gszeszycki

IMPs, W/W 2nd seat ♠J87 ♥QT3 ♦A3 ♣KT743 [P] - P - [1♥] - X [P] - ? This is a pretty darn good hand for a passed hand and at IMPS we should be trying for game the two classic ways to do this 2n and 3c each seem to have some serious flaw (tenuous heart stopper (we would prefer say xxx KQT AJx xxxx) and not so great a club suit (would prefer xxx xx Axx KQJxx). What's left? 2h an in context bid to show maximum just not game forcing like it would be if we were not a passed hand. Also denies a bunch of stuff in hearts since we would prefer nt. first advantage is that lho might x which would make us MUCH happier about our heart stopper but let us assume lho passes what can p do to mess us up? 2S the expected bid minimum with 4 spades. 2N we now show our "scary" heart stopper and inability to play spades. P should figure out we have long broken minor for 2h bid and bid 3C this is pass or correct. 2N P should NOT be using this to show a heart stopper but probably some sort of 4144 4054 4054 hand asking us to clarify what we should do a hand similar to AQxx void QJxxx Axxx would qualify. P knows we dont have a ton of wasted values in hearts since we avoided NT. Our club fit is so large that we can now try for 5c. 3C should be a minimum w/o 4 spades something like AQx xx Kxxx Axxx. we can pass 3D can't be what should have been a 2d overcall so we are forced to conclude that this is dia suit with extra values but not strong enough to bid 3h (asking for a stopper) or 3n something similar to AKx xx KQJxxx Kx. We would try 3N and p should realize we have dia card and "something that resembles" a stopper in hearts. With Jxx Qx or siff K we could bid 3h asking for a partial stopper. 3H asking for heart stop for 3N self explanatory. 3S spade suit extra values. we should bid 4D and p should take this as a cue bid in case they are slamming. 3N probably 18-19 balanced or some holding with a heart stop that they expect 3N to be right.(our QTx will probably be a welcome sight). That should cover most of the plausible auctions and there does not seem to be a huge downside to making 2H our next bid

for all of you convinced p has a spade stack consider the following auction we had couple of days ago. 1s p 1n (forcing) p 2d p 2s p p p(after 10 second delay) after opening lead hit table and p saw dummy my p said 1n?? anyway we made 2s opps were cold for 3h and many made 4. I explained I was hoping to steal the board vs making a normal pass. If you don't use 1n forcing this way maybe it is a good weapon to add to your arsenal. my hand was Q876 765 932 643 rho had xx QJxxx x Kxxxx rho admitted he wanted to x but was convinced his p had a spade stack. X for penalty when you have a trump stack is a poor idea since it gives responder another chance to improve their fate. Be happy you can set them and use the X as takeout.

risk vs reward. Rho has limited their hand but opener can still have quite a range for their 2d bid. Last thing we need is to hear xx and subsequently go for a phone number when we could have settled for a small minus or even small plus defending 2s when p has a stack. P rates to have a spade stack and will leave x in most of the time surely we arent seriously expecting to defeat spades more than 1 trick. My hearts stink and surely an X here would encourage p to make a potentially disastrous H lead. Too many negatives for small window of positive.

we have to plan ahead if p has 4 spades and 5/6 clubs and 11 hcp it would probably be best to start with xx. They can then bid out hand at their leisure. This would allow weaker distributional hands to begin w/o xx and still be able to show a wide range of power. using xx properly we can start with 1s and rebid (2 or 3 clubs) with hands ranging fom 1. Axxx xx x xxxxxx 2. Axxx xx x Axxxxx 3. Axxx Kx x Axxxxx 4. Axxx Kx x AKxxxx 1. bid 1s then 2c 2. bid 1s then 3c 3. xx then simple club rebid (unless you can still bid 1s when it comes back to you then 2c) unless you can raise spades. 4. xx jump in clubs (unless you can still bid 1 spade when it comes back to you then 3c) unless you can raise spades. The practice of x the opps at low levels is not dead with balanced strong hands as long as we start with xx. Starting with a forcing 1h/1s after opp x is fine with weak distributional hands but probably should give way to xx with strong hands since there will almost always be time to bid major later if needed.

