benlessard

Our meta agreements is transfer lebensohl anytime game is possible, otherwise 2Nt is scrambling. So if partner isnt a passed hand. (1S)----X-----(2S)------??? X = semi-penality 2Nt = clubs or many inv 3C = Diamonds GF or to play 3D = H GF or to compete 3H = stayman GF 3S = clubs GF 3Nt = to play. We also play leaping michael type bids Playing plain lebensohl is a rather weak treatment because they will often bid 3S. Im willing to play something different if im pretty sure the opponents have the goods.

WTP double

[hv=d=s&v=n&s=skqjtxhqjxdaxcatx]133|100|Scoring: MP[/hv] 1S-----2H (not GF) 3H-----4D (serious) ???? partner denies the A of S and a club control but bid a good 4D instead of a non-serious 3Nt. Edit PS 3H is GF

3D WTP. Partner is favorite to have 5 diamonds. He could have only 3 with 4135 shapes but they could easily make 2H and even 2H X-1 might be worth no MP.

1H----1nt-----2d------2S-------3h-------3S--------3Nt 2S is good D raise. 3S is showing half a stopper.

Over 3H, 3Nt is still showing 5S, so 3S is a slam try. Since its not a slam try with 5S/4H or a 1 suiter with spades its automatically a S+C slam try or a quantitative balance slam try. Holding only 4C and a minimum west did well to bid just 3Nt and west 4C is terrible bid of making 2 slam try with a hand that maybe doesnt worth making 1. Also note that 3Nt by west doesnt necessarly give up on slam with a nice 19 with 3 trumps spades support opener will cue bid instead of just lazily raise to 4S. Some play that 3S is 5 very good spades looking for 3Nt or 4S (in 5-2) but i much prefer to use 3S as a slam try.

You must play crappy overcall if north isnt strong enough to X 3S or to GF. In wich case you should probably alert your 2 level overcall. If that isnt the case south clearly has enough extras to bid 4H. Ps isnt the French style for advancer advancer is same level thant overcaller = forcing 2 over 1 ...NF (1D)----1H-----(pass)------??? 1S= forcing 2C = non forcing (1D)----2C-----(Pass)-----2M is forcing (unless a PH)

I would bid 4C NLM or double with east hand but 4H is forced if partner frequently pass 3 level take-out X. After 4S i slighty prefer X to 5H. Partner is probably S void and will pull with super shape or they are in 7-2 FIT. 6H is terrible, partner could have bid 5m en passant to show a good 5H raise.

Either i have the agreement that partner will always bid 2Nt if hes got something in clubs (even with super long H) or 3S show half a club stopper. Anyway 4D seems clear cut for now. If partner doesnt have a club control we will play 5D othewise 6D or 7D.

With a club fit responder will prefer to raise to 4C or to keycard directly than to bid 3D. With solid H he will bid 3H (unless you allow adv cue-bid). Also opener should rebid 3H (over 3D) with any hands holding 2H. 1S---2H 3C My style is .. opener want to keyc in H 3H followed by 4Nt is H keycard no matter what responder bid. Keyc in C 4C followed by 4Nt or 4C is RKC for clubs Keyc is S 3S ...etc with a quant i just bid 4Nt directly. Some will say that a direct Quantitative is rare and i agree its just that if you dont use a direct quant a later 4Nt bid will be unclear. For me 6H doesnt make sense unless my agreement are crystal clear. Either responder cannot have solid H or he can. PS 5NT pick-a-slam is a very underated and easy to use slam tool. that solve all kind of dumb problems.

your initial calculation are correct. If East is a robot that never falsecard from JTx finesse. If he always play the J from JT its slightly better to play for the drop. If he know you have Qx the hes got a mandatory falsecard with JTx. Therefore playing for the drop is way better. If its possible you got Qxx then its still possible for him to play the J from Jx or from JTx but both are dangerous. If the position is [hv=n=sak9xhdc&s=sqxxhxdc]133|200|[/hv] Not only you would usually cash the A or K first but he still can play the J or T (from JTx or Hx) with a small risk. the 2nd round he will play the low card and you will have a guess. (Should finesse) and lose.

