vuroth

My question is, should I be auto-doubling when they reach 7NT after 4NT quantitative?

Definitely the ideal solution, if you can find one.

I strongly suspect this is a basic chemistry problem. Use 2 different metals in a voltaic pile, you'll get a battery at a set voltage. There's really nothing you can do to change the voltage of the pile. V

IMO, you are 100% correct that our focus must be on building power plants that do not emit greenhouse gasses. Wow. I have no idea how much energy it takes to move a car 300 kilometers, but if it's 120W and 10 minutes, I bet that's some serious current....

Interesting. I'm not an ACBL member at the moment. I lapsed when my bridge partner and I started having kids (not with each other!!) I don't plan on rejoining until I have improved, and have a regular partner again. That said, I would very much have considered using BBO to build up my masterpoint total (yes, I know they're not necessarily meaningful). From the sounds of it, for someone like me with <20 MP, finding a suitable ACBL game is going to be difficult?

It might help to know what time zone you're in, and when in general you prefer to play.

Ok, thinking about it some more, if partner has the K♣, then the ace on the first round does seem wrong. Might as well take the "finesse", by ducking to the queen. Ditto for partner having the queen. So the good news is partner can have an major suit ace. Of course, either ace could help a great deal. If partner has the ace of spades but not the jack, partner has to duck the first round of spades, then go ace small when he gets back in in clubs. When, or if. If partner has the ace of hearts single, there's nothing we can do but cry. If partner has Ax of hearts, a heart return sets the contract outright. Since I need ace plus something either way, this seems awfully close. Partner has 4 or 5 spades, so 3 or 4 slots of the jack under the ace. Partner has 1 or 2 hearts, but if 2 hearts I don't care what is lower heart is. I think the odds slightly favour spades, but I'm not sure.

That holding isn't possible. The 4 missing hearts are AQJx. Declarer needs clubs and diamonds to make 3NT, so no real clear idea why he would chose clubs before diamonds, or vice versa. If declarer is: Axx AJ Axx Qxxxx Maybe partner will get in twice in clubs. That will be enough to open up the spades. There's a lot to be read into what's going on here, but nothing is screaming to me "one clear path". V

I must refer to that document at least 3 times a week. That said, I use cue as limit raise or better, I use splinters when they come up, and I assume 1m-p-2NT is NOT 13-15GF. If anyone EVER chastises me, I'll be more than happy to apologize, but so far this policy has seen me right more often than wrong.

Partner has: - at most 8 points - at most 2 hearts - at least 4 spades - exactly 3 diamonds - likely, the king of clubs (if declarer has KQxx in his hand, then A on the opening lead is correct, but then I think 3NT is likely cold...) Declarer has 3 diamonds, and has his entry so that he can run them. Declarer's diamond play is really kind of inconsistent with him having the Queen. With AQx opposite KT9xx, I would expect A, Q, then the finesse for the J is still open if diamonds don't split. Let's guess that partner started with Qxx in diamonds, then. That would mean that partner does not have an ace (KC,+QD+A? = 9 points, leaving declarer with 14) Ergo, the best I can hope for from partner in hearts is the QJ doubleton. If I return the T all declarer has to do is hold up once with his Ax and, well, I'll need to win a space trick someday to ever run my hearts. I think my best bet is to return a (4th best?) spade now. Hopefully, declarer will need to establish tricks in both hearts and clubs, giving us time to force out the AK of spades. V

No, I think you've got it right.

Just so that I'm clear, this assumed 2/1, correct?

Good question.

Congrats. Thanks for sharing - I enjoy reading stories like this.

I am not going to spoil the thread by posting my solution, but I am interested in how one makes the contract on this layout.. if lho ruffs the 3rd diamond (or an earlier one) he plays another heart and down we go. Yeah, what I posted is definitely wrong. The play is to run all 4 diamonds, and hope they stick. As Phil said, you make if LHO has 2- diamonds and no trump. I was thinking that you ALSO could make if LHO had 3 diamonds also the singleton ace of trump, but you can't both overruff the 8 of trump from RHO and discard your heart loser. (This would work if diamonds were 3-4+, so let's call it another counting error on my part....) V

If LHO has the singleton A♠ and no more than 2♦, I can make. I can also make if ♥ are 7-3-2-1 around the table and singleton heart has the A♠, but this does not align with the bidding. That's all I see right now.

