mikl_plkcc

If West does not raise, North makes a balancing double, and the result is ♦. I have learnt from the very beginning that a takeout double shows all three remaining suits, not two. Although the minor is relatively less important, you still need three to make a takeout double.

The field were in 5♥ and 5♠x, both were good to us. [hv=lin=pn|COCINERA,ettieram,mikl_plkcc,iiidddaaa|st||md|3S245QKH6D4KC689JQ%2CSH25789D257QAC37A%2CS36789THAD368JC24%2C|rh||ah|Board 13|sv|b|mb|p|mb|1H|mb|1S|mb|4H|mb|4S|mb|d|mb|p|mb|5H|mb|5S|mb|p|mb|p|mb|6H|mb|p|mb|p|mb|p|pc|S5|pc|C3|pc|ST|pc|SJ|pc|HT|pc|H6|pc|H2|pc|HA|pc|C2|pc|CT|pc|CJ|pc|CA|pc|C7|pc|C4|pc|CK|pc|C6|pc|C5|pc|C8|pc|H5|pc|S3|pc|H7|pc|S6|pc|HK|pc|S2|pc|SA|pc|S4|pc|D2|pc|S7|pc|D9|pc|DK|pc|DA|pc|D3|mc|12|]640|480[/hv] After West pulled the penalty double, I bid 5♠, hoping East would double again. However, East made a forcing pass, which drove West to the slam. Should I stop instead of making a profitable sacrifice?

1♦x was not a good score. They should be pushed a level higher. Is there any blame to assign? [hv=lin=pn|carbons,ettieram,mikl_plkcc,iiidddaaa|st||md|4S4TH2TD346KAC389J%2CSQKAH34D79TJQC5QK%2CS25689H5679ADC6TA%2C|rh||ah|Board 10|sv|b|mb|p|mb|p|mb|1D|mb|d|mb|p|mb|p|mb|p|pc|S5|pc|S3|pc|ST|pc|SQ|pc|DQ|pc|H5|pc|D2|pc|DA|pc|S4|pc|SK|pc|S2|pc|S7|pc|DJ|pc|S6|pc|D5|pc|DK|pc|D3|pc|D7|pc|S8|pc|D8|pc|C2|pc|C3|pc|CQ|pc|CA|pc|HA|pc|H8|pc|HT|pc|H3|pc|H6|pc|HJ|pc|H2|pc|H4|pc|HQ|pc|D4|pc|D9|pc|H7|pc|SA|pc|S9|pc|SJ|pc|D6|pc|C8|pc|CK|pc|C6|pc|C4|pc|DT|pc|H9|pc|C7|pc|C9|pc|C5|pc|CT|pc|HK|pc|CJ|]640|480[/hv]

[hv=lin=pn|carbons,ettieram,mikl_plkcc,iiidddaaa|st||md|2STQKAH5JQAD249CKA%2CS567JH4D68JQKC57T%2CS39H3D357TAC389JQ%2C|rh||ah|Board 12|sv|n|mb|p|mb|p|mb|3H|mb|p|mb|p|mb|4C|mb|p|mb|5C|mb|p|mb|p|mb|p|pc|C2|pc|CK|pc|C5|pc|C3|pc|CA|pc|C7|pc|C8|pc|C4|pc|D2|pc|DJ|pc|DA|pc|C6|pc|S2|pc|SA|pc|S5|pc|S3|pc|SK|pc|S6|pc|S9|pc|S4|pc|ST|pc|S7|pc|CQ|pc|S8|pc|CJ|pc|H2|pc|D4|pc|CT|pc|H3|pc|H6|pc|HQ|pc|H4|pc|SQ|pc|SJ|pc|D3|pc|H7|pc|HA|pc|D6|pc|D5|pc|H8|pc|H5|pc|D8|pc|C9|pc|H9|pc|DT|pc|HT|pc|D9|pc|DQ|pc|DK|pc|D7|pc|HK|pc|HJ|]640|480[/hv] The optimal contract was 3NT. 3♥ would have gone -4. Which call was wrong?

Are you kidding? If North bid 3♣, you are ****ed.

Are you sure?

I don't think I'm able to play it without Googling.

Till now, I still have so many misunderstandings with my partner where my 4NT means NT and he interprets it as BW. In the following auctions, should 4NT be natural or RKCB? 1. 1♥ - 2NT (natural) 4NT 2. 1♠ - 2♦ (invitational or better) 2♥ - 3♣ (4th suit artificial, asking for ♣ stop) 4NT 3. (2♠) - X - (3♠) - 4♥ (/) - 4NT 4. (2♠) - / - (3♠) - 4♥ (/) - 4NT 5. (3♣) - 3♥ - (/) - 4♦ - (/) - 4NT

Standard: lead the fourth from the longest and strongest suit. (Consume all the stoppers in North)

1♣ - 3♣ (semi-forcing) however, if partner responds with NT, then I would rebid NT. This hand is not balanced at all. It has a strong preference in ♣s. However, if the honours are concentrated in the short suits, I would consider opening 2NT.

