lenze

I still don't know the correct bid with the south hand on this deal from more than 20 years ago. East was a solid player S Void H AQJxxxxx D Void C AT987 MPs with EW VUL, North deals and opens 1S East overcalls 1NT (15-17 balanced) Your Call?

Although we weren't present at the game when this deal came up, my regular partner and I produced this simple auction after a few drinks at the bar. S 1C N 1H S 2S N 3C * I prefer clubs to spades S 3S N 4C * I REALLY prefer clubs S 5NT N 7C

Here is a real freak from the club game yesterday afternoon. I wasn't there, but heard about it later. Out of 9 pairs, no one reached the top spot of 7C, although a couple were doubled in 6C North S Void H T98xx D KQJxx C KQT South S AKTxxx H Void D Void C AJ9xxxx South Deals(No interference)

Thanks for the replies. Both of these hands came up over 30 years ago. I witnessed the post discussion on the first one and held the south cards on the second one. Regarding 1, lifemonster wrote "5S/5H opener is never a preempt.In this case, partner must have 10 spades headed by the QJ10987 and 3 clubs to th AKQ" That was EXACTLY partner's hand. Regarding 2, as noted, partner can hardly be interested in playing 7D. Ben suggested that partner had a solid spade suit and would convert 7D to 7S. The key is lifemonster's concern about a lightner double. If north declares 7S, a double by West would clearly ask for a diamond lead, and a void is quite likely. If south, however, declares 7S, the meaning of a double by east would not be clearcut. I believe that south should bid 7S, which I bid at the table(I was much younger and more adventureous then). West doubled and north redoubled. West led the Club Ace and north tabled S AKQJTxxxxxx H Void D Qx C Void BTW Diamonds were 1-1 An afterthought. What if East is jacking around with his 6H bid while really holding long spades? Fortunately, I did not feel my opponent was that clever.

1) You hold S-VOID H Ax D Axx C JT9xxxxxx Partner deals and opens 5 Spades. RHO Passes. What do you bid? 2) You hold S-Void H Ax D AKJxxxxxx C Kx As dealer, south, you open 1 diamond. West bids 2 clubs. Partner bids 5NT. East chimes in with 6 hearts. Your call?

Hi, you should go participate in the 1c - or 1d thread in the SAYC/2over1 forum. If I remember correctly, flytoox also always opens 1C with 4-4 in the minors but he wasn't getting much support. Your view would support his position. http://forums.bridgebase.com/in...ay;threadid=595 I hope you noticed that I accepted your 1C bid at face value for the remainder of my discussion in the response you quoted. The reason being, opening 1C or 1D should not be a huge issue on this hand. That is just a matter of style. ben Hi Ben: I did read the thread. Fred wrote "These are only the reasons that I use to justify the style that I prefer to play. I have fairly strong convictions that I am "correct" about this, but there are plenty of good players who would strongly disagree." I STRONGLY disagree BTW, please note my qualifier(If I intend to rebid in NT) 4441 hands are NOT an issue

Hi Ben: You wrote Let me give you ONE very good reason not to open this hand 1CLUB..... You LHO Partner RHO 1C 1S/2S DBL Pass ? Actually, I would have NO problem bidding 2 or 3 Diamonds/Hearts on your suggested sequence with the example hand. ANYTIME my initial intention is to rebid in NT, I will always open 1 Club holding 4-4 in the minors (Kantor101)

Hi All: This has been an interesting thread. My thoughts are!! There is NO reason NOT to open the south hand 1C. After that, my sequence South –1 Club – Why open 1 Diamond when you plan to re-bid 1NT over 1 Spade? North – 2 Diamonds – I have a good hand with a diamond suit South – 3 Diamonds – I can live with diamonds North – 3 Spades – I have something in spades South – 3NT – I really have hearts stopped North – 4 Diamonds – Really interested in Diamond slam South – I have the Ace of Hearts North – 4 Spades – I have the Ace of Spades South – 5 Hearts – I have the King of Hearts North – 5 NT – Do you have 2 of the top three honors? South – 7 Diamonds - No, but I have the King with extra diamond length for my bids is reasonable and playable. North can not bid so agressive on a Q high suit. (see my previuos post). I must admit, however, at the table I would probably NOT pick up on this inference and as south, would only bid 6 diamonds.

