nekthen

I agree with pass on hand 1 and that 1S is better than dbl on hand 2, but what do we think is going on now? After 1d dbl East did not redbl so may well have less than 10 points. He bid 1S which may or may not be a psyche and his partner retreated to 2d. My partner could easily have a good hand with diamonds. If we pass it round to partner, his double would be asking us to choose a suit, so he has to pass and if opps are going off, they may well be getting a good score, so my vote goes to a second double. I do not think this can hurt and may yield a useful penalty

If my partner chooses to bid 4N with the possibility that I could have all five keycards and is missing the Q♦ then he better have enough points to preclude that hand or he will be looking for a new partner. He must have at least 8+ hcp and therefore the most he can be missing is 9 hcp. So trust your partner and make the correct bid. If 6N is not on after you bid 5♠, then get a new partner! If you actually hold AK AKQ Qxx KQJxx and your partner is missing 3 key cards, then his hand is QJxxx, Jx, Jxxx, xx! and seriously he has no business bidding 4♦ let alone 4NT.

I play the tournament at bridgez.net every day. The first hand is always an annotated puzzle, which certainly helps me improve. Different methods resonate with different people. It is also about being greedy! Maybe you mentally turn off once the contract is guaranteed, while others look for overtricks

I play the tournament at bridgez.net every day. The first hand is always an annotated puzzle, which certainly helps me improve. Different methods resonate with different people. It is also about being greedy! Maybe you mentally turn off once the contract is guaranteed, while others look for overtricks

See above. You do not know that partner has the K♥. The lead could be from T,9,8; in that case the return of the J♥ fatally blocks the suit. It is not always wise to lead from your longest suit.

Similar to Journalist, strong ten is very easy. Leading a ten promises at least one higher card, excluding the J. Lets assume you don't play this. Returning the J can get the suit blocked if p lead from 10,9,8 so you did return the right card, but had you known p must have the K when he leads the T, you can confidently return the J. This assumes that p did not choose to lead the T from KT9! TBA :rolleyes::) However, there is an element of the defense that you have glossed over. Why did partner continue a second club? You played the 2 on the first round, surely discouraging rather than count? Anyway you can't have the ace. So carrying on with a second club is just surrendering, while a spade switch brings home the bacon. If declarer did play for the drop, which is usual, you had the opportunity to signal for a spade on the second round, the JS should get the message across. Maybe declarer was canny enough to play the finesse to deny you the opportunity to signal and lose to the less dangerous hand. This is a good hand for Italian signals. On the club switch you can play the 8 for a spade switch. An odd card would be encouraging (though it is hard to imagine a holding that would want to), even cards are suit preference. Even so with minimal agreements, a spade switch seems clear, when you win the QD.

We do not get the most important piece of information. Did Joke and Trick field the psyche? If they returned to diamonds for no good reason, then they have fielded the psyche and should be punished. They must bid as if the 3 spade bid is kosher, if they don't they are cheating. To be clear , the 3 diamond bidder should not return to diamonds unless he has longer than expected diamonds and a spade void. The 3 spade bidder may run to diamonds after a double in which case the psyche has been exposed and everyone should understand what is going on.

i'm in

It seems to me that 3♥ is consistent with a 5440 hand. So 3♥ is wrong, I would choose 3♦. We are surely now in a game forcing situation

What is a sane hand for RHO? Presumably AKQxxxxxx or maybe KQJxxxxxx or AKQxxxxx and hoping for 1 trick from p. What has my p got? 1. A 12 -14 4432 hand 2. A 18-19 4432 hand 3. A natural ♦ hand Hand 1 obviously passes Hand 2 also passes unless he has clubs stopped twice and even then taking 800 may be the way to go So we should only consider going on with a diamond suit again most hands have to pass, but maybe some big 4450 or 5161 hands would bid on. Worst case for double is we miss game and only take 500. Best case we take 200 or 500 and cant make 5♦. Or we have 800. If we have a slam I'm hoping my partner will say something. So yes I expect partner to pass my double 90+% of the time, but the door is ajar for partner.

