lenze

Ben Wrote: Most of them are things like this, or things like on Excercise 106 he didn't mention that you have to be careful to unblcok the club 7 under the club King so that the Club 5 will be a second entry to south. I know he knew, and anyone really working out the hands see this as well (at least eventually). SO TRUE!!!

Ben: Your copy sounds like mine!!! Actually, I have three copies, one by my bed, one in the John, and one at work.

As always, Ben, a nice analysis. BTW: Although the auction wasn't given, I would assume that West in the original post as dealer would open 1NT (Standard Methods) and East would use Stayman , revealing the 4 card heart suit in declarer's hand. This would make it easier for North to hold hearts and give up clubs, even at the cost of a trick.

WHY? Taking the club tricks is irrelavent. The key is to play the third diamond, reducing west to 4 trumps. As for south's holding up the trump Ace, it is ALMOST ALWAYS RIGHT to duck the first two trump leads when holds Axxx!!

My thoughts exactly, Ben. This is a hand that illustrates the power of the trump Ace on defence. Diamond King, Diamond Ace, Club King, Club Ace, Diamond Queen. South holds up the trump ace until the third round. Declarer is toast.

Will the squeeze repeat if South does not contribute the Diamond J at trick 1 and North gives up clubs?

Yes, but just how are you going to force the opponents to lead diamonds? Also, you may be able to establish the 4th ahd 5th clubs, but after being tapped twice in spades, how do you draw trumps and get back to your good clubs?

I don't believe it's that simple. How do you lose only 1 diamond if you have to play them yourself?

From our unit Christmas Party Game: MPs S - 984 H - AQJ85 D - J4 C - 753 S - QJT653 S - K72 H - 4 H - T73 D - A953 D - QT75 C - K9 C - QT4 S - A H - K962 D - K82 C - AJ862 Contract 4H by South. Would you prefer to declare or defend? In other words, can 4 Hearts always be made, or will perfect defense alway defeat it?

Hi all: Thanks for the replies. Bolovanu: Welcome to the forum. You are correct in that asking bids can be very useful in situations like this. They are not, however, a part of most partnerships. As to 2over1’s leap to 6 spades, it certainly has merit, as it does force a guess on the defenders. As he points out, it does, however, give up on finding a lay-down grand. My own approach would be similar to Ben’s, with a few modifications. The premises are this: 1) When partner opens 4 of a major VUL, that is the trump suit. 2) There is no hand I can hold and be interested in slam without 1st round control in TWO of the three side suits. 3) Therefore, if I cue bid, I am looking for a control in one of the side suits, and I need to focus partner’s attention to that suit. 4) In the example hand, Ben’s 5D call effectively focuses on the club suit. But, exchange the hearts and clubs, and a cue bid of either minor does not necessarily focus on hearts. My solution is to ALWAYS CUEBID THE SUIT BELOW THE ONE I NEED HELP IN. On this hand, I would cue bid 5H, the suit below clubs(excluding spades). If my clubs and hearts were reversed, I would cue bid 5D, focusing on hearts. Just some random thoughts. I could be wrong. FYI: I held the north hand S – AKJT987 H – 2 D – 54 C – QT6 Also note that the actual south hand did not hold the spade Q, but the 5 instead, yet still "raised" to 6S. When I posted this as a bidding problem, I changed it to the Queen to make it more tempting for South to act over 4S I did make a very aggressive VUL preempt, and I do not fault partner for leaping to 6S (Like 2over1). Also, you know it is your LUCKY day when East leads the Club Ace and West plays the Club King. East continues with a small club and West plays the Club 2!!!!!!!. (I swear that’s the truth) You win, cross to dummy in hearts and finesse the spade Jack, winning. With spades 3-2 you claim six. Isn’t this an easy game. PS: West had his Spade Q in with his clubs and thought he was making a GOOD signal!!(LOL)

As South, at MPS, you hold S – Q H – AT4 D – AKQT9 C – J985 Partner deals, all VUL and opens 4S RHO Passes Your thoughts?? After hearing some of yours, I will share mine. lenze

An Essay: Lately on the board, there have been several threads regarding psyches, light openings, and wild (undisciplined) pre-empts. It seems to be the current approach. It is not, however a new approach. When I started playing 35 years ago, I too, employed these tactics. At that time, I was not a good defender, nor did I play the dummy that well. We called these tactics, “Putting the ball in the air”. On nights they worked, we would have a great game. When they didn’t, then we went and cried in our beer. Over the years, however, as my defensive and declarer skills improved, it became obvious (OK, I had some great players point this out) that I did not need to create action to get good results. I could sit in my chair and win my share. That was in the late 1970’s. In 1982, I quit bridge to raise my family, playing only occasionally. Only in the last 2 years have I started playing again (the kids are in college). For the last year, I have had the privilege to play with an up and coming player, very willful to learn. When we started playing, I began to track results. One thing I looked at was our MP score on hands where the contract was normal. I defined a normal contract as one that 70% of the field reached. I soon discovered that on hands we defended a normal contract, we averaged 57.4% of the matchpoints. I also learned that when we declared a normal contract, we averaged 58.3% of the matchpoints. With those numbers in mind, why would I ever want to create action? On the subject of undisciplined pre-empts, I can only say this. Against good opponents, they may give you a tactical advantage. Against poor opponents, who will be in the wrong spot 60% of the time or more, you are throwing away your natural advantage. From my experience, when I make a weird pre-empt against a weak pair, I more than likely push them to a game they would have never bid on their own, and which I can NOT defeat. Just my thoughts. I could be wrong. lenze

Yes psyching can be dangerous. Using bidding boxes, we have a STOP card to warn opponents of our skip bids. I've always thought we should have a PSOOMA card to play(Partner, Stay Out Of My Auction) :)

I appreciate ALL of the comments, and take NO offense to any of them. In the 35 years I've played, I have had hundreds of heated discussions and disagreements with many players and they are all still my friends..

