gszeszycki

partner is not void in clubs (else they X 6d for a club lead) Lho apparently was unconcerned about lack of !D honor when they asked about clubs. The one club honor reply was sufficient for LHO to bid 6 but look no further despite the fact their P could still have 4-6 hcp left. My best guess is lho has a hand similar to A x AKQJTxx AJT2 Lho would KNOW their p cannot have !H AK and (!C K or Q) or !HA !SKQ due to the 0-8 hcp 1d response thus they would know that 7 dia is likely to be on a finesse at best thus they stopped in 6. Having come to this conclusion (in less than 10 seconds of course while we think about opening lead -yeah right) It seems the best lead is the Heart Ace In case like the above failure to lead the heart A could easily give away the slam when Rho has a hand simlar to Kxxx xxxx 9x Qxx the dia 9 acts as an entry and declarer enters dummy after unblocking spade A and pitches heart loser and happily gives up 1 club trick. It is virtually impossible the lead of the heart A will ever allow the slam to make when it was doomed to failure otherwise. The lead of a diamond rates to accomplish nothing since declarer cant possibly succeed that way due to partner being shorter in clubs than RHO.

BID 4D!!!!!!! We intend to bid at least 6c anyway and since we have no logical way to differentiate btn p having the KJTxxxx and AJTxxxx bidding more than 6c is las vegas. Bidding 4d here lets p know how to defend if opps go to 6s/7s. Always make bids that help partner when able. If your p passes thinking its natural get a new partner.

THINK REBID AND/OR LEAD DIRECTION that mantra will go a long way to helping you decide how to open a 2245 hand. Lets start with 3 examples and remember that there is no such thing as 1 size fits all. A3 32 AKQx AQ432 here is a wonderful 19 count (which some will make a case for upgrading to a 2n opener) opening 1c here and planning a 2d reverse is a wonderful method for treating this hand. I hate the idea of bidding some number of nt with this hand due to the very short and very wide open heart suit. Opening 1c (vs 2n) might allow us to reach 5c or 5d vs a 2n/3n that is doomed to failure. AQ AQ Qxxx xxxxx here I would HATE to encourage p to raise either of these moth eaten minors so I would start with 1c and be very very VERY happy to rebid 1n (even if p bids 1d) Qx Qx AKQJ xxxxx such a huge quality difference btn clubs and diamonds I am inclined to treat my clubs as a 4 card suit, open 1d and rebid 1n. The final example not only answers the rebid question but also lead direction. The other side benfit of opening 1d is it will allow p (with a short dia) to more accurately assess the value of their short suit (ie downgrade it) My general rule of thumb is if my dia contain at least 4 hcp and at least twice the strength of my clubs I will open 1d (unless the hand is strong enough to reverse). Thus with more mundane hands like K2 A2 A432 Q5432 I will open 1d planning to rebid 1n. Scoring in bridge makes showing 54/45 in minors a very poor idea most of the time. NT scores better and can be made with significantly less power than 5 of a minor. xx xx AKQx AJxxx the 2 wide open and short majors convinces me to open a minor and even though the dia suit isnt quite twice the strength of the clubs---my hand is too weak to reverse---I will open 1d and plan on rebidding 2c. The upside of this method is it virtually guarantees P will be declarer if NT is right.

no matter the vulnerability forcing pass is ON since we voluntarily bid game. So PASS partner was under pressure after the 3c bid and could easily have "overbid" a tad. The pass will allow p to X with the possible minimum and bid on if they have more conventional values. Your P bid 3h probably while looking at a short club so they probably do not have much in the way of HCP. Looking for a slam here is at best belated and at worst will undermine future partnership bidding if your p bids 5h and you drive to unmakeable 6.

NEG X I need to find out something further about partners hand in order to make a more informed decision. I would not bid 4N to play even if it were available. There is way too much potential here especially if P has no more than 5 hearts. If P bids 4S I will bid 5C and P will realize I am trying for slam since I did not bid 5c immediately.

Playing 2/1 I am very concerned that some bidding 4s thought it showed slam interest. What was opener supposed to do with a hand similar to say Kx Qx Axxxxx Kxx? They have been virtually forced into bidding 4s to try and put the brakes on an auction that sounds out of control. Those that bid 4S as a sign off at least realize they are showing honor x in spades and offering to play there if p is happy. I disagree with the 4S bid because I feel it is too weak of an action. The first thing to consider is what were P options over 3h?? Pass - it is forcing and should show a hand with no clear direction something similar to AQxxx xxx xx AKx also many hands with 18+. double - desire to penalize opps and no strong reason to prefer 3n (due to vulnerability etc.) something similar to AQJxx KJx Q xxxx 3s at least 6 decent spades (none of this Kxxxxx stuff) tends to be max of around 16 (stronger can pass and pull) 3n simlar to double but having both clubs and hearts stopped and vulnerability makes penalty less desireable. 4c forcing showing fairly radical distribution similar to AQJxx xx x AQJxx 4d just enough to raise your dia and unable to bid 3n (non forcing something like AQxxx xx Qxx KQx) 4h either independent spade suit or a hand with dia support extra values (16-17 range with stronger pass first) and short in hearts. If we follow this line of thinking no matter what kind of hand P has our minimum has become much better and we need to cue bid to show this to p BID 5C

