AL78

I'm not. My guess is that no-one overcalled hearts, so EW had a free run to 4♠ (this sort of thing seems to happen quite frequently).

Obviously no-one is finding the double dummy defence, I never said anyone should. How does leading a low diamond ask for a club? Normally that applies when giving partner a ruff, but on the opening lead?? I would be surprised to see anyone in my local club play signals that deep, and definitely no-one on the evening of the hand in question.

Yes, all players are playing Acol, so 1NT shows about 6-9 HCP. Sorry I forgot to clarify that at the start. I need to remember that most on here are not Acol players.

My friend was South, she did consider that North could have bid their club suit. That might work out badly if EW still end up in 2♠, since South might now lead ♣A and another, giving declarer a trick.

South doesn't know North has a singleton diamond at the point they make the opening lead. If anything, it might be more likely West has the singleton, so I can see why some are advocating a spade lead.

My friend led a low diamond (ugh, I've told her before not to underlead aces). The full deal: [hv=pc=n&s=s3hkt32daq864cat4&w=s985hqj85dkj3c532&n=sqt64h764d2cqj986&e=sakj72ha9dt975ck7]399|300[/hv] 2♠ ended up just making. If she finds the ♦A lead, it goes (at best) ace, ruff, low club, ruff, club, ruff, heart, and South eventually makes their king, two down. Nobody defending a spade contract found that defence, so all declarers in 2 or 3♠ made eight tricks. One North managed to make 3NT, goodness knows how, or even how they got there.

And when the director called the move, you were still playing the first board. :-)

This hand came up with my novice friend. You hold as South: ♠3 ♥KT32 ♦AQ864 ♣AT4 [hv=d=e&v=b&b=10&a=1sd1np2dp2sppp]133|100[/hv] All vulnerable, matchpoint scoring. What is your lead?

[hv=pc=n&s=sj94hkt532daq4c72&w=sak8653hdjtcakqj3&n=s72haqj764d92ct84&e=sqth98dk87653c965&d=e&v=b&b=10&a=pp1s2hp4h5cppp]399|300[/hv] A 20% board, as four out of five other pairs were in 4♠, one stopped in 3♠ (there is always one). Partner thought I could have been 5-5 so chose clubs over spades. What do you think, can East take a view that I likely have more extreme distribution and correct to the spade game? Another alternative is for me to open 2♣ starting with a game force then try to show both suits, but I don't like doing that with a very distributional two suiter, as it takes away bidding space that could be better used to get both suits and strength across, although in the event, that is largely irrelevant when the opposition barrage in hearts.

On the run of clubs, did you discard the ace of diamonds? Partner should deduce that you must have the king to make this otherwise irrational discard.

Indeed there are. The system alone does not define a player's ability.

Apologies, yes you are right, I can pass and leave it up to partner, who can bid 5H holding a hand with minimal defence. That actually raises an important point. I will put this auction to partner and ask what she would do. I'm not 100% sure she understands the forcing pass situation.

I don't think that would happen. If I bid 3C, LHO bids 3S, if partner passes, RHO bids 4S, and I am in the same position. If I bid 3S, that would shut out LHO, partner bids 4H, but even then, RHO is probably bidding 4S, and I have the same guess.

Random teams (i.e. turn up as a pair, randomly coupled with another pair): [hv=pc=n&s=sa8ht94dk764cak97&w=skt7hk8dat3cqj842&n=s2haqj6532dq92ct6&e=sqj96543h7dj85c53&d=w&v=n&b=12&a=1n2h2s3h3sp4sdppp]399|300[/hv] I was South. Given partner's lack of enthusiasm in the bidding other than the initial overcall, I couldn't visualise 5♥ being a good bid, and at teams, I decided to go for what I thought was a more certain plus score in the form of a penalty, but 11 tricks in hearts are cold. We took 4♠ two off which was 5 imps in, as our teammates in the same contract escaped for one off. I wasn't sure how to show a constructive/invitational to game raise of hearts over 2♠, so made the underbid of 3♥, as partner isn't going to misunderstand that (is four a reasonable punt opposite a vulnerable overcall?). Could we have bid better here, or is this just one of those boards where the opponents did the right thing and it is difficult to find the winning action?

Thanks, that is along my line of thinking, and is pretty much what I told her. I thought I'd post it here just to be certain I haven't missed anything.

I wasn't playing. The North player is an intermediate who I don't think is very good (worse than me). The South player is a friend who is an enthusiastic novice aspiring to improve, and I am trying to help her do that. One of these ways of helping is to look at her bad results when she plays with this woman once a month, and advise if they could have done better. In the most recent evening, they finished with a respectable score (a shade over 55%), and most of their poor results were not their fault (e.g. the cold game against them bid by only one other pair). I do partner her once a month on one of the stronger evenings as well.

