teaching?), and be able to get a score comparison etc like above? Thanks. Edit: Adding previous thread link with similar request: http://forums.bridgebase.com/index.php?showtopic=19435

Matchpoints. None vul. South dealer. N/S reach 5♦ via the following auction. 1D - (1S) - 2D - (2S) 3H - Pass - 4D - Pass 5D - All pass. The player in question is West who holds: QT9xx, JT9x, x, Axx These are the four hands: [hv=d=s&v=n&n=sjxxhxxdkt98xcktx&w=sqt9xxhjt9xdxcaxx&e=sakxhxxxdxxxcxxxx&s=sxxhakqxdaqjxcqjx]399|300|Scoring: Matchpoints Lead spade.[/hv] West leads a spade, east wins ♠K, ♠A and return a third Spade. Declarer ruffs with the ♦A, and plays the ♣J. At this point west thinks, "Most tables will be in 3NT which is at least -2. So we need at least 2 club tricks. Low it is..." and plays a low club. Declarer wins, draws trumps and then squeezes West between the ♣A and the fourth heart, making 11 tricks. (endposition: 2 hearts and ♣KT in dummy, AKQx hearts in hand. West cannot both hold the ♣A and JT9x of hearts) Was West greedy, bad or just unlucky?

I don't understand why people say that North should run from 3NT doubled. I think it should be South.

This hand might have appeared in one of Frank Stewart's columns. [hv=d=s&v=n&n=saq2hk2d432ckt975&s=sj3haq43dqj5caj86]133|200|Scoring: Rubber Lead ♥J.[/hv] You are South in 3NT. West leads the ♥J. Plan the play. As usual, Adv/Adv+ please refrain from posting spoilers too early.

HBM ;)

All I can think of going wrong is . I must be missing something.

This thread should not be in the sayc, 2/1 forum. Perhaps interesting hands is a better place.