PaulLanier

Since 2♥ is forcing, I would rebid 3♣. If 3NT or 4♥ is there, partner must bid it. If partner's rebid is 3♥, I will pass.

I think the issue is letting partner know of extra game-going values in case slam is biddable. Playing SAYC it ought to go: 1♠-3NT. 1♠-2♥ promises five hearts. I wouldn't quarrel with 2♥ though. If opener can rebid 3NT or 4♥ then that shows about 16 pts. Playing 2/1 I would prefer 1♠-2♣-3♣-3♥. This shows extras and opener can take it from there. Regardless I think the final contract ought to be 3NT. I do not think 6♣ is really biddable. But I would not argue too much if it went: 1♠-2♣-3♣-3♥-3♠*-6♣. * extras, suggests 2 diamond losers.

Pass. If partner cannot balance, I would rather defend. And I would save this hand just in case partner ever accuses me of being too aggressive!

Since opps play a basic system, RHO's free bid of 2♦ or 3♦ after partner's 1♠ would probably be forcing. So with a weak hand and 6 diamonds, RHO elects to pass, then back in with 3♦ (I don't play it that way - on the rare occasion where the fourth bidder wants to force, a cuebid is fine). That said, I would have raised partner's spades instead of rebidding 1NT (side doubleton, also takes 2♥ bid away from LHO and RHO). Regards, Paul

On the club back, declarer wins in dummy, cashes 2 more trump. Partner has to hold 3 hearts, so has to pitch two black cards...since he will be 3=4 or 4=3 in the blacks, this means he has to unguard a black suit. Declarer hooks the spade, cashes the heart A, pitching from the suit your partner guarded (assuming declarer to be 3=0=7=3) and then unblocks the suit declarer kept 3 cards in and ruffs a heart to hand and cashes the last trump. If your partner unguarded clubs, the end position is Ax 10 void void with declarer x void x x. Your partner is Kx Q void void and you are Jx void void x (preferably the J...) and the last diamond crushes you both. If your partner unguarded spades, the end position is void 10 void Ax opposite 10 void x x with partner holding void Q void Qx and you J void void xx...now the last diamond crushes you. The same endings can be achieved on any passive switch...you hold only one card that you can safely play at trick 4. Hi Walddk, West does not have to guard the heart queen - East is guarding hearts (Jx). Regards, Paul

Club Jack, so that I can find four discards (two clubs, a heart, a spade) when South runs diamonds. It looks to me like South rectified the count for a squeeze at trick one. In the five-card ending I hold: ♠ J84 ♥ J8 Partner can safely discard down to: ♠ K ♥ Q ♣ QTx South then holds: ♠ xx ♥ --- ♦ --- ♣ xxx I do not see a a five-card ending for North which produces a squeeze. If North retains three clubs, with South playing a club in the five-card ending, then I can safely pitch a heart or a spade, depending on what threat cards North is left with. Regards, Paul Regards, Paul

The two hands: (1) 3♣ NVUL, 2♣ VUL. But I would not quarrel 2NT here. (2) Double, followed by 2♦ after partner's expected 2♣. I don't think this hand is going anywhere unless partner answers 2♥ (or 3♥ if pard owns the remaining HCP with some distribution). Regards, Paul

(1) Since 3♠ is a cuebid, it is forcing and asks for further description (partner's better minor). I would take the 3NT rebid as describing no preference, asking advancer to choose the minor. (2) The 4m response is the better minor. (3) I would take 4♦ as first-round control of diamonds, agreeing clubs as trump. (4) 4♦ is the better minor. (5) I would take 4♥ as first-round control of hearts, agreeing clubs as trump. Regards, Paul

5♥, after a Deal 3.1 analysis, found at: http://jplan.org/HeyMrTamManBridgeLinks/bbo36060analysis.pdf This time I used the standard Deal table format and verified the results statistically. On most of the hands, 5♥X goes for less than what EW can make. On most of the hands NS make only 3♥. The duplication of values and length in hearts lowers the expectation for NS. This is also an interesting LOTT hand. Expected Total Trumps are 19+ (EW rate to have 8-9 spades, 8-9 diamonds, and 7 clubs, so for LOTT a trump or two is added for the EW two-suited fit). So it makes sense that most of the time, if NS make only 3♥ (9 tricks), then EW expect 10-11 tricks. Regards, Paul

Good (not great!) bridge player... One of the three guys who taught me to play bridge 40 years ago: "skill and love of the game." To this I would add: one whose respect for partner and fascination with card play exceeds the obsession to win. Regards, Paul

