manudude03

It looks like the bots still think they play standard blackwood. Either that or they just can't count. [hv=https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?lin=st||pn|~~v3fakebot,~~v3fakebot,manudude03,~~v3fakebot|md|1SQ964HA3DAKQT92C2,SHKT875DJ87CQT874,SAKJ753HQJD654CK3,ST82H9642D3CAJ965|sv|b|rh||ah|Board%207|mb|1D|an|4+!D;%20HCP%2011-23;%204-card%20!D%20opener|mb|P|mb|1S|an|4+!S;%20HCP%204+;%20natural%20-%20Forcing|mb|P|mb|4S|an|2!C;%205!D;%202!H;%204!S;%20HCP%2018-20;%20two-suiter%20with%20!D/!S|mb|P|mb|4N!|an|4+!S;%20HCP%2012+;%20RKCB%20in%20!S%20(!S%20King%20is%20a%20keycard)%20-%20Forcing|mb|P|mb|5S!|an|2!C;%205!D;%202!H;%204!S;%20HCP%2018-20;%202%20or%205%20key%20card(s)%20and%20Queen%20of%20trumps%20(or%20a%2010th%20trump)%20-%20Non%20forcing|mb|P|mb|7S|an|4+!S;%20HCP%2012+;%20to%20play|mb|D|an|HCP%2017-;%20penalty|mb|P|mb|P|mb|P|pc|CA|pc|C2|pc|CT|pc|C3|pc|CJ|pc|H3|pc|C4|pc|CK|mc|12|]399|300[/hv] Edit: and just before anyone asks, I was south here, got moved to North to play it.

I was running a practice match for some juniors, subbing myself in for the first board and a half while a late straggler arrives. After subbing myself out and going to watch the other table, I noticed that the score appears to be incorrect on the history tab, giving 1 imp team juniors gained on board 1 to team seniors. https://paste.pics/91804c0612a5e6e40fdac17c6ce0fa86 for screenshot.

[hv=https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?lin=st||pn|south,~~M9262dhq,north,~~M2140xy0|md|1S54HA754DA87CAQJT,SAQJ96HQJ863DCK76,SK8732HK9DK6532C5,STHT2DQJT94C98432|sv|n|rh||ah|Board%2031|mb|1N|mb|2D!|an|Cappelletti%20-%20majors%20--%205+%20!H;%205+%20!S;%2011+%20total%20points%20|mb|P|mb|2N|an|Pick%20your%20better%20minor%20--%20%20%20|mb|P|mb|3C|an|My%20better%20minor%20--%205+%20!H;%205+%20!S;%2011+%20total%20points%20|mb|P|mb|3D|an|4+%20!D;%202-%20!H;%202-%20!S;%2014+%20total%20points%20|mb|P|mb|3N|an|5-6%20!H;%205-6%20!S;%2013-20%20HCP;%20likely%20stop%20in%20!C%20|mb|P|mb|4H|an|4+%20!D;%202%20!H;%202-%20!S;%2014-17%20total%20points%20|mb|P|mb|P|mb|D|mb|P|mb|P|mb|P|]399|300[/hv] I was doing some coaching in the bidding room when this came up. East seemed to have upgraded their hand somewhat.

I was trying to find a board I played a couple of months ago where I landed in 4H (I believe) on a 3-3 fit and managed to bring it in. I know it was against the robots, but when I tried to search for the hand in My Hands, I noticed that all the robot hands have disappeared. Is there a good way to search for robot hands now?

You play attitude with a stiff in dummy? More common is suit preference which makes a heart switch easy. Think it would still be right to anyway.

