Hanoi5

[hv=pc=n&w=sa84hq965da64cqt8&d=e&v=0&b=14&a=pp1c1s2hp?]133|200[/hv] MP's, in case it matters.

[hv=pc=n&w=skj43ha4d9caqt963&d=w&v=n&b=12&a=1cp1n2dd2hp3d?]133|200[/hv] As partner denies Majors with 1NT you decide to double in case he has diamonds. Would you double 3♦ as well? Do you play the 2♦ double as take-out or penalty?

You probably mean THEY have not caught a single cheat. Even though this process has been violent almost all bridge players interested can draw their own conclusions on whether F-S, F-N and P-S cheated or not. B-Z is another matter, as there hasn't been a clear hypotheses correctly tested to the satisfaction of most. But it is certainly true: They haven't caught a cheater yet.

The desire for 'I told you so' and 'I was always right' is strong with this one.

Either your partner thought spades could be trumps or it's a relay for you to bid 5NT.

Not at all! Roger Lee noticed it in 2010 and it's the last comment in the Checkmate article.

Jonathan Ferguson

I'll give a try to 3NT, though a club slam should also be on the picture.

2/1 FG might be too much for someone just starting. I prefer to teach SA just so they have the gist of what a system means. What is probably more important is to teach her a good system over the 1NT opening as it will last longer if she changes from SA to 2/1.

What is 2NT in this sequence? 18-19 Balanced?

[hv=pc=n&e=st97432ha2dqj975c&d=e&v=n&b=2&a=?]133|200[/hv] You're playing MP's. Your 2M opening bids show 5 cards in the Major 4+ in an undisclosed minor and less than opening values. So if you have a weak-2 in a Major you have to open 2♦ (Multi). What's your call?

A: You know, I heard Fantoni and Nunes cheat. B: Really!? You mean number 1 and 2 in the world ranking cheat and nothing has been done!? A: Yep B: Maybe we should try it... Actually, some people I know were asking the same exact question. How can a pair get together and discuss this?

Or... Win. heart to cover whatever East plays :)

Win, ♦AK, heart Q? Win, ♦AK, trump to the table, ♦Q to park a club, small club to the K. The problem is spades 3-1 with West long in spades.

Could it be that the 4th pair didn't qualify for Chennai!? Or maybe they didn't qualify in Croatia... OMG!

I always tell my students a take-out double by partner is forcing unless passing leads to a better result. So if your partner doubles at the 3 level and you have a couple of tricks, and no game (or even part-score) seems feasible, then passing could be correct. If you have too many values in their suit and NT (especially 3) doesn't look good, so they are probably going down in the douled contract, then passing could be right. If you expect they're going down any way or you're going down if you play and they're going to score more points if you bid than if you pass, then passing cpuld be right (this one is the hardest to evaluate, I think). About holding up with aces: no technique or play can be summed up in a simple advice. You cannot apply 'second hand low' all the time, for example. Each case has to be decided on its own and holding up aces in 4+ contracts mught work out not only as a way to keep control or communications but also as a means of making declarer misguess or severing communications with dummy, etc. It's a good idea to read books on defense so you can learn when and why you should hold aces (and quite some other plays).

[hv=pc=n&w=s3hj864djt95cat93&e=saqj42hqt73dkck82&d=s&v=b&b=7&a=ppp1sp1np2hp3hp4hppp]266|200[/hv] 3♥ might be too much and 4♥ could be better if the red king belonged to the heart suit. Who should have stopped?

So it is the other one! And, are these allegations new? Why did Zimmerman go to such lengths to form this team if one of the pairs was tainted? Or maybe ALL pairs are tainted?

So the next pair is from a team Franck Multon is in? Didn't the other two pairs from that team have 'problems' with bridge law before? Helgemo was involved in making up results from a match (along with at least 7 others I believe) in the first country he represented (actually, I always found it funny how after being banned from his federation he went somewhere else). Fantunes has always been a weird system which many people smell badly; and they defended a hand in a recent (last year?) Italian tournament which led their opponents to go to a higher authority which apparently questioned them and their answer was not very... logical (even Versace said it was a weird defense). But these pairs have been around longer than F-S. What damage would they have inflicted on the game if any of them were found guilty? What damage can be inflicted upon the game if nothing is done soon? Why hasn't the WBF launched a Media Campaign and taken some action to respond to all of this? Who are the other two? It's less than two weeks to Chennai...

I think that when you speak to a lawyer you have to remember that they are led by the law and not neccessarily the fact. Haven't you seen lawyers twist things so that their client gets free? Haven't some murderers been exonerated on charges because they were not 'arrested' properly or because some piece of proof was taken wrongfully? Did you ever watch a movie called 'Primal Fear'? For me a guilty person/pair is just guilty if they committed the fault. How is that measured? That's where we have a problem. I really think bridge organizations have to define the wrong acts a player could do. Is it the same if somebody willingly plays from the table instead of his/her hand or if they create a system of signals to transmit illegal information? I'm sure not. Is it the same to hide information from your alert that to use non-prescribed ritalin before playing? I don't think so. The infamous pair has been caught in certain acts VERY few people knew about (and no one did anything anyway), one of them has a super power (superhearing) and they've been doing things that have prompted bridge organizations to keep a close eye on them (but nothing has been found, since they don't know exactly what to look for). I remember when the Doctors were found guilty some people mentioned how stupid they had been and how easy it would be to cheat better. This pair apparently is better but still left an interesting trail which fortunaltely has been, in my opinion, found.

Bidding > Probabilities

[hv=pc=n&s=sakqj64hk4dcaj653&n=sthaqjt65d765ck74&d=s&v=b&b=7&a=1s2d2hp3cp3hp5np6cp7sppp]266|200[/hv] The diamond Ace is led and you ruff. Partner didn't quite get your Josephine, otherwise you'd be playing 7♥, I suppose. How do you continue?

Very nice interview. We just have to wait for the haters to come up with another source of complain ;)

In favor of playing the K you have the fact that East entered the bidding and he doesn't hold the ♠A, so where are his HCP's? In favor of finessing the 10 we have the fact that West chose to lead his own suit (so maybe he's got an entry...) and that fineesing for the Queen also allows us to win when East holds AQx. I don't think I'll throw away a heart on the first trick, though. I'd rather shed a diamond. I think 2♥ is a better bid than 3NT right away. It's not that you have no spade stopper, it's that you have no spades!

Pass, Pass, 2NT, 2NT, X. Some of the answers I've read have made my answers 'shake'. For example, on the second hand doubling is interesting, although finding a fit a the three level in case partner is not punishing them can get ugly. On the 4th hand I think I have way too much to just pass. And on the last one I was just answering from mmy gut feeling: usually people covering for partner before a double has turned to penalty are not good enough to make their contract.