mpefritz

Ben, Thanks for the analysis. I defended this hand in an minor tourney and everybody in some number of NT cashed the 3rd club at trick 4!?! I, however, never make a less than optimal play online :rolleyes: My 5=5=H=2 comment was only that if you play the (correct) line of cashing ♥AK you will make 7 on this shape also on the compound squeeze, without having to worry about whether West started with KQ of diamonds (complete count known). I was only trying to mention a case where West had 4+ hearts and showed up with a diamond honor where you'd be 100% sure the hook was going to win (once you cash the club at trick 10). In cases where West pitches a diamond honor at trick 10, and the full count isn't known, the diamond hook does seem somewhat dicey as you have already beaten all pairs in 6C and NT less than 6. Both red suit's discards may give conflicting RC information. Just my thoughts. thanks again, fritz

There is one more case: West with 5=4=Hx=2 (note if 5=5=H=2 you will find out as you cash 2 top hearts, then diamond hook is a guarantee) as played under the proposed diamond double line. In the 4 card ending West is reduced to 98=Q=H=void and must pitch something on the last club, while declarer keeps void=8=AJ=void. The other question involved in this hand is whether or not you'd believe the diamond situation enough to hook the diamond at trick 12 when West pitches a diamond honor? I'm not sure I would - but would if in 7NT. There also seem to be restricted choice position against the heart honors (as well as diamond honors) that may sway your end game decision. fritz

[hv=d=s&v=n&n=sakj43h32d9cat976&w=st9875hqjtd532cq5&e=s62h974dkq764c832&s=sqhak865dajt8ckj4]399|300|Scoring: MP 6NT South, no interference ♠ T-3-6-Q ♣ K-5-6-2 ♣ J-Q-A-3 ?? [/hv] Here's a MP hand from the other day. I have shown all 4 hands. There is a heart double squeeze line that works here for 7, but is it best when you play out the hand and find West with 5 spades or should you have tried for a diamond double (both of which might develop guard components against West)? Please state what cards you should play after the favorable club lie is found. fritz p.s. Extra Credit :( : Does your answer change if South has only small hearts (i.e. AK654) and is missing the QJT987? p.p.s. Don't come looking to me for answers. I'm not quite sure what is best, although I have some thoughts.

Nice question. I played pinochle and hearts for years, and counting is inherent in those games as well as every card game. When I started playing bridge, I had a tough time counting. I agree with Fred's suggestion of the software for Mike Lawrence's "Counting at Bridge" I played bridge for about a year before being able to count well at the table. My card play suffered immensely during the month when I decided I was going to count every hand. I think for most peole who get over that hump, counting just becomes natural without thinking. You also realize which hands you don't need to count (but will end up counting anyway without thinking). 2 subtle comments on how to practice. I agree with Fred's 4 number to add up to 13 comment. But also realize that all the possible suit distributions are also all the possible hand shapes. The other small aid is that each hand (or each suit distribution) will have an odd number of odd cards and an odd number of even cards. This may seem abstract and goofy sounding, but after a bit of time helps condense how much thinking you need to do. Figuring out hand shapes becomes easier when you observe the bidding and note people showing out. Counting is now easier in bridge than the other card games, because I always know half of the cards. Good luck and warn your regular partner(s) that your play is going to suffer when you start counting every hand. Once you can count well, you will wonder what game you were playing before. Better yet, stop reading these replies and play! :angry: fritz

I would probably play LHO for 0=4=6=3 or 1=3=6=3 or 1=4=6=2. If East started with Ax of diamonds, wouldn't he usually play the DA at trick 1? What shift was he looking for? If LHO started 0=4=7=2, then I pay off and don't look like a star, but it seems like I am playing to more likely distributionS on the "cross ruff" line. fritz

Although there can be endless discussion of what should and shouldn't be alerted (I go so far as to alert and fill in the description box for my NT range as 15-17), playing in timed pairs events, I feel the players who play systems which are highly regulated by most large national/global bridge groups MUST be prepared to have rapid descriptions of their system available via remote key alerting (as suggested by DrTodd) or some other cut and paste without opps asking or having to delay to look up the info. If playing in an untimed event or the main bridge club or in a team event, URLs should be fine (but the above would be nice). Without a time constraint, there should be little griping, and if someone doesn't want to play against such a pair they can feel free to excuse themselves. So to answer the original question that was posed -- I would like to see alerting with descriptions. just my thoughts fritz

