42

I am really shocked and very sad! Without words but a prayer

Nice! I listened just a few minutes ago (before coming here) to IMITOSIS...

To all my strange angels with love and: THX for being there! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYQ-Al7ijk4

Situation: a) 1NT (X = penalty) ? --> K10xxx xxxx xx xx b) (1♠) 1NT = 15-18 (X = penalty) ? --> xx 109xxx xxxx xx. You with the weakest hand must decide how to escape. Your weapons: - XX = a long suit, partner must bid 2♣ - 2♦ = ♦ + a higher ranked suit, at least 44. Why do you choose which option? Bonus question to b): IF you decided to bid 2♦ ((1♠) 1NT (X) 2♦) and opps would double this: how should the bidding proceed?

Oops, sorry, my mistake: EW vulnerable, NS white. I don't know how to edit properly the diagram :(

Thx all for your replies! Here is the whole hand [hv=pc=n&s=sqj76hk762dqca864&w=sk832haj43dt2cq97&n=s94h95da987543c32&e=sat5hqt8dkj6ckjt5&d=n&v=w&b=12&a=p2d2np3dp3nppp]399|300|3NT + 2 for -9,33 IMPs[/hv] We played against the GIBs and all GIBs on N opened 3♦ which was passed for -3, or S bid 3NT for -3/-4/-5 which was a better result than that at our table since N/S played undoubled. Postmortem: normally I would pass with such a hand but since we were practising I opened 2D to see where it would end. My partner was "not amused" about my 2♦ opening and argued that he would like to be able to double opponent's contract and therefore my opening is too weak for a w2, I must open 3♦. I don't understand his argument because here I have an A, imo more likely a trick than KDBxxx which for him qualifies for a w2 opening. So perhaps the -9 IMPs are probably a result of playing against the GIBs who naturally all chose the 3♦ bid and the preempt worked well. The humans sit most of the time on south and rarely 2 humans play against the robots.

Team match, you white, opps red 1. hand passes and you have to decide whether to open - and if so, how - the following bad hand: [hv=pc=n&n=s94h95da987543c32]133|100[/hv]

Hi, I used to play that a new suit after a w2 opening is forcing. Actually we have a discussion whether this is good or bad, and with which hands one bids it. How do YOU play it? TIA! Caren

Thank you! This hand came up when we made some partnership bidding on BBO - for upcoming team matches. It is fine to reach a slam but then you have to bring it home ;) I therefore invented the virtual ♥ lead which seemed uncomfortable to me. I sometimes have severe problems with playing a hand with several different options / lines. I know I can make it but I also know I can fail by choosing the wrong line, and that is stress, no? This is why I posted it here. @ flametree & two4bridge: I personally would never rely on reading 'correctly' opps (or even partner's) tempo or other manner of playing a card as well as believing their carding in a slam... Even more so when I don't know them well... Our bidding went (Polish Club modified, Dealer North): 1♣................................ 2♦ (gf with 5+ ♦s, if less: support in ♥, exactly 3 cards) 2♥ (18+, 5 ♥s)............... 3♣ (nat. 4+, less than 3 ♥s) 4♦ (RKCB for ♦)............. 4♥ (1, as expected...) 4♠ (♦ Q?)...................... 5♦ (no) From here I bid on to train the bidding, in real life I probably had just bid 6♦ right now although 7 might be feasible since we have 9 trumps with AK) Would you bid on or stop in 6♦? 5♥ (Kings?)...................... 6♣ (not ♠K, not ♥K) 6♦

Hi :rolleyes: Here is a slam where one has several options to make it. Which one is the best / second best / ... and why? How do you play the trumps? 6♦ by South Lead: ♥ 5 (no further advice what that means) [hv=pc=n&s=s9hj2djt842cakqj8&n=saq2haqt87dak65c3]133|200[/hv]

[hv=pc=n&w=s7hakq94dackjt763&e=sakt64h3d9864ca54&d=s&v=n&b=15&a=p1cp1sp]266|200|Team match, system = Polish Club modified, no special 2-suiter bidding in this situation[/hv] Possible bids would show: - 2♥ = 18+ with 5 ♥s - 2♣ = 12-14, 5+ ♣ - 3♣ = ♣-semiforcing - 2♦ = artificial asking bid, 18+, normally Hx(x) ♠-support --> partner then shows his ♠-length + (semi)balanced or shortness Let's say, the bidding proceeds 2♥ pass 2♠ pass. Your bid now? Should you decide for 3♣ you will hear 3♦. And now?

