quiddity

Why is this a forcing pass?

[hv=d=s&v=n&n=sakxhkt987xxxdtc2&s=sq8hqdakxxcakqj9x]133|200|Scoring: MP 1♣ 1♥ 2♦ 3♥ 4♥ 4NT 5♠ 6♥ down 1 - lefty holds AJx of hearts. [/hv]

The drop also offers the possibility of an endplay if LHO has Kx. You can duck the first heart, win the continuation, cash the ace of spades, and then try to strip hearts and clubs and eventually throw LHO in with the spade. I have no idea whether this adds enough chances to make the drop a viable option.

I can't see anything better than eliminating the diamonds and playing a spade to the king. Pretty sure I'm missing something.

*shrug* - North tried a pressure bid and partner came down with the worst possible hand. It happens. I tend to think that a balanced raise should bid notrump at matchpoints, but if you have the agreement that 3♦ shows a mixed raise then I don't think North's hand is far off. Partner will usually have at least 4 diamonds for his bid and North's hand is weak in the majors. The fact that the opps are red makes the 3♦ bid less attractive though. If they were white I'd be worried about them effectively competing to 3M. They're less likely to do that when vulnerable, so we can bid 1N and then compete to 3♦ over anything they bid and hope to buy it.

No one passes a hand like this at kitchen bridge.

Also, over 1NT partner can easily show an invite with 4 hearts if he has that hand.

I don't know what is "standard", but my partners tend to prefer keeping the inverted minor structure the same for a passed hand (in which case 2♦ shows a limit raise with 4+ diamonds). As opener with a minimum and 5 diamonds I would usually rebid 3♦ and hope to shut the opponents out.

For a class of university students I wonder whether it could work to start with no system at all. Teach the mechanics of play and the scoring system and then pair them off and let them play, encouraging them to discuss and develop useful agreements as they go. Maybe after a session or two they will be interested in learning a standard system and will have a better sense of the underlying motivations. I have no idea whether it would fly but it might be an interesting experiment.

We don't have to draw all the trumps, just the singleton trump in West's hand.

I assume west overcalled 1♥ directly? Lead a diamond now to remove declarer's entry to the board. He can play the last diamond winner (or lose it), but we ruff and force with the club so he has to lead spades from hand.

It seems like a guess at the end whether east started with 3 clubs or 4. Am I missing something obvious? Why is everyone so sure he started with 4? If I had to guess, I would think West is more likely to start with 1??2, not 1??1.

I think you should have bid 4♦.

Sure, but that's not my problem. :-) I think there's value in taking measures to prevent partner from going wrong, if possible. Partner didn't see how returning a club could hurt. I'm not surprised since I didn't see it or think about it either. And I was the one holding the vulnerable trumps!

No takers on this one? Ok, here's how I should have reasoned: The diamond position is known: partner started with QT8xxx and declarer had Jxx. The spade position is known: declarer started with K8xx, partner with the singleton 9. With either of the provided bidding sequences it is possible to work out the heart holdings. In the responsive double sequence, declarer showed the majors and then chose spades so he probably started with 3 hearts. In eyhung's sequence, declarer certainly cannot have 4 hearts (he would have responded 1H instead of 1S) and he probably didn't start with only 2 hearts since that would leave partner with 5-6 in the reds and partner didn't bid. So again he probably started with 3. This means he started with 3 clubs; he was 4=3=3=3. In eyhung's sequence we know partner has the club ace because declarer would not just invite with 13 points. But either way we have to play partner for the ace, it's our only hope. We hope the position is: [hv=n=shjxdqtcax&w=sk8hxdcjxx&e=shatdcqt9x&s=st5hdck8xx]399|300|[/hv] and there is a guaranteed set. Cash the club king and lead a club to partner's bare ace. Partner will have to lead a diamond (forcing declarer) or a heart (which we can ruff) and we will score a trump either way. Unfortunately at the table I was too lazy to work this all out. I saw that I needed partner to have the club ace so I led a low club. A club came back and that was the end; declarer ran clubs and I was trump couped by the ace of hearts.

[hv=d=w&v=b&s=sajxxxhaqj9xdxcxx]133|100|Scoring: MP P P 1♣ 2♣ 2♦ X P ?[/hv] With no previous discussion, how would you treat this double? Do you bid or pass? What is your preferred treatment for the double?

I would bid 2♦ at imps for sure, and maybe at matchpoints though Pass is a close second. I pay off to 3=3=2=5, with all other shapes we have a diamond fit (maybe even a 9-card fit) and a void. edit: I didn't consider shapes like 3316, 3307. These make 2♦ a lot less attractive. Maybe Pass is right even at imps.

Seems like opener can bid a minor suit over 4N to show a 5-card minor and offer choice of slams. He can bid 5N to explore for a 4-4 minor fit. At MP it's almost certainly not worth the effort but what about at imps? If opener has a balanced accept with a 4-card minor should he look for a fit?

For Pass I would pick a different political figure than Palin, someone staunchly conservative but not a complete ditz. Palin might bid 2♠.

yeah, my previous response was wrong. If partner ducks the diamond, declarer discards his second diamond loser on a fourth heart. Partner needs to win the diamond ace and return his last heart for the trump promo. However, there's no cost in leading a club first to give partner the count. Then win the first round of trumps and lead a diamond to partner's ace.

I haven't analyzed it carefully (so I probably shouldn't comment) but it feels wrong to block the clubs like that. Don't you risk getting locked in dummy?

From this thread: http://forums.bridgebase.com/index.php?showtopic=40902 assuming vanilla 2/1 with new suits forcing at the 1-level over opp's takeout double: 1♣ X XX 1N P P X P P 2♦ 2♠ Does this auction exist, what does it show, is it forcing?

It definitely looks like partner has the club king. If declarer had it he would be drawing trumps, not messing around trying to discard a club. In that case I think we have to play a diamond now - if partner has just the ace, he has to duck. Then when we get in with the ace of spades we can lead another diamond to partner's ace and partner can lead one back to promote the jack of spades.

What did Sherlock Holmes say, when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth? I think it's impossible that declarer started with K8xx, KQJxx in the majors and chose to play in spades. It's definitely not impossible that partner chose to open a weak 2 with 8xxx or even Jxxx in hearts.

Pass. The diamond suit isn't good enough for a 2-level overcall. The high card points are minimal for a double (just 11 points in the other suits) and the shape is bad: only 3 cards in the other major, only 2 clubs.