flytoox

I double. As pd shows extra by bidding 4H and now his pass is forcing, you cannot violate the principle and pass. You have to bid sth, eith dbl or 5H. I vote for double. My shape is bad, and I have some defense potential. At least it is not 4Sx, getting three tricks is much easier than getting four tricks. Doulbe and pray.

I must admit I admire those stay in 5D. I certainly would play 5H or sth else.

Tough one. I dont blame north much for his 4S. After all, he has prime card and JT trump support. If pd has 6 spades and some 10HCP hand, 4S should have some play. Perhaps south should try 3N after 3H. I dont like bidding 3S with such bad suit as 3S is not forcing and pd will often have nowhere to go. I think I may run to 5C after the double. It is difficult for sure, but at least the trump suit is good.

2D is not that bad as you think. North has some difficulty to respond to pd's 2C opening. North's hand worth some try, if pd could rebid 2s, he is well placed. If pd rebid 2h, he can try 2N. His good diamond suit provide some safety.

I vote for HK. I think it is clear to lead H. The question is which card to lead. Leading Hk has more than one way to win. Pd has HJ, or pd doesnt have it but we may force the declarer to use one entry too early.

I admit this is the cost playing 1S=5 and x=4 has to pay. On the other hand you can raise to 2M wihtout costing much. Furthermore I gain when LHO is going to raise to 2H or 3H. For example, 1C-1H-1S(4+)-3H(4H) ?? S: ATX H: XXX D: A C: AKJTXX Each method has merits.

Vul.: Both Dealer: South Holding the following hand: S: -- H: AQ964 D: A2 C: Q87632 Auction goes as follows: W N E S ----------1C 1S X P ?? What do you bid now

Just bid 6C. This should imply both C and S 1st round control. Pd should have a very good hand to try 5D.

the problem is not do it here, but recongnize it at the table. This applies to most declarer problem.

I'm curious about the spot lead. The three and two are missing. Does west lead 3rd best from a five card suit? Or, is this some sort of attitude lead and west chose to lead middle from something like Q7432 rather than a more encouraging two? If it's attitude, I expect west not to have the ace of hearts, low seems right then so that east will continue the suit if east wins the first side trick. If east has the Ace of Hearts and Ace of Clubs, that likely means the King of Diamonds is onside (since east failed to open the bidding). Doesn't this mean that: win ♣K, ♥K (ducked, I suppose), diamond finesse, establish hearts, produces nine tricks (1♣, 2♦, 4♥, 2♠) when hearts break? If hearts don't break, you can cash the ♦A to see if there is a doubleton king before looking to spades for the ninth trick. C4 is 4th from 5. I corrected it. Thanks for pointing out this.

[hv=d=e&v=n&n=sa83hqjt63daqcj95&s=skj95hkdjt652ck83]133|200|Scoring: IMP[/hv] Playing 3N, opps are silent in the auction. Opening lead is C4, East took the CA and return CT. Plan your play. IN particular, which suit you plan to establish? Thanks in advance. HJ

How do you define world class? I think in BWS, 1s=5 is default. You can play 1s=4+, but that is another thing. By looking at what the top Poles and Italians play. THere are many other world class players play it the other way.

Yes, u r right. Need to be careful with D return.

Pass, nowhere to go. Hoping for -1. If they can make then we will go down a lot at three level.

How do you define world class? I think in BWS, 1s=5 is default. You can play 1s=4+, but that is another thing.

Lead to SK. If wins, play small s from both next. If SK loses to LHO, lead to SQ next and then lead to S9.

Just throw H or D out and wait for your tricks. Declarer rates to have CA, he may have CT as well. Your tricks wont escape, so just sit back and wait. If declarer has 6511, you can still wait.

This is the hand where a small spade lead wont work. Declarer has no running suit to discard his spade loer, if he has any. So if you lead spade, he is more or less forcecd to take the finesse. Attacking with club is not without danger. Declarer should have CA for his 4N. He might have CQ as well. However, if we wait, declarer will use his heart tricks to discard his club loser. I go with small club.

3D looks good to me. This gives opp no space for invitation.

Free I hope you never sacrifice red vs white.

ruff, and concede a heart trick. Looks like LHO has singleton HQ now.

Cannot agree more. Small club should get it. I think declarer perhaps has DT as well.

2S, I dont think u shld try to set a trap pass with this hand.

I will go for the cross ruff route. HK, DA, ruffing small d back to hand, cashing CAK, lead small club, hoping west is short in club(he rates to have long heart from the opening lead)

To say ZAR is a better evaluation method than simple 4321 method, you have to use examples which can be bid better by ZAR than by HCP. I honestly dont think Ben's example can support it. USing std HCP method I think your decision is same in the 1st board. With the 2nd board, you will pass south hand and there wont be a 1D overcall(perhaps it will be a 2D opening by west) and North will double and you will reach 4H/S. Furthermore, the fact that Ben passed 27 Zar point hand but opened 25 Zar point hand shows that nothing can replace good judgement.