quiddity

Seems like 3♠ from a limited opener should guarantee a suit, not just a control. Opener's points are limited but he can have a range of shapes so IMO it's consistent to first bid 3♠ showing shape and later bid 4♥ even with a club control to say your shape isn't that exciting.

Thanks all (and especially Rainer for the detailed analysis). My feelings about the hand were similar to Rainer's; take a black suit finesse and if it loses hopefully it will provide an extra entry to draw trump after ruffing a diamond. The robot is usually pretty good at this kind of problem though. I wonder if it picked this line (AQ of trumps) because it keeps more balls in the air. It "works" if either black king is off in that if the SK is off it can lead a spade to the Q later, and if the CK is off it can lead a club to the Q. The robot doesn't notice the decision point coming up because it is analyzing everything double-dummy.

While a sim is interesting, IMO it tells us more about how the hand should have been opened and not what it should do on the second round. If you have a balanced hand and want to be in game opposite a 10-count, open 1nt. If you don't want to be in game opposite a 10-count, don't invite over a response which shows 8 to a bad 11. I think a 2nt raise here is never balanced; it shows an offshape strong notrump.

[hv=pc=n&s=saj85haq8d76cajt5&n=sq3hk9762dak5cq86]133|200[/hv] Contract: 4♥, no opp bidding. ♦J led to dummy's ace, East encourages. Can someone help me analyze this hand and find the percentage line at matchpoints? My robot opponent played off the AQ of trumps at this point and I'm trying to see if this is really the best line.

The part that I find more interesting is what to expect from responder's 1NT, and whether to expect a stronger hand because this is imps vs mp. I'm not sure, but I think this is wrong. Going down in a red 1nt is likely to be more of a disaster at matchpoints. Protecting at a higher level is more dangerous at imps. So I think it is more important to get your say in early at imps and let partner know that he isn't alone and that he can feel more comfortable fighting for a partscore.

I doubt anyone will be able to convince you otherwise, but.. you expect 8-10ish. That means you have two balanced hands with 22-24ish and you're jumping to 3NT. I doubt this is percentage even at imps. Also I think you are overrating the chance of a misdefense and underrating the risk of getting doubled and WAY underrating the chance of going down more than one. Defense may be hard but it's likely to be a lot less hard when LHO has announced a 5+ card suit to set up and entries and the lead is coming through your Kx.

There is also the risk of getting doubled when LHO has a good suit and entries.

You can see why psyching 1NT is so effective. :-)

Not sure it's logical for a limited hand to "try for a grand slam" opposite a hand which only invited a small slam. She asked for keycards on the way to accepting the small-slam invite, and since her partner is unlimited she has to bid 5NT if they have all the keycards. But maybe it shouldn't force partner to show specific kings, and maybe by bidding 6♦ Diana is the one trying for a grand.

Depends what "non-bust" means. For me it means more than quack-6th of spades, so I would blame South.

In my partnership "do I have a seven count with a possibly worthless ♠Q and a ♥A opposite partner's void, and did I give partner a chance to bid on with a good hand, and did he just tell me to shove off despite likely holding a heart void, and am I really still sitting here wondering what to do" is basically the question we ask ourselves.

I like West's bidding more than East's. The opener is aggressive but normal. Accepting the invite with a min+void would be normal at imps; maybe at MPs it's a bit too much but at least it seems close. Having decided to accept splintering seems normal, especially when it's not a one-under splinter, to cater for hands like AQxxx Qx Jxx AKx. East has a pretty mediocre slam invite - minimum number of trumps, no heart help, a bunch of points opposite partner's singleton - he should just invite with 4♥ instead of driving to slam.

3NT was a terrible bid and after South bids 4♦ anyway North has an obvious slam drive. I'd pass with South over 3NT.

2♠

If you had a first-round control you could have Q'd it over 5♥.

Maybe the same hand with two fewer spades?

Close between 6♥ and 7♠. Hopefully partner took my 5NT as denying a minor-suit ace and he's still trying for a grand. It sounds like he has a heart void in which case I can count 6 spades, two ruffs, 3 clubs, 1 diamond. Could he be missing the ♦KQ? I think with a strong diamond suit he should cuebid 6♦, since the ♣A is implied, so maybe 6♥ is enough.

Pass. I showed a slammish hand with an aceless 10-count and then bid last-train when partner cuebid my void. I think I've done enough.

This one isn't clear to me. I understand that we have a really nice 12-count but our range is 12-21. If we don't limit our hand now, then when? If we show a minimum (12-14?) with shortness and partner signs off immediately, how likely is it that we will miss slam? And if he shows any interest we can cooperate enthusiastically and we have quite a bit of room to do so. I have the impression that, when responding to a precision 1♣ opener, responder is supposed to be disciplined and show 0-7 (or whatever) even if he has a REALLY nice 6-7. Why is this situation different? This is not a rhetorical question; I really don't know which approach is best here.

I like the analogy. I would bid game with a limit raise and at least an 8-card fit. Here I have a limit raise and at most an 8-card fit. And after the 3♥ bid and partner's double my limit raise looks a lot like a balanced 9-count.

shrug.. looks like bad luck to me. Even seeing both hands I'd probably still bid 3M over 3♦. They're almost certainly cold and we have good chances to either make or be down one undoubled. Fortunately my opponents don't always double when it's right.

I agree with Mike; I think North's decision is difficult. Personally I would only bid 3♠ since the trumps are mediocre.

Another argument against: your hand can stand leads in the two unbid suits, and your hand is not strong enough to expect to have an entry even if you manage to set up the heart suit.

Maybe your teammates defend more brilliantly when they suspect you'll be declaring. :-p

Sorry, I wrote that reply without thinking enough and then edited it - probably our posts crossed. I agree that on the hand with AKQ of hearts there isn't much room for doubt.