Ben: On this line of play, West is not squeezed in 3 suits. His 4 discards are Club Q, Heart 9, and two spades. When south leads a club to the Ace, west unblocks the king. NO ENDPLAY. You must make the club play early before west has a chance to figure it out. Winning spade Ace and running 5 diamonds only brings west down to 7 cards, not 6.

What guess in the ending? Yes, west may blank the Heart King, but that should be a fairly easy read. If west does not unblock a club honor at trick 2, he has NO outs from the strip squeeze.

Cmon, are you really bidding 7d when your pd asked you to bid 7 with 2 honors? Why is he asking? What can he do with: AKQJx Qx QJxxxx We can't just invent auctions to justify we would reach 7d look at my 1st post I have a terrible problem playing the Chamaleon, a relay system because we can't know if pd has AK of hearts or AK of clubs (!) and I admit it.... Accept the facts you won't reach 7d wihout Exclusion Blackwood. With this hand, I would expect him to bid 5 Spades(or6 Clubs) over 5 Hearts, putting the ball back in my court (Plus, I don't think he would have made the original jump shift with this hand)

Luis wrote: In your dreams! With all my respect this auction is comic... Quote: North – 5 NT – Do you have 2 of the top three honors? South – 7 Diamonds - No, but I have the King with extra diamond length Result: 7d down 1, postmortem: North: "I'm missing the trump Ace in 7 diammonds if 5nt asks you to bid 7 with 2 honors why the hell do you bid 7 with one?" South: "Sorry, I read about a hand in the forums...." North: "Can't you see we are not in the forums now? Bid like a normal person" South: "If I bid like a normal person those guys playing Moscito laugh at my system in the forums" North: "Please forget the forums!" West: "I'm gonna lead the dA and concede to prevent a revoke" Luis, I admit this is a slim possibility, but do you really think North would jump shift and bid that strongly on a Q high suit? Not my partner!!!

I appreciate the input, but it seems a natural system works quite well. South –1 Club – Why open 1 Diamond when you plan to re-bid 1NT over 1 Spade? North – 2 Diamonds – I have a good hand with a diamond suit South – 3 Diamonds – I can live with diamonds North – 3 Spades – I have something in spades South – 3NT – I really have hearts stopped North – 4 Diamonds – Really interested in Diamond slam South – I have the Ace of Hearts North – 4 Spades – I have the Ace of Spades South – 5 Hearts – I have the King of Hearts North – 5 NT – Do you have 2 of the top three honors? South – 7 Diamonds - No, but I have the King with extra diamond length for my bids

Playing IMP's (Swiss Teams), How would you and your partner bid these cards (no interference)? South Deals: North S AKQ64 H Q4 D AJ9854 C VOID South S 72 H AK5 D KT76 C Q863

Hi Sam: I believe it is wrong NOT to cash the Club Ace early. If you run the diamonds first, you make it easy for west to unblock in clubs. If you cash the Club ace at trick 2, he must decide now to unblock or he is dead.. NOT an easy play

Swiss Teams, you hold S 763 H A986 D AK64 C A9 All VUL. Sitting South, as dealer, you open 1NT (15-17) The auction proceeds South West North East 1NT 2S 2NT* Pass 3C Pass 3NT** Pass Pass DBL ALL PASS * Relay to 3 Clubs ** Game Values with a Spade Stop West Leads the Spade King. Here is the hand North S AT H QT6 D QJT43 C 874 West East S KQJ653 S 72 H KJ9 H 732 D 5 D 762 C KQ9 C JT53 South S 984 H A854 D AK98 C A6 You win the Spade Ace and lead a club to the Ace. You now run 5 diamonds,. West is toast. Do you see west's mistake? Would you have been good enough to avoid it?

Hi Ben: Thanks for your input. I agree, that winning the first spade and leading a heart from dummy has to be a better play. Also, I had not looked at the hand enough to consider the CLE possiblity. Good insight. Thanks again.

