Trumpace

It was with a pickup on BBO and this was the first hand... So bidding is probably not very optimal. (nor was the play :) ) :) The "pickup" explains one bidding side not both, you may complain about partners bid, but should also have a look at your bids. With kind regards Marlowe I am not complaining about my partner's bidding. Nor am I saying I made the right bids. This post was about the play to 2NT. I gave the bidding to preempt ppl asking for the bidding... btw, what do you think 2NT would show? A doubleton heart (and some extras)? Or you think I bid too conservatively? How would you have bid it? Thanks.

It was with a pickup on BBO and this was the first hand... So bidding is probably not very optimal. (nor was the play :) )

[hv=d=e&v=e&n=st76hajt54d82ca94&s=sk54hkdajt96ckt76]133|200|Scoring: IMP Lead: ♠2[/hv] You open 1♦ in the 2nd seat. Partner bids 1♥, you bid 2♣, partner bids 2♥ and your 2NT closes the auction. (E/W pass throughout). West leads the ♠2, you play low from dummy, East wins the ♠A and returns the ♠Q. What is the best line? (Hopefully, this is not a routine hand, as I am not able to figure out the best play)

Are there any casinos which have bridge games? I guess it is mostly rubber...

I am thinking about the hands (usually at Matchpoints) where the declarer does not claim when he can, misleading the defence into giving declarer an extra trick... Yes, it might be unethical, but it is just for fun... Does anyone have any examples?

The lead of the low diamond from Axxxxxx is good or bad would depend on the bidding. If E/W have shown the possession of ♥A it might be considered a good lead against 6S. Wouldn't a Lightener double be useful if North is the opening leader? Anyway, not sure why the experts haven't responded yet...

Why only bidding types? Why don't you consider play? The Virtue: Who always takes a finesse. The Vice: Looks for squeezes on cold hands making them too hot to handle. Second Hand Highway man: Always plays an honour to the second trick, even with Qxx under AKJT987. Insurance Agent: Always rejects a claim. Runner up: Says "sh*t" after the card is played. The race car driver: Often says, "Please play". "faster pls" and "too slow, bye" are also common heard from this one. Plenty more...

If you play a spade up, West can ruff and lead a heart to force you. If you want to catch a singleton Q with West, you don't have to play a spade up as you cash a spade honour anyway. But you got it, the key play is the discard of ♠A or K on the last trump, apparently blocking yourself in both spades and diamonds.

I saw this in the book "Beaten by the masters" by Dvid Brd. Since I don't have the book handy, the hands might be different. You are South, playing in 5C, after West has preempted in hearts. [hv=n=sakth9732dakqc542&s=sj32h4dj542cakqj8]133|200|[/hv] West leads the AK of hearts, you ruff second trick with the ♣8. You play ♣AK of clubs and to your surprise East discards on the ♣K. Now what? (Scoring Rubber. Vul none.) Adv/Adv+ please hide your answers.

It has already been proved by Homer Simpson.

Ok. I will bite. If trumps are 3-1, we have no problems. Just draw trumps and knock out the ♦A and ♠K. If trumps are 4-0: Looks like we cannot catch 4 trumps with east (not enough entries to finesse, even if we play a heart to Q on the first round) and need the spade finesse to work. So play A of trumps. If East shows out cash HK, finesse the HT and cash HQ. Now take the spade finesse. If that loses (and club comes back, forcing you to ruff with last trump), there are pretty good chances that East has the ♦A and you are still protected from club leads. If West shows out, play K and Q of trumps and run the spade Jack and then spade to Q. Now revert to diamonds.

Hidden:

Right whereeagles! Are we the only 2 interested in puzzles? :rolleyes: :angry:

If I understood Fred correctly, it is cross-imps divided by number of comparisons, number of comparisons is 1 less than the number of tables.

What kind do you like? Can we have a go at some? Here is one from Martin Gardner: You have an 8x8 mutilated chessboard: a1 and h8 have been removed (the two end squares of the diagonal). You are given 31 dominoes (2x1 rectangles), can you cover the mutilated chessboard with those 31 dominoes completely?

Chuck Norris can make pigs fly. Graffiti on the wall: { God is Dead - Nietzsche Nietzsche is Dead - God. I killed em both. - Chuck Norris } You know the Big Bang that started the Universe? That was Chuck Norris killing God.

Sorry a bridge one, couldn't resist: Chuck Norris can make 7NT with a deuce high hand.

This works particularly well when you're doubling from the passout seat. :blink: Yes :-D Hehe...

Only reason for doubling I can think of is: trying to make opps play in a doubled game when they have a cold slam (I think 4SX vul gives lesser points than 6S) If opps redouble then maybe 5H is an option (not sure how bad that is) If the doubler expected the contract to go down, then it is a ridiculous bid. 1) If the doubler expects one more heart, say Heart A with opener, then the double is even more horrible as with two hearts him/herself, the doubler cannot expect more than 1 heart trick. 2) The 4S was bid by the doublers LHO. Even if it was by the RHO, we have 3 optimisitic tricks counting both Kings and partner's heart trick. Does the doubler think that xxxx of trumps is worth one trick? Or did the doubler have a forcing game in mind? A forcing game is very unlikely to materialize i think, especially given that _LHO_ bid 4S all by themself. The double of 4S, if hoping to get it down, is really ridiculous.

Sorry meant to put in the Beginner/Intermediate forum. Can this be moved there please?

[hv=n=shj32dc&s=shat98dc]133|200|[/hv] You need 3 tricks from the hearts and you have only outside 2 entries to dummy. You use one entry to dummy to play a heart to the Ten and you win the trick. What is the best play now? Was a heart to Ten the right play in the first place?

Assume LHO has atleast 3 clubs.

[hv=d=w&v=e&n=skqj9853hk52d8cj7&s=st6ha964daqjcak52]133|200|Scoring: IMP[/hv] West opens with 1♥. North jumps to 3♠, and you South, reach 6NT after a few bids between you and partner. West leads the ♥Q, you win with the ♥A and play the ♠ ten. West follows with four and East plays the seven. What now? Aside: I found this hand in the book, "Logical Bridge Play" by Hugh Kelsey. The book is supposedly for intermediate players!

So what do you think is the correct line? It seems hard to find out what the best line is, even when given as a puzzle, away from the table.

Yes.. this does not look easy to me too. I would have played: win the Heart A, play the club K to the A, cash the club Q discarding a diamond, play a heart to K and try to ruff a heart with the Spade 9. If it gets overrufed, there are pretty good chances that the remaining trumps will now divide 3-2 and I will have 4 spade tricks. So 4 spades, 2 hearts and 2 clubs make the total to 8.