sailoranch

[hv=pc=n&s=st62hakq83dk8432c&n=saht52dacakj87532&d=e&v=e&b=6&a=p1hp2cp2dp]266|200[/hv] Favorable at IMPs. You are playing 2/1. How should the auction proceed from here? Thanks in advance.

[hv=pc=n&s=skq42hq3dacakt432&d=n&v=n&b=5&a=pp1c1npp]133|200[/hv] Unfavorable at IMPs. Please feel free to tell me if this is wtp. Thanks in advance.

[hv=pc=n&s=skjt9ht73da92cq32&n=sa432hkq94djcajt5&d=w&v=n&b=12&a=p1cp1sp3sp4sppp]266|200[/hv] Lead is the ♦4, third/low, to East's queen. Thanks in advance.

[hv=pc=n&s=saj73ha987d9842ck&d=w&v=e&b=16&a=1dpp]133|200[/hv] Scoring is IMPs, systems are on over balancing 1NT. What is the best action here? Thanks in advance.

[hv=d=n&v=e&e=sjthat76da853cjt7&s=sk9765hdq42ca8654]266|200|Scoring: IMP -- - P - P - P 1♥ - P - 2♦* - P 4♥ - P - P - P *limit raise with four hearts lead: ♣9[/hv] Hi, I have been discussing this hand and would like to know how everyone else would choose to defend. Thanks in advance.

[hv=d=w&v=n&s=saq986hk6daqj5cq4]133|100|Scoring: IMP P - P - P - 1♠ 2♣ - X - 4♣ - ?[/hv] Thanks in advance.

[hv=d=w&v=b&s=sak632hj3daqj8cj9]133|100|Scoring: MP 3♣ - 3♥ - P - 3♠ P - 4♥ - P - ?[/hv] Thanks in advance.

[hv=d=w&v=b&n=sk865hj42dq9ckj96&s=s7hq85dak753cqt75]133|200|Scoring: MP P - P - P - 1♦ 1♠ - 1NT - 2♠ - 3♣ P - 4♣ - P - P P[/hv] Partner and I were not playing any kind of conventional 2NT on this sequence, so 3♣ is "standard" and undiscussed, but please feel free to recommend any methods that would help here. Thanks in advance.

[hv=d=s&v=e&n=sk32hk5d9765cqj97&s=sa7hjt62dt832cakt]133|200|Scoring: MP ------------- 1♦ 1♥ - 2♦ - P - P P lead: ♣2[/hv] Thanks in advance.

[hv=d=n&v=n&s=skjt76ht9765d5cq9]133|100|Scoring: MP ---- 2♦ - P - P X - P - P - ?[/hv] Thanks in advance.

[hv=d=n&v=n&n=s632h54da762cat62&w=sa75hakt62dj85c87&e=st98hq93dk94ckq53&s=skqj4hj87dqt3cj94]399|300|Scoring: MP[/hv] At the table, I continued with the spades. Partner did not have the ten of hearts, so declarer got a ninth winner, which rectified the count for a minor suit squeeze on partner. Is it too risky to play for the uppercut at matchpoints?

[hv=d=s&v=e&n=s5hat982daq962cq2&s=skq2hkqj7dktcakt8]133|200|Scoring: MP[/hv] Hi everyone, I'm wondering about the most scientific approach here. Thanks in advance.

[hv=d=n&v=n&e=st98hq93dk94ckq53&s=skqj4hj87dqt3cj94]266|200|Scoring: MP ---- P - P - P 1♥ - P - 1NT* - P 2♦ - P - 3♥ - P P - P *semi-forcing lead: ♠2[/hv] Partner leads the spade deuce to your jack and declarer's ace. Declarer leads a club, partner wins with the ace and plays the six of spades. What is the best continuation at matchpoints? Thanks in advance.

Here's the full hand. [hv=d=s&v=n&n=sk7h8dkt73cakj843&w=sj54hq54dqj942c76&e=sq32hkjt632d6cq92&s=sat986ha97da85ct5]399|300|Scoring: IMP[/hv] It plays down to something like the following position: [hv=d=s&v=n&n=sk7h8dkt73cakj843&w=sj54hq54dqj942c76&e=sq32hkjt632d6cq92&s=sat986ha97da85ct5]399|300|Scoring: IMP[/hv] On the penultimate club, West is squeezed out of a spade. On the last club, declarer discards the idle diamond, and West is guard squeezed. Since West must keep the diamond guard and the spade honor to guard against the finesse, she lets a heart go. This sets up the diamond king for a positional squeeze against East. I think that makes this a compound guard squeeze.

[hv=d=s&v=n&n=sk7h8dkt73cakj843&s=sat986ha97da85ct5]133|200|Scoring: IMP -------------- 1♠ P - 2♣ - P - 2NT P - 3NT - P - P P lead: ♦4[/hv] Hi everyone, this hand came up in the Stanford vs. Cal match on Saturday afternoon. Cal's declarer was actually in 3NT, but the challenge here is to play for twelve tricks. Whatever you play from dummy at trick one, righty plays the ♦6. Also, righty will show Qxx of clubs, returning the jack of hearts upon winning the queen. On the second round of diamonds, . On the first five clubs, . Edit: fixed auction.

I think I'm fine as long as I don't hold up. If I hold up twice in spades, they play a heart through my ace and I'm down whether or not I win (they switch back to spades if I don't). Spades look like they're 4-4 on the bidding and the lead anyway, so I think I will win the first trick and establish the clubs.