Thx all so far! Last train is not available... How I decided: I gave it a long thought before bidding LST in ♦. My 'internal' arguments for that: - although I felt :rolleyes: that 4♠ will make, I had only A109xx in ♠ and could imagine some bad surprises on the N - Hand like ♠Qxx ♥QJx.. ♦Jxx ♣... How will I reach the table for finessing, for example? So I refused the immediate 4♠ bid - a void instead of a singleton in ♥ So even with (a maximum AND) wasted honnors in ♥ but some help in ♦ I will make game. For me the key-suit was ♦ - and so went declaring Partner (N) bid 3♠ and this was the final contract, made 6... The dummy was a complete surprise for me! I on North's place would have accepted anyway because of: - 4 trumps with the Mariage (S invited without those honnors, so must have an interesting hand) - doubleton in the long suit ♦ --> ruffs available because of the 4 trumps - known 9 cards, so the "problem" does not lie in ♣ or ♥, the strength of the S-hand must be outside from trumps and diamonds (perhaps longer ♠s or something good in ♣ or ♥, then the Js probably aren't wasted) Partners arguments against mine and for his sign-off: - 9 losers (Me: I hate this, IMO losers are overrated :P ) - N is a minimum hand (Me: I don't think so) - wasted Js in ♣ and ♥ - "You must clearly bid SST in ♥ to learn whether N has wasted honnors/points or not!" (Me: Who ever said that a SST has always priority?? If so, it is senseless to be able to chose between SST and LST, no?) Where should I give in and accept that I was wrong?

The following is a hand where my partner and I have completely different opinions on hand evaluation, as it seems. System: Polish Club modified Important team match Dealer: South N/S vulnarable I hope that viewing the complete hand right now does not influence your objectivity ;) [hv=pc=n&s=sat973hda653caqt5&w=sj6hat852dkq94c64&n=skq85hj43d87cj873&e=s42hkq976djt2ck92]399|300[/hv] Bidding so far: South opens 1♠ (pass) 2♠ (pass) Problem A: South has to decide whether to show via Rosenkranz Two-Way Game Tries a) a short suit trial in ♥ b) a long suit trial in ♦ c) a long suit trial in ♣ or d) to jump directly to 4♠ --> Question: Which is the best action and why? (Without knowing all hands as you do...) Problem B: assume that South decided to bid i) --> a) = a short suit trial in ♥ ii) --> b) = a long suit trial in ♦ --> Question: How should North evaluate his hand in each of both cases? Why? C: Do "loser count" or "distribution points" affect your bidding? D1: Do you prefer "Long Suit Trials" or "Help Suit Trials"? D2: Would LST or HST lead to a different result from North in this hand? TIA!

I think even when you make 'funny' comments there is still a serious background, no? I recently got in touch with that problem because a friend started 'to lose' himself: his drinking carreer started years ago when he got a big box of different bottles of alcohol (wine, Whiskey, Sherry, etc.) as part of an inheritance. Every evening he took a drink, he felt relaxed, the world looked a bit more rosy. Then he drank 2-3 glasses of wine - sometimes more - every evening, in public events as well as at home. Then, whenever he felt a certain tension (job, family, whatever), he drank a glass of vodka and felt better. As a consequence his skin changed, his behaviour against family and friends changed, his barrier of control sank (he made remarks that more often hit the vis-à-vis), his hands began to tremble, he became depressed (therefore needed more alcohol to feel 'happy' again) and many more obvious signs occurred. Fortunately he has some good friends who noticed all this and who spoke seriously with him in a way he could accept his alcoholism without feeling he is 'worthless' because he is an addict. In the meantime he is sober and makes a therapy. He feels very good now and is a much better friend again, although it is not easy to face the problems. So I think that the background why someone is drinking and the significance of alcohol (when thoughts go more often around the question where to get the next drink and always to have enough handy) plays an important role. To watch whether it is possible to stop drinking - and how it feels then - is a good indicator. Alcoholism is a way to commit suicide. Every crisis is also a chance. We can decide. Caren :o

I didn't play with a regular partner, we agreed on very simple stone-age precision (ja, ja... don't say it ;) ). After some thought I decided to open 4♠ although I find this hand a bit too strong for that. I just listened to my intuition :P So the whole bidding, without any hesitation, went: 4♠ pass pass pass What happened at the table (hidden): Thx for your answers!