16 boards is a bit long to keep a running estimate. But if the caliber is very high and you hit a streak of dull boards than "state of match" strategies become importants. To play 1 long match slightly penalize the players who are very good at keeping a running estimate. I also think that in teams with 3 pairs or with a playing sponsor or substitute than dividing into 16B make sense since in the tournament you often have the chance to send the weak pair against the weak team. In both case the difference is pretty small so it shouldnt be a huge concern.

Double 2S at imps is not my bid but at the 3level its simply nonsense.

Ive calculated that holding J9xx RHO neutral strategy is to put the 9, 1/3 of the time. As declarer if you believe RHO will falsecard more than 33% and you hold AKTx you should play the Q at trick 2 (pay the stiff 9 protect against j9xx falsec) otherwise cash the K and protect against a stiff 9 and pay to the falsecard. So the gain from playing low from dummy is 33% of j9xx and stiff T on the other side = slighlty less than 1%. This is always a gain unless RHO never falsecard (wich is a bad strategy)

You have to finesse clubs at trick 2 wich is a bit double-dummy.

At imps its a clear pass. At MP its borderline and i think double is ok because they wont X you.

Double and bidding isnt over, at this level partner will play us more for general strenght than for diamonds tricks. So if hes got a monster we might still reach game/slam.

At a quick glance you seems to have an endplay on RHO if clubs are 3-3 and spades 5-2. (or if spades 43 and RHO doesnt unblock Q♠) Win on dummy play the Q of clubs and duck. If the Q isnt covered play clubs to the 8. Win the S return. Cash the A of clubs. If clubs are 3-3 you only need 3D so on the ace of H you pictch the 4th diamond. Go up to dummy play the 4th club and hopefully RHO is squeezed. If club dont break youll need 4 D tricks. If the Q is ducked and LHO win the 2 round of clubs and return a haert its basically the same line.

the only time i wont bid 4D is facing a passed hand non-vul at MP, and even there it wouldnt surprised me if game makes.

I suggest you to play some kind of leaping michaels after 2C opening and to jump to 3M with 4M and 6m hands, those 2 big suiters are a frequent problems. Unless you have a specific way to deal with those hands i suggest to wait having 9.5 tricks before opening them 2C. (your missing a Majors Jack to open 2C imo)

in my favorite method ill bid 2D multi inv (with pass and correct responses) over 2H ill bid 2S inv and over 2S (accepting H but not S) we will play 4H. In standard i think ill go 3H inv. Where i live partner is more likely to have a 6th H than having 3S. 2H is 2nd choice.

few RHO will pass 1Dx with short diamonds and 5+ pts. So therefore opener is likely to have a balanced 18-19 pts and partner got a pretty big hand over him, 2- or that opener has an unbalanced hand and partner got a monster 3- or that opener got a big unbalanced hands. in the 1st 2 case passing make sense in the 1st 1DX is a fair shot while in the 2nd if you bid 1S partner will jump to an unmakable game or to 3S/2Nt. In the 3rd youll give away some overtricks. I would bid 1S but understad why passing might work. Also its easier to pass if opps play weak nt here... (so that the 1D opening can even be 15-17 bal)

Ive assuming that the 2S denies a 4 card major therefore likely to have 3 clubs , so imo partner should strive to make a cue-bid with Kx in D and AQxxx in clubs and a M king. However i believe here that 3D is halfway between slammish and looking for the best game so partner 3Nt is showing wasted values in both majors. I can see hands where 4Nt/5D goes down so im more tempted for pass than bid on but its close.

1- i wouldnt overcall. 2- i think 1Nt is a clear mistake. Not strong enough and the hand could easily play better elsewhere. 3- I would put you down -3 for -800 (all you have to do is give count in clubs so that north can hold up in clubs)

play power K leads. If you look at convention cards of top players 90% of them play the K for count/unblock vs Nt. http://www.ecatsbridge.com/documents/docde...ConventionCards