skjaeran

Unless LHO was a complete bunny I'd always play for the drop, and I don't think it's close. I've seen this jack lead quite a few times, and I'm still waiting for it to be from J or Jx. Being laughed at doesn't bother me at all in these situations, but I'd be insane the day I finessed. Just consider anyone leading the singleton J finding the queen in dummy, partner with an unsupported king and declarer with the ace...

I play like this with my regular partner, except we've switched the 11-12/13-14 with 4♥ and bid 2♥ with 11-12 and 1♥ with 13-14. Recently I've seen in practice why this might be the wrong approach. The 1♥ response also include 18-19 with 4-card support (we jump to 4♥ on a max 18-19 non-3433).

This is close. I'll take the ace and switch ♦5. There's too many layouts where declarer has 9 winners if he gains the lead, where partner's got ♦AT8x or better.

I think such an assumption is unplayable. The other night I held AKJxx Qxx AKQ xx: The auction began 1♠ 1N. Any call other than 3N makes no sense at all, at least not to me I'd rebid 2NT, conventional GF here. :) Follow-ups to play 3NT, 4♥ vs 5-card, 4♠ vs Qx (if we want) etc.

If you are playing to make, is that good enough? I mean, WEST will ruff third heart and get a trump promotion for his partner, for down one (2C, 1S loser). As unlikely as it seems, you need to play for hearts to be 3-3, win ACE, ruff heart. Club ACE, Diamond to ACE, Club king. Yeah you're right. I overlooked that I already ruffed a ♠. So playing for hearts to be 3-3 is obviously what you need to do.

Finesse through east. Playing east to be 5413.

I'd never double 1NT with 12 cards only...are we missing a small club?

Doubling 2♥ would show hearts for me, and 2♠ (over 2♥) would be a strong t/o of spades. So pass is clear to me for now. Over 2♠ a double is thinkable, but I doubt it's sound to get back in. I'm a passer.

I doubt that. Most strong players bid like this with say 2362 and a strong hand too. Most people double with 4450/3451/4351, so that can't be true.

Partner showed a strong 1♦ overcall. He's normally got a 16+ hand with 6c♦. Bidding 2♦ is clearcut. I'll not introduce my empty ♠-suit and risk playing in a hopeless 5-2 fit with RHO known to hold four trumps.

Always GF for me. Only exception would be 1♠ if playing standard or Walsh.

Do you mean "What call do you make now" or are we forced to make a bid? B) (Pass and double aren't bids.)

The first sequence is very strange. First south doubles, then cuebids and is able to show his suit at the 4-level only. I don't know if 2♦ would be forcing or not, the double may indicate it wasn't - thus they play hi-lo doubles. If so he should rebid 2♦ GF over 2♣. The whole sequence is ridicilous to me and it looks like south had no idea what bids would be natural and forcing. The jump to 6♦ is bizzarre. Thesecond sequence was much more normal than the first. With north not making a 4♥ cuebid I can understand that south passes 5♦. Slam was only so-so. The last was really weird. He needed partner to hold the ♠A, ♣AK (or Axxx and K dropping) and the ♥ finess as well. No guarantee that 6♣ was making from his POV even, but that should be a fine contract.

Never discovered this thread before. I'm Harald Skjæran, 42 years old, living in Oslo, Norway. Been married for nearly 14 years, but we're separating now - moving into a new apartment in a couple of weeks. Two sons, 10 and shortly 13. Will be a part-time dad. I'm working in the Norwegian Bridge Federation's office - been there 16 years now. 2nd in command, have been acting Secretary General a couple of periods. I started playing card games at 2 YO, dropping in at bridge when my parents lacked a 4th from the age of 8 I believe. Playing in a club since I was 12. Reprensented Norway internationally at the Nordic Junior Teams championships in 1987 partnering Geir Helgemo (he was 17 then), winning the under-23 class. Played a lot during high school and as a student, some less since having children. I've been playing in our national 1st division on two occasions (last season and three years previous), dropping down to 2nd division both times with a clear margin up to 7th place (where you survive). Silver medal in the national club teams championship once (2001) and three medals in the national swiss teams championship (2001, 2003, 2005). My whole team played badly in the 1st weekend of the 2nd division two weeks ago. Need to play far better the 2nd weekend (early February) to aviod dropping to 3rd division. I'm spending more time playing f2f than online, but more boards online. I'm skjaeran at BBO (skaeran due to mistyping here on the forums). I've been commentating irregularly on the vugraph broadcasts for some 2 years (maybe more - can't really remember), probably spending more time that way than playing on BBO.