Molly the Mule Group: Members Posts: 1830 Member No.: 6309 Joined: 1-July 07 Dealer: West Vul: Both Scoring: MP ♠ ♥ xxx ♦ K98xx ♣ AKJ9x ♠ AQ108 ♥ Qxx ♦ QJx ♣ 108x You reach 3NT after N opens 1♦, E overcalls 1NT, and W transfered to spades (Partner didn't want to double them). W leads the ♦10 and East ducks twice, wins the ♦A on the 3rd round and shifts to a low ♥. You win the Q and? there isnt much information left in this hand so analysis should be fairly easy. Rho has dia A heart AK and assuredly spade K (or rho has 14 max) all that is missing are the spade J and the club Q rho has at least one and could have both. there appear to be two lines of play figuring out how to play clubs or leading hearts and forcing opps to fix your problems for you. In order for the heart exit to work we must assume the opposing hearts break 43 (4 being in rho hand in which case the contract is cold no matter what happens)--not too mention if rho had 5 hearts headed by AK they might have preferred some other action than 1n We werent given information on what lho did on second dia (sigh) so we are stuck guessing if dia break 32 or 41. lho 5323 5314 6322 6313 rho 4432 4441 3433 3442 if hearts break 52 lho 5224 5215 6223 6214 rho 4531 4540 3532 3541 lets toss out rho hands with singleton/void so the only distributions we are dealing with are lho 5323 6322 6313 6223 rho 4432 3433 3442 3532 since contract is ice cold (it is impossible for lho to gain lead twice to lead clubs through dummy) any time rho has 15 17 and 4 hearts headed by AK, heart exit should work well in excess of the 75% of the time suggested by remaining probable scenarios whereas trying to guess clubs would seem to be an exercise in pure guesswork alone for no particular reason 11-9 or 8-7 in favor of club Q being in "long" suit.

the 2 examples shown by blue calm are perfect for delaying the 4n bid until after cue bidding first round. In both cases after 3d bid 3s if p bids 3n then bid 4n quatitative if p bids 4d showing minimum bid 4n as sign off

I would jump to 6d and the only reason I would not bid 5s to search for 7 is because I am too afraid of a spade void in lho and a first round spade ruff. 1 less spade and 1 more heart or dia and I bid 5s.

Dealer: North Vul: N/S Scoring: MP ♠ QJ9 ♥ AK76 ♦ T96 ♣ Q86 ♠ AT5 ♥ T84 ♦ AK ♣ KT432 1C-(1S)-3NT-All Pass Lead is ♠7 (1st/3th/5th), you play the J from dummy for the K and A. Best play of the Club suit without the overcall is small to the Q, and then to the Ten (?). But doe this change now that RHO did overcall 1S (and is more likely shorter in C and more likely that he has ♣A)? with 2 stops in all side suits and needing only 2 clubs to make game if clubs break 32 it matters not how we play the suit. What is the right play that will make whenever clubs break 32 as well as when they break poorly (w/o) having to guess right. The relevant cases are: AJ975 void----------------QJ9-----------------void AJ975 AJ97 5-------------------AK76---------------5 AJ97 AJ95 7-------------------T96-----------------7 AJ95 AJ75 9-------------------Q86-----------------9 AJ75 J975 A----------------------------------------A J975 A975 J----------------------------------------J A975 ---------------------------AT5 ---------------------------T84 ---------------------------AK ---------------------------KT432 the real problem with this hand is making sure RHO does not win more then 2 clubs (before we win 2 clubs) because that is the only way this hand will be set (lho heavy favorite to have 1/2 spades) the correct play at trick 2 is to lead low toward the board and play according to what card is played by LHO: 5 cover with 8 if this wins hand is over if it loses to 9 playing low to Q next round (after winning spade return in hand) wins no matter how clubs divide. If it loses to J or A hand is over. 7 same as above cover with 8 for same reasons. 9 /cover with Q hand is over if RHO is void come to hand with spade and lead toward 86 lho has to win or hand is over win return wherever they lead and lead the 8 hand is over./ if J falls hand is over/ if rho wins A then win next return in dummy if possible (if they return a dia win in hand and lead low toward 86. J cover and hand is over. A duck and hand is over. Playing low toward dummy at trick 2 will go down ONLY when rho has singleton 9 and makes a deadly red suit switch (if they continue spades no problem). If 9 wins first club and rho makes red suit switch best bet is to play for 32 clubs. This line of play does not require us to weaken our holding in any side suit and going down will be so rare as to be nonexistent.