[hv=https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?lin=st||pn|~~v3fakebot,~~v3fakebot,manudude03,~~v3fakebot|md|1SAT93HKQ3DKJ7CJ87,SQ42HAT54DQ3CA942,SJ75HJ96DT542CKQ6,SK86H872DA986CT53|sv|b|rh||ah|Board%207|mb|1C|an|Minor%20suit%20opening%20--%203+%20!C;%2011-21%20HCP;%2012-22%20total%20points|mb|P|mb|1N|an|2-4%20!C;%202-4%20!D;%202-3%20!H;%202-3%20!S;%206-10%20HCP;%207+%20total%20points|mb|P|mb|P|mb|P|pc|H2|pc|HK|pc|H5|pc|H6|pc|C7|pc|C4|pc|CQ|pc|C5|pc|S5|pc|S6|pc|S9|pc|SQ|pc|C2|pc|CK|pc|C3|pc|C8|pc|S7|pc|S8|pc|ST|pc|S2|pc|SA|pc|S4|pc|SJ|pc|SK|pc|S3|pc|D3|pc|D2|pc|D9|pc|HQ|pc|HA|pc|H9|pc|H8|pc|H4|pc|HJ|pc|H7|pc|H3|pc|C6|pc|CT|pc|CJ|pc|C9|pc|DK|pc|DQ|pc|D4|pc|D6|pc|D7|pc|HT|pc|DT|pc|D8|pc|D5|pc|DA|pc|DJ|pc|CA|]399|300[/hv] This is from a daylong tourney. In the 4 card ending when I tried to exit a club hoping to throw West in, it should be an open book seeing it is holding the 13th club and heart and North can't have the ace of diamonds. Yet it somehow messed this up. This ended up giving me 3 of the last 4 when I should have been losing them all.

Good point (and I do seem to remember thinking that at first, forgot about it). The idea is the same though only if West has K9xx, they are more likely to be able to get a club ruff for -2. Edit: You would also need to decide what to do if West can win and switch to a low club, king's probably right, but you could be getting Grosvenor'ed.

You need some two-headed coins :). As said, I would be more inclined to play East for AKxx. It also has the benefit that you might not be able to make the contract anyway if it is stiff A (club switch through king).

I'd be more inclined to play East for AKxx. People do randomise the honour they win cards with on a regular basis, but even good players tend not to randomise their trump pips as much as they should, i.e. they would play the 4 instead of the 6 a lot more than 50% of the time. I did wonder if someone with AK9x would just duck the trick, but you can pick up 4-1 either way by playing back to the ten then.

In 7C on a spade lead, I win the ace and ruff a spade, 2 rounds of clubs ending in South and ruff another spade (high if it doesn't give away a trump trick). If spades are 4-3, I have 2 discards. If they break 5-2 (assuming the queen of spades doesn't drop), then I rattle off the clubs to try and work out what squeeze to play for. On a trump lead, other than transposing a couple of tricks, I play the same way. In 7NT, I win AK of spades throwing a heart. Then play 6 rounds of clubs throwing a diamond, heart and 2 spades. I would ultimately need to guess the layout though, but would likely resort to a double squeeze around the hearts.

On the first, it is not uncommon to play 1S-1NT-2S-2NT-3H as only promising 3 for this very reason. If playing this way, you pretty much need to be bidding 2H with 6-4 regardless of range. On the second, I'd go 1H-1NT-2D-4H (a 3 card LR which improved). Not worried about missing slam here, and as Winstonm said above, it's not like slam is cold.

Just posting this for a bit of fun. This is a hand I had yesterday (the trumps were actually 2-1 the other way in which case it makes in either layout). The play is simple enough once you notice the difference. [hv=https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?lin=st||pn|,,,|md|3SQJ642HAT964D92CA,SAK973H7DQ873C984,S5HKQ532DAT54CKT2,ST8HJ8DKJ6CQJ7653|sv|o|rh||ah|Board%200|mb|6H|mb|P|mb|P|mb|P|]399|300[/hv] [hv=https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?lin=st||pn|,,,|md|3SQJ643HAT964D92CA,SAK972H7DQ873C984,S5HKQ532DAT54CKT2,ST8HJ8DKJ6CQJ7653|sv|o|rh||ah|Board%200|mb|6H|mb|P|mb|P|mb|P|]399|300[/hv] Has to be the smallest change I've ever seen make a difference to whether or not a contract makes.