Holding 6 ♠s, South should set the trump suit himself, as a fit is guaranteed.

Given this: ♠AKJxxx x xxx xxx I would bid 3♠ after 2♣, especially when my partner has passed

(1♥) - 1♠ - (2♥) 3♥ - (4♥) - / - (/) 5♦ - (/) - 6♣ - (/) 6♥ - (/) - 6♠ - (/) / - (//) The grand slam has been preempted out by the 4♥ bid. If they are not aggressive enough, (1♥) - 1♠ - (2♥) 3♥ - (/) - 3♠ - (/) 4♦ - (/) - 5♣ - (/) 5♥ - (/) - 6♣ - (/) 7♠ - (/) - / - (//)

Clearly West. Given this bidding, they are supposedly playing the idiotic constructive raise treatment, which confuses matter by putting both 5-7 and 11-12 3-card supports into forcing 1NT. The responding hand contains 5 HCPs, 4333 and an unsupported jack, and I evaluate it as only 5, which I would pass using standard methods. In this case, responder has 4 ♠s! This shows how silly they are, by agreeing on a method which can't show a 4-card raise directly! After the 3♣ game forcing rebid, East wants to stop the bidding immediately by bidding 4♠, which shows 5-7 in this case (3♠ would be 11-12 limit raise). I evaluate West hand as 22 (21 HCPs plus 1 length point, the ♠s are a plus but the honours in short suits are minuses). Given East has only 5 to 7 points, the total is only 27 to 29, which is not enough for a 50% slam. (I believe that 29 to 31 is enough) Therefore, West should stop immediately. In my system, the auction would go: 2♣ (20+) - 2♥! (2 controls, GF) 2♠ - 3♠ 4♠

In my system, the first suit bid is always at least as long as the second suit bid. The only exceptions are raising minor suits or opening minor suits. I also play that inverted minor denies 4-card major. Therefore, I would bid 2♣, planning to rebid 2♠ (responder's new suit is forcing). Then I am expected to hold 5 ♣s and 4 ♠s. If no spade fit is found, then I would resort back to 5♦. A possible auction: 1♦ - 2♣ 2♦ (confirms 5 ♦s) - 2♠ (still forcing) 3♥ (4SF, asks for ♥ stopper for 3NT) - 5♦

2♣ - 2♦ 4NT 1x - 1y - 1NT = 12-14 1NT = 15-17 1x - 1y - 2NT = 18-19 2NT = 20-22 bad 2c - 2d - 2NT = 22 good-24 3NT = 25-27 2c - 2d - 3NT = 28-30 bad 2c - 2d - 4NT = 30 good-32

Absolutely never. I would open 1♣ in this case. Bidding would go 1♣ - 1♥ - 1♠ - 1nt - / if partner don't have 4 ♦s. The above auction shows at least 5 ♦s for me.

I would bid 2♠ even with 8 HCPs in this case, definitely, hoping partner has support in ♠s. If he has 0 HCPs and 5 ♠s, he can advance to 4♠.

[hv=sn=marmit&s=SATHK9632DA852CJ4&wn=samuelam&w=SK864HJT85DT4C652&nn=mikl_plkcc&n=S32HDKQJ976CAKQ97&en=Grott&e=SQJ975HAQ74D3CT83&d=s&v=b&b=39&a=1HP2DP3DP6DPPP&p=C3C4C6CADKD3D2D4D6S5DADTCJC2C7C8H2H5D7H4CKCTSTC5S2S7SAS4H3H8D9H7S3S9D5S6H6HTDJHQCQSJH9HJC9SQD8S8HKSKDQHA]400|300[/hv] The above deal has a grand slam in diamonds. From North's perspective, a fit in either minor and first-round controls in the remaining suits guarantee grand slam. I have a few questions to discuss: 1. If North bids 4♣ at the second round, will you interpret it as a cue-bid or the second suit? If it is cue-bid, the bidding may go follows: 1♥ --- 2♦ 3♦ --- 4♣ (first round control in ♣) 4♠ (first round control in ♠) --- 5♣ (second round control in ♣) 5♥ (second round control in ♥) --- 5NT (trump ask) 6♦ (1 of AKQ) --- 7♦ (That's all I need) I didn't bid 4♣ because I was afraid that it would be interpreted as a ♣ suit. If 3♥ or 4♥ was bid in place of 4♣, it is a delayed support in ♥ which shown exactly 3 ♥s and I couldn't bid. 2. Assume that North becomes the dealer. I would be tempted to open 2♣ and rebid 4[dl]. However, this kind of bidding is extremely bad with such kind of 2-suited hand. In this hand, if I opened 1♦, the bidding would go: 1♦ --- 1♥ 3♣ (forcing to game) --- 3♦ 4♦ --- 4♠ (cuebid) 5♣ --- 5♥ 5NT --- 6♦ 7♦ This is still fine, however, imagine that South had only a ♦A and ♦ fit but nothing else. Now, the HCP distribution would become 19-21, and the 1♦ opening would be passed out if E-W were conservative and the small slam would be missed. If you open 2♣, you are betting that a minor suit fit exists, if not, a disaster happens doubled. (This kind of hand is great when a fit exists, even when partner has 0 HCPs, but is rubbish when no fit exists. Even 3NT is not possible when there is no fit and no stopper in one of the majors) 3. If I were East, I would bid 2♠. The ♠ fit has a high potential of interrupting N-S slam finding sequences. Although 3♠ is the limit in this deal, if one more spade is given to West, N-S attempt to cuebid would be blocked by West's 4♠ preemptive bid and the 7♦ is hard to find. However, on BBO, it was very strange that no table bid 7♦, and about half stopped at game! One table stopped at 5♠x, better than opponent's slam but worse than a game. http://www.bridgebase.com/myhands/hands.php?traveller=M-1363090584-41082961&username=mikl_plkcc

