mikl_plkcc

Why is a 11 HCP hand with AQxxx too poor for a 2-level overcall? I won't overcall with a Jxxxx diamond suit but, what do you think the suit quality to make an overcall with a 5-card suit? Also, what's North expecting for my suit?

GiB just bids 7♥ without presence of ♥A in the following hand: [hv=pc=n&s=s984ha64djt862ct6&w=saj6hj9873dkqckj9&n=s7532h52d7543c432&e=skqthkqtda9caq875&d=e&v=e&b=6&a=2np3d(transfer%20H)p3hp5n(quantitative%20invite)p7h(2%20out%20of%203%20top%20honours)dppp]399|300[/hv]

In a club game, my partner bid a sacrifice on the very last board while we were leading the whole tournament, and went doubled down 4, making us lost the winner title. [hv=pc=n&s=sk2ht3daq972cq973&n=sjhj96dkt8654cj52&d=e&v=0&b=14&a=1s2d2s5ddppp]266|200[/hv] East had a 20-count 5=4=0=4. He cashed 5 top tricks and let partner ruffed the 6th, the perfect defence they had. Par contract was 6♠ by them, but only 1 table out of 6 could bid it, which was the only worse result than us, so we got 1/5 MPs. The full results are follow, sorted in order: 5♦-2 -100 5/5: 4♠+2 -480 3.5/5: 4♠+2 -480 3.5/5: 5♦x-3 -500 2/5: 5♦x-4 -800 1/5 (our table): 6♠= -980 0/5: I want to know the opinion about the 5♦ sacrifice by North bid to the number of trumps, but ended up as a disaster with 5 quick losers lost immediately. Was this bid too high or just because we were too unlucky in the way where E-W cards were lied? Also, does the expected field strength matter here? i.e. will you bid differently if playing in a club game or in a world-class tournament?

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After 1♥ - 1♠, I hold a maximum and want to make a forcing bid holding 5 ♥ and 4 ♠. What should I bid in Standard American? Should I just sign off at 4♠?

At X-IMPS, after you get shafted, your session is basically over. At MPs, after you get shafted, your overtrick next board where no-one else played cancels that out.

5♦ guarantees 1st round control in our agreement (we bid 1st before 2nd) - is 7♠ good?

So what's the forcing bid here?

What does 3♠ mean here? Is it GF? (I play it as GF)

[hv=pc=n&e=sq6432hkqdj874ck2]133|100[/hv] Do you open this hand (1st seat, both non-vul)? I passed considering there is no A or T, and that the ♥KQ is bad.

[hv=pc=n&n=sajt92hkqt962dq8c&d=w&v=0&b=8&a=p1hp1s2n]133|200[/hv] Now I need to show game-force support in ♠, but lacking agreement after unusual 2NT I didn't know what to do so I passed, and waited for the opponent to act. So what does 3♣ or 3♦ normally mean here? After passing, the auction now went: [hv=pc=n&n=sajt92hkqt962dq8c&d=w&v=0&b=8&a=p1hp1s2np3d4h]133|200[/hv] Does this sequence show exactly 3 ♥? Is it possible for the responder to have 2 only? Now there was obvious slam interest. My main concern was if I would lose 2 ♦ tricks. Therefore I started cuebidding. [hv=pc=n&n=sajt92hkqt962dq8c&d=w&v=0&b=8&a=p1hp1s2np3d4hp5cp5dp]133|200[/hv] What's the correct bid here? The only unknown now is the ♥A and ♦K.

Isn't 4♥ a control-showing cue bid here?

There was a board which got passed out in my club game in 3 out of 5 tables. The HCP distribution was 10-11-9-10 in bidding order with W being the dealer, with both the 1st and 2nd seat 4333, 3rd seat having a 5-card diamond suit and the pass out hand 4441 with singleton in diamond. Two NS pairs played 1NT and 2NT, taking 6 and 8 tricks respectively.

MP scoring. My holding: [hv=pc=n&e=st9753hj986dk42ct&d=n&v=n&b=5&a=pp1c1s2c5sdppp]133|200[/hv] According to LoTT I should bid 4, but the colours were so nice and given my holding I suspected they would make 5♣ so I overbid a trick, expecting to get doubled. Result was the expected -3 which got me 4/5, outperforming the 3 tables which played 5♣ and made either 11 or 12 tricks, with the only better result coming from a table stopped at 3♣. Was it better to bid 5♠ directly to shut their 5♣ out, making them a guess whether to bid a slam or not, or just bid 4♠ hoping that they wouldn't compete to 5♣?

