mikl_plkcc

Are you serious you will open 1S holding a 22 count unbalanced?

This is probably the fastest slam I have bid in my life: [hv=pc=n&w=saqj984hkj9dak3ca&e=skha765djt842cq97&d=n&v=n&b=5&a=ppp2cp2sp6sppp]266|200[/hv] 2♣ = strong hand (20+ unbal / 22+ bal / 1.5 tricks short of game) 2♠ = 3 controls (A=2, K=1) 6♠ = TO PLAY!!!!!!!!! The reason that I bid so damn fast was that the conventional response provided immediate count that a 6♠ contract was highly likely (only 1 K is missing). Result was 6♠=, 50% MP only out of 7 tables. Our contract was wrong-sided because of the conventional response, and the other two right-sided 6♠ made all 13 tricks. There were also 2 tables bid 6NT, one made and one set. There were only 2 tables not reaching slam, at 4♠ and 3NT respectively. I'm interested in how the others bid this slam using various methods.

I won't open West not meeting rule of 20 at the 1st seat. Then, using my system, it will be 1D - 1S - 2NT (18-19) - 4S.

We had a disaster board in tonight's session: [hv=pc=n&s=skj7haq87dk96c863&w=s963hk6dq732cakj4&n=sa85hjt3dajt8cq97&e=sqt42h9542d54ct52&d=w&v=b&b=4&a=1c]399|300[/hv] We sat at EW. Optimum contract was NS 4♥ which the opponents were the only pair who could bid it. 5 out of 7 tables ended up at 1NTW-3 or 1NTW-4 which meant -300 or -400, but we got -620 because they made 4♥ which was a bottom. Was this disaster caused by using a strong NT instead of weak NT? (It is the UK which I suppose weak NT is the norm.)

I don't treat 1c-1d-1h-1s as artificial. It sold 4 spades only with 4+ diamonds.

We didn't have an agreement of the X for this particular situation so I treated it as a takeout double to GF me and choose any suit other than ♠. If I open 1♣ with this hand, will there be a risk of everyone passes that I will miss game? This hand contains 9 tricks by itself already which is already 2♣ worthwhile.

double I don't think it's worthwhile to compete here as partner doesn't guarantee much value. The ♠A and ♦AK are good defensive values.

Is there even a method which can be used to find out if we hold the 10s and 9s?! And how can we even know if 10s or 9s are crucial in making slams?! If one of the small trump is replaced with a 9 then it is a good slam! If we always need to make sure that 10s or 9s are held before bidding a slam with 8-card fit than nearly no slams of 8-card fit can be bid!

May I ask how does it help knowing how many trumps the opener has? Opener guarantees at least 2 so there must be a fit!

What's wrong with the contract? Isn't 6♠ 75% chance of making depending on the position of ♠K and Q (it fails only when both are offside, or a 5-0 trump break) Nevertheless, in my system it will 1♦ - 1♠ 3♠ - 4♥ (I cue first before second) 5♣ - 5♠ (missing ♦ control) 5NT (I f**king have all first round and only 1 missing 2nd round control - please bid grand slam if you have good trumps) - 6♠

The difficulty of describing hand shapes properly is the reason that I hate 2/1 compared to Standard American. It will frequently lead to missing game based on shape rather than strength, and I value shape much stronger than strength.

I have a practice of passing Jacoby transfers if it has been interfered and I only have 2 cards in the suit. In such case, if responder to the NT opening has a 6+ card suit, he will bid it himself afterwards. There was a hand today which the majority of tables completed the transfer after interference despite holding only 2 cards in the suit, and they all landed a bad contract: [hv=pc=n&w=sq3hj76dkj2caq532&e=sak652ht3dq83cj97&d=w&v=0&b=8&a=1np2h3h3s]266|200[/hv] There were 5 tables today. 3 tables used weak NT and all of them started the bidding as above. 1 ended up at 4♠ and 2 ended up at 3♠. All got 8 tricks only. One table using a strong notrump ended up at 1♣ - (/) - 1♠ - (2♥) - / - (/) - 2♠= which got the top, and my table, playing strong notrump also, had it overcalled by 3♦ which went -1. If I used a weak notrump, in such case I would not complete the transfer after it was overcalled by 3♥, because I only had 2 cards in the suit. What's your practice in handling Jacoby transfers if it is interfered?

Face-to-face bridge will not return in my current area because we no longer have a venue. I will move to another place next year, hope that there is face-to-face bridge there.

I started playing bridge in high school, but I lost my regular partner because he left school after bad GCSE results, and I entered university afterwards. I didn't get a long-term partner and eventually stopped playing it after graduation, and now I'm returning to the game. I want to get a long-term partner to play tournament bridge as a sport. How can I sustain a long-term partnership, considering that I may frequently move cities every a few years or even months?

