maggieb

Interesting thread, I like to think I knew how to do this when I was young. B) I think you forgot about the stiff jack! :D

I agree with the Hog and others, pass!

Well, I won't say no to a prize, but I can hardly say I deserved it. Thank you for your excellent picks Peter Gill! B) :D Congratulations to Zia for winning his first Bermuda Bowl! I'm thrilled to see one of my biggest idols win what he deserved for so long. Also congratulations to all the other champions! :)

I would definitely pass with this.

Pass, not sure why I would double with this shape and no tricks in hand.

4♦, splinter. By bidding 3N, the only other possible call to me (even though I guess a 4-3 heart fit or 5-2 spade fit could hypothetically be a big winner), you are essentially gambling that partner has 2 effective diamond stoppers (if he has only 1 I would guess that 3N is a heavy loser), and that even if he does, 3N will play better or equal to 5♣, and that you can't bid and make slam in clubs. I don't know, that seems like a hard sell to me, especially because even a disaster like 6♣-1 is not necessarily bad. By the way, I'm assuming that opener has denied holding 3♠ or 4♥, so that his only likely shapes are 2335, 2245 or 2(23)6, with some vague possibility of 1345.

I think passing as opener after the 2♣ intervention is even more inane than bidding 2♦, but double is clearly better than both.

If it is solid, it ain't got no holes. :P Peggy and I play that it shows a solid or semi-solid suit. It could be AKQJxx, but it could also be AQJ10xxx or KQJ10xxx.

I would open 1N even in serious bridge, but all my friends already know that.

Gibberish in, Gibberish out? ;) Win the diamond ace (honor must drop on your right) and play the diamond jack. If LHO wins you are home. If LHO ducks then NOW you play the heart 10 and you are home.

Happy Birthday Arend. :)

I am sure the Dutch players are very fine, but I have never heard of them so I cannot imagine them beating the likes of Zia, Hamman and Meckwell :). My pick for the Bermuda Bowl: 1. USA2 :D 2. Italy 3. The Netherlands 3. Norway 5. China 5. Russia 5. Bulgaria 5. USA1 I don't pay much attention to the other events but my husband and I do enjoy a good bottle of wine. So I'm just going to copy Peter Gill's picks and hope to beat him in the open event. B) VC: 1. China 2. France 3. Germany 3. USA1 5. Indonesia 5. Italy 5. Sweden 5. USA2 Seniors: 1. Poland 2. USA1 3. Indonesia 3. USA2 5. England 5. Japan 5. Sweden 5. Canada Good luck to all!

For 1♦-1M 2NT I like that this shows a maximum with exactly 3-card support for the major and 6♦. Rebidding 3♦ just shows a max with long diamonds (usually 7), 3♣ is a maximum 5-5. Most hands with 6♦ should just rebid 2♦.

I had such high hopes for this post after the first sentence.

It's just mindless fun that nobody takes too seriously. It is entertaining to some people to see how far they can mess with GIB (and believe me, that is the name of the game).

I would just bid 7♣. How would partner know to raise me to the cold grand slam with ♠Ax ♥Axx ♦Axxx ♣Axxx?

I just wanted to say that I think this is a really good observation, and it does not apply just to preempting of course, but to every aspect of competitive and uncontested bidding.

Yes, I like that line better than the one I proposed, Louis. I take it that it didn't work at the table? :)

I can't handle 1-4 hearts or ♦K offside, so the relevant shapes for LHO are 4252 or 4342. I can make whenever LHO is 4243 or 4252 with ♥Jx. (There is another line to make it with ♥Jxx on the right, but it is clearly inferior). Ruff high, ruff a spade, go back to my hand and play two rounds of trumps. If LHO drops the ♥J (when he is 4252), I draw trumps and endplay him with his last spade. If he follows low (when he is 4342), then I ruff my last spade and ruff a club in my hand. Now LHO has to play to this trick with ♥J ♦Kxx and can't take more than his one heart. (Maybe it's not worth noting, but LHO cannot profitably pitch a spade on the club return).

I would win play the ♠A (RHO showing out, else there is no problem). Now there are two relevant positions, assuming LHO has exactly one useful card. 1) RHO has 8 diamonds and the ♣A Play as any beginner would by drawing trump and playing a club towards your hand (nice analysis, Kenny). 2) RHO has 7 diamonds and not the ♣A. Now we can make by finessing the ♠J, leaving the K in dummy, and playing a heart towards our hand. RHO must play an honor, and now he needs to be exactly 0472 to beat you (heart ruff), which he may not find anyway. So it just remains to estimate which holding is more likely to exist, since any other holding is irrelevant. I am not sure which line is more likely to work, but I would be inclined to play him for having 7 diamonds and not the ♣A, so I would follow the second plan and play a heart towards my hand after finessing the ♠J.

I would play the ♦9 back, as the only position that I can see which matters is when declarer has forgotten to unblock the singleton ♣A for a ruffing finesse against me. There is also some chance that this works when partner has the singleton ♥J and he can give me a spade ruff. If declarer is ♠AKx ♥KJxxxx ♦xx ♣Ax there is nothing we can do to stop partner from being endplayed after declarer plays two rounds of clubs and plays a diamond towards the dummy.

I know for sure that if partner had discarded a discouraging spade we would all be playing a heart back. And we know that that's wrong: partner had 4 hearts and not the king. So partner's discard does not ask for a spade. It also is not a wake-up discard, guys! Partner may not know what black suit we need to play but he does know that declarer will be able to set up the diamonds and chose to let us know. For a spade continuation to be right we need partner to either have 5 very strong spades, or 6 decent spades. (if partner has KJxxxx Qxxx - Qxx we need to play a spade. Declarer has to duck and partner will shift to a club for 5 tricks.) With those hands partner would likely have led a spade or encouraged spades. So it must be right to play clubs.

So to summarize, those who see the answer should not post?

I think this is rather rude, off-topic, and unhelpful. Sorry you feel that way. I certainly didn't intend it as rude. Whether it is off-topic (a system to play after a 2NT rebid!) or unhelpful, that is for people to have their own opinion. You have expressed yours. How do transfers work? Why is it easier/better than Wolff? What are the gains and losses from playing transfers? Maybe if your post addressed any of these points, instead of just being a bash against Wolff without answering any of the OP's questions, I would think it was a little less rude, a little more on topic, and quite helpful!

I think this is rather rude, off-topic, and unhelpful. 1) 4♣ is not Gerber the way I play, I play it is a natural slam try with 5-5 in the black suits. This is a very descriptive bid that tells partner that values in the black suits are very good, and only sharp values in the red suits are useful. 2) Just play this is a stronger slam try in clubs. 3) Standard is that this shows a slam try in diamonds. Your second sequence is also a slam try in diamonds. I have never found that this comes up a lot, so maybe showing some other hand is more useful. I'll leave it up to the bidding theorists to work out a better meaning. Bridge is too difficult for me too :).