This hand came up on a teams evening: [hv=pc=n&s=s754hat86daj6ck98&w=s9863h4dt875cj763&n=saqthkqj97d94ca52&e=skj2h532dkq32cqt4&d=e&v=0&b=14&a=p1np2dp2hp3np4hppp&p=s9stsjs4h2h6h4hkhqh3h8s3d4dqd6d8h5hac6h7dad5d9d2djd7h9d3cac4c8c3c2ctckc7c9cjc5]399|300[/hv] I was pleased to make this one after West's lead effectively told me both spade honors were offside. I could have taken an extra chance and played for East holding ♦KQ which allows me to set up an extra diamond winner (and works here), unfortunately I missed it. I claimed at the point East was thrown in, and afterwards he said he should have dropped his club queen under one of my honors, which prevents the endplay and puts me down. I was almost there but not quite, got away with it thanks to a defensive error at the end.

Thanks, yes I agree with being more aggressive in the passout seat in general, especially with a shortage in opps suit, to cater for partner having a stack with no good bid. Care is required at the three level though, because the partner of the pre-emptor could hold a stack themselves, and forcing partner to the four level could result in a significant multiple of -100 on the card. That is the risk you take by being aggressive, but passing is also not risk free.

This nasty hand came up with my friend and her partner: [hv=pc=n&s=s4hajtdqjt73cat93&w=skqt9532hk3dcj872&n=saj87hq9542da98c5&e=s6h876dk6542ckq64&d=w&v=n&b=12&a=3sdp4dppp]399|300[/hv] She went two off, although Deep Finesse says it should make. The best contract is a heart game, which would probably be fouind if West had opened 3♣. The only way I can see to a heart game is if North passes, and South makes an aggressive double in the pass-out seat. North might then bid 4♥ based on black suit shortages in both hands. No-one else in the room found a heart contract, most were defending 3♠, either making or one down. Do you think if North passes instead of doubling, South is good enough for a takeout double?

In the absence of discussion, I would take it as RCKB, just because if I am playing with a pick-up partner at my local club, almost everyone would play it that way. With a regular partner, it is either RCKB, or two places to play, and I would discuss it with them.

My initial assumption was the double showed both majors, but the following cue bid sounded like a strong hand. Partner had neither, to be honest I don't know where she got the double from, I would have bid 1♠ with her hand.

Sorry, I've got my systems and partners mixed up. With this partner we were playing strong NT, hence my 1♣ opening.

The North player wasn't a novice. As for not responding 1♠ with a five card suit, claiming it is wrong to bid it just because there might be a non-zero chance of ending up in a slam with a too-weak a trump suit just sounds far too deep and OTT to me. At the time of bidding 1♠, what is the probability of that happening? If North has KQT or KQxx in spades, you might even want to be in 6♠ if a slam is on, otherwise in 6♣ you get spade to the ace, spade ruff, one down. That has happened to me once when I bid a slam in a major when we held fits in both majors, but one of those fits was missing the ace (and predictably the fit without the ace broke 4-1).

They will if they have a spade suit, which is likely holding a singleton and no spade overcall. South is not going to avoid showing a 5 card major just in case North might have a hand with a rebid problem.

If anything I am playing similar or a bit less than a decade or more ago. I used to play in some of the county competitions, but eventually gave up on that because it occasionally involved ridiculous amounts of travelling, or just ate into precious weekends (I would rather not play bridge on a beautiful warm sunny summer day). I do have different systems but the core difference between Acol and 5 card majors is not huge, I often would make the same bids with either system. At my peak, I was only playing regularly with two partners, but playing more frequently with each. The first partner I picked up shortly after I joined the club in early 2003 was a very steady solid player, good card player, very sound bidding, and we gelled. We used to nearly always finish in the top third, and winning or at least in the top three regularly, and the club was stronger back then. With my current partners, I play once a month, and I sometimes do the wrong thing because my assumptions about their hand are wrong. For example: West (me) ♠KQ74 ♥53 ♦AK8 ♣9842 5 card majors, weak NT W N E S 1♣ 1♦ X 1♥ P P 2♦ P 2♠ P 3♠ P ? I regret not bidding 1♠ over 1♥, but that is an example of a lapse of concentration. I thought partner had a big hand (game going) with spades, possibly with club support if I held a genuine suit, maybe 3♠ was setting the trump suit and inviting cue bidding if I had a good opener, so I bid 4♠. Not a success. Partner held: ♠AJ63 ♥T62 ♦953 ♣AQ7 I went one down, although there is a line to make it which I didn't spot (ruff the third heart high, play for a 3-3 club break with king onside, and the losing diamond goes away on the fourth club, another mental lapse). Despite my sub-optimal card play, I did expect a better hand than that in dummy, and don't understand why partner didn't just bid 1♠ instead of doubling. There was another one the previous week where a different partner opened 3♣ (5-5 ♣+♦ weak) with an 11 count, which incited me to take a fantom sacrifice. My strongest partner I do seem to do well with more often, and we won last time we played, however if I have an off evening, he can't carry me so we end up in the sub-50% zone. One of my current partners is an enthusiastic novice who I am trying to help bring on. I have taken it on board that some people think I don't bid aggressively enough, and that is why I defend 70+% of the time on average, so I've tried to increase my aggression. I may have swung the pendulum too far, and am being too aggressive in some situations.