Little Kid

I would sign off, I don't think slam has good chances.

Nope, what makes you think so? Is it that bad?

Until yesterday I would have automatically bid 1♥ but then someone gave me some good arguments for 2♦ and now I'm not sure anymore. Although it is true you may belong in ♥s (possibly even at the game level), bidding 1♥ does nothing in terms of preempting the opponents. Your LHO will make his best bid and the opponents will know exactly how high to go and in what strain. Your side will have exchanged no information about your only known fit and may miss a cold 3♦ when it may easily be the best contract. If you intend to bid 1♥ and support ♦s later, you are unlikely to still be able to bid 2♦ when it gets back to you. You could maybe chance a 3♦ then too but at much higher risk. If you bid 2♦, you take away valuable bids from the opponents such as 2♣ and 1♠. It does not look like they will let you play in 2♦ very often and might stretch a 2M or 3♣ bid when it is too high. Maybe they even end up in 2♥s if we get lucky. By bidding 2♦ you tell partner about the fit before it is too late (eg. they bid 2♠ over your 1♥ response). With some extra ♦ length he will be able to compete safely to 3♦. In terms of best partscore, maybe 2♦ works better because it eats up some bidding space and reveals your fit. Any thoughts?

[hv=d=s&v=n&s=s852hqt93dq632ca6]133|100|Scoring: IMP Pass-(Pass)-1♦-(Double) ?[/hv] 1♥ or 2♦?

Most players seem to prefer Double over 1NT. Although I don't particularly feel very strongly about 1NT or X, I picked 1NT at the time I was reading the post and felt it was better. What you think will or will not happen if you bid 1NT? When will double work better than 1NT? I'm not trying to advocate the 1NT bid, just trying to understand why it is better to double. These were my thoughts when I saw the problem: - Strength:1♣ was opened in 3rd seat (possibly not full opener), my honours are very nicely placed though! The Kx, AQ AQ honour cards will probably carry their weight, making game a possibility even opposite a passed hand. The extra 5card ♦ suit adds some further value to the hand. I didn't feel comfortable I can show my strength safely if I start with a double so we could miss game. With the game bonus in mind, I liked 1NT because I get my overall strength of my chest immediately. In the worst case scenario of it getting doubled, I can still run to 2♦. - Shape Unfortunately I only have 1♠ stopper as well as ♠ shortage. The likelihood of the opponents raining down a bunch of spades before I can set up ♦s (or another suit) seems quite real, especially with opener having the points to get in to play them. If I bid 1NT and LHO passes, I rate partner to have a (partial) ♠ stopper at least some of the time (JTx/T9xx/Qxx). Hopefully LHO will save me from some hopeless 1NT contracts by raising to 2♠. The problem is that if he does, I will wish I had doubled to tell partner about my ♠ doubleton. We may well belong in 3♣/3♦/3♥ but with no way of getting there now. For the purpose of getting to the right strain, double seemed to show this hand much more effectively than 1NT. Although you may end up in 2♣/2♥ contracts after a double when 1NT scores better? What did I miss that makes double the prevailing choice? Maybe you just need to have played these kind of hands to know double is right or maybe I am just way too optimistic about making game! :)

I like the idea of bidding 4♠ and sacrificing over 6♥ which was mentioned by others.

1NT. Like the position of my aces, K♠ and I have a possible source of tricks. Not happy with some of the responses I might get over X either. RHO opened in 3rd seat and I'll try describe my hand as good as I can.

[hv=d=s&v=n&s=s9764ha6dk3ca9865]133|100|Scoring: IMP 1♣-(1♥)-PASS-(PASS) ?[/hv]

I'll bid 3♥, not a forcing pass auction for me. Will you bid 2NT with 11-14 hands with 3-2-4-4 or 4-2-4-3? Pass seems like a very sane bid to make in those cases, happy to play 2♠.

(pass)- 1♦ - (X) - 1♥ (1♠) - 2♦ -(4♠) -pass (pass) - ? Has this improved your hand much? Moving now or obvious pass?

Auction proceeds: (pass)- 1♦ - (X) - 1♥ 1♠ - ?

We are told West opened 3H and East gave odd count, seems safe to assume they are 7-3. Spades are 1-4. You need to figure out if ruffing a club is safe, if not you can squeeze West. The contract is pretty much 100% once you know the club position. A count on diamonds will tell you which line to take by getting a count on West's hand. 0-1 diamonds and it is safe to ruff a club as East will have 3+. 2+ diamonds and you can squeeze him LHO in clubs and hearts. Furthermore, it seems pretty unlikely that East has only 0-1 diamonds because that would give West a 7-6/7-5. The bidding would have probably been more agressive than a mere 3H. Diamonds seems like a good way to increase ur odds of making even more.

[hv=d=e&v=n&s=s54hdkqj9632ca732]133|100|Scoring: MP (PASS)- ?[/hv]

50-50 for first, West for second :)

Would you bid 3♦ ad both r/w and w/r?

Oh right, sorry I misunderstood. I'm not sure how to compile the 10 .lin files into one big file either. You could just rename 10 .lin files TimG1-10 but I guess your way is better if you figure out how that works.

Maybe you can find them here

I'm in if there's room! :P

2♥, not particularly keen on bidding 3♥ with a flat hand and soft values.

[hv=d=w&v=n&s=saqh9dqj643ckqj92]133|100|Scoring: IMP [/hv] LHO opens and the auction is as follows: (1♥)-P-(3♥)-? 3♥ is alerted as weak, what do you bid? If you double then p bids 4♠. what would you do then?

[hv=d=s&v=b&s=skqj764ht63dj9c82]133|100|Scoring: IMP[/hv] The auction was: 2♠-(2NT)-4♠-(5♣) P - ( P ) - X - (5♦) P - ( P ) -5♥ -(P ) ? 1) Do you agree with opening 2♠? 2) Do you agree with pass over 5♣? 3) Do you agree with pass over 5♦? 4) What do you bid now?

[hv=d=w&v=n&n=sa4ha4daqjt4ckq93&s=sq2hk72dk85caj752]133|200|Scoring: IMP[/hv] 33 hcps and 13 top tricks. Assuming the opponents are silent, can you confidently bid this grand (7NT) with the system of your choice?

Thanks for the responses. That's what I thought too, but both my p and an opponent at the table yesterday seemed adamant in thinking the bid is forcing so I started to doubt myself.

NV (P)-1♣-(2♦)-X (P)-2♠-(P) - ? What does partner's 2♠ show? Does it promise any extras because I could just be weak with 5♥s or so? Or does it imply heart tolerance by skipping them? Is it forcing? What kind of major holdings and strength would you typically expect? If it matters, I held: ♠AKxx ♥xxxx ♦xxxx ♣x

Having a world class getting angry at me last week for passing 1NT-4NT pretty much sums it up...