Old York

I cannot imagine why, but I am tempted to lead a low Heart .... but that seems crazy ♥Queen is normal. A low Heart might work much better if partner has ♥Kx etc Not too happy about opening the bidding, tho Tony

Was 3♣ a simple transfer response or a super-accept of partner's presumed Diamond suit? There are various systems of 4-way transfers. Which minor did you think your partner was showing with the 2NT bid? I think oppo are entitled to ask and receive full disclosure without having to ask again Tony

Both hands have 12hcp and 7 losers, but have continued bidding? As North, I would have respected partner's decision and defended 4♣ Maybe a trump at trick 2? With this type of bidding anything could be wrong Tony

There are no Cardinal rules But read "Cardinal Sins" by David Bird and Terence Reese :) Tony

I agree Most free tournaments show a padlock. This can simply be "no enemies" but can often be "friends only", "include custom list", "private club" etc It is increasingly difficult to find free, friendly, well run tourneys that are open to all BBO members. Obviously, this is because many tournament hosts have had severe problems with disruptive players, but innocent players are being excluded too Disruptive players should be reported to abuse@bbo and have their membership suspended, but too many slip through the net Tony

4NT should not be Blackwood here Sign-off in 4NT and hope partner has a Heart trick (or any trick on a club lead) Tony

It may help to examine the play to the first 3 tricks West led ♦7, but which card did East return? And why did West win trick 2? With no entry card, West should let your Queen win Did West exit with a card lower than ♦7 at trick 3? I think that West has ♠Q (at least), so I would run the ♣9, repeating the finesse when it wins, Then cash ♠AK If East returned a low Diamond and followed suit to trick 3, then lead ♠Jack Playing on Hearts may look safe (75%), but West should play the King or Queen and give you a difficult guess The hand is definitely not "easy", and I don't think you "messed this" Tony

Someone told me that using their widescreen laptop in narrowscreen mode deletes the adverts (But don't tell Fred) Also, you can reduce the size of the right-hand column by dragging I have not experimented with the Windows Magnifier (in accessories) Tony

There must be a way of adding Mr T's voice from sat-nav to say "Your turn, FOOL" Tony B) Love the avatar, Kev/Calvin

There is a modern tendancy towards more and more destructive methods, never trust the enemy bidding, always trust your partner An oppo of mine recently opened 2♠ with: ♠Qxxxx ♥x ♦109xxx ♣Jx If your partner is wrong, then any disasters are his responsibility, your conscience is clear Tony

Spade pips? Yep ♠9 is looking good (surrounding ♠K8x with East) We do need to attack Spades as a discard is likely on club Queen So declarer is 3721? Tony

The Spade switch is simple bridge logic, as supported by Martin Hoffman and Hugh Kelsey If partner wants to cash Clubs, he can do so from his side of the table by overtaking Partner cannot want a third Diamond, declarer must ruff (what was signal on lead?) A trump switch is just plain silly So a Spade is left by a process of elimination QED (Partner must have Kx or Qx and I want to give him a ruff) Which Spade? Everyone at the table knows that I have 5 There is a case for leading ♠Jack in case declarer has K8x I would lead ♠2 as suit preference (I dont want a third Diamond) Have we missed game here? If so then we need +500 So I need partner with 2254 Tony

Where have I heard that before? ...... Oh yes, all my girlfriends... Tony :angry:

I'm tempted to bid 2NT (protective) .... but don't tell anyone Tony :angry:

1♣-1♦-1NT works well if you play that the 1♦ response denies a biddable 4 card major (Staymanic) Tony

The standard BBO-FD cards don't help much :angry: Sayc/Acol/Natural: 1♠-2♥-3♥-ppp {why is 3♥ shown as forcing on FD?} 2/1 1♠-1NT-2♦-3♠ (if invitational) or 2♠ (constructive) Either way opener should pass with 7 losers Tony

Your partner had the opportunity to overtake ♦Queen, so his failure to do so demands a Spade If you partner has Clubs to cash or a singleton Spade (or ♠KQ), he should overtake Even so, he has done a lot of bidding with: ♠Kx ♥x ♦KJxxx ♣K9843 Tony

2S does not deny a spade stopper, it just denies 4 spades. It is the only forcing bid responder has, so if we wants to set a certain suit as truumps, because he wants to go looking for slam, 2S is the bid, he has to choose. With kind regards Marlowe Exactly And if partner is looking for a minor suit slam, clubs may be better than diamonds He will never bid 6♣ if he thinks you hold ♣xx The only logical reason for partner to bid 2♠ is as a game force with minor suit slam ambitions, or as a game force with 3 card Heart support (and no Spade stopper), bidding 3 Clubs leaves the door open for both Tony

You can alter the colour scheme in profile setup (windows client only?) Also, turn the volume up, or asign different sounds in profile I paint the dummy bright red Tony

A trump lead is just as likely to succeed here. Declarer needs to establish his hearts by ruffing, or maybe establish dummy's club suit Declarer should not have xx in either black suit to bid 4NT Tony

Does it not also show a high card in the suit? I do not think this bid is limited to 12-14 as it is forcing Tony

If responder has a Spade stop, he should not be bidding 2♠ here, so what possible reason could there be? You cannot make any positive bid here, so the best you can do is deny a spade stop, deny 5 hearts and deny 3 card diamond support. The 3♣ bid shows more than 3 Clubs, which is the only positive aspect of this hand 3♠ should show 4 cards or at least a partial stopper I vote for 3♣ as the lesser of all evils. I think partner has a strong hand with 5/4 in the minors and a possible Spade singleton Edit: If partner rebids 3♦ then 5♦ might play ok, If he rebids 3NT then I get a new partner, after a 3♥ rebid then 4♥ playing in 4-3 should be reasonable Tony

Many tables would bid 2NT-6NT, but this is technically inferior (especially at Imp scoring). Perhaps the 6NT bidders thought they were playing matchpoints? You can consider yourself very unfortunate to find 5-0 trumps, hopefully next time you bid 6♥ you will be able to ruff a loser, and thus beat the 6NT bidders (scoring a top at MP) Tony

I bid 6♥ , (maybe after 1 round of cue bids then rkcb) 6NT may play better if partner is maximum, but you might need a ruff if partner is minimum. Tony

If North throws a Heart and 2 Clubs (or 1 card from each suit) then you will have some very difficult decisions to make because you can only cash 3 heart tricks (suit blocked)... [if dummy held ♥9 then your solution would work] This is an interesting hand to play out as a single dummy bridge problem, but the solution given is double-dummy all the way. No player would take this line at the table, there are just too many variables The best line on this hand is the simplest. Ducking a diamond to South and hope the ♣Ace is with South or South continues Spades Thanks for the puzzle, I love a mystery :P Tony