42

Frances, you are by far not alone, great music! Right now, as I read this, I am listening to Mendelssohn-Bartholdy's "Elias" (we're having a concert with that in january). Most pieces of Dvorak are fantastic, not to forget Berlioz, Sibelius and Debussy and and and.... Did you ever listen to Nigel Kennedy? A sensitive rebel and on the violin (of course not everybody's darling...). But I am a music maniac and love different stuff. An interesting thing is CAMILLE: "Le fil", it is French (perhaps) Jazz; she took one tone (le fil) and performs with her voice pieces around that, very few instruments. Stefano di Battista's "Parker's Mood" is really fine for dreaming, relaxing, playing online bridge or whatever. And good old QUEEN: hmmmmm :D My favourite CD is "A Night At The Opera". I better stop now, n8 :) Caren

Perhaps Justin coached them? :D Or he has a bet running :)

1♠. Why shouldn't a ♥-fit be possible? I don't like preempting with the other major.

It is working time in Europe :P To steal some minutes for reading and posting in the forum will be tolerated, but chatting might be a bit strange, at least here.... :P

Perhaps I snipped too much... I meant that when I overcall a 4card suit and partner raises with a weak hand it should not create a problem when I follow the above mentioned requirements. Partner may find a sensitive bid as well. Therefore I personally would NOT like to overcall a 4carder with a balanced hand. When I am stronger (let's say 14+) I dbl, otherwise I pass and listen to the bidding. Let them play NT and kill them :P I cannot yet see the advantage of a quick bid with a balanced hand. That I have some points will be revealed in the further bidding. Perhaps I keep them out of an unhappy NT when I bid with a balanced hand because I showed immediately where my strength is and they find a better harbour...? That is my fear. Ok, if partner is on lead, he HAS pressure to find the best spot, and when I passed he must think, but that is the game...

When the requirements for a 4card overcall are at least opening strength, a good suit and -in tendency- an unbalanced hand, then it should not create a big problem in this case, or? And partner can perhaps see (feel :D ) what is going on when looking at his shape and knows what he is doing and finds a sensitive bid. But maybe my trust in partner is too high here.

I play Raptor wich makes it -for me- easier to bid some hands. But in these examples I see that a 4card overcall is fine. Thx all for your replies! Caren

What is it and what must be done? Please explain it how you would do to your grandma :unsure: Caren

Hi! [hv=d=s&v=n&s=sxhajxdak109xxck109]133|100|Scoring: MP bidding so far: 1♦ 2♠(wj) pass pass (with hesitation) ??[/hv] Do you make another move? Btw: you play with a partner who is a bit depressed at the moment and passes whenever he can :) Caren

Hi! I know that it is sometimes good to overcall a 4card suit. Yesterday I had a good one (AKJ10), but decided against overcalling and, surprise, next opp bid that suit (he had Q987x). Since I am not experienced with 4card-overcalls, my questions are now: 1. What is required for a 4card overcall -> distribution, vulnerability, suit quality? 2. What are the main advantages? Leaddirecting? Push them out of NT? Pretend a special distribution? Thx all :) Caren

->

This hand ♠ KQJ1095 ♥ 10 ♦ 7 ♣ Q9532 is from here: http://forums.bridgebase.com/index.php?showtopic=10685 Despite the question of unauthorized information: is it a hand you would compete "alone" against 4♥ (if it comes to that...)? The bidding starts with 2♥ (w2) and you have to find the best bid (2♠, 4♣, 4♠?). What would you do over a number of ♥? What if partner dbls any ♥ bid?