At MPs you need to aim for a positive score. I think you are best to double. Assuming it is going down, you are beating all the part scores your way. If partner is better than minimum, he can bid on.

I would bid 2♠ with my regular p. I would not dream of it with a pick up p

It's an interesting discussion. First seriously recommend Jacoby 2N, I play it as at least a good raise to 3, but GF is OK too. This means that any delayed support shows 3 card support. Lacking that tool I would choose 2C, the main advantage, is that you let your partner bid out his hand naturally. He will bid 2H and you will happily bid 4S knowing that your are highly unlikely to be missing a slam. Partner's choice of bid over 3C is tricky. Expecting a better hand opposite me, I would put on the brakes with an immediate 3N. Partner can correct if required but most hands with a solid club suit will score better in 3N than 5C

I think south expects to be -2, based on a 9 or 10 card club suit missing the K. I think partner bids, because he thinks 6 is a possibility and he is confident 5 will make. He could have bid 5N (pick a slam) or 6C (with a void). So on balance I will pass. If I had no club loser I would bid 6.

1NT-2♣-2any-pass: weak, short in clubs ("Garbage Stayman") 1NT-2♣-2any-2NT: invitational, at least one 4 card major 1NT-2♣-2♦-2♥: weak, 4-5 in the majors. 1NT-2♣-2♦-2♠: weak, 5-4 in the majors. 1NT-2♦-2♥-2♠: invitational, 4-5 in the majors. 1NT-2♣-2♦-3♥ invitational+ 5-4 majors 1NT-2♣-2♦-3♠ GF 4-5 majors This covers every 54 hand without ambiguity

Hi. I'm in. Though I am dubious about best hand. You can glean so much UI from knowing you are the best hand it is not really bridge any more

Now seeing the full deal, I hate the 1♥ overcall. The leap to 5♦ is spot on, but I think South should bid 6♦ whether or not E bids 5♥. I would be very disappointed if I found xx♥ in dummy.

1♦ 1♥ seems clear for everyone. Opener has a 4 loser hand, but imho its not requiring a GF yet so I bid a simple 3♦ 3♥ now we are off to the races as pass was possible 4N 5♥ 6♥ shame we are missing the Q♥, but yes we want to be there

FWIW. I bid 1♥ to show exactly 3 card support (unlimited) in my T-Walsh sequence but I play 4 card suits. P can follow up with 1♠ 4 4 weak (5-9) 1N weak 2♣ weak with diamonds or an invitational hand (xyz) 2♦ GF 2♥ weak with 5♥

You know you don't have to play all boards in one go?

The result of my match with elyk25 is not in the matrix (I won by 28 imps) http://webutil.bridgebase.com/v2/tview.php?t=ARDCHALLENGE:cf7c281f.8272.11e6.8e99.0cc47a39aeb4-1474734030&u=nekthen

I'm in please

I dislike 3♥. It gives the wrong message to p. We could easily be going down in 3N and I want p to take a rosy view of a singleton ♥, which he does not do after 3♥. That leaves me with 3♠ shows interest and the 5th♠. It is still possible that 4♠ is a better spot than ♦ or NT. P can now bid 4♦ optional minorwood, we bid 4♠. Presumably, showing one ace and enthusiasm for ♦, and p bids the slam. What would be the minimum that p can have for 3♦? I have had random BBO partners who think that any opening hand with 6♦ has to be rebid with 3♦ BTW I would open with a multi 2♦ as it includes 9 playing tricks in a minor

I play a slightly different version of exclusion, which has some pros and cons. After I make a splinter bid, if my next bid is 4N it is exclusion rkcb. This allows me to hear partners response to my splinter before I choose to bid 4N. Obviously, the downside happens when I splinter with a singleton, but if I choose to cue bid instead of bidding 4N, partner will realise that my splinter was a singleton.

So what do you do if responder has both majors? 2N 3♣ 3♦ ??? and 3♦ may or may not have a 4 card major?