louisg

In your second layout playing a club does not let them make. Further, if South has the spade ten, a club is necessary if declarer is going to guess the spades. Likewise if South's clubs are Kxx. Would East have encouraged clubs with Axxx xx x QJxxxx? Something to think about. I'm not saying that the CA is correct, just that there is more to this hand than you have considered.

[hv=d=s&v=n&n=sq964hk8dkt743c76&w=sj73hjt972dq95cat&e=skt82h65d2ckj8432&s=sa5haq43daj86cq95]399|300|Scoring: IMP 1NT-2C 2H-2S 3NT-P 2S=4 cards, invitational[/hv] We play Rusinow leads, upside down attitude, standard count, reverse Smith echo. T1: HT, K, 6, 3 T2: DK, 2, 6, 5 T3: D3, C2, DJ, DQ T4: CA Who (if anyone) is at fault?

Jxx AQx Axx Kxxx 1C (P) 1S (2H) Not playing support doubles, do you bid 2S or pass? If you pass and partner reopens with 2S, do you raise to 3? Edit: r/r IMPs

If dummy wins, I unblock the Queen. Declarer may hold something like Kxxxx Jxxx x AQx Is there anything else that I need to think about?

OK, so there is significant support for both pass and double (sitting for 3NT), and none for any other action. Partner's hand is: AKx xx Qxxxx Kxx If you pass you get to defend 3C, and if you double you get to be dummy in 3NT. Without knowing the opponents' hands, which position would you prefer to be in? Yes, I know you'd rather be playing 5D, or even 4S, but that's why people preempt ;)

[hv=d=e&v=b&s=sjt863hat8dat975c]133|100|Scoring: IMP[/hv] RHO opens 3C. Your call? If you double, are you sitting for 3NT? If not, what is your plan?

[hv=d=w&v=n&s=sak754hat642d5ct3]133|100|Scoring: IMP 1♦-Pass-3♦-? Your call?[/hv]

Pass-1♠ 2♥-3♣ 5♣-5♦ 5♠-5NT 7♣-Pass

Making a natural bid.

Can't you find someone else to wrongly claim to agree with? I didn't say that partner has a weak hand. I said that he might have, and also that I don't see how you got from that to "partner has a weak hand". I expect LouisG can look after himself, but I don't think he said it showed a weak hand either. All he has done is to ask some good questions. Thanks gnasher :D I don't believe I said this either, although I confess that when I held the hand in question I passed 4♦ based on the pass-then-pull logic. I was having second (and third) thoughts about this reasoning after the fact, which is why I posted. Partner's actual hand was something like ♠AKQTxx ♥-- ♦KJxxxx ♣Q. At MPs it might have been reasonable for him just to bid 4♠, but I certainly understand 4♦. Once you decide to explore further with this hand type, it seems very risky to do anything except bid a direct 4♦ due to the risk of further preemption mentioned above. That suggests that 4♦ must be forcing however, and that "pass-then-pull" is not playable in an auction like this where the chance of further preemption seems real.

I was hoping for more discussion of this specific issue. In those partnerships where pass-and-pull shows a non-minimum, would an immediate 4D still be forcing? On a related note, is it too dangerous to plan a pass-and-pull auction here due to the risk of further preemption? In other words, no matter how strong your hand may be, is there reason to introduce the diamond suit now rather than risk hearing a raise to 4H on your left?

[hv=d=w&v=n&s=s52hkq96dq65ckj97]133|100|Scoring: MP[/hv] Pass..1♠..2♠..Double 3♥..4♦..Pass..??? 2♠ was Michaels (hearts and a minor). Double showed an interest in defending a doubled contract.

Did we? I think 3NT our way is unbeatable.

1) Win the ace and return the 7. If I return the 8 and partner has KTxx, he might duck declarer's queen (playing me for A87 and a quick entry). Better for partner to think I have 4 cards than for him to think I have 3. 2) Call for the director (I have 14 cards).

I don't think so - you need only one entry to hand in a pointed suit. Win in hand and cash the hearts and ♣A. Cash dummy's honour in the suit that East unguarded, then cross back to hand with ♦K. Right. I stand corrected.

I haven't worked out all the details yet, but it seems to me that a spade switch after winning the ♣K should destroy the communications for the compound squeeze. The subsequent defense may vary depending upon which hand wins the spade. EDIT: The spade switch doesn't hold declarer to 11 tricks by force, but it does reduce his options. He can still play for a simple club/diamond squeeze if he judges that RHO has the diamonds, or can win in hand and play a double squeeze around spades (winning when LHO has the ♦Q or RHO has it singleton or doubleton), but must commit himself earlier in the play.

I disagree strongly. 3♥ does not set the trump suit, so 3♠ is not a cuebid. Imagine, for example, opener with 3=5=4=1 opposite responder's 5=2=3=3 with no club stopper. Responder's 3♥ is a common waiting bid in such auctions, and opener's 3♠ can be on xxx. This hand can probably be solved without a strong jump shift by responder (which makes it rather trivial), but it's not as easy as it looks.

The full hand was as follows: [hv=d=e&v=n&n=skjthjxxxxdakxcjx&w=sxxhtxxdxcatxxxxx&e=sqhakxdqjtxxxxxcq&s=sa9xxxxxhqxdxckxx]399|300|Scoring: MP[/hv] My partner, as declarer, called for the ♦K at trick 2 and was quickly down one (ruff, heart over, club and a club ruff). This play seemed strange to me at the time, and when I asked why he had done it (after the session, of course :)) he explained his reasoning essentially as I described it above. Given that the straightforward line of play makes an overtrick (!) it was hard for me to be sympathetic, but I also recognized that it was hard for me to be objective. I posted here hoping to get a more balanced view of his line. Any additional thoughts would be appreciated.

Yes, bid game. I see the doubleton heart and the form of scoring, but when game is a favorite opposite as little as ♠Axxx ♥xx ♦xxxx ♣Axx it would be cowardly in the extreme not to bid it here.

Run the hearts. In the 7 card ending RHO must hold 3 clubs, so will be forced to come down to no more than 2 cards in one of the pointed suits. If you think he has held onto 3 spades, cash two rounds of diamonds ending in hand and then two rounds of clubs for the double squeeze. Conversely, if you think RHO is holding diamonds, cash two rounds of spades ending in hand followed by two rounds of clubs. In theory, top level opponents may discard in a way that makes the position difficult to read, but in practice you will almost always know which suit RHO has abandoned.

Sorry, can't help you with that. I know you'd be paying enough attention at the table to have this info, so the problem is flawed as stated, but that's the way it is :(

Not that heavily. If the spade finesse loses, you can still hope for ♣A to be onside. Good point. Does that mean that you favor this line?

I'll let you know what happened at the table later. Still hoping to get others' opinions....

Interesting analysis. I take it that you are treating the ♣Q as a "useful card" (i.e., your weak RHO would never have bid 4♦ with something like -- AKx QJTxxxx xxx). How about leading the ♦K at trick 2 and discarding a heart? If this lives you can play a third diamond and ditch your last heart, ruff the likely heart return, play a spade to the Jack and a club down. If the ♣K loses to the Ace and a trump comes back, exit another club. RHO will probably have to win this and can do nothing to hurt you. If the ♦K is ruffed at trick 2, you can still play for the ♣A onside. This line gives you chances in both case #1 and case #2, but relies heavily on the ♠Q being on your left. Would you consider this a reasonable line?

And if partner shows 2? Are you SURE that he's void in spades??