sfi

sfi 24 - 2 hrothgar http://webutil.bridgebase.com/v2/tview.php?t=ARDCHALLENGE:44139fe6.a3d9.11e6.8e99.0cc47a39aeb4-1478406422&u=sfi

1NT is a pretty common tactic with this sort of a hand. Safer if you are playing 2/1 and even more so if your major opening is limited to 15 or 17. Even if it's a simple non-forcing 1NT, you have reasonable chances of stealing their hand.

Interestingly, every competitor has won at least one match and lost at least one match.

That's about the bottom end of the range for one regular partnership, and probably just out of it for another. The risk/reward ratio is pretty close in this hand.

sfi 26 - 16 nige1 http://webutil.bridgebase.com/v2/tview.php?t=ARDCHALLENGE:7645114b.9eec.11e6.8e99.0cc47a39aeb4-1477864911&u=sfi

wackojack 26 - 2 sfi http://webutil.bridgebase.com/v2/tview.php?t=ARDCHALLENGE:0cdddfeb.9e8c.11e6.8e99.0cc47a39aeb4-1477823502&u=sfi

sfi 43 - 19 mkgnao http://webutil.bridgebase.com/v2/tview.php?t=ARDCHALLENGE:aa0d6c3f.9e25.11e6.8e99.0cc47a39aeb4-1477779528&u=sfi

sfi 38 - 35 gqc6 http://webutil.bridgebase.com/v2/tview.php?t=ARDCHALLENGE:ef8d104d.9e25.11e6.8e99.0cc47a39aeb4-1477779645&u=sfi

There is a baseball field in the local park, but it's not really a thing here. We play cricket, which is designed to be incomprehensible to anyone who hasn't grown up with it, as well as a few other sports not played in many places. To be fair, there was a small headline about the first finals match in the online paper, but it's disappeared now. For some reason I can find out all about day 2 of the cricket test between Bangladesh and England though.

Ah - makes sense now. Thanks. :)

What are cubbies? Google isn't helping me with context here.

I'm in.

Possibly, but partner has to have a very poor spade suit for this vulnerability with nothing in hearts, they have to find a heart lead, and 4S has to be making. The odds have to be lower than partner simply having KQxxxx for their opening. I like my chances.

Agreed. 3NT looks like the obvious bid at this vulnerability - 4S is a distant second choice and I was surprised nobody mentioned it before now.

Last set: sfi 34 - 23 nige1 http://webutil.bridgebase.com/v2/tview.php?t=ARDCHALLENGE:43f77b24.9126.11e6.8e99.0cc47a39aeb4-1476350421&u=sfi Which means nige1 wins 80-79. Nice match, and best of luck in the finals.

Set 3: sfi 14 - 12 nige1 http://webutil.bridgebase.com/v2/tview.php?t=ARDCHALLENGE:b54893cc.90f6.11e6.8e99.0cc47a39aeb4-1476329995&u=sfi

Semis set 2: nige1 37 - 4 sfi http://webutil.bridgebase.com/v2/tview.php?t=ARDCHALLENGE:1792be87.9016.11e6.8e99.0cc47a39aeb4-1476233524&u=sfi

No, my hearts aren't great for that, which is why there are two perfectly fine options. The easy one to dismiss is pass. With spade shortage, good values, a 5 card heart suit, and support for the other suits we have to do something. The other easy plan to dismiss is double and bid hearts later. We are nowhere near strong enough for that. So, the question is what to bid, and there are competing factors to weigh. In favour of 2H we have: - 4H is our most likely game and I'm unlikely to be able to show my fifth heart later. - If I want to take further action next round, it will be easy to know what to do. - Partner can't pass the double on some marginal hand, so we can go some way to saving partner in one difficult spot. - If it is right to penalise them, LHO may well raise spades. In favour of double we have: - It shows (more or less) 12 of my 13 cards. - Partner will be better placed to win a partscore battle. - If partner has a long minor we may bid our making game on a 20 count. The important thing is having some sort of a plan about how to approach the rest of the auction On balance I prefer 2H, but it's not a clearcut action. I'm not going to argue strongly against the double. Would I double 3S for takeout? Probably not, although if the opponents' vibe is right I might do so. They are likely going down and we may not get to 5m even when it's right. It's a price I'm prepared to pay in order to show the fifth heart, and I don't know that I'd rate our chances for game high enough to risk 100 an undertrick at the four level.

2H, planning to double 2S if I get the chance.

A big advantage of the weak-only version is you get to jump around more freely with support for both majors. You normally still don't have the option of getting out in a partscore in your own major after partner opens 2D though. Standard in this part of the world is that: - all major bids are pass/correct - 2NT is an asking bid, with 3C/3D showing a good opening and 3H/3S showing a bad one - new suits are forcing for a round About the only time we get to play our long major is if we bid and rebid it, so can generally play 3 of the major. This isn't as standard though. The other fairly common thing is after 2D is doubled. Now: - bids are as above - pass shows diamonds and suggests partner consider playing there - redouble shows a long suit and asks partner to bid 2 of the major they don't have You could steal a bit of complexity from Wilkosz 2D: - 4H/S is to play, showing a long suit - 4C asks partner to transfer to their major - 4D asks partner to bid their major - 3D shows an invitational hand with both majors - 3H has no invitational overtones You do need to decide whether to keep any of this over interference though.

Maybe BBO knows more than you think. Oh, different sort of compatibility rating. No idea about that. But it seems pretty random even for regular partners.

Semifinal set 1: sfi 27 - 8 nige1 http://webutil.bridgebase.com/v2/tview.php?t=ARDCHALLENGE:9f7638ea.8fc0.11e6.8e99.0cc47a39aeb4-1476196815&u=sfi Once again the computer decides to gift me 17 imps in a slam for no clear reason, except this time both opponents combined for a ridiculous result. ATB anyone?

According to the copyright notice it's three years old already. Maybe people are already playing this Weak Two Convention in some part of the world by now. I presume the original publication also covered how to count points as well, because that's unclear from this post.

In all my partnerships it accepts the slam try and shows a 4 card club suit to suggest 6C. I've always assumed this is totally standard.

4th set: zebutin 35 - 29 sfi http://webutil.bridgebase.com/v2/tview.php?t=ARDCHALLENGE:ad066515.8e02.11e6.8e99.0cc47a39aeb4-1476005282&u=sfi Good match.