I'm deeply, deeply confused. The US Goverment's original stance on GITMO was that the prisoners were NOT criminals, and that they were NOT entitled to due process. They took this point of view to the Supreme Court, and my limited understanding is that they lost on this point. So how can the government now be accused of trying to turn the GITMO prisoners into (criminal law) criminals? That was NEVER their point of view in the first place. V

Depending on what you're after, being familiar with this would not hurt: ACBL definition of SAYC

Sorry, you're right. I saw that 3-0 was fatal because LHO could exit with the 2♠. I saw this YESTERDAY. Guess it's a good thing I can't take 24 hours at the table to plan my play. :( I was going to play low to the jack, but that was without giving it any thought. Upon reflection, plunking down the king wins when the queen is single, and playing low wins when the ace is single. I don't see a big difference between the two, so I'll play low to the jack.

These hands are causing me far more problems than I'd like. On the second hand, I'm worried about a 3-0 trump split, and I'm worried about RHO having less than 3 diamonds. That said, why not eliminate both minors? A♦ K♦, throw 6♥ 3♦, overruff if I can* A♣ K♣ 3♣, ruff I kept rejecting this on the basis that I'm now in hand and can't play low to the king, but what's so bad about just throwing them in in spades? It's an inferior line if RHO has the singleton queen, but I pick up singleton aces nicely, and if LHO has the singleton queen then either RHO has to overtake, or LHO will be forced to lead hearts or give me a ruff and sluff. This line also handles all 3 spades being in LHO's hand, which isn't all that unlikely. *If LHO ruffs with the 2, no problem. If LHO ruffs with the queen, great. If LHO ruffs with the ace, I can still play for the queen to drop if need be. ... In general, it's not seeing the various lines that gives me trouble, it's trying to figure out which line is better. Do I just need to get real cozy with Pascal's triangle? Is there some literature I should be reading/memorizing? V

Classic!

Really? Not even with reverses, forcing auctions, and control-showing cue bids? I mean, advanced bidding will almost certainly be BETTER at finding the slams, but surely a B/I can look at the shape of their hand and say "Hey, maybe this is all working!" I'm a B/I because I make really horrible mistakes, not because I'm allergic to slams.

Forgive me if I'm in over my head, but... ACBL SAYC (http://web2.acbl.org/documentlibrary/play/SP3%20(bk)%20single%20pages.pdf) uses 2♠ as transfer to 3♣, after which partner passes or bid 3♦. This use shows a weak hand, better suited to the minors than 1NT. ACBL SAYC also uses 1NT-3♣ and 1NT-3♦ as 6-card suit, invitational to 3NT. ACBL SAYC also uses baby food. This doesn't leave a whole lot of room for minor suited GF/slam interest hands, especially if you're lacking a 4cM. Given the above choices, if I wanted to GF, I'd bid 2♠, since at least it's forcing, then bid again. ... Whether or not you're playing anything remotely close to ACBL SAYC (and I don't suspect that you are), maybe the answer to "what does it mean" is best answered by "what isn't covered by any of our other agreements?"

I know it as Screw Your Neighbour. A common strategy is to try to stick the leader with an extra trick, or one too few. With J6, I definitely bid 1. It's a tougher hand to bid thank KQ, but it's often easier to toss a potential winner than to pick up an extra trick. With KQ, having heard a bid of 2, I bid 1.

That's ... I know you're trying to spoon feed beginners, but still, don't you think 90% of good players would bid 4♣ with this hand? And I mean GOOD good players. I would bid 4♣, and I would know that I'm going to X 4♠ before I bid 4♣. That's the rule I learned - if you're going to compete to the 4 level, decide BEFORE you bid 4Y whether you're doubling or saving over 4M, because you ain't passing.