My apologies to gnasher and others who noted suit length problems in my post on this. I think when I added suits to the original Deal output something went wrong! Here is the original output. A void is represented by a space, so that can casue some difficulty reading the hands. The Deal code follows these hands. I played the hands out mentally, as if I were declarer, to get the expected hand results. I'm guessing others might get somewhat different results! AJ765 T872 J87 T|KT8 963 A5432 A8|Q9432 KQJ65432| AKQJ54 KQT96 97 ~ 6HEW, 5CNX+1 NS++* K65 QJT3 AT64 T7|T7 K876 KJ87 A98|Q9432 KQJ65432|AJ8 A9542 Q9532 ~ 2HEW, 5CNX= NS++ K5 JT762 753 AT8|AJ87 8543 AJ4 97|Q9432 KQJ65432|T6 AKQ9 KQT9862 ~ 5DEW, 5CNX=/+1 NS++* J76 K762 KT943 9|T5 AQJ4 8762 A87|Q9432 KQJ65432|AK8 T9853 AQJ5 T ~ 3HEW, 5CNX-2 NS- JT75 T962 J8532 |K6 KJ874 Q964 T8|Q9432 KQJ65432|A8 AQ53 AKT7 A97 ~ 5HEW, 5CNX-1 NS+ A6 T982 KT95 A97|KT875 76 Q8764 8|Q9432 KQJ65432|J AKQJ543 AJ32 T ~ 4HEW, 5CNX=/+1 NS++* J85 KT986 842 A9|KT6 Q32 KT765 87|Q9432 KQJ65432|A7 AJ754 AQJ93 T ~ 5DEW, 5CNX= NS++* AJ875 Q952 J872 |KT T874 9653 T97|Q9432 KQJ65432|6 AKJ63 AKQT4 A8 ~ 4HEW, 5CNX= NS++* KT86 T5 JT872 T8|J5 KQJ987 Q54 97|Q9432 KQJ65432|A7 A6432 AK963 A ~ 6DEW, 5CNX= NS++* 7 J762 AJ952 A98|AJ86 Q984 K73 T7|Q9432 KQJ65432|KT5 AKT53 QT864 ~ 4HEW, 5CNX-3/-2 NS+- KJ7 A83 JT965 97|AT65 JT764 A84 8|Q9432 KQJ65432|8 KQ952 KQ732 AT ~ 5DEW, 5CNX-1 NS+ Deal script: ################################################### # bbo36009 # # none vul, IMPs # P-P-? # you hold: Q9432 - - KQJ65432 # # To execute: # deal -l -i bbo36009 [num] > bbo36009.txt ################################################## south is Q9432 - - KQJ65432 main { # North does not open reject if {[hcp north]>11} reject if {[losers north]<15} #East does not open reject if {[hcp east]>11} accept if {[losers east]>14} } #################################################