There's nothing "wrong" with this 2♣ opening. Sure, I'd not open 2♣ myself with this hand, since I'd not be able to show both suits before at the 4-level. But a 6-control 3-loser hand is defenitely strong. I'd never ever call the director here. There's absolutely no reason for that.

This entirely depends upon what kind of opponents I'm playing against. vs competent opps I'd be 90+% sure they're making 6♥, and would save without a doubt. There's no reason to except any defensive trick from partner on this auction. One opponent surely is void in diamonds. Playing against not so strong opponents this is another matter. I'd be more reluctant to save then. But it still looks like a making slam to me.

♠Not for me..I think the hand with 8 ♠ tricks and 3 card support is too strong to jump to 4♠ as many slams will be missed. .. neilkaz .. Agree.

1. A tough one. Anything but a ♣ are clear alternatives. I'd normally lead ♠K or ♥T at the table - both equally possible. ♦7 (or 8 according to agreements) is a third, but more distant alternative. 2. Playing FNJ (I don't) this is an easy 4♣ I believe. You can bid 4♣ without playing FNJ too, but then you run the risk of not being able to support partner lower than the 5-level, which is too tough. I'll go for 4♠ to show my support and preemt opps auction a little.

That's true for most European countries, but not for Norway. The % of households owning gun(s) in Norway is much higher than all other western countries, except for USA. Still our rate of murders (with or without the use of a gun) is very low. Of course, except for some criminals, Norwegian gun owners keep their guns locked down and unloaded when not in use (for hunting, shooting competitions/practice etc). It's not the number of weapons that is the problem I believe. More how weapons are conceived by the public. Norwegian police is btw, generally not armed. How many of the guns, in Norway, are handguns, Harald? In Canada, especially in the rural areas, there are a lot of 'guns', but most of them are shotguns or rifles, used for hunting. There are gun clubs, but even there much of the shooting is with shotguns. Handguns are much more of a threat since it is tough to both conceal a shotgun/rifle and have quick access to it in a confrontation in a public place. I haven't got numbers for that, but I expect the ratio of handguns to be far lower here than in the US. You're right about handguns being much more of a threat. But you won't find handguns lying around in Norwegian homes - they're locked down. The number of unregistered handguns in criminal hands are increasing though. And those are more liable to be kept at the ready.

That's true for most European countries, but not for Norway. The % of households owning gun(s) in Norway is much higher than all other western countries, except for USA. Still our rate of murders (with or without the use of a gun) is very low. Of course, except for some criminals, Norwegian gun owners keep their guns locked down and unloaded when not in use (for hunting, shooting competitions/practice etc). It's not the number of weapons that is the problem I believe. More how weapons are conceived by the public. Norwegian police is btw, generally not armed.

If partner has bid 2NT on a hand like I've seen many overcall repeatedly we're -1100 in 5♦. If partner is more sane we might have a good save. But I'm more concerned that bidding here might help opener evaluate his slam potential. So I'll go with the majority and pass.

while I agree with most of your post, this point is mistaken. 4N over 3♣, if it is keycard at all (and there is some merit in it being natural and quantitative), it is keycard in clubs... responder has to set diamonds as trump first. 4NT over 3♣ should indeed be a natural quantitative bid.

1M-1NT-2NT is used as a conventional GF by many here too. The responses after 1♥ and 1♠ differ, as more suits are in play after a 1♠ opening.

In a natural system you'd have no chance to reach the slam without making some very lucky (and odd) decisions.

I'd say it's the other way around. Kids play majors or NT, whereas mature players consider minors when that is correct. B)