This came from a challenge a star IMPs match [hv=https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?bbo=y&lin=pn%7Cmanudude03%2CRobot%2CRobot%2CRobot%7Cst%7C%7Cmd%7C2S3HKT7DQ32CAKQ842%2CSAKQT6H8632DKT97C%2CS98754H94DJ4CT765%2CSJ2HAQJ5DA865CJ93%7Csv%7CB%7Cah%7CBoard%204%7Cmb%7C1S%7Can%7CMajor%20suit%20opening%20--%205%2B%20%21S%3B%2011-21%20HCP%3B%2012-22%20total%20points%7Cmb%7CP%7Cmb%7C2D%7Can%7CForcing%20two%20over%20one%20--%2013%2B%20HCP%3B%20biddable%20%21D%3B%2014%2B%20total%20points%3B%20forcing%20to%203N%7Cmb%7C3C%7Can%7Ctwice%20rebiddable%20%21C%3B%205-11%20total%20points%7Cmb%7C3D%7Can%7C4%2B%20%21D%3B%205%2B%20%21S%3B%2011-21%20HCP%3B%2012-22%20total%20points%3B%20forcing%20to%203N%7Cmb%7CP%7Cmb%7C3H%7Can%7C5%2B%20%21D%3B%204%2B%20%21H%3B%2013%2B%20HCP%3B%2014%2B%20total%20points%3B%20forcing%20to%203N%7Cmb%7CP%7Cmb%7C5D%7Can%7C4%2B%20%21D%3B%205%2B%20%21S%3B%2021-%20HCP%3B%2015-22%20total%20points%7Cmb%7CP%7Cmb%7CP%7Cmb%7CP%7Cpc%7CCA%7Cpc%7CD7%7Cpc%7CC5%7Cpc%7CC3%7Cpc%7CDK%7Cpc%7CD4%7Cpc%7CD8%7Cpc%7CD2%7Cpc%7CDT%7Cpc%7CDJ%7Cpc%7CDA%7Cpc%7CD3%7Cpc%7CS2%7Cpc%7CS3%7Cpc%7CST%7Cpc%7CS4%7Cpc%7CH8%7Cpc%7CH4%7Cpc%7CHQ%7Cpc%7CHK%7Cpc%7CDQ%7Cpc%7CD9%7Cpc%7CC7%7Cpc%7CD6%7Cpc%7CCK%7Cpc%7CS6%7Cpc%7CC6%7Cpc%7CC9%7Cpc%7CCQ%7Cpc%7CH6%7Cpc%7CCT%7Cpc%7CCJ%7Cpc%7CC8%7Cpc%7CH2%7Cpc%7CS7%7Cpc%7CD5%7Cpc%7CSJ%7Cpc%7CC2%7Cpc%7CSA%7Cpc%7CS9%7Cpc%7CH3%7Cpc%7CH9%7Cpc%7CHA%7Cpc%7CH7%7Cpc%7CHJ%7Cpc%7CHT%7Cpc%7CSQ%7Cpc%7CS8%7Cpc%7CH5%7Cpc%7CC4%7Cpc%7CSK%7Cpc%7CS5%7C]399|300[/hv] If you were going to go for the heart finesse for the overtrick, surely they should cash spades first throwing the clubs before committing to it. edit: I suppose the bidding limited me to 11 total points (I know they're in a 2/1 auction, but why...) but the actual line taken still seems mad to me.

As bizarre as it seems, if you look at the explanation of 5C, apparently it doesn't promise support. I guess that's why.

I'd say the biggest names (at least internationally speaking) I've played against would be: Thomas Bessis Agustin Madala Krzysztof Martens Alfredo Versace (though he was actually at the other table) It was looking likely I'd get the chance to play against (and maybe even with) Geir Helgemo, until the Coronavirus started.

The issue isn't with increasing TCR, it's that if someone comes in with a low TCR, you'll know they have a habit of leaving. Putting a TCR filter in will filter those people out so those people don't join in the first place. That is an interesting idea, I would however say that very few high level team events are played in 4 board segments (I can only think of the Resinger and I believe that's 6 boards though not played in it, and that's in BAM scoring). It also creates a lot more randomness. This might sound harsh, but you have an idea of how long something is going to take before you join it. It's not like we are having issues getting people in the first place. I let my Prime membership expire, not enough benefits for me. May as well use the MBC if we wanted that. Besides, it's not like we can tell the robots our methods. As an aside, I also think Team Matches should never auto-cancel. Leave that decision up to the director/host.

My regular partner and I have been using team matches for our practice sessions for a while now, but one problem we keep running into is players leaving whenever they get a bad board, or even seemingly just disagreeing with something their partner did. This often ends up with the match getting cancelled when we can't get the substitutes in quickly enough. To add insult to injury, any hands played when that happens don't even appear in the history. Just tonight, we had 2 nice slam hands that have vanished into the abyss when a match got cancelled. Would it be possible to allow open team matches with a TCR requirement (of course, with leaving a team match affecting TCR)? At least it would give us some faith that they would stick around regardless of the result. We would prefer to keep to playing team matches at all possible, we don't exactly take pleasure from gaining 4 imps for bidding a normal 4S with 10 iron-clad tricks. While we probably should also get a good pair to spar off against, only don't want to potentially tie people down when our plans could be changing at very short notice.

