Joe de Balliol

How about if playing a weak NT - would you open it 1N then?

Q83 K95 KQT KQ97, third seat, game all, rubber. Who goes for 1N, and who goes for 1C?

[hv=d=n&v=e&s=s7h7dqjt5caq95432]133|100|Scoring: IMP NB-NB-1N-2C* NB-2D*-3C-NB NB-3H-NB-4H X -NB-5C-AP 2C was Landy, 2D asking[/hv]

I agree with Echognome...BUT, I don't see any incentive to give E 2 rather than 1 - E will get 1 from either B or A so has no incentive to not accept A's proposal, and the slight negative incentive that if neither A nor B's proposal is accepted, he will get nothing, so is likely to accept 1 - maybe this is why the problem says 98? Or, as Echognome pointed out, it might be from the alternative form where all pirates vote.

Right, I've thought this one through, and here's my answer: There is no line of play that is both normal and rational that will allow declarer to come to fewer than thirteen tricks. Drawing an extra trump immediately would be irrational, as he does not know the clubs are splitting. Playing on clubs than playing on trumps is abnormal. In the situation where he has something like ♠x♥xx♦x♣void in dummy and ♠x♥Ax♦void♣x in hand, it's clearly irrational for him to pitch a diamond.

Yes. Ask their birthday first, and only kill the ones who don't share yours.

I agree with Hannie.

2♠, then 4♥.

Double. This can't be making.

Agree with others - easy 4♥ at IMPs. At MPs it's tough.

I agree with this. The hand is hideous, but I don't expect to be doubled here, and partner can hopefully work out how bad my shape is since I didn't open with Lucas or a Multi...

I like this set! I've seen a few of these before, or variants [9 [which I heard with unfaithful wives],10,13,17] - all beautiful in their way. >.14. You are at a party with a friend and 10 people are present including you and the friend. your friend makes you a wager that for every person you find that has the same birthday as you, you get $1; for every person he finds that does not have the same birthday as you, he gets $2. would you accept the wager? I assume this is either a trick question and you're celebrating a joint birthday party with your siblings, having been born one of nonuplets, or else the $2 he gets have nothing to do with you, in with case you can gain but not lose? It doesn't make sense. >>7. You have to get from point A to point B. You don’t know if you can get there. What would you do? I don't get this. >.5. Explain a database in three sentences to your eight-year-old nephew. Look. On. Internet. >.12. If you look at a clock and the time is 3:15, what is the angle between the hour and the minute hands? (The answer to this is not zero!) The hour hand will be quarter of the way between three and four, so quarter of one twelfth of 360 degrees = 7.5 as has been reached. >6. How many times a day does a clock’s hands overlap? The minute hand goes round 24 times, compared to 2 times for the hour hand, so 22 total, but including midnight one day and the next, it'll be 23? >.2. You are shrunk to the height of a nickel and your mass is proportionally reduced so as to maintain your original density. You are then thrown into an empty glass blender. The blades will start moving in 60 seconds. What do you do? I don't know how a glass bender works, but I'd guess you hang onto one of the blades if it's not too sharp? And wouldn't your mass have to be *increased* to maintain your density? >.8. Imagine you have a closet full of shirts. It’s very hard to find a shirt. So what can you do to organize your shirts for easy retrieval? Either make the closet easier to find, or remove a couple of shirts so the closet is less full? Am not really sure what's expected

Pass at IMPs [partner's pass was NF], double at MPs.

Thing is, all of these are far more likely to be successful at matchpoints, when I'd agree with double. At IMPs I prefer 4♦ on the grounds that it doesn't misrepresent your hand.

Seems obvious to me to be forcing...but no doubt I've missed something.

I'm also winning in hand and playing the Queen of Clubs. J

Win, cash two top trumps ending on table, and run the club. Am hoping to pitch diamonds from table on the club winners. J

The hand has been analysed and I'm about to get off but I just thought I'd say that I think 2♠ is automatic. J

I bid 5♣ without much thought, on the grounds of "look how much worse my hand might be". And yes, I want partner to be protecting with hands where 5♣ has no play - but those are worst-case scenarios. There are plenty of minimum hands he could have where slam is pretty decent. [xxxx AJxx x Axxx is one such]

At my table the auction was 3C 3D NB 3N NB NB X NB NB 4C X NB NB 4D X 4H NB NB X AP This went for 500 :/

I'll agree with his.

Reluctantly, I'd rule that a club lead is an LA and a spade is suggested by the hesitation, so I'll go along with the director's ruling. But my heart says "sod the law - spade lead looks fine". J

I have a blanket agreement that 5M asks for a control in their suit, which is annoying here as I quite want to bid it to ask partner to bid slam. If I bid 5♦ partner won't really know what to do. I could bid 5♣ but then when I hear 5♦ opposite I don't really know whether I want to be in slam. Might be a time to wheel out the Old Black and bid slam iff partner has the missing aces. I know that's not what it was designed for but it's a rough guide... J PS Just saw the hand. In my book, that isn't an opening bid :) Oh well, -100 for me...

I agree with this. J

This only holds if N/S are responsible for the kibitzer's presence. If they are, result stands. Otherwise, I judge as follows: the kibitzer thought that West had a club left and South's play makes no sense whatsoever unless he thought West had pitched a club. So as director, I choose to believe that West accidentally revoked. So I rule back to 3N tick. J