flytoox

Ok, I bid 3S as you all suggested. Then pd bid 4H. What now? More questions coming...

I think you did go too far. First hand there is no fit, pd looks have long spade. Furtheremore, opener may have a very strong hand. Better wait and see. If opener rebid 2s and all pass to you, then try reopen with a dbl. The second one you just tried too hard to compete. Raising pd is always a good thing but this time pd wont be happy. Hongjun

Vul.: N-S Dealer: S you hold: S: AJ9X H: -- D: AX C: AKQJTXX W N E S -------- 1C P 1H 3D! ? Question: 1) what do you open with this hand? 2) suppose you open 1C, what do you bid now?

Given the bidding this is unlikely, thought not impossible with this declarer:)

No, you are not alone.

Ben, question here. When I play spade and want to show pd i have even number spades. Should I play 2 or Ten or 6 from T642? From T62 you also play 2, dont you? Then how can pd figure out if you have h or s to cash? I think 6 is better than 2. Hongjun

IMP this is easy, overtake with Ace, return S T. More difficult is which trick to cash aftering taking dimanod ace. Return H or S? You cannt duck D for a signal. I think S is likely to win out. Hongjun

Free, as a light opener you pass a three aces hand this time? Even rock sound player would open this i assure you:)

I vote for 2C. If discussed with pd about this situation I may venture 1N. Hongjun

I think he will play dummy, and doesnt need club trick. His h is good now. This question is actually a bit strange if declarer plays correctly. Pd shoul not have small trumps otherwise declarer should clear it before finessing H. Declarer looks like to have 5233 or 5332.

I would take a simple line. Cashing club ace, look at the card pd play. If he discard a high card unnecessary, then I will return h, hoping pd can ruff. Pd should not have D ace if he is a good player, otherwise he should case it before play C Ten.

this is the key. North will remove to 4H whatever south bid. So I think asking for adjust to 3N-4 shld be rejected.

u cant play club ace twice:) and u will know at trick 2 if club is 4-0 or not. other than that, the point about playing spade first is a good one(coz this is same as mine:))

Maybe Ben's deeper hint implies that opener should not have c q, coz he leads short d, looking for ruff. If he has c qxx, he may attack other suit, seeking to establish a side trick.

Ben, maybe i didnt put it clearly, but I didnt mean wining or losing the spade finesse will affect club play. I am planning to finess club queen against west always. The reason I choose to finesse spade queen first is for the communication consideration. Actually, the first plan came up in my mind is exactly same as Free's. But the problem is if club is 2-2, and the finesse loses to east, then you are locked in dummy. Another play is to finesse club jack immediately in 2nd round. This has two merits. One is you wont give a ruff in D. Another is by finessing you established two entries to hand, which you need to finesse spade later.

Nearly anytime that I need to play a suit in this situation I follow and old Bols bridge tip from Zia. Lead the Jack of Clubs, if LHO doesn't cover, rise with the King and finesse RHO for the Queen. I prefer to attack Clubs immediately. Good thinks always seem to happen when I get to run a 6 card suit. I know that I can throw in RHO whenever I want. If I can get the opponents to discard enough Hearts, I might be able to get an Heart Spade endplay going.... The problem with this is that you dont have this luxury. you have to lead from dummy not your hand. So Zia's trick wont work here.

Even you get the club queen right, you still need H 33 or spade king on side. So the key to the play of this hand is to finesse Spade queen early. I will return to the hand with club ace, then finesse sq. If it loses to east, hope d is not 61. And then you finees west for club queen. A trap here is to finesse club queen immediately after returning to hand with club ace. If club is 2-2, and east has the queen, then he will throw out with a h and u will be locked in dummy. So finessing spade queen first is corrct for the communication reason.

free, arent you a light opener? since when did you become more conservative than me?

1D. 1st question, do i open? yes. this 12hcp hand is not bad. u can rebid 1N over 1H, raise to 2s over 1s. over 2c raise to 3c, min but good spt. 2nd question which suit to open? i prefer 1d. Fred said a lot about this question.

Mike Lawrence's Dynamic Defense at Bridge, a book tell you how world players defend simple but tricky hands. The best book on defense. Worth 5times reading. I have read it for 3 times, and I learn sth new everytime I read it. Hongjun

Yes, 4S, tell pd you have no interest in slam.

Thanks all for your reply. Pd's hand: S: AKQX H: KXX D: XXX C: QJX apparently, hold my hand, you wont stay below game. So the problem is how to explore slam possibility while not overbid. In the play, I choosed practical 4S. you can see I missed the slam. Without much gardget, i think 4D should be the best choice. This should initally ask pd to pick a major. If pd bid 4H, you can convert to 4S, this should impliy slam interest. Otherwise why bother with 4D? If pd bid 4S, as he would here, then 5D should take you home. Not sure this is right and more thoughts on how to reach slam are more than welcome. Hongjun

white vs red W N E S 1D DBL 2D ? S: T98XX H: JX D: -- C: AK98XX

Thank you. Yes I suspect dbl as takeout is pretty much standard. But somehow, the cast of characters here come up with some oddball things. I have a set that I play, but I didn't come up with it... I play two "takout double" bids, neither of which is double. I play a bid of 2 in their major as strong takeout of that suit. I play a bid of 2 of the other major as weak takeout of that major. I belive this came from either ETM victory or Robson/Segal's book on partnership bidding. Ben 2N should be two suiter takeout, perhaps minors?

dont jump rebid 2s with this hand, start with 1s. jump shift only if 1) has fit 2) solid single suit 3) 18-19 balanced hand with a suit. refer to lawrence's 2/1 workbook:)