I don't want to sound pessimistic, but it looks like all the black suit cards are in the wrong spots. Often when your side holds the balance of power, a trump lead makes sense. But does that hold true on hands with double double fits? I think it probably depends on the fit in the second suit, as the second (non-trump) suit will provide declarer pitches for your suits if you do not cash your winners right away, and create ruffs where they did not exist. In these cases, declarer will want to draw trump and then use the side suit. With a balanced side suit there are no pitches, so a trump would be fine. I think I lead the DK which probably doesn't lose tempo and will help me figure out where to go. fritz

Is there a mechanism to prevent partner from making bad claims (actually concessions) in individual tournaments while defending? Recently, while playing in an indy MP tournament, one of my partners made a wrong concession on defense which I could not override. At some point, I have probably done the same in the past and probably will do so in the future to my partners. fritz

From ACBL Bulletin: Of course the big question is, why did Soloway lead a spade instead of the good heart? There were clues suggesting the spade lead. First of all, his partner had bid hearts twice, which made it likely that Hamman had four hearts, in which case Lauria would have no more. Second, Hamman followed to the opening club lead with the 7. Soloway was sure that Hamman knew that they couldn’t cash the second club, so the 7 could have been a suit preference signal asking for spades. Also, in playing hearts Hamman played the 2, then the 4 and then the 5. He might have played 2-5-4 with three. Soloway had a very tough choice to make. Did his partner have four hearts and therefore a singleton spade, or did he have just three hearts along with two spades? “I saw the 7 and it looked like a signal for spades,” said Paul. “In the heart suit, our first play is attitude, and the second shows present count. Bob played the 4 second, and in our methods that showed an even number originally, So it seemed that Bob had started with four hearts and a singleton spade. “But then there was the auction. Bob bid only 2 the first time. If he had four hearts, very likely he would have jumped to 3.” Soloway eventually made the wrong choice — he relied on the play rather than the auction and played partner for a singleton spade. But because Lauria didn’t realize that Soloway had made the wrong choice, the Americans still got their two trick set – and the gold medal in the closest Bermuda Bowl in history. “At the table I thought I had it right,” said Paul. “In retrospect, I feel I should have given stronger consideration to the bidding. Bob didn’t bid 3, so he probably didn’t have four hearts. So in retrospect I feel I should have led the heart, not the spade.” fritz

Bidding is a 2 person conversation (with one or two other people occasionally interrupting) . There are several methods for your partner to show a bad hand after your reverse. Maybe someone can discuss these. Two that I occasionally use are 1) Lebensohl 2) Ingberman Maybe someone can post some ways to use these or other methods. I know this doesn't directly answer your question. fritz

Play of spade instead of HT: At this point Soloway knows Lauria started 1+=3+=7+=1. I am assuming 7+D else 5D is insane. He knows pard must have a sure trump trick. If Lauria has 2 spades and good trump, he could have ruffed a club back to his hand and drawn trump before leading a spade to the board. The question now is: Do I lead a spade looking for a ruff and down 2 if pard has Ax of diamonds (and was 1=4=2=6)? Do I lead the heart T and let my partner win his natural trump trick (e.g. Kx) -- leading to down 1 if pard started 1=4=2=6 amd down 2 if 2=3=2=6) ? What is my info? Did pard give me count in hearts on heart ruff? (He did play low on MY lead of a heart, and then played low again on the first ruff.) Do I think he has 4 on the auction? He did bid 2H and then 3H. What do I make of pards SJ? (must be stiff if playing upside down count, else no info)) Maybe someone better at this can tell me. It seems like it all depends on how they agree to play cards on declarer's ruffs. Also Lauria may have played it differently with 2 spades anyway. I suspect Lauria would have tried to draw trump after ruffing hearts if he was concerned about a possible spade ruff. Plenty of room for error : Do I believe partner (count) or do I believe the way Lauria is playing the hand? Just my thoughts. fritz

I know the declarer is allowed full disclosure of meanings from calls and non-calls. However, it must be difficult for a declarer to fully grasp all that information. Do pairs that have a highly detailed bidding system then have an advantage because their positive and negative inferences on defense are greater? fritz

While defending tonight, I was placed in the East or West position of the table instead of sitting "South" at the bottom of the screen. Nobody else seemed to be having this problem. Any thoughts? fritz