flytoox

3H is an overbid. Having done that, now I retreat to 4S. Call me a wimp.

I go with heart lead. Declarer announced twice that he has stopper in spade. If he has sth like SAJX, he certainly would move on after pd's 3S. His 3N should really says he has lots of waste in spade. I'd better to trust him this time. If I am wrong I will appologize to pd.

I will bid 2S. Pd's dbl is t/o, isnot it?

I will discard a club. Pd rates to have 6223. He should have SAQ and HK. I think there are a few questions which will help us deciding what to throw. 1) Why pd didnot duck spade? I think he should, but perhaps he made a mistake. Or he doesnt want to be throwed in. 2) Why pd didnot switch to diamond when he knows there is no future in spade? His holding in diamond must persuade him from doing so. Perhaps he has DAQ. In this case discarding a diamond would be fatal.

I will go with Heart lead.

I like starting with 1N, then rebid 3H or 2N depending on pd's rebid.

I like 3D. 2D shows a strong balanced hand, 3D should be splinter. And pd will know what to do. If he bids 3N, I think I will pass.

Because you need to plan ahead. Why 2C then 3H is not planning ahead? What if Pd bid 3D over 2H?

Red vs white I like strong jump. 3S looks right to me. But I dont mind to overcall 1S.

You said it.

I cannot see any bid other than 2C. You need pd to have CK and H stopper plus sth in Diamond to make 3N. If he has so much I am sure he will raise to 3C or do sth else. Forget any game and try to win a partscore at the moment. 2C is the best start.

Yes, your example justfied your point, but the hand given here can hardly support it.

This is a very different hand.

Well, the resulst is not purely bad luck. I agree with Ben that 1S is much better than dbl in seconde round. This hand has lots of flaw, singleton HQ, and the fact that opp may have a 4-3 fit. So after RHO's 2H, I think pass is better. Another decisive factor is opp will surely have bad trump break. Though we may be able to make a partscore, we can just do as well by defending.

I would pass the first one but wouuld venture 2H with second hand. QT8xx is much better than Qxxxx. I know it is risky but I am willing to take this risk.

That's not true :) The other day I contracted for 13 tricks, only to find out 12 was the limit (finesse failed :P ) hehe, counterexample doesnot apply in bridge.:) This law is at least as good as the law of total tricks. Dont you think so?

This is the key. What you think it should be is different from what it would be. You think pd should be smart enough to work it out but why give him a chance to make mistake when you can control everything? Can you say you never make stupid mistake? None can, neither your pd. Donot test your pd, unnecessary.

1)You go to 3 level, not to make, but to preempt in this context. 2)Do you agree that your pd knows better than your opponents that you are likely to psyche? 3) I dont think your opponents are strong.

You didn't psyche. You cuebid 2♠ so what ? I didn't have the hand for the 2♠ cuebid as well :P That doesn't matter :-) You may say you psyched your strength but anybody thinking that 2♠ showed a real spade suit need a reality check. There're at least 6 or 7 meanings of 2♠ before thinking about a spade suit. If 2S is a cue or any other bid except natural, then Free is supposed to alert it. He didnot alert it so 2S should be taken as natural.

Pass, no real alternative.

I agree with Justin. We have 12 tricks for sure. Remember the old saying: whenever there is twelve tricks, there is thirteen tricks. Why bother with 6H? South need to get a copy of Simon's 'why you lose at bridge' asap.

Why should he raise if pard's 2S might have been made on AKxx or KJTx? Please note that Free didnot alert 2S. So 2S should be natural. In this case dont you think East's pass rather strange?

Not really. I said it depends on if East is a regular pd of West.

I think you misunderstand it. I have never played with Free. However, even if I seat in East and heard Free's 2s bid, I would suspect he is psychicing, as he is one of the posters here who advocate frequent psychic bid. Here if East is a regular pd of Free's, then he must know that 2S is likely to be psychic. Hence he has responsibility to alert it. Of course, Nroth should dbl 2S to expose West's psychic bid. But apparently they dont know it. This is another reason why weak players should be protected in some way. After all, bridge is supposed to be a gentleman's game.

2S should be a fit bid, so pd should raise to 3S. The fact that he didnt raise implies he knows this 2S is likely to be a psychic bid. I completely agree with Ben on this.