jdgalt

Sometimes the dragon wins.

Pass. Double will give away the hand. Give me an ace somewhere, or four clubs instead of three, and I'll double.

I agree with the critics. Not a good enough hand, not a good enough suit, and not a long enough suit: three strikes. Doesn't mean I might not try it, late in a team match where we need a swing. But I would regard it as a psych.

Partner is bidding like he holds only a minimum opener. (With 16+ he should have jumped or reversed at turn two.) And if I bid either red suit, I promise length I haven't got. Therefore: 3NT at IMPs, 2NT at matchpoints. If he wants to go on, it's on him.

Bingo requires bridge skill, yes, but it also has a lot of luck in it. What usually happens to me is that early in the Bingo game I make a good contract, say 4 Hearts, and am given a choice of two or three places to enter it in the Bingo grid. An effectively blind choice. Then subsequent hands make contracts possible which would complete one of the Bingo lines where I might have entered the 4H score but are no good for the one where I actually entered it. So I lose, and I couldn't have done anything about it once I made that blind choice.

I lead a low spade in the hope of knocking out declarer's dummy entry. I expect declarer to be 3=3=1=6, 2=4=1=6, or 4=2=1=6. Of course I'm sunk if he has Kx of spades, but I don't think he can be set in that case anyway.

I would have started with 1D but rebid 2C over either major. What was partner's response, btw? I agree with the other posters that opening 1NT here is masterminding, and will drive partners away.

That seems straightforward enough to me. 3H denies the ace or king of spades. I bid 4H, finis.

Partner is roughly 1=5=5=2, but has less than an opening hand. I'll try 4H at IMPs or non-vulnerable. If we're vul at pairs I'd rather defend 3NT or 5C.

The diamond is a passive lead. I like it in the original auction, where responder was tentative and game is likely borderline. In auction 2 responder is more sure of himself, so I prefer an attacking lead, low from the KH.

3H, but only if non-vulnerable (you haven't said one way or the other).

I count 8 winners, plus one potential winner by finessing in hearts. I've got more brains than to WANT to get to slam.

2H. Those four baby diamonds don't even enter into the picture.

On this shape and with no spade stopper for NT, I have to pass. Give me a 5 card suit and I'll bid it.

I prefer double here to be for takeout (but only when 1NT is weak). But I'll double whether it is or not.

Is this even a problem? I pass and lead the AD and another.

I'm with Cthulhu D on this one. In an auction like the one on Hand 1, the opps have preempted away a lot of your ability to communicate with partner. Better for a call such as this double to have a well-defined meaning, even if it forces you to pass, than for it to be an undefined "read my mind" bid. Maybe if your partner is Zia, he can read your mind, but I sure can't. I feel the same way about Danny Kleinman's objection to the Western Cuebid.

Pre-empt? On 9 points and a poor 5-card suit? Are you mental?

Undiscussed, I assume that 4C is a control bid. It should not be a club suit; if responder has clubs he should bid 3C directly over 2C. And 3S is merely the automatic acceptance of responder's transfer, and doesn't promise any spades (though 2NT implied at least 2). The partners haven't yet decided whether to play the hand in spades or NT, though if either partner now says 4NT I'd give key-card responses for spades.

I would have said 2NT at my first turn. Then I could leave the rest to partner. As it stands, I pass, which I assume is forcing. I will lead the DA, even though 2/3 of the time I expect it will get ruffed. If it does, it's as good a passive lead as any.

Just now, in tournament #2752, declarer on my left, playing 6NT, claimed the rest of the tricks. I rejected the claim because both he and dummy had four spades, as did I, so he must lose a spade to my J. My partner, who presumably didn't see it, then conceded all the tricks to declarer -- and the site accepted that without asking me. Boom, I'm kicked into the next round, with no chance to summon the director. I called him anyway after the new hand, but he didn't understand me. This needs to be fixed yesterday. Law 68B2 gives every player the absolute right to veto a concession by his partner.

I don't think anyone has said what's in opener's hand. I'd guess exactly 4 spades, 2 or fewer hearts, and diamonds at least as long as clubs, but that still leaves a lot of wiggle room. If opener has one or no hearts (he could easily be 4=0=5=4) notrump could be a disaster. That's the 2/1 philosophy, but I've never been impressed by it. Better to know your strength within a narrow range early on. I've played 2/1 and had disaster after disaster, because it makes just about every exploratory auction forcing to game.

In my (SAYC based) usage it shows an opening hand, likely with 4-4 hearts and clubs, and denies four spades. He may or may not have a fifth heart (but denies six). Once he has responded 1 over 1, failing to jump on the second round would deny more than about 10 points. (I dismiss the possibility of "fourth suit forcing" because anyone who uses that convention is almost certainly playing 2/1 rather than SAYC, and therefore would not have jumped, period.)

I lead partner's suit unless I have a good reason not to. But the good reason can simply be that the lead is my singleton, if I have short trumps and need to get the ruff quickly. Playing short club shouldn't make any difference to the lead decision, although that can be one more reason not to play short club.

I double, not so much in the hope of a game (the distribution screams "misfit!") as of pushing the opps to 2 or 3, which I can double for business.