assuming we cant play 2s opener as showing (any 4441) or 4405 or 4450 21+ hand (my favorite) This hand is just too strong to gamble on a 1c opening bid. Too many ways to make slam when P has insufficient power to bid over 1C. I would open 2c and over the almost inevitable 2d rebid 2H!!! While I may not be happy if P has to bid 4h while holding something like xx xxx xx xxxxx----the 2h rebid should give us our best chance of finding a fit or discovering if nt is viable. Let's face it if P is broke any number of NT is likely to be wrong while we may still find a 44 heart or spade fit this way. I would much rather lie about having a 5 card heart suit and use up almost no bidding space then lie about having a 5 card club suit and use up way more bidding space.

ASSUMING you are correct concerning the forcing pass:) you have already limited your hand when you passed 4s now you have a second chance to show a hand filled with controls and no club waste. bid 5d this hurts nothing and helps differentiate between hands like yours and say xx QJxx KQxx xxx with this collection I would be happy to bid 5s 5d = 10 5s = 8 x = 5 pass = you hate current partner and are giving them a reason to dump you.

I have 8 tricks and need either luck (a squeeze or honors dropping like flies) or poor defense. It seems to me automatic to duck the 2nd spade so at least we have a much better idea of who the danger hand is if there is one. Ducking the 2nd spade also helps rectify the count for a squeeze. Too difficult to imagine a decent LOP from here since we really have no clue how the spades divide and which player has them.

5d We have to show P our 4h bid was based on power not just preemtion. It is far safer to bid 5d and bid 6h if p bids 5s. That way p will know we have 1st round control in dia and 2nd round in clubs and probably need a heart honor to bid 7.. It is difficult to imagine a hand P might have where 6s does not have play so I have zero problems forcing this to the 6 level.

2N yay for once I have a bid that accurately describes my hand:))))))))

5c while I am unsure how much power your partner promised for the splinter bid, my hand is hardly a disappointment. Thus I begin with a cue bidding sequence let P know my hand might be slam worthy. Another advantage of the cue bid is that it lets P know I am not strong enough to take control of the bidding at this point (for who knows what reason).

I am a firm believer in using space whenever possible. Once the opps make a large preempt it is impossible to scientifically search for 7 (that means cue bids shwoing support at 6 level are a waste). We are best served using what space we have to explore alternative small slams. Here we have some leeway and I think 6c showing the 55 majors is the best way to approach this. If p hates both majors they may be able to rebid 6d and we are happy with that also. If p had opened 1c (and opps bid 5d) we would not have the option of bidding 6d since there is no safe place like 6c to fall back on if no major suit fit). The 5n overwhelming choice would be mine if P had opened 1C. Since they opened 1D I will make the extra try for a major suit slam since it is SAFE. Nothing in the rule book says p has to be minimum and about the only time I want to defend 5c is when p is minimum 2254 I will gamble that we have at least a small slam and that is why I rule out x.

Upside down attitude to OUR suit leads. Lead the Q Before seeing the dummy we want to know if P has the J. When the Jx hits the table P can encourage with Txx Txxx or Txxxx (note they do not encourage ever by using the T. The T is only played as a singleton or any Tx. Once P encourages I continue with the A (suit preference) and P plays either their lowest card from Txxxx or the T from T9xxx or any other card (except the T) from txx or txxx. This has to be clear since I need at least 4 clubs for my plays in the club suit to make sense and it is hugely important for me to KNOW if continuing clubs from the top is right or not. It is impossible to get this wrong since declarer will have to throw the 9 on trick one or two whenever p has 5 clubs (or when P plays the T from T9xxx). If I did not have the 8 declarer could throw a monkey wrench into the works by tossing 9 from 98xx at trick 2). With the 8 the situation is 100% clear. I would also encourage using this same method with any 5 clubs even w/o the T) Yes signalling at NT is different from signalling in suit contracts.

agree with Inquiry up to a point After P bids 4S I am very pleased and will launch into a blackwood sequence (I use 0314 except when suit is hearts --1430) since my suit is diamonds. A risk free shot at a grand slam. If p bids 5c (0/3) I will bid 5d (and p will show kings if they had 3 vs 0) and I will leap to 7d or 7N depending on p king showing. If p bids 5d I will pass) If P bids 5H I will bid 6d. If my suit was clubs I would not have this luxury and I am afraid I would have to take the more conservative route chosen by Inquiry and sign off in 5c.