An ad hoc partnership at my local club

I am digging out my old system notes played in the past, after a recent hand when we didn't have an agreement what to bid holding a slam interest hand with support with an ad-hoc partner. I found out that, in such situation, I used 1H-3H as a forcing raise. I believe this is old-fashioned bidding. Do any established partnerships here still use 1H-3H, or 1S-3S as a game forcing raise? Or do you prefer to play it as invitational or preemptive?

For me I won't double at North. The bidding will likely go 2C - 2D - 2S (2-card support) - // as no fit exists.

Two doubletons so never a NT opening or rebid or me. My bidding will go 1♣ - 1♥ - reverse 2♦ which is forcing and shows 5+♣s, 4+♦s, with clubs longer than diamonds and denies 4 ♥s nor 4 ♠s. Partner will then bid 2♥, showing 6+ ♥s with less than invitational values, then it's easy 4♥.

I think I will really need to discuss about this because it was an ad hoc partnership and we didn't have a forcing raise agreed beforehand.

[hv=pc=n&s=sk97hakqj9d8caj87&n=sht6542dakj43ck32&d=n&v=n&b=5&a=1hp4np5dp6hppp]266|200[/hv] Every table made 13 tricks here. Opener led ♣4, then it was a solid 13 tricks on 2-1 trump break. On another table opener led ♦, then it was also a solid 13 tricks as well on 2-1 trump break. However, if opener led a ♠, does the slam depend on the position of ♣Q and ♦Q? Also, if trump break was 3-0, is this still a solid grand slam? Also, if control-showing bid is used here, then we can know that we have all first and second round controls and bid 7♥, but how can we initiate the sequence (assuming 5 card majors and strong 1NT)? I am thinking about 1♥ - 2♣ 2♦ - 2♠ 3♦ (showing 5+ ♦ and longer or equal ♥) - ?? If 2♠ is GF here, I can bid 3♥, in such case the bidding will go: 4♥ (absolutely minimum opening hand - no slam interest) - 5♣ (slam interest, 1st control in ♣) 5NT (We have already had all controls in the side suits - bid 7♥ if your trump is solid) - 7♥ However, if 2♠ is F1 here, do we have a method to initiate a control-showing sequence? Also, what will happen if the bidding start with 1♥ - (/) - 2♣ - (3♠)? Another table had 1♥ - (/) - 2♣ - (3♠) 4♦ - (4♠) - 5♥ - // and another table had 1♥ - (/) - 2NT! (Jacoby 2NT) - (3♠) 4♣ - (4♠) - 5♦ - (/) 5♥ - // None of the table who didn't respond 4NT after 1♥ opening could bid slam, after west overcalled 3♠. Is this slam biddable if west and east competed with 3♠ and 4♠?

MP scoring. [hv=pc=n&s=skjt97h6d3cqjt652&w=s8ha54dakqj982ck3&n=saq65432h983d5c74&e=shkqjt72dt764ca98&d=w&v=b&b=4&a=2dp2hd3d3s4n5s6dpp6sdp7dppdppp]399|300[/hv] I sat at South. They played Acol strong 2♦ opening. My partner passed (If I were him I would preempt 3♠ here). RHO responded 2♥ showing value in ♥. I doubled asking my partner to bid an unbid suit as I had great offensive value but lacking defensive value. The opener raised to 3♦, partner overcalled 3♠, confirming a ♠ fit. RHO responded 4NT. I now think that they were likely to have a slam in ♦ and bid 5♠ to disrupt their bidding, hoping that they would double us instead of bidding 6♦ themselves, but they really bid 6♦ themselves. Their slam is definitely makeable and I believe I should make a sacrifice to 6♠ to have better result, but it resulted the opener to bid 7♦ which my partner doubled. The result was solid 13 tricks by them, 7♦X= by West. Par contract was 7♠X-4. Among the 7 tables, 5 ended up at 5♠ by north (4 were doubled), 1 ended up at 5♦, that meant at the moment the 6♦ was bid we were doomed. Was we unlucky at this board that they could bid slam? If North instead preempted 3♠ over strong 2♦ opening, would it be less likely that they could bid slam? (If North preempted 3♠ I would bid 4♠ over anything and ready to compete to 6♠ having 12 trumps)

I will X then bid 3♦ over 3♣, suggesting a strong hand with 5 ♦.

How do you know that we have a certain slam after the sequence (/) - 2♣ - (2♠) - X - (4♠)? Especially I still don't know if we hold the ♥A and ♥K yet? I only treat the X here as a game-forcing bid which asks me to choose a suit. Only one LHO did a jump overcall out of 17 tables, which was 1♣ - (2♠). This is clearly opening value (12 HCP) so neither would I preempt sitting at West, especially against a 1♣ opening. Some even allowed the bidding went uncontested. If I sat at West, against a 1♣ I would call 1♠, against a 2♣ I would also only call 2♠. If I had 7 ♠ and not the ♥ K then I would preempt 3♠ over 1♣ opening, or 4♠ over 2♣ opening.