3d --- should be crystal clear you need a dia stop for 3n. If p cannot produce dia stop you pretty much have to settle for 4h and hope p has a doubleton dia (KQ or KJ of hearts) and hearts break 33 slim pickings but better than nothing. Even if you happen to play xx as a willingness to try 2d this is a huge gamble since the very help you need from p to have a shot at making 2d might allow you to make 3n. Bidding 3n here is somewhat like looking down the barrel of a howitzer and saying fire after you have been warned it is in good firing condition and loaded.

1. my advice is to have at least 55 in the side suits to make this type of reopening x--the opps *might* be in a misfit and for the reopening x to work you normally need to make whatever contract your side ends up in. There is also the risk balancing might allow the opps to find a fit they missed* * in the given auction it is not impossible for the opps to be missing a 53 dia fit in order to play in 52 heart fit when opener has 55 reds---not to mention responder playing around with almost 0 points and 4-5 hearts:) It is MP however and odds favor not letting them play a meagre 2h when you have decent distribution since the bidding seems to indicate roughly balanced power. A hand similar to QJTxx xx x JT9xx (or better consistent with the bidding) is probably fine since p rates to be mostly balanced and rates to have a decent amount of power due to the bidding. 2. P had two previous opportunities to bid and failed to do so. It is very reasonable to assume they are weak and distributional probably with 7 hcp or less (playing you for a decent hand since opps let bidding die). I would avoid considering a 2n or 3n rebid (unless you play it as an artificial spade raise with 3 card support) here since the odds of 3n being right are slim at best. 3. too diffficult to answer w/o seeing cards. What kind and where the points are located should determine your next bid. for ex with xxx KQx KJxx AKx I would probably bid 3c since responder is far more likely to have longer clubs than spades (when they are not of equal length) since they did not choose a simple 2s balance. The excellent clubs make it tougher for opps to X. AKx xxx xxxx AKQ i would bid 4s*A (Note that there is no need to x with Axx Axx Axxx Axx i would try 3s*B these hands over 2h if P will balance --------------------------------------with weak distributional hands) *A. This might be a superb hand for a 3n (artificial) rebid showing the miracle concentration of values and a desire for game but with only 3 spades you might even find 5c is makeable *B. This might be a superb hand for a 2n (artificial) rebid showing an invitational raise but with only 3 spades. Be prepared to pass 3c if responder bids it. 4. best bet is to bid 3c since partner might shade length in spades vs clubs for reopening x since clubs needed to play 3 level vs 2 level for spades.

1♥-(P)-2♦-(4♣) AQxx KT97x Qx QT X sigh that was the easy part now the long winded reasoning lets take the following auction in to consideration r/w 1h p 2n (jacoby 2n) 5c this situation is very similar to the above except for the fact that we already have an established trump fit an immediate x by opener serves as a warning to p that we have 2 or 3 quick losers in the opponents suit and are minimum for previous bidding (seriously, when is the last time you had KQx AJx AK in the opps suit they bid to the 5 level). The x serves as a warning to partner that bidding on might be dangerous. Partner is then forced to pass for penalty (when it is dangerous to continue because they also have 2/3 quick losers in opps suit) or make some other bid. An immediate pass by opener shows a willingness to continue bidding (ie due to shortness in opps suit and a minimum OR because they have a holding similar to Ax/Kx in opp suit OR because they are much stronger than minimum and intend to pull any X made by p (concept of pass and pull). The given auction is the same w/o the safety net of an established trump fit but the principles would appear to be the same (I can understand why many would feel the situations are too dissimilar due to lack of fit alone).. If we agree the situations are similar then it would appear that the correct bid after the 4c bid is X because opener is minimum has 2 quick losers and nothing else special going on. As an aside if your P had bid 1s (with their 4351) then bid 4h later it would have been easy to convert to 4s (sometimes 2/1 bidders forget the importance of 44 fits or ignore showing 4 spades because finding a fit 4-4 is against the odds).

pass over 3s partner is under some pressure after 2s and if there is defense it is most likely behind p making 4h much more difficult than it might first seem. If p cannot act over 3s we are unlikely to have missed 4h. now bid 5h at IMPS* partner is obviously short in spades and our 6 card heart suit will cut down severly on any defensive tricks partner might be counting on if we pass. It takes a lot more for partner to X 4s than it did for the original 2S x. If partner has the heart length we expect making 11 should be easy since partner is undoubtedly doubling with aces not queens and jacks. No matter at imps going down 1 in 5h a small price to pay to make certain we dont lose out a vul game. *At MP since we rate to beat 4s we will gather in at least some mp by passing while bidding 5h rates to be a good contract it risks being bottom if it goes down.

