rfp

Are there solutions to any of these BBO annoyances: 1. I am _playing_ in a prearranged game (BBO IMPs) and get popup forms requesting to join another table. 2. A player briefly disconnects, so I click on "Table" to reserve his seat. Before I can enter the name and click "Apply" I get a bunch of requests to sit, each of which has to be rejected before I can continue typing. 3. I am the opening leader and start to click on my lead, then the suits shift position, sometimes before I realize it causing the wrong card to be chosen. Richard Pavlicek www.rpbridge.net

I agree with Fred's mathematical point. Essentially, the spade spots become a pseudo suit since their play involved no choice or decision, i.e., the missing queen would always be withheld. Therefore, at the moment of decision vacant spaces are equal if RHO has exactly two more known cards in another suit. However, there is a restricted choice element (I didn't see mentioned) relating to _how_ the ruff was obtained. If leader was simply leading his partner's suit, there is nothing here. But if he _chose_ to lead a singleton, a trump holding of xxx is more likely than Qxxx. That is, a singleton lead is automatic with xxx, but hardly so with Qxxx. Under these circumstances, it's certainly better to play for the drop in the 50-50 situation. And it may be better to extend playing for the drop even further. -- Richard Pavlicek Web site: www.rpbridge.net

If the club finesse wins at trick two, you can cater to all your best chances. Cash a top diamond; if LHO drops an honor, cross in hearts to finesse in diamonds, then you can later finesse again in clubs (♦10 entry). -- Richard Pavlicek Web site: www.rpbridge.net

Nigel, I'm familiar with Bonney's squeeze, and a similar construction by Don Kersey, but these are not the same. The key distinction of my 5-card ending is the extended diamond threat (♦32), which is essential despite the lack of a diamond entry. This is extremely rare; in fact it has been postulated in the past that an extended menace is useless without an entry in its suit. -- Richard Pavlicek Web site: www.rpbridge.net

Good point. "Saturated" should mean _essential_ threats in all four suits (which must involve both opponents) as opposed to a fourth threat that is immaterial. Consider the SPS hereby christened. :) -- Richard Pavlicek Web site: www.rpbridge.net

Thanks to all who responded, which helped me determine the problem was cooked (multiple solutions). Simplicity provided a valid solution, and some Fluffy cat who writes with white crayons may have too (LOL, maybe I'm dense, but I couldn't figure out how to read it). My intended solution (North leads ♣A): [hv=d=&v=&n=sa3h3dca2&w=sht98dck3&e=sk2hkqdac&s=shaj2d32c]399|300|[/hv] The curious 5-card ending was new to me, and I'm not even sure what to call it. The squeeze is saturated (threats in 4 suits), progressive (gains 2 tricks) and double (both opponents), so "saturated progressive double squeeze" would be my guess. I'll try to reword my conditions to yield only the above unique solution. (Note that Simplicity's solution could not be unique as his "finessing" cards could be any suitable spades.) -- Richard Pavlicek Web site: www.rpbridge.net

An offbeat puzzle idea: In a 5-card ending at notrump, the defenders hold: [hv=d=&v=&w=sht98dck3&e=sk2hkqdac]266|100|[/hv] 1. North-South have all the missing twos and threes, and South has more twos than threes. 2. North-South can win all five tricks against any defense. (Player on lead is your choice.) What are the North-South hands? -- Richard Pavlicek Web site: www.rpbridge.net

In recent months logging of deals played (IMP Pairs) does not include the IMP scores, but in the past these were contained in the LIN file. When I look online to try to retrieve them it seems only one deal can be downloaded at a time. In the 90s when OKbridge was king, I had no problem getting all the deals played, either by recording, or by a single download of every deal played. Has bridge taken a giant step backward? Or am I missing something? How do I conveniently retrieve all deals played with IMP scores? Thanks. -- Richard Pavlicek (rfp)