Another hand from last weekend which let grow some more grey hairs: [hv=d=s&v=e&n=saj653h10875daqc103&s=sqhkq6dj10643ckq65]133|200|Scoring: MP Precision, bidding goes (with silent opps): 1♦ 1♠ 2♣ 2♥ 2NT 3NT Lead: ♥J[/hv] Please, please plan the play for me, since I am sooooo tired :)

I tend to say that I am an advanced player, but I still have difficulties to work out the best - or correct - strategy when playing MP. Here is an example of the latest German Mixed Championship: [hv=d=s&v=n&n=sk6hq8d10864cakj65&s=saqj107543hj5dac109]133|200|Scoring: MP contract is 4♠ from S (surprise :) ) You receive the friendly lead of ♦ K.[/hv] What is your plan? Especially, what are the thoughts of an expert? Which plan is the best and why? And so: how do you play? I hope to get more detailed answers than "42" :D

Michael, I am very proud of you and the performance of the whole team, which can be claimed to be constant, looking at the international results in the last major events! I am not sure whether I made my position clear enough in this case before, and so I repeat it: I hate discussing, blaming and judging without knowing the facts. The keyword is respect. BTW:does anybody believe that any experienced player is so stupid to bump an important success by simply misguarding the rules...? Good luck for the rest of the games! Don't be angry anymore, it's not worth it, keep your energy! Go go go! :blink: Caren

Hi again, I just read on the official site of the DBV http://www.bridge-verband.de/web/news/27, that the TD ALLOWED the concession in the middle of the last segment. It is always better to know the circumstances for sure before making any statements... Caren

Does anybody know the particular circumstances? Wasn't there a TD? I read just the message about the anticipated end of the match while I was watching at the other table. IMO it is very inequitable to denounce the whole team, I know all members more or less well, and at least 4-5 of them don't deserve it, I know them as sportsmen. Sure, a team is a team (or should be), but what can the others do when 1 member cannot control a sudden dropout? Ban him, punish him, perhaps also his partner because he wasn't able to have a positive influence on him, but the others didn't do anything wrong. And, as others said before, the English team has no disadvantage, quite the contrary.

Thx so far! :) I don't quite understand this GIB: '7+ relay points' is certainly a correct message, but for what is this relevant? Did this thing want to go to slam? Since it is a machine, there must have been something within the bidding sequence which made it love its hand a bit too much :P I admit that I have no idea in this case :)

Hi all, we often practise against the brothers GIB. Recently we/they had this hand and auction: [hv=d=w&v=n&w=sa754hk10653d3c1073&e=skq86hadj95ca9652]266|100|Scoring: IMP[/hv] auction (W = dealer): pass pass 1♣ pass 1♥ pass 1♠ pass 2♠ pass pass 3♦ 3♠ pass 3NT pass 4♠ all pass One can click on GIB's bids and the explanation comes up. 3NT was explained as: 3+ C;3- H; 4-5 S; 15+ HCP; 15- points; likely stop in D, 7+ relay points. We wonder what relay points are (the contract was 2 off). Can anyone help, please? ___________________________________________ OT: Thx jillybean :) ♥

When my partner and me discussed our carding, I wondered what nowadays is common sense for a signal in the trump suit. It would be nice to hear some reasons for the decision B) Personally, I like Lavinthal, but we (or better my partner ;) ) decided for a combined carding: high - low with 2 trumps, the message is "partner, I cannot trump when you cannot win the 1. round in trumps", and low-high-middle for a suit preference in the highest suit, low-middle-high for a suit preference in the lowest suit. Whether this is good or bad, I cannot tell because I cannot remember that it worked :)

... deleted. Perhaps the admin can delete the whole post? Thx! :)

When I read the headline, I had another idea of the post: in the meantime there are 'stars' and 'stars', I detect a certain inflation. For me the real stars I would like to kibbitz - because I want to learn something - are those who play successfully over years in international major events like the Bermudabowl, for example, (just to mention some players: Fred, of course, Robson, Forrester, Mahmood, Bocchi, Duboin, Fantoni, Nunes, Auken, von Arnim, Nehmert, etc. etc.); and then those who "just" won 1 bigger national tournament (which is of course also a fine success). I don't want to deny that I could probably learn from them, too, but I still feel a difference. So here is my suggestion: gold stars for the first group, silver stars for the second. To pick up the original topic: what about a blinking star symbol when its owner is playing? Or a coloured surrounding? I hope I didn't offend anybody, that is by no means my intention! Caren