This hand guarantees a small slam on N-S on both ♣ and ♥, with 50% chance of making a grand slam depending on the position of ♥K. I opened a strong 2♣ on this hand and got overcalled 2♠. Partner doubled it and got immediately preempted to 4♠. I bid 5♣. [hv=pc=n&s=shqt2daqjtcakqj52&w=sakq862hkd87532c3&n=s754haj973dk64c86&e=sjt93h8654d9ct974&d=e&v=n&b=2&a=p2c2sd4s5cppp]399|300[/hv] Scoring is MP. The contract distributions are following out of 17 tables: 6♥: 2 5♥: 3 5♣: 4 4♥: 2 4♣: 2 3♦: 1 3♣: 1 EW4♠: 1 EW3♠: 1 According to the double dummy solver, par contract is 7♠x-4 by E. Out of the 2 tables who bid 6♥, one was an uninterrupted auction 2♣ - 2♥ - 3♣ - 3♥ - 4NT - 5♣ - 6♥, another was a direct jump 1♣ - (1♠) - 2♥ - (/) - 6♥. Out of the 3 tables who ended up at 5♥, one was an uninterruption auction similar as the above but ended up at 5♥, the other 2 competed 5♥ over 4♠ and the opponents stopped. I'm interested in experts' view of this hand. In my case, is a slam biddable after my aggressive RHO preempted my partner's double to 4♠? Would it be different if my partner had bid 3♥ instead of X? And how will you likely bid this hand?

I haven't played bridge for a few years already and yesterday I made my first return after I emigrated to the UK, and I got a few interesting hands I wanted to discuss. I had not got a regular partner here yet and I was assigned one by the host, and agreed to play 15-17 1NT. The scoring was MP pairs with separate NS/EW scoring. I sat in the N seat. Board 3: [hv=pc=n&n=sj62hkjt92daq52ca&d=s&v=e&b=3&a=pp1h3s4c4sdppp]133|200[/hv] I doubled as I guessed my partner wouldn't have any spades. Was that a good idea? We ended defeating them and got a top but the other doubled table had the contract made resulted in a bottom. Board 4: [hv=pc=n&s=s43hqjt83da872cj2&n=skt76ha542dkqt9c6&d=w&v=b&b=4&a=p1d1s2d3c3d4cppp]266|200[/hv] We didn't find our game in ♥. Were we just unlucky? If I switched to a 4-card major should I open 1♠ or 1♥? Board 6: [hv=pc=n&n=sqj543hqt52dkca87&d=e&v=e&b=6&a=pp1h1sp2dp2hp2nppp]133|200[/hv] As I didn't want to play in ♦, I bid 2♥ wanting my partner to choose another suit. Was I correct or should I directly bid 2NT on my own? We ended up 2NT+3 gaining a top but the few tables who bid 3NT all went -1. Board 8: [hv=pc=n&s=saq73hat4dq732c63&n=s52hj753dk98cak72&d=w&v=0&b=8&a=ppp1d1s2dppp]266|200[/hv] We ended up 2♦= getting 5/14 MPs. I thought my 2♦ bid might be a mistake and I should X the overcall instead, am I right? All other tables played weak 1NT and opened 1NT which normally ended up 2NT=, outperforming our 2♦=. Board 9: [hv=pc=n&s=sjt53ha8743dakc93&w=s64hkqt92d764ckq6&n=saq987hj5d852ca52&e=sk2h6dqjt93cjt874&d=n&v=e&b=9&a=1sp2hp2np4sppp]399|300[/hv] We ended up 4♠-1, the only table not making the contract. I was the declarer, the lead was ♥6, I played ♥3 from the dummy. The defender returned another ♥ and ruffed. I took the third trick in ♣, passed to the dummy using a ♦ to set up a finesse of ♠K but it failed. If I immediately drew trumps using an ♠A, the contract would be made. Was it bad play or bad luck? Board 11: [hv=pc=n&s=shk9872daqt3cakj8&n=skjt4hat5dj94cq97&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=1hp3hp4cp4hp5dp5hp6hppp]266|200[/hv] I responded 3♥ and my partner immediately bid 4♣, which I took it as slam interest. However my hand didn't have any interest to say (was I correct) and I wanted to stop him at 4♥, but despite every effort my partner raised to 6♥ and the result was the only slam bid and made across the field. All other tables went 1♥-1♠ at the beginning, stopped the bidding at 4♥ and made either 11 or 12 tricks. When I started to learn bridge, I learnt to use 1♥-3♥ as a limit raise and 1♥-4♥ as a preemptive raise. Questions here: Is 1H-3H commonly played as a limit raise nowadays in the UK? Is this hand slam-worthy? Board 14: [hv=pc=n&n=s972ht642dt3cj863&d=e&v=0&b=14&a=p1hd3hp4hppp]133|200[/hv] As my hand was garbage, I suspect the opponents might have a game on so I bid 3♥ to silence them. We ended up 4♥-2 getting a shared top (13/14 MPs). If I didn't bid 3♥ at that moment, a ♠ fit would be found by the opponents. Was my bid of 3♥ appropriate if I normally played limit raise? Thank you for explaining all these to me.