Here's the full hand. [hv=d=w&v=b&n=s63hq962dkcq87542&w=st97htd9875cakjt9&e=saqj4hakj85daqt4c&s=sk852h743dj632c63]399|300|Scoring: MP[/hv] At the table, I played the king to the first trick and gave declarer a spade entry. Eleven tricks was then more or less automatic on this layout (three spades, four hearts, two diamonds and two clubs). If I hold up, declarer still has all sorts of endplays for eleven tricks, but might go wrong. The spade position is pretty much marked on the lead, so ducking denies declarer an entry in spades. If declarer has no entry in the red suits, this cuts off her top clubs. If she has another entry, then she can either establish her not-so-solid club suit or afford to take a winning finesse without cashing her club ace. Since declarer has a limited hand, she is unlikely to have both solid clubs and a side entry, so I think that ducking is unlikely to lose the trick in spades that way. Maybe holding up for two rounds of spades exposes us to an endplay, but I don't think that it costs us often enough to hurt in the long run.

I think I'll take a stab at this one. First, let's assume declarer has six to the king. In this case, we have to place partner with the diamond ace, although I have a hard time buying this auction and this play if that's the case. Anyway, partner has given us odd count in diamonds, so declarer has at best Jx (unlikely) or Jxxx (maybe). I don't buy declarer's 3NT call on a heart void. I think the most reasonable hand is AK Q Jxxx KJxxxx, and even then the heart stiff is unlikely. If this is the case, playing a spade gives us five tricks next time we're in, whereas a diamond continuation establishes declarer's ninth trick. Another reasonable possibility is that declarer has overcalled on a five card suit, something like KQxxx or KJTxx. It really looks like declarer has the ace of diamonds, so let's give it to him. With KQxxx, he's got eight tricks and can secure an immediate ninth in hearts by driving out our ace. So play for KJTxx, and partner will have Qxx. This means three eventual clubs, two diamonds, and two spades, and we have two clubs and the heart ace before that. Say declarer has the jack of diamonds. If we lead a red card, he takes the diamond finessse immediately and drives out the club, making with the eventual heart. If we lead a spade, he wins, and drives out the club queen. If partner plays a spade or a diamond, it creates an eighth trick. Declarer then eventually drives out the heart ace and we don't have our tricks. If partner plays a heart, it does declarer's job for him. So with the jack of diamonds tucked in partner's hand, what to play? The diamond queen is fine if declarer has Ax. But what if he has Axxx? He'll win immediately, drive out the club, and we attack his shortness in hearts. But if he has AKx spades, he may take the spade finesse for trick nine! In this case, only ace and another heart is correct. But I think a heart stiff is unlikely, so either spade or diamond queen works here. Between 1. AK Q Jxxx KJxxxx 2. AKx xxx Ax KJTxx 3. AK xx Axxx KJTxx I can't decide, since #1 doesn't look like a 3NT call, and #2 and #3 are possible 1NT overcalls. But #3 doesn't really matter. Spade if you decide #1 is a more consistent with the auction, diamond queen for #2. I really think declarer has the diamond ace, so I'll play the queen. What was the layout?

[hv=d=w&v=b&e=saqj4hakj85daqt4c&s=sk852h743dj632c63]266|200|Scoring: MP P - P - 1♣* - P 2♣ - P - 2♥ - P 2NT - P - 3♠ - P 3NT - P - P - P *precision[/hv] Partner leads the six of spades, dummy plays jack.

Hi everyone, has there been any word on ACBL collegiates for next year (dates in particular)? Any news before the semester ends would be helpful. Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the replies and for the sensible auction. As South, I incorrectly placed partner with spade doubleton and landed us in the dubious slam, but I should have known better. As it turned out, we got lucky and spades broke 3-3. One thing I wanted to take away from this hand is how to better judge the correct strain at matchpoints. If North does bid 4♠, how confident should South be about the score? As South, my concern was the diamond ace. I was worried that 4♠ would go down on two quick diamonds, whereas clubs had play from the other side if the spades ran. Of course, I am probably missing something.

[hv=d=e&v=b&n=sqhat75da43ck9862&s=sak7542hq6dt2caqj]133|200|Scoring: MP -------(P)-1♠ (P)-2♣-(2♦)-?[/hv] Hi everyone, here's a hand that came up on BBO the other day. We ended up in 6NT after a confused auction, and I'm wondering what the most effective route would be. Also, the 2♣ call is game forcing. Thanks in advance.

[hv=d=n&v=b&s=sj83hqdk7cat98642]133|100|Scoring: MP ---1♠-(P)-?[/hv] Here's a hand that came up the other day. You're playing 2/1, and partner opens 1♠ in first seat. What's the plan?

Thanks, I see the point about not having to collect the spade suit. I wasn't so sure about the ♥K either. But seeing that the ♥K must be on the left whenever ♠QJx is on the right, the extra making chances must be worth whatever you lose whenever the ruffing finesse would have been better. For what it's worth, at the table, the king was offside: [hv=d=w&v=n&n=st63haqjt5dakq3c4&w=sqjh2d97642caj532&e=s52hk9643dj5ck876&s=sak9874h87dt8cqt9]399|300|Scoring: IMP[/hv]

Thanks for the input. My initial impression was to play a spade and take the ruffing finesse or the normal finesse depending on West's card. But at the table, I chose to concede the club immediately. I figured the top club honors were likely to be split on the lead, and if East had the ace, then he might be tempted to go up fearing I had the king. Then a club or spade return would solve my problem since I can squeeze West in the minors. Otherwise, I would play the ten and expect a heart return from West. I have a squeeze in the red suits as a proxy for the finesse against West, so I don't think testing the defense costs, except for an overtrick. But I'm probably missing something. Is there a better way to play for a defensive error?