In my ex sequence resoponder would never be in position to use rkc because they would have no clue if the spade control shown was shortness or power (opener is known to be unbalanced). The whole point I was trying to make was that unbalanced hands (even one opposite balanced) can enjoy remarkably accurate and safe slam bidding as long as they do not waste bidding space jumping around and telling p little or nothing. In my example opener shows slam interest if responder can control hearts but they may never have ventured to search for slam if bidding went 1d 1h 3d 4n because such a search for slam might no longer be safe:) My apologies for my points of emphasis being said in caps. Many of my sentences are runons and i find caps bring important points together better than creating new sentences. Apparently they can elicit some sarcasm because they distract some from arguing the logic and commenting on how the text was presented.

1♣-(P)-1♦-(1♠) P-(2♠)-3♥-(P) 4♣ over the 1S bid I use X to show 4 hearts. If you use the same methods the 3H bid could easily be a search for 3N (with no spade stop). You can now have bid 3S with a partial stop or 3N with a full stop. Having chosen neither of these the 4C bid is most likely a minimum with some club length (hopefully 5) and nowhere to go.

1. bidding goes 1d 1h 3d what do you bid with say xxx AKxx Kxx xxx tell me 4d isnt invitational and can be passed 2. the whole POINT of cue bidding is to express interest in slam AND convey the message that the cuebidder cannot use methods such as rkc due to the nature of their hand. Thus it is VERY important to have normal methods like RKC available for those instances where one hand DOES have the power to use it wisely. 3. I cannot imagine ANY hand where 4N is necessary to show slam interest because it is virtually impossible to have such a hand and NOT be able to cue bid to show slam interest. 4. Jumping to 4n to show some nebulous 14 count as an invite takes up a HUGE amount of space that could be put to better use cuebidding. 5. FINAL KEY POINT after beginning a cue bidding sequence one can then bid 4n to show a MINIMUM invite but in the interim just starting a cue bidding sequence might enable partner to intelligently continue. for EX: 1d 1h 3d 4c (cue bidding because cannot use rkc intelligently) 4s (opener is cue bididng because they cannot use rkc intelligently BUT the 4c cue bid alone might allow opener to jump to 4N RKC) 4N (no not suddenly rkc) but balanced quatitative slam try ----you might be no better off than if you had immediately JUMPED to 4N but you MIGHT and that is the whole point of not wasting valuable bidding space merely to mark time until you can THEN use RKC when it should have been available all along immediately :)

Q QJ8765 KQ Q864 p opens 1s we bid 2H WAYYYYY too embarrasing to miss 4h opposite say Kxxxx ATx xx AJx OR Axxxx xxx xx AKx to even CONSIDER starting with semi forcing 1n---yes on rare occassion opener will have a 2 suiter we are in a misfit and we go down but it is FAR more likely we will have excellent play for game opposite a vast majority of 1s opening bids. Pessimism can only be stretched so far:)

BALANCED OPPOSITE BALANCED quatitative bids make a fair amount of sense because the contract being arrived at is based primarily on POWER alone. When UNBALANCED hands (or a trump fit is discovered) such quatitative bidding is way less accurate due to the extra trick taking ability of trump suits in general or the extra length inherent in an unbalanced hand. As an exercise will someone PLEASE concoct a hand where they feel 4n quantitative is the RIGHT BID after 1d 1h 3d. Saying something is THEORETICALLY correct is fine as long as one can properly IMAGINE how to properly use that theory to arrive at intelligent contracts. I can concoct a TON of hands where I would want 4n to be rkc for ex x AKQJx xxx Axxx where i can play 5 6 or 7 x KQJxx Qxx AKxx where i can play 5 6 or 7

your 15 and opps 15 leave around 10 hcp ---thats a LOT ---and a lot can happen if you dont take space away. I suggest you bid 4h under the theory that if P can take a trick the club finesse is a HUGE favorite to succeed. 4h might or might not make but it will rarely be doubled and the jump might prevent opps from finding game on their own.