My current partner had her first experience with this RFL Double squeeze; North S- AJ94 H- K43 D- KQ975 C -9 South A- 752 H- Q952 D- 6 C- AKQJ8 THe contact was 3NT with the Spade Q lead, Partner ducked? and played the 9 on the continuation. East won the ten and returned a club. Partner won and led a heart to the King and Ace. A second club came back and she then led a diamond to the King and Ace. East persisted with a third club and partner, having just studied double squeezes was sure one was present, as she cashed her last two clubs. She was still wondering after the game why it did not work, and I had to explain it was RFL and there was no way to execute it(Dummy is squeezed first) The other hands West Qx Jxx JTxxx XXX East KTxx ATx Ax xxxx Anyway, I think there may be a better line of play. Any suggestions?

Ben wrote: I don't play this, because when I do, and I have to discard a heart and want partner to lead a spade, the only stupid even heart I ever hold is the TWO which, of course, ask for a lower suit... That's one of the reasons I have become a fan of CRACK discards. High card = Other color Low Card= Same color You are seldom stuck for a proper discard Just my thoughts, I could be wrong

Thanks to all who responded. Sorry I miss posted the original hand. It should be obvious that North holds only 6 diamonds (My mistake) Still, this is an interesting hand

Hi Roland Thanks for the reply. I was the pro sitting south. Your sequence was also my first thought. The problem is, what if South's hand is S AT853 H A43 D K7 C A65 The grand is still laydown. but won't North be discouraged when South shows no singleton (YES, I know south would(SHOULD) open 1 NT with this hand) BTW: The Q of trumps is irrelevent for all practicle purposes

In a recent Pro-Am team event (One life master paired with a novice) neither team reached slam. How would you bid these cards to six? OR seven? South Deals and opens one spade. Opponents are silent North holds S KJ742 H T D A865432 C T South S AQ853 H AJ43 D 7 C A65

There are only three kinds of bridge players. Those that CAN count and those that CAN'T

Many years ago when I started mentoring new players, I decided to make a list of attributes of a "GOOD PARTNER" I began collecting these and gave them to my mentees. Few, if any are, are my original thoughts, but I thought I would share them. As always, your comments are welcome!! A Good Partner 1. A Good Partner knows that pass is a beautiful bid. A Good Partner uses it often. 2. When a Good Partner overcalls as an unpassed hand, a Good Partner holds two quick tricks. If a Good Partner does not have two quick tricks and can not preempt, a Good Partner knows that pass is a beautiful bid. 3. When a Good Partner's right hand opponent opens his/her best suit, a Good Partner knows pass is a beautiful bid. 4. A Good Partner never bids the same values twice. A Good Partner knows I heard him/her the first time and that pass is a beautiful bid. 5. A Good Partner's free bids always show a maximum or extras. If a Good Partner doesn't have either, a Good Partner knows that pass is a beautiful bid. 6. A Good Partner knows bridge is a game of pluses. When faced with a close bidding decision, a Good Partner takes the conservative action. 7. If a Good Partner can’t determine if a game or slam is a good bet, a Good Partner doesn't bid it, because bridge is a game of pluses. 8. A Good Partner doesn't bid bad suits on good hands, because bridge is a game of pluses. 9. When faced with whether to double or bid on, a Good Partner takes the sure plus 10. A Good Partner never plays me for the magic hand, I won’t hold it. A Good Partner, however, doesn’t play me for the worst hand, because I won’t hold that one either. 11. God gives a Good Partner AK’s for a reason, so he/she will know what to lead. 12. A Good Partner does not speculate on opening leads. Without specific reasons, a Good Partner goes with the lead the field will make. 13. A Good Partner takes care of the bottoms, knowing the tops will take care of themselves. 14. A Good Partner never passes a forcing bid, not even in his/her sleep. 15. When a Good Partner has a choice of bids and 3NT is one of the choices, a Good Partner knows that is the bid. 16. A Good Partner protects me from my occasional overbids by always putting down extras.

Basicly, I've played the same for over 30 years 1) The lead of the T or 9 promises 0 or 2 higher, including the card above.(Exception is T from AQT9(XX) 2)I do play Smith echo with most partner's, but sometimes I forget 3)Like inquiry, I signal three trumps to show a desire to ruff or if I feel partner needs the count. 4)For the last several years, I have played CRACK discards. They seem to work very well for me and seldom lead to confusion. I use 4th best leads,(although 3/5th may have merit, I'm too old to change) My primary signal on opening lead is ATTITUDE, followed by count The important thing in all of this is to have a FIRM understanding with your partner. I doubt that any approach has much theoretical value over another. Anyway, this should be an interesting thread.