1. Did you get unauthorized information? Unless my partner ALWAYS asks, yes. His question might ask for min / max :) Or he is a little bit too weak to bid now what he would have done against a strong NT 2. If yes, did you take advantage of the UI? Yes, easier now to make some action with this shape and maximum for the initial pass 3. Is it a clear double without the UI? not for me chicken. 4. Is pass a logical alternative at this form of scoring? yes

I am with the committee in this case. A committee should of course decide according to the rules and the law, but the circumstances play also a role. Not all murderers go into jail for the same time although they all killed somebody. So: - It was no regular partnership. - The 3♠-bid is "unusual", which no-regular partnership has an agreement here? So for me the reasoning of the hesitation (just to try to work out what 3♠ meant) sounds honest and is more or less prooved after a look at the hand. It happens all the time that players just think about what is going on even when they could easily pass. Experienced players know the rules and what trouble can be caused by that and try to avoid such situation (pass first, think then). - A hesitation does not always mean that this player thinks about bidding, he could also try to prevent partner from bidding (unethical, of course, but I've seen that before!!) It is more likely that a player can make use of the UI when he knows his partner well. And a hesitation could just mean nothing as well. - An unauthorized information is not what is punished, it is the utilization of the UI. That means that if the partner of the (here) hesitator bids on, he has no logical alternatives and can proove it, he does exactly do the same what he had done without an UI; otherwise the score will be adjusted. Let 3♠ be as bad as you want: how many defensive tricks does this player have? It is risky to bid on, sure. Since the hesitation can mean: I would like to bid but I have no clearcut bid, partner, I would rather defend 4♥ than our side to play 4♠ or I am wondering what is going on here, which is the information that "influenced" the 3♠-bidder? It is a pure guess. If 4♠ would have been down for a million, nobody had said a word. Now hit me :lol: Caren

With 6-5 come alive As far as I understand this tip, it means that one should bid on with such extreme distribution because it might be worthless in defence. Questions: What is the range (HCP), if there is any? Is it ALWAYS right to bid on ? Does anyone have examples for this tip? Caren

With 6-5 come alive discussion/explanation -> http://forums.bridgebase.com/index.php?showtopic=10445

Look at the endposition which Hannie posted after 10 tricks (♠A, 3 ♥s, 2 ♠-ruffs, 2 ♦s, ♦-ruff and ♣ K): when the last trump is played, W must discard, either ♠K or a ♣, he cannot any longer control both black suits (he is squeezed). You have the entries that are necessary: if a ♠ is discarded, you score the ♠Q, if a ♣ is discarded, you play to ♣A and the last ♣ is good.

Hmmmm.... I bid only 3♥ because ♣K was for the oven and you know it from the bidding. Imo :). I agree, the CK is a bad card, but you don't know for sure where the ace or queen are, partner could have one of them. Even barring that, you still just needed to find the HQ to make a game, so it's not a bad proposition. *hehe* Then it was female intuition which said that the cards were where they were ;) On the other hand I must have bid 4♠ then :P But provided that N did not instantly bluff in 1. seat with the opening, and the free 2♥ bid by partner, wasn't it more likely that N held the "keycards" for this game?

Hmmmm.... I bid only 3♥ because ♣K was for the oven and you know it from the bidding. Imo :). Partner made just 3♥, the opps were not blind ;) We knew that 1♠ was a psyche but partner was not sure that I held 5 and I could not know that she had 3 (44 is easier, or?). The argument for a 44 vs a 53 trump-fit does not really apply here because the former bidding (and therefore the question who is on lead -> you must protect 2 Kings) is very important. The main point in this hand is not to avoid losers by discarding on length. Imo :P Caren

[hv=d=n&v=n&n=shq52da84caqj10642&w=skq1095hak94dk6ck3&e=sa76hj1076dqj107c95&s=sj8432h83d9532c87]399|300|Scoring: IMP bidding: 1♣ pass pass dbl 1♠ 2♥ 2♠ dbl 3♣ pass pass 3♥ all pass[/hv] 4♠ is cold. Questions: Should W bid differently? Should E bid differently? Which are the weapons against bluffs in general? Caren

touché :D I wanted also to save some money (...and spend it for antiaging creams and Ginseng)

Perhaps you could just say a few words what this article is about? I don't think that I make a trip from Germany to the US to buy a Vogue, but I am soooo curious :D

Bryan Ferry: As time goes by :(

Dear ♦Ben♦, we ♥ you! You are great, having a word or idea for quasi every question or situation! Everybody here knows what you are doing for us all! I understood pigpenz' posting only as banter in Justin's direction. Caren

oooops... in ♠s. Sorry! The last days have not been mine... ♠ AJxx ♥ Qxxx ♦ xxx ♣ xx