P may have something similar to T9 xx QTxxx QJTx maybe QT9x p can tell you probably have 4 hearts so opps have no suits to run While speculative it is not w/o merit to X 3n on this auction. Of course the more featherweight your 1s opening might be the more speculative the X becomes. I agree with ducking spade and encouraging. If I get in first I will lead a small spade. This gives declarer nothing they cannot get for themselves and caters to P having T9.

agree with RHM P hand should look similar to AKxxxxxxxx void xx A or AKQxxxxxx void xx AK

never try analysis at 1am:) Start small from dummy. This gives RHO a chance to rise with K from Kx (in the hopes you started with singleton J). If K does not pop first trick rely on taking regular dia finesse second round of suit. This LOP gives up on one specific 4/1 holding (pointed out by Gnasher) but greatly increases your chances overall by trying to get help from opps. I will admit if RHO happened to play the J on first round of dia I would probably play them for KJ.

I agree with rogerclee LOP but for a totally different reason. Put yourself in E seat with either of the following 2 collections of cards xx---------------xx xxxx-------------xxxx Qxx(x)-----------xxx(x) Axx(x)-----------Axx(x) I win the club A and looking at that dummy I count our side as having around 14 hcp I was looking at (4 or 6) therefore p has 8 or 10 -QJ clubs so they have 5 to 7 left. More than enough room for a side K. Why would I ever choose to make a known "nothing" play of a club when I can attack either red suit? If I am not looking at the dia Q there is zero reason to even try to lock declarer in their hand (remember I have no reason to assume they only AK spades and no immediate entry to dummy. I would surely at least try to make an attacking lead since my only entry is gone and an attacking lead might be only way to set the contract. If I am looking at the dia Q I would not want to force declarer to rise with presumed heart A (if I return a heart) and rely on the dia finesse. It is far better (if I have Qxxx of dia to allow declarer a choice of options like playing for imagined 33 dia split and if that fails to fall back on heart finesse. My guess is Rho has Qxxx in diamonds and I play accordingly

gnasher points out that when N passed over 2N he shows spades. I wonder what the purpose of the x over 3c was. clubs (and spades) are the only contracts I would have any interest in defending and it is far too easy for opps to still run to safety (Your honor I would like to enter this hand as exhibit a). I would start with 100% blame to S for that x of 3c ---if I were going to do anything over 3c it would be to bid 3s (now that I know we have no heart fit) as a blockade bid. Let us assume the x of 3c is acceptable to all and we find ourselves in balancing seat after lho bids 3d-----risk vs reward leads us to the conclusion that pass is best. odds of making 3s (or 3h) are slim at best -- remember that N knows you have an invitational hand in hearts and a sign off in spades yet they took no action over 3d because they could do nothing useful. Thus we can conclude that if N had 4 hearts and game interest they would have bid 3h over 3d. We do not know opps cannot make 3n let us be happy they are in 3d and hope we can set it. Bidding 3h by south another terrible error since it is impossible for N to have a 4 card heart suit and anything much above a minimum.

W/W at IMPs: What do you balance with and what is your plan? AKTxx ATxx Ax Qx You play Lebensohl here, and partner is a junior. imo this hand is too good for a mere 2n I am happy trying 3n if p has as little as say Qx xxx xxxx KJxx and they wont raise 2n to 3n. This hand is too strong for a mere 2s and 2s also misses the point since we really should not be happy in a 53 spade fit where our possible heart ruffs are in easy overruff position. X gets us the best of all worlds. spades when we have at least a 9 card fit and nt when we dont. There is little difference btn ending up in 2n vs 3n when both go down but a huge difference when 3n makes (there is some ouch factor when it makes precisely 2). My plan is to x then if p bids 2s raise to 3s 2n raise to 3n 3c/d bid 3n 3h bid 3s (I play this as stayman w/o a heart stopper and game forcing but not everyone does) 3s bid 4h 3n pass 4c/d raise to 5 4h bid 6s 4s biggest headache i would trot out 4n bidding 6s if p shows 1 and being happy in 5 if p shows none 5c/5d raise to 6

heart to Q won then lets u duck a heart all around. Win the return go to dummy cash the spade A and the dia winners then come back to hand with a club and run the hearts you will reduce dummy to club Axx and your hand to spade Q and Kx clubs this position wins whenever clubs 33 or 42 and same player has spade K The spade ace unblock is called a vienna coupe. Quit bidding such rotten slams and you wont need these types of plays very much (to go along with 33 hearts and a heart finesse) if this makes your slam was around 8% or so.

this looks like a self created problem to me why did you not bid 3c right away?? please dont tell me you dont consider this a positive response hand--- after u bid 3c it is easy to bid 4c and leaves p little doubt about the nature of your hand. The way you are bidding it leaves partner completely clueless at best and worse misled (what would you do if p suddenly bid say 6h). Bidding 4c now only helps p a tiny little bit.

Your hand is too good to settle for less than game and a slam opposite a passed p is very tine% and exploring for slam is not safe. Those that play 4h as showing spade support and a lonnnnnnnnnnnng not independent suit have the edge here. Those that do not play 4h this way should just bid 4s.

it is very difficult for E to imagine slam after the paltry 3c bid by their p. A much better start is 2s. There is no reason to hurry and show 5 card suit (even thought its nice) when your hand is so much better than normal because of the opening bid on your right. keep bidding low and go slow when you are very powerful. I know 2s is only 2 pips below 3c but reverse your minors and the advantage of 2s becomes even clearer.