I think I will directly bid 5♦ to play.

This is not a 3♠ opener for me. Preemptive opening at 1/2 seat is strictly no void (unless overcalling the void suit) and no 4-card side major. Also, with a QT9 heading, it's dubious for me to preempt at the 2nd seat as well (QJT is the minimum for me in general). Such preemptive bids are picture bids for me that responder can easily construct the hand. With such a crappy suit disaster will definitely happen. I can only say this 3♠ opening is crap. QT9 in the suit, a void, a side K, all are bad to attack.

I'll bid 3NT to play. I can easily count at least 9 tricks and at most 11 tricks here assuming a standard 3♠ opener. I can't see a slam happening here. I assume North holding ♠K so there are 3 Ks in the opponents. As long as there are 2 held by West, and he lead the third suit, there is no slam.

I treat both as strong hands, but with the first slightly weaker than the second at a balancing position. The actual point count of "double then bid" depends on the shape, the distribution of points, and whether there is a stopper in the opponent's suit. I consider minimum 16 as a guideline as a "double then bid" hand in an uncontested auction, where 8-15 is the range of a simple overcall with a good suit. However, in the first example, I may reopen the bidding with a slightly weaker hand is the bid suit is ♠ rather than ♣, for example: ♠AK873♥-♦AJ93♣QT82 In the above hand, I will pass the second example after partner bids 2♦, but I will reopen with 2♠ in the first example hoping partner can compete.

I will consider 3♠ as competitive, X as takeout to choose a suit with game forcing value but not spade support, 4♥ as a game-forcing support.

In my system, only 1♠ is constructive. Any jump in the first round of auction is preemptive. That is, all of 2♠, 3♠ and 4♠ are preemptive here. I don't see the value of splinters as we can always use other forcing bids to set trump agreements and start cuebidding afterwards.

I still mainly use rule of 20 to decide opening at the 1st or 2nd seat, but rule of 19 at the 3rd or 4th seat, provided the suit involved is good quality. Meanwhile, in the club that I played yesterday, there was a deal containing a 12 HCP 5422 at the second seat which got passed out in 2 tables out of 7. Also, is it possible to construct a hand where the optimal double-dummy contract is passing out? (i.e. no side can make any contract on a double dummy play)

As title. Among real world bridge competitions, how likely is a deal going to be passed out?

I don't have any continuation defined after a 2♣ opener, and all bids starting from opener's rebid are natural. And a 4NT bid in constructive auction, without trump agreement, is always a quantitative invite to 6NT (with trump agreement it is RKCB). We have defined trump agreement to be an immediate raise, same suit bid by the same person 3 times (or 2 times starting with a preempt), or any other auctions which show an 8-card fit. So 2♣ - 2♠ - 3♠ - 4♦ - 4NT is non-forcing here and asks responder to bid 6NT with extra values. And for me, lying on shape is a very huge lie unless partner is limited, and certainly not to be used in constructive auctions. If I am forced to make a lie, I will lie on strength instead of shape. And I take NT openers very seriously that it can only ever be 4333, 4432 or 5m332, because all the continuations defined to find a 8-card major fit (the first priority of all constructive bidding sequences) for all possible responder shapes are based on such assumptions.

I don't understand the reason of your saying "you don't bid bad suits on good hands". I only bid according to the length strictly, with only overcalls and preempts having strength requirement. For example, I always bid xxxxx first then AKQJ in an uncontested auction, as trump length is the most important thing in making a contract. The reason of having strict length requirement is to make sure that we have the most efficient method in finding the LONGEST trump fit. For example, ♠xxxxx♥AKQJT♦AK♣x is an automatic 1♠ opener for me.

If I bid 3♠ in the second round, it will likely go 2♣ - 2♠ - 3♠ - 4♦ - 6NT. I admit this is better now and my "bridge judgement" is lacking after a few years of absence in the game. If I swap diamonds and spades, it is still a solid 2♣ opener here. Opening a 1♦ massively understates the hand and will probably be responded with a 3NT to play directly by the partner, and opening any NT is just a blatant lie on the shape.