dkham

As long as partner really has 15-17, and only accepts with a maximum, I'll bid Stayman then invite.

But is it likely that partner has shorter spades than declarer? I'm going for a trump.

The 2♠ and 3NT bids are also misdescribed. I guess W was stuck for a bid first time round (I'd bid 2[clbus]), and decided showing points was more important than shape second time.

I wonder what the logic was that lead to leading queen of trumps, maybe it thought AKQ were equals?

At trick two - if we don't come back to hand with a diamond now, doesn't that mean that in order to get three ruffs in dummy we need to return to hand three times by ruffing spades?

I find these very difficult, interested in what other people say. My thoughts - don't think we can set up dummy's spades so trying for ten tricks via: 5 top tricks. A diamond ruff and two club ruffs in dummy Two spade ruffs in hand. So at the start win the ace of spades, play two diamonds, ruff a diamond, then play a club up. If defence now play trumps I'll finesse the Jack.

I might try 3♣ then 4♣ after partner's bid.

We've shown about 0-8 with the 1♠ bid, and I reckon we're better than average for that so I'll raise 3♠ to 4♠. Shame that our second suit is clubs.

Double then bid 2NT.

My plan is to rely on West having short clubs to avoid a club loser: 1) Draw trumps, ruff diamond and cash both top hearts. Not sure what order to do these three things in. 2) Then play ♣AK. Maybe West will drop the queen. If not play another club and East might win and give us a ruff and discard.

I wouldn't take 4♦ as forcing there (though maybe it should be).

I would also have taken 4♠ as agreeing clubs. But anyway looking for slam opposite a passed hand with only a small doubleton in partner's suit is quite optimistic. At the table I would have bid 5♦ instead of 4♠. Though looking again 3NT looks like a good bet, makeing whenever partner can provide one trick to go with your probable eight.

I think with a minimum invite, bad ♠Jx and the defender's spades sitting over declarer I'm going to stay low and try and play 3♣.

A - Bid 5♠ B - Bid 5♠ Could I have I jumped to 4♠ initially, instead of just replying 1♠, to show this sort of hand?

In standard I'd open 1♣.

Partner's not going to know about my void so I'm taking control with a 6♥ punt.

I think North's double of 2♥ is for penalties. With that many suits already bid (including South implying majors with his double) it's got to be.

For the second hand I'd open 1♣ and rebid 5♣. Hopefully that shows partner a big club hand with some defence. The advantage of doing this over opening 5♣ is that partner might now find it easier to double the opponents (though he still won't know when to bid 6♣).

4♥ does feel right. But here's my theory: if we had those clubs instead of hearts, and partner had overcalled 2♣ instead, then I reckon 5♣ would feel right and be accompanied by arguments like maximum pressure. ♠ Kxx ♥ Jx ♦ 98 ♣ 109xxxx Imp's, red vs white: (1♠)-2♣-(X)-??? Are you telling me you'd only bid 4♣ here? I think there's a natural tendency to bid four in majors and five in minors, even though we don't expect to make it. So for the original problem I'm bucking the trend and bidding 5♥!

Partner might not have diamonds, perhaps the double only showed hearts? I would pass or reluctantly bid 4♣. Not likely to be doubled but if it is maybe I can stumble into 4♦.

I like the idea of bidding 5♣ then 5♠ for a modest slam invite. But still a bit worried we could get to 6♠ off two keycards, or off 1 keycard and the queen of trumps.

Agreed, I'm OK with partner bidding 3♦.

What was the actual reason the 4♥ was alerted? Could East have asked for an explanation if he wasn't sure about doubling? In the actual auction, I wonder if East doubling 4♥ would have stopped West bidding 5♣, or made it more likely!

Was 4♥ alerted? It's shown in a yellow box in the auction, not sure what that implies.

I like to know how the story ended, what actually happened at the table here?