Perhaps you are right, but my early mentors were Ozwald Jacoby, Jim Jacoby, Dr John Fisher and Curtis Smith, among others. I guess I'm too old to change my ways.

Ben: Note the Club Ace is in the south hand

Hi Luis: Thanks for your replies: I do agree that this hand COULD be opened 1H. I would not (and didn't) but would NEVER criticize a partner who chose to open it. The real disaster occured because I "COULD NOT IMAGINE THIS PARTNER WAS PSYCHING" As Ben pointed out, I probably should have caught it. But what if north had held S - 543 H - QJ8764 D - A4 C - KQ Now 5H is the winning call

I think the beating the last few posters are giving you is unjustified. Passing with your hand is certainly a reasonable option, and 4H is not that bad a bid, even playing with a partner who habitually pyches, must less one who has never done so. If 4H is hammered, 5C is a good spot for you at this vul, and a cheap save. Having said that, in the last 35 years bidding strategy has changed somewhat. With the hand in question (see below), many many people merrily and happily open 1H S – A H – KT954 D – T975 C – A74 They do so because they either play some forcing club system where openine one of a different suit is capped at 15 or 16 hcp. Or they do so because of the RULE of 20, where they add their HCP to the number of cards in their two long suits. Here, with 11 hcp and 9 red cards, 20 is easily reached. There are some "additions" and "subtractions" people use to the rule of tweny. With this hand, the T9 in both red suits would be worth about a point and a half, and the lack of a diamond honor would be about minus a half. So I would count this as 21 for rule of 20 considerations, and open 1H myself, but I open aggressively, especially not vul against vul, to try and make it harder on the opponents if it is their hand, and to help partner help me make furher pressure bids in that situation. Ben Hi Ben: Thanks for your support!! I do know that MANY players today are strict adherants to the "Rule of 20". In my opinion, the "Rule of 20" is nothing more than a crutch for those incapabile of exercising GOOD judgement. Whether their choice is right or wrong, they are at least consistant with their peers.

I know style has changed, but, having played this game for over 35 years, and having had the great privilege to play with some of the best players ever, I must state that anyone who opens this hand 1H in first seat does NOT know what the game is about.

I agree that I was asleep at the wheel on this one. But in over ten years of playing with this partner about once a month, he had NEVER not had his bid. The possibility of a psyche never entered my mind.

I totally missed this one. Playing with a competent, but casual partner, I held S – A H – KT954 D – T975 C – A74 Non Vul vs. Vul I dealt and passed. It’s not my style to open this hand. LHO passed, and partner opened 1H. RHO overcalled 1NT. I finally decided to bid what I thought we could make, 4H. LHO bid 4S, back to me. After consulting with the ceiling, I bid 5H, doubled by LHO. Partner only went down 1400. It never occurred to me that partner would open 1H on S – 875 H – 9 D – 864 C – JT8754 Oh well, we had something to talk about at the bar.

Hi Ben: When I posted this, I knew you would give an excellent analysis of this compound squeeze. There is one point, however, to make. South made a technical error when he cashed the third spade. (If spades are 3-3 at trick 3, they will be 3-3 at trick 10). By cashing the 3rd spade, south converted his unrestricted compound squeeze to a restricted one. This means south must decide after 5 hearts which suit East has abandoned. Had he kept a Spade winner, he could afford to cash ALL six heart winners before deciding. This would greatly increase his chance of picking the correct play.

Hi Ben: Thanks for your reply. For the most part, I agree with you. I do not think, however, the 3H call deserves as much fault as you give it. Mainly, because NS were not playing 2/1. Given that, I can accept the 3H call. After the 3S rebid, South could also easily judge to be too strong for a 3NT call. So, 4C is not an unreasonable bid. After West’s DBL, I think north has a clear cut 4H bid (It’s called a preference). Suppose the auction had gone N – 1S S – 2H N – 2S S – 3C (DBL by West) North would now surely take a preference to 3H. This auction is not too dissimilar. Anyway, thanks again for the reply. BTW: South can make 4CX

Imp’s North S – AK9764 H – T4 D – KT86 C – T South S – Q H – AQJ98 D – AJ5 C – AJ98 N – 1S S – 3H N – 3S S – 4C (WEST DBLS) N – PASS S – PASS Final contract 4 Clubs Doubled, Down 1 VUL What is the worst bid in the auction and, using percentages, how would you access the blame?

From a sectional tournament, MPs: North S – T65 H – QJT D – A85 C – AQ43 South S – AKQ7 H – AK9865 D – K4 C – 5 Most pairs were in 6 or 7 hearts, making 7. A few were in 7NT, with the Spade 9 lead covered by dummy’s Ten and East’s Jack. Declarer wins and cashes two more spades. When west shows out on the third round (the 8 did not fall), it appears the contract depends on a club finesse. But does it?? Change the Club Q to the 2 and 7NT can still be made against ANY outstanding distribution. I leave it to you.