pmacfar

Not too long ago in a local club game, I picked up a hand with eight spades to the AK, Qxx in hearts and Qx in clubs and my partner opened 1NT. Figuring that partners points were mostly outside the spade suit and that he held at least two spades, I made a 2H transfer bid and then went into Blackwood, ending in 6S, figuring that the only way it would go down was if my LHO had all three missing spades topped by the Q. Partner had Jx in spades, which split 2-1, and AK in both hearts and clubs, making 7. Got a top score on that board. Phil

4NT - the high level version of Unusual NT. Tell partner we don't have a good enough fit with his ♥s and you don't see stopping their 4♠ contract, but we should have a better fit in one of the minors and that he needs to pick it. It will also help to push the opponents to the 5 level. And with favorable vulnerability, down 2 doubled is better than the 4♠ vulnerable score. Phil

It certainly seems that limit raises are a topic I will put on my list for reading. By the way, how did this thread (started with Mathe) get turned inside out into one about Limit Raises? :)

Yes, I was only talking about IMPs/MPs. Team games require a more conservative approach because if you bid game and go down and the opps only bid the part score there will be a big swing in the match in their favor. If you bid game and make and the opps only bid the part score, the board goes in favor of your team but only by about 5 MPs (compared to 10+ in the other situation). The sample hands provided are poor examples, why would either partner open the bidding in the first place? In the second hand, assuming the person with the 12 HCP hand opens the bidding, why would the responder be making a Limit Raise with only 8 HCP's????? Phil

I concur here. I'd rather bid the game and go down than stop short and make the game. Hands frequently can make game because of distribution. Phil

[hv=d=n&v=n&n=sakjxhaqxdakqcaqx&s=s108xhxxd9xxxxcxxx]133|200|Scoring: MP[/hv] My partner and I picked up the following hand (I was sitting South) and the bidding went as follows: 2♣ - P - 2♦ - P 6N - P - P - P East has four to the Q♠, thus partner is never able to get to board to cash good diamonds. West has K-J in both ♥ and ♣. Opening lead was a low ♥ from East, won with the Queen by declarer. After running his ♦'s, clearing the suit, declarer played J♠ to try to entice East to win with Q♠ and setup entry to dummy. But East did not bite. After winning AK♠, declarer gave East her Q♠ and she lead back ♥ for down 1. I think that after East letting the J♠ win, and clearing ♠s, declarer should endplay West (which suit ♥ or ♣?) and make West lead to him and hopefully set up the Q♣ for the 12th trick. Any other suggestions, per line of play? Such as leading the J♠ before running the ♦s

What do we know at this point? 1. On the opening lead, what did East signal? Assuming East encourages, holding the AK♠, West must not be able to continue the suit. Thus, spades are 6-1. 2. Since East lead his 4th best club, clubs are 4-3. 3. With at least 4 Hearts, East might have made a takeout double over 1♦. Thus, East has maximum of 3 hearts. West has minimum of 4 hearts. Thus, likey distributions are 1444 or 1534 for West and 6223 or 6133 for East. Only a 4-2 ♦ (or worse) split hurts and if East holds 'em, the contract is doomed anyway. If West holds 'em, the finesse is the only way to succeed. Thus, odds are best that playing for the drop will fail while the finesse will work. Phil M.

If South leads a small diamond. EW will win 4 diamonds, A♠ and 2 hearts to make the contract with 3 overtricks. But that ain't gonna happen. He must lead a spade. After taking the A♠, West will take his two heart tricks (South discarding spades, North discarding clubs), then lead the diamond. Upon which East will rise with the K♦ and collect the Q♦ for 1 overtrick. But at IMPS, 1/2 overtricks is not worth much. Phil

In addition to the 4C bid over NT being Gerber, a few of my regular partners and I use 4C as Gerber when either of the following occurs: 1. A natural club bid has not been made. or, 2. The 4C bid results in a jump (by passing the three level) Phil

[hv=d=e&v=b&s=s8xxxxxhkjxxxxdqc]133|100|Scoring: MP[/hv] Bidding goes as follows: 2C - P - 2N* - ? * Step Responses (10 - 12) What is your bid?

Which partner gets the blame? :) The one that made the double or the one that failed to take it out and bid something else?

[hv=d=n&v=b&s=s10xhxxxdakjxcaxxx]133|100|Scoring: MP[/hv] Bidding Goes as follows: N - E - S - W 1S - 2H - X* - P 2S - 3H - ? *negative (for minors) How many spades does/should partner have? What should be my next bid? Thanks

[hv=d=w&v=n&s=sqjxxxhdkqxxxxcxx]133|100|Scoring: MP[/hv] Sitting South, and West as dealer, bidding goes as follows: 1C - X - P - 1S P - 1N - P - ? Answer the following questions: 1. What is strength of partner's hand? 2. What should be my next bid? Thanks

2♣ for the majors is very reasonable. The hand is in the upper edge of the higher point range for the Michael's bid. As for the partner.....When the Michael's bid is made, the first objective should be to show the three card support for one of partner's 5 card suits. By not showing support for one of the suits is showing shortness in both suits. Thus, 2♠ should be his response....Then the o'caller can decide how to continue... Being that duplicate awards for game, I would agressively bid to 4♠ with a 4-loser hand.

[hv=d=w&v=e&s=sxhqxxxdkqj98xxcq]133|100|Scoring: MP[/hv] You and your parter play Inverted Minors. What is your response to partner opening 1♦????