i imagine it was weak and off shape (probably short dia) i hope your arent thinking of using this insight to your advantage:)))))))))))

♠ x ♥ xxxxx ♦ Axx ♣ Kxxx ♠ AKQ9 ♥ AKTxx ♦ x ♣ Axx I am a firm believer in mini splinters and my 1M/2N (I also only promise 3 + card support for major suit raises) response includes the 1M/3M invitational raise so my bidding sequence starts out 1H 3H mini splinter (short spades) 3S (opener MUST start this way if they wish to take control or else a dialog begins) this bid asks responder for any 5+ card side suit looking for extra tricks. 3N none 4C how many hearts 4H = 5 (4d would equal 4 the MINIMUM number responder can have with short spade and no side 5 card suit). 4N how many controls in side suits (4S would be trump quality ask) 5h 3 (5c = 0/1 5d = 2) at this point opener KNOWS responder is 1543 1534 or 0544 AND has dia ace but which K is also important thus 6C do you have club K? (6d would ask for dia K) you make sure to ask for the one that allows responder to leap to 7 7h yes and nothing extra (else another cue bid to show extra for ex 7c would show club K AND club Q)

Dealer: North Vul: None Scoring: IMP ♠ 3 ♥ AK10862 ♦ 85 ♣ J872 Opps silent: 1♣-1♥ 1♠-? This hand is absolutely worth an invite but the problem lies in the fact that it is worth an invite in both hearts AND clubs (imagine Axxx void xxx AQxxxx) I play my FSF as forcing for one round same as NMF so i will start my exploration with 2d (even those that use FSF as game forcing can feel relatively safe with this because you can safely invite as high as 4c). If you play the 1s rebid by opener promises an unbalanced hand being able to invite in CLUBS is VERY important since you hand lacks the HCP (opposite a minimum opener) to make 3N but has the distribution to make 5c feasible.

Still MP, all vulnerable this time. Partner opens 1♦ and RHO passes. I hold: ♠x ♥Jx ♦KJ9 ♣KQJTxxx hand is just plain too good to merely invite give opener mundane boring stuff like xxx Axxx AQxx Ax and SIX C is a LAY DOWN Axx xxxx Axxx Ax and 3N only requires 43 hearts and even 5C is on dia finesse Axx Qxx Axx Ax and 3N is a lay down Axxx Axx xxxx Ax and 3N is a lay down AJT AJT Qxxx xxx and 3N is a lay down i wll pay off to the rare KQJ KQx Qxxx xxx where i cant make much of anything Give p stronger hands and we have wasted an entire level of bidding by bidding 3c invitational that could have been better utilized searching for slams

X OFF shape (non penalty) doubles are worrisome mostly vs a p with unlimited shape/power. The auction here has clearly helped limit at least most of the "unpleasant" bids partner might make. If they bid 2d or 2h (which tends to REALLY limit their power) we are probably best off merely bidding 3c--If they bid 3D or 3H at least we know they have some POWER and now a 3N bid seems scientifically warranted. If p happens to bid 2c a whole new ballgame is in order because now we have a legitimate shot at 5c and we should bid 2d (to see if p can bid 2h so we can bid 3n) If p cannot bid 2h I would hazard a guess at 5c since all I generally need is dia Q If P happens to bid 3c slam is surely possible and I think I would just bid 4n and bid 6c opposite 1 or 2 (if p does have 2 7 is surely possible but difficult to find scientifically) and pass if opposite zero (we probably missed 3n but might salvage something)

the principle of fast arrival comes into play in hands like this take the slow road see if its possible to get P to bid 3n then bid 4c to show slam interest. The best way to start is to simply bid 2d under the theory that once we stop searching for a major suit fit we look for 3n.

if the bidding had gone 2s p p Im fairly certain we would get a 3S bid from most as michaels (with some sparse 4d leaping michales bidders) this auction is precisely the same it just took longer to get there. 4H is nothing more than a gamblers bid since this hand will also play very well (probably better with equal support) in dia. If you were to bid 4h how would P ever have a clue to pull with a hand like xx xx xxxx xxxxx (with scattered values)?