quiddity

It looks like 1NT to me.

I would bid 3♣ too, especially if North is known to open light in 3rd seat. Obviously he does open light - I would not open that hand. Also, I don't think the 2♥ bid promises 4-card support. North has to bid something and if he's 3343 with decent hearts he might decide it's the least of all evils to raise. I like concealing information from the opponents, but here I think there's too much risk of going for a number in 4♥-X. I would certainly not double 3♠ as south (for penalty) with a stiff spade opposite a light opener. You got your game try in, partner says you don't have game. Therefore you don't have equity to protect and you don't have to make a risky partscore double.

LHO probably has a singleton diamond and six clubs. With four spades he might have doubled 2♦ for takeout. Maybe he's 3316 with a couple of heart honors. We don't have much hope but I'd try leading the ♥T. West will probably duck and East might try to give West a diamond ruff with a natural trump trick - West did lead a stiff after all. The auction is terrible. South should have doubled 2♣ and 3♣ for takeout, North should have doubled 3♣ for penalty (3 trump tricks and a misfit?!).

4♠

4♠

Perhaps this is a known issue: many of the vugraph files linked here for the Bermuda Bowl contain commentary from previous segments.

Mike Lawrence's Complete Book on Overcalls (the revised version) is a good place to start.

It just requires a very specific hand type. Responder needs to have exactly 4 hearts (he would bid over 2♦ with more and pass 2♥ with fewer), they have to be good hearts since he's sitting in front of the bidder, he probably needs fewer than 3 spades or he might have doubled 2♦ for takeout, enough values to double for penalty but not enough to bid 3NT. Doesn't it seem better to let responder double with diamond length and short hearts (a relatively common type when he passes 2♦ and the opps run to 2♥) and let opener pass with hearts behind the bidder?

This seems strange. Who is going to double for penalty on this auction? Opener - a 15-17 NT opposite a partner who has shown nothing? Responder, who couldn't act over 2♦ and yet has a penalty double of 2♥ sitting in front of the bidder?

I would double if partner's "nothing to say" indicates some spade length without a stopper, no side suit, no extra heart length, no diamond fit etc. Opposite that sort of hand, what are our chances of making game? QJx is not great - we can't hold up after a low spade from AKxxx. We'll probably just go down in 3NT and we don't have an obvious fit elsewhere. Obviously if it can mean the stiff ace of spades and a 5-card side suit then this won't work out so well.

X

I thought this was an auto X at matchpoints.

I think I would start 1♥ 2♣ 2♦ 2NT 3♣ 3♥ 3♠ 4♣ and eventually get to 6♥.

[hv=pc=n&s=sa5h3daqt8ckqjt94&d=s&v=n&b=15&a=1c3spp]133|200[/hv] What would you bid if partner had doubled instead?

1. Pass 2. 2♠

This is problematic; I don't know if partner is raising diamonds or if it's a cuebid for spades. I'm going to guess it's a diamond raise since we've already denied 4 spades. I'll try 4H (control and a fitting honor) and hope for the best.

I would open the hand and rebid 3C over 2S. It seems like the smallest lie and keeps the bidding low.

So if it does require AAKK, how does our side compete effectively when opener has a weaker hand? Is partner expected to reopen holding a balanced 9 count with 3 or 4 hearts?

Dummy doesn't have an obvious source of tricks apart from possible club ruffs. I would try a small diamond to partner's queen hoping for a trump return.

Just wondering about the strength requirements for this double. Is it mostly competitive or does it show a real interest in game? Playing 2/1 with semi-forcing NT, what does a minimum for this double look like? Does the answer depend on form of scoring or vul?

Transfer and pass.

I found it difficult because declarer's line (drawing trumps when it leaves a defender with trump control) is non-intuitive. I just assumed he had 5. Anyway, the ♠2 signal should have woken me up. Nice problem.

It looks like declarer started with 5 hearts so he has 6 trump tricks and 2 aces. If he has ♦K then he has 10 tricks, so assume partner has it and give declarer the remaining honors (♠QJ). If he has ♠QJx then we're already dead; he can take the spade finesse and then concede a spade to establish the tenth trick in dummy. If he has ♠QJ tight then we can set him by pitching a club here and covering the first spade; if he wins the ace then spades are blocked and he can't establish them, but he can return to hand with the remaining spade and play the last heart. We will have to pitch our diamond and hope that partner has the ♦9. If he has stiff ♠Q and ♦9xxx then we can still set him by pitching a club here (to prevent him from establishing diamonds while he still has a trump entry) and then pitching a diamond on the last heart. Partner can hold up the diamond king to prevent him from scoring a long diamond in hand.

I think I would try 4♥ and raise partner's 4♠ to 5. Three cover cards is a lot. Of course this also risks a pass when partner has hearts. Maybe that's not so bad, since the ♠KQ isn't quite as valuable in that case. Would 5♥ be an unambiguous pass-or-correct invitation?

They might compete with an 8-card fit because of a stiff club. Any information about the opps, the vul, etc would be useful. Do they play support doubles? I'm going to assume lefty has 4=5 in the majors. Righty probably has 3 hearts, which means he probably has 5+ spades to respond 1♠ instead of just raising hearts. I think I'd shoot 5♣ here and hope for a club honor and a stiff spade, or maybe a heart lead allowing a pitch on diamonds.