The point is there is a line that lets you make the rest regardless of the position of the other cards for as long as there hasn't been a revoke and so it accepts the claim. This isn't like the 2-way finesse position. Personally I find something quite satisfying about finding those.

In general, I'm not a fan of hands where it's basically hope partner has a certain card, but I just posted that one anyway. As for this board, I ended up bidding 4NT hoping it was natural, but partner took it as KC. There is actually an interesting point in the play too when West returns a spade at trick 3. The cards are such that it doesn't matter if you play them to have blown a potential spade trick. I was thinking of a possible triple squeeze at the time, but would have required West to have 14 cards. Lucky then that the clubs broke 3-3. [hv=https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?bbo=y&lin=pn|South,West,North,East|st%7C%7Cmd%7C2S278KH9JQKD7QKAC7%2CS49JH3568TAD2C3TJ%2CS3TAH247D6C458QKA%2C%7Crh%7C%7Cah%7CBoard%2012%7Csv%7Cn%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C1C%7Cmb%7C3D%7Cmb%7Cd%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C4C%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C4N%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C5D%21%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C6N%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cpc%7CD2%7Cpc%7CD6%7Cpc%7CD8%7Cpc%7CDQ%7Cpc%7CHK%7Cpc%7CHA%7Cpc%7CH2%7Cpc%7CD3%7Cpc%7CS4%7Cpc%7CSA%7Cpc%7CS5%7Cpc%7CS2%7Cpc%7CS3%7Cpc%7CS6%7Cpc%7CSK%7Cpc%7CS9%7Cpc%7CDA%7Cpc%7CH3%7Cpc%7CST%7Cpc%7CD4%7Cpc%7CDK%7Cpc%7CH5%7Cpc%7CH4%7Cpc%7CD5%7Cpc%7CC7%7Cpc%7CC3%7Cpc%7CCA%7Cpc%7CC2%7Cpc%7CCK%7Cpc%7CC9%7Cpc%7CS8%7Cpc%7CCT%7Cpc%7CCQ%7Cpc%7CC6%7Cpc%7CD7%7Cpc%7CCJ%7Cmc%7C12%7C]399|300[/hv]

From my previous thread: As requested... [hv=pc=n&w=shakqt9732dkt9cak&d=s&v=b&b=7&a=2d(multi%2C%20weak%202%20in%20major%20or%204441%20strong)]133|200[/hv] IMPs scoring, all vul. Assume double is a big hand or a weak NT with all other overcalls being natural (and jumps are strong), what do you do here?

[hv=pc=n&s=sk872hkqj9dakq7c7&d=w&v=n&b=12&a=p1c(2%2B!c)3d]133|200[/hv] IMPs scoring. What do you do here? (edit: just before it asks, the basic system is 2/1 5cM 15-17 NT) I doubled and partner bid 4C (of course he did), now what?

I can't help but feel declarer has already misplayed it up until that point. What about win the lead, ace of hearts ruff a heart, diamond finesse, ruff a heart. Say it is overruffed and plays another club, we ruff in dummy and ruff another heart. West can ruff, but all they ever get is 2 trumps and a diamond. Not seeing how this loses compared to the actual line taken (seeing we are assuming East has 2 diamonds anyway) Edit: It is probably better to cash the ace of diamonds after the finesse in case East is 2-2 in the reds. Our entries are still OK.

It will at least tell you what you should be making in that particular strain. = means the contract will just make, green numbers represent overtricks and red numbers represent undertricks. For other strains, you could export the board into the hand editor.

[hv=pc=n&s=sahqj873dqt42ct83&w=skqj976hk42da65ck&n=s43ha965dj3cqj965&e=st852htdk987ca742&d=s&v=e&b=3&a=2h(6-10%20hearts%20and%20a%20minor)2s3nppp]399|300[/hv] IMPs scoring. The contract went 3 off, but lost 11 with the other table in 4S+1. Who should have stopped this?