For 10 hands simulated by deal 3.1, bidding 5C pays off about 85% of the time, doubled or not. Since 5C makes about 70% of the time, EW stand to gain by bidding on, even if they bid too high. - Playing 5CXN loses 1-2 hands, with minimal IMP cost (-, +-) - Game makes both ways on 6 hands; playing 5CNX gains a double IMP swing (++*). - On one hand NS make 5C and EW make 2H (++). - 5CX is a good sac against EW game (+). ♠AJ765 ♥T872 ♦J87 ♣T|♠KT8 ♥963 ♦A5432 ♣A8|♠Q9432 ♥- ♦- ♣KQJ65432|♠- AKQJ54 ♥KQT96 ♦97 ♣- ~ 6HEW, 5CNX+1 NS++* ♠K65 ♥QJT3 ♦AT64 ♣T7|♠T7 ♥K876 ♦KJ87 ♣A98|♠Q9432 ♥- ♦- ♣KQJ65432|♠AJ8 ♥A9542 ♦Q9532 ♣- ~ 2HEW, 5CNX= NS++ ♠K5 ♥JT762 ♦753 ♣AT8|♠AJ87 ♥8543 ♦AJ4 ♣97|♠Q9432 ♥- ♦- ♣KQJ65432|♠T6 ♥AKQ9 ♦KQT9862 ♣- ~ 5DEW, 5CNX=/+1 NS++* ♠J76 ♥K762 ♦KT943 ♣9|♠T5 ♥AQJ4 ♦8762 ♣A87|♠Q9432 ♥- ♦- ♣KQJ65432|♠AK8 ♥T9853 ♦AQJ5 ♣T ~ 3HEW, 5CNX-2 NS- ♠JT75 ♥T962 ♦J8532 ♣-|♠K6 ♥KJ874 ♦Q964 ♣T8|♠Q9432 ♥- ♦- ♣KQJ65432|♠A8 ♥AQ53 ♦AKT7 ♣A97 ~ 5HEW, 5CNX-1 NS+ ♠A6 ♥T982 ♦KT95 ♣A97|♠KT875 ♥76 ♦Q8764 ♣8|♠Q9432 ♥- ♦- ♣KQJ65432|♠J ♥AKQJ543 ♦AJ32 ♣T ~ 4HEW, 5CNX=/+1 NS++* ♠J85 ♥KT986 ♦842 ♣A9|♠KT6 ♥Q32 ♦KT765 ♣87|♠Q9432 ♥- ♦- ♣KQJ65432|♠A7 ♥AJ754 ♦AQJ93 ♣T ~ 5DEW, 5CNX= NS++* ♠AJ875 ♥Q952 ♦J872 ♣- |♠KT ♥T874 ♦9653 ♣T97|♠Q9432 ♥- ♦- ♣KQJ65432|♠6 ♥AKJ63 ♦AKQT4 ♣A8 ~ 4HEW, 5CNX= NS++* ♠KT86 ♥T5 ♦JT872 ♣T8|♠J5 ♥KQJ987 ♦Q54 ♣97|♠Q9432 ♥- ♦- ♣KQJ65432|♠A7 ♥A6432 ♦AK963 ♣A ~ 6DEW, 5CNX= NS++* ♠7 ♥J762 ♦AJ952 ♣A98|♠AJ86 ♥Q984 ♦K73 ♣T7|♠Q9432 ♥- ♦- ♣KQJ65432|♠KT5 ♥AKT53 ♦QT864 ♣- ~ 4HEW, 5CNX-3/-2 NS+- ♠KJ7 ♥A83 ♦JT965 ♣97|♠AT65 ♥JT764 ♦A84 ♣8|♠Q9432 ♥- ♦- ♣KQJ65432|♠8 ♥KQ952 ♦KQ732 ♣AT ~ 5DEW, 5CNX-1 NS+ Regards, Paul

Deal 3.1 simulation of 10 hands indicates 3NT makes about 60% of the time, more if West leads a heart. My opponents never lead a heart when I hold AQTxxx, but South can strip the hand and endplay East in hearts. Here are the ten hands, apparently making 3NT without too much trouble on #3, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9. But note hands #5 and 8, where North will not bid 1S if playing balance WJO. 1. ♠K9873 ♥ --- ♦ A743 ♣ J832 2. ♠ QT653 ♥ --- ♦ AQ975 ♣ T42 3. ♠ QJ542 ♥ --- ♦ Q75 ♣ AT752 4. ♠ KT752 ♥ 5 ♦ A5 ♣ JT743 5. ♠ KQJ9543 ♥ --- ♦ QJT53 ♣ 3 6. ♠ QT754 ♥ 64 ♦ AJ7 ♣ JT7 7. ♠ KT875 ♥ 7 ♦ AT74 ♣ J65 8. ♠ KQJ86542 ♥ 6 ♦ QJ42 ♣ --- 9. ♠ QJT72 ♥ --- ♦ J9 ♣ AJ7432 10. ♠ KQ974 ♥ --- ♦ QT93 ♣ JT43 Regards, Paul

3H (Bergen, preemptive jump raise). Shows 4+ trump with 0-6 HCP. Regards, Paul

(1). 4D. Leaving aside the question of why RHO didn't just open 3H, opps have at least 10 hearts, since p failed to bid 1H. If it's right to compete to 5D over the expected 4H sac (Law of Total Tricks), I will have to bid 4D now. That is the best descriptive call. Pard can then double LHO's expected 4H call if that is the correct action. (2) 3D. Pard's free bid ought to show 5+ diamonds with up to 9- HCP (with more, he should make negative double, then bid diamonds). This is a standard competition to the three-level when both sides have an eight-card fit. Regards, Paul

It sounds like declarer is ready for a spade lead. Partner and both opps appear to be bidding on lots of distributional points, since I hold 8 HCP and opps are at 6 level with partner supporting spades. So, I lead a trump (the 10), and if I get in with the diamond K, I expect to lead another trump. Diamond K lead will hurt if RHO holds J and pard holds the 10. Regards, Paul