[hv=pc=n&s=s8h87dk9765ck9752&w=sak5h532dcaqjt843&n=sqt643ha96dq843c6&e=sj972hkqjt4dajt2c&d=e&v=e&b=6&a=1hp3c(strong%20jump%20shift)x3s4d5dp5hp6hppp]399|300[/hv] No matter we jump shifted or not, we couldn't stop short of slam. Was it just bad luck?

It depends most on the suit quality and less on point counts. For me, 1m - 1M - 3m shows a near GF hand that responder is supposed to bid 3NT with stoppers in other suits even when minimum, and 5m with extra strength. It shows at least a good 6-card suit. For example, ♠QJ ♥A9 ♦A5 ♣AQ97632 is certainly a 3♣ after 1♥ response, partner is supposed to bid 3NT with a stopper in the other major. ♠KQ ♥AK ♦Q97532 ♣A73 is rebid 2NT. ♠Q8 ♥K6 ♦AKJT97 ♣AJ3 is rebid 3♦ after 1♥, even with only 15 HCPs since the ♦s are near solid and there is a good chance that the ♦ will run in 3NT. ♠K73 ♥A7 ♦KJ8654 ♣A5 Although the above hand contains also 15 HCPs, the quality of the suit is bad so 2♦ is rebid. ♠Q75 ♥7 ♦32 ♣AKQJT98 This is a borderline hand, since partner will not expect 7 good ♣s with 1♣ - 1♥ - 2♣.

What was the vulnerability? At favourable -3 is a good sac!

If I change the rebids after 1♥-2NT and 1♥-3♦ to the following, 1♥ - 2NT 3♣ = game forcing with shortness (void or single) somewhere (3♦ to ask) 3♦ = game forcing with no shortness, afterwards, 3NT = balanced hand with full stoppers in at least 2 side suits, pass or correct 3♥ = not willing to accept an invitational raise, afterwards, 4♥ = sign off; 3♠, 4♣, 4♦ = cuebid 3♠, 4♣, 4♦: cuebid 3NT = balanced hand with full stoppers in at least 2 side suits, no slam interest, pass or correct (responder can still cue-bid afterwards) 1♥ - 3♦ 3♥ = not willing to accept an invitational raise 3♠, 4♣, 4♦ = cuebid 3NT = forcing to 4♥ is it good for use?

Is it useful to - always distinguish between 3-card and 4-card raises? - show 3-card raises immediately? - use artificial bids to show different strength and length? Meanwhile, I've thought of the following. Is it playable? 1♥ - 2♥: 6-9 points, 3 ♥s 2NT: 10+ points, 3 ♥s 3♣: 6-9 points, 4 ♥s 3♦: 10+ points, 4+ ♥s 3♥: 0-5 points, 4 ♥s 3♠, 4♣, 4♦: splinter 4♥: 0-9 points, 5+ ♥s After 1♥ - 2NT, 3♥: not enough to accept a 3-card limit raise 4♥: enough to accept a 3-card limit raise After 1♥ - 3♣, 3♥, 4♥: sign off 3♦: bid 3♥ if 6-7, 4♥ if 8-9 After 1♥ - 3♦, 3♥: not enough to accept a 4-card limit raise 4♥: enough to accept a 4-card limit raise others: cuebid I hate Jacoby 2NT because it needlessly gives too much information to the opponents. I hate forcing 1NT because it removes a safe harbour. Am I giving up too many natural bids?! Moreover, is it always good to play in 4 of the major rather than 3NT once an 8-card fit is found?

1♠ - 3♣? Jump shift?! What does your 2♣ mean then?