lenze

I agree that 4 diamonds is a slam try. The bid I do not like is West's 3NT without a heart stopper. I believe a 3 diamond call is about right on strength and nature of the hand. This will allow west to bid 3NT with a slightly weaker hand and a vulnerable heart stop such as Kx. Right siding hands like this will produce many MPs over the long run.

I agree, Ben. I can live with 1 out of 3. It's my fragile partners that go south on me. lenze

You are correct in observing that doubles are different at IMPs as opposed to MPs. At IMPs, one tends to double less. So let's look at MPs. On competitive hands , one needs to determine "whose hand is it?" If you judge the opponents have the balance of power, say 22-24 HCPs, it is their hand. Your goal is the smallest minus. If you judge the points are divided evenly (you hold 19,20,or21), your goal is ANY PLUS. It's when your side, however, holds the 22-24 points you must be aggresive in doubling. Your goal is now the GREATEST PLUS. WARNING: No guarentees. If they do not make 1 out o 5 doubled contracts against you at MPs, you are NOT doubling enough. (actually, I believe 1 out of 4 is acceptable if the other parts of your game are up to par) Just my thought, I could be wrong

For over thirty years, I have played this pretty straight forward. It seems to work OK a) A72 The 7 :) A732 The 2 c) A7532 The 3 Also, I play Present Count when following to a suit on the second lead. Example a) K63 :( K743 c) K8653 Say partner leads the 2 and I play the King.(Dummy having only small cards) and declarer wins the Ace. If partner or declarer leads this suit next, I give present count. a) K63 The 6 B) K743 The 3 c) K8653 The 6 or 8

Hi Guys: Thanks for the replies to my somewhat “tongue-in-cheek” question. I agree that it feels wrong to take advantage of an opponent’s infraction, but we do so in many situations, such as “lead out of turn”, ‘bid out of turn”, “revokes”, etc. In the case of an insufficient bid, it might well be improper to have “understandings”, although I know of no regulation in that regard as far as the ACBL is concerned. The point to make, however, is that there are tactical considerations after an insufficient bid. One now has more options to help describe one’s holdings. It seems perfectly normal to make use of these options. Suppose you hold S-K43 H-T6 D-KJT8 C-QT62 when the above auction occurs. It must certainly be right to accept the 1 Diamond bid and then bid 1NT. The insufficient bid has allowed you to describe this hand perfectly and placed partner in a great position to make the correct decision in this competitive auction. For instance, if partner passes and RHO re-bids 2 Diamonds, partner will know your double is for penalties and not negative or competitive. Just some random thoughts of mine.

It's a slow day here, so i was just wondering Suppose you open the bidding 1 Heart and your LHO overcalls 1 Diamond (Insufficient). After a slight pause to allow a correction if the bid was a slip of the hand (using bidding boxes), you summon the director. Partner has some options. What would it mean if he 1) Accepted the bid and passed? 2) Did not accept it and then passed over 2 Diamonds? 3) Accepted the 1 Diamond bid and then bid 2 Hearts? 4) Did not accept the bid and then bid 2 Hearts over the correction? 5) Accepted the bid and bid 1 Spade or 1 NT? 6) Did not accept the bid and then bid 2 Spades over the correction? 7) etc.

Yzerman: I agree with your second line. I would add one small change. At trick 2 I would lead a spade to the Ace to see if sapdes are 5-0. If they are, I may still be able to make the hand even if the heart finesse is wrong if the hand with 5 trumps has three hearts and 2 or 3 clubs Any other opinions?

That is the line my partner took. Trumps were 4-1 in the west. But if trumps are 4-1 and the heart finese loses, you could easily suffer a club ruff. I believe there is a better line of play

IMPS S KQT5 H AQ D K974 C AK6 S AJ96 H J53 D A5 C Q743 Opening lead Club 10 ( the opponents did not bid) Best line of play at 6 spades? I have my opinion. I'd like to hear your's

This is a very interesting and instructive hand. There are several things to consider. My first instinct was to assume if spades were 5 –1, West would hold them. In that case, 7C can ALWAYS be made. The line of play is this. Win the opening lead and play 3 more rounds of trump. Now, play Spade K and a spade to the Ace If west shows out, you need East to hold something good in diamonds to execute the simple squeeze. If East shows out, he is now the SOLE guard of one of the red suits, Since West only has 4 red cards, he cannot guard both red suits. So, if as declarer, you believe West cannot guard diamonds (likely), the sequence is Spade Q, Spade J, Diamond A, Diamond K, and last club, executing the simultaneous double squeeze. If, however, you believe West can no longer guard hearts., the sequence is Diamond A, last club, Heart A (squeezing West in diamonds and spades), Spade Q, Spade J, (squeezing East in hearts and diamonds), completing the sequential double squeeze. A very cute Compound Squeeze. The play, however, of cashing the Heart A and running clubs is far superior. It wins whenever the Heart K is with the long spades, or when the long spades have the diamond length. It also has the advantage that if East has the Heart K, the contract can ALWAYS be made, regardless of the remaining distribution. The play would go, win the lead, cash Heart A, run 3 more clubs. After 5 tricks, if East holds the Heart K, he can no longer guard both diamonds and spades. If he has 5 spades plus the Heart K, he can only have 2 diamonds, and if he holds 3 diamonds, he can have at most 4 spades. Admittedly, it is a guess as to his holding, but dummy’s extra spade winners allow us to play the last club, putting pressure on both East and West. Declarer should have a good chance on determining the pointed suit East still holds. If spades, the sequence is Diamond A, Diamond K, executing the simple squeeze. If he believes East to hold diamonds, the sequence is Spade K, Spade A, Spade Q, Spade J, completing the sequential double squeeze (West would have been squeezed on the last club). The advantage of this line of play is that declarer retains more options in the end game. It also preserves the squeeze positions when the Heart K is with the long spades, and also when with the diamond guard. The only time it fails( providing declarer reads the position) is when East has the spades, and West holds the Heart K and a diamond guard Just my thoughts. I could be wrong Scotch: Because you don’t solve great bridge problems over white wine.

I 've played this for many years. It's called FITS(Fisher Invitational Transfers) Pass is forcing on opener to RDBL. A RBL By me would be a transfer to Clubs. Other bids are transfers (2C = diamonds,2D= Hearts,etc). If I pass and partner RDBL as required, I can pass to play I NT RDBL. or bid a suit with Brozel responses. 2C = Clubs and Hearts, 2D = Diamonds and Hearts, 2H = Hearts and Spades, 2 Spades = Spades + a minor

I once had a partner open 2D(Flannery) holding QJT985432 4 765 9. I , being naive, bid 2H on my 3 small. I was down 7 (I had an Ace) for a top. I believe the powers that be have now outlawed this type of psych

A side note to this thread. The other night I kibitzed a hand where West, as dealer held T4 T98642 QJT6 6. She opened 2H, which eventually netted her a good board. The problem is, her convention card says weak 2's, with a range of 6-10 HCP. I don't mind an occasional psych, but I have recently observed her open a weak 2 on Ace empty sixth (Nothing outside) and King Ten sixth(Also nothing outside) I feel that if she opens these type of hands with a 2 bid frequently, the opponents are entitled to know she may not be within her stated range. Your comments would be appreciated