Walddk

Could you perhaps have a word with your partner about not pre-empting with two aces? Another example of how it's impossible to judge anything if you do. Pre-empts should be pre-empts. They are not constructive in my world and they are not supposed to be. Much too much on defence, he had. If he doesn't like to open 1♦, fair enough, but then pass is miles better than 2♦ in my opinion. Roland

[hv=d=s&v=n&n=saq5hj103daj8c8643&w=s74hk97d9752cj972&e=s9863hq842d10643c10&s=skj102ha65dkqcakq5]399|300|Scoring: IMP South: 6NT Lead: D2[/hv] Well done everyone! A heart/club squeeze against West is looming, and if you exit passively with a heart, your partner won't be thrilled 1 minute later. Declarer wins his ace and cashes four spade tricks. A club disappears from dummy. Next comes ♦Q overtaken by dummy's ace. The layout is now: [hv=d=s&v=n&n=saq5hj103daj8c8643&w=s74hk97d9752cj972&e=s9863hq842d10643c10&s=skj102ha65dkqcakq5]399|300|Scoring: IMP South: 6NT Lead: D2[/hv] ♦J (declarer pitches ♥6) squeezes West. 12 tricks. Many spotted the killing defence. East must return a diamond. By doing so South is forced to use his diamond entry to dummy prematurely. When West followed with ♥9, the whole deal was actually an open book, provided that declarer's heart play made any sense. West has shown 4 clubs and 4 diamonds, ♥9 is likely from K9x (K9 possible if he is a good defender). Being able to execute squeezes is nice; breaking them up if you can is even nicer. East could have done that here; he didn't at the table. Instead he kept complaining about the bad cards he was dealt. Roland

[hv=d=s&v=n&n=saq5hj103daj8c8643&e=s9863hq842d10643c10]266|200|Scoring: IMP South: 6NT Lead: D2[/hv] You pick up your usual worthless hand as East. You have lost interest already when you "listen" to the NS bidding: 2♣ - 2♦ 2N* - 6N p * 22-24 balanced. Your partner leads ♦2 (4th best from any holding), 8 from dummy, your 10 and declarer's king. Next South cashes ♣AK, partner following with the 2 and 7 (reverse count), and you let go a diamond. Declarer's next move is ♥5 from hand, 9 from West, 10 and your queen. So you had a trick after all. No claim yet, so maybe there is a chance. Take over please. It's not easy, but nobody promised you that it would be. Hidden text would be nice if you care to make your contribution. Roland

The straightforward way to sum it up could be: One wish comes true more often than two. And now it's even a rhyme. Maybe I should have been a poet!? :) Roland

3♠ is the clear winner in my opinion. We play 2/1, right?, so let's take advantage of the system. Soon I will learn where my partner comes from: 4♠: I shouldn't have opened 1♠. Was more like a weak 2. 3N: Serious, start cue bidding partner. Now 4♦ is very convenient, is it not? 4m: Cue bid, not seriously interested in slam. Roland

Seems like the jack will work fine too, as long as East remembers to go up with the king. Maybe it's obvious that he should, but sometimes you just play an automatic low card. If West returns the 3, one can be pretty certain that East follows the rule of "third hand high". Roland

[hv=d=n&v=b&n=s105haq105dakq96c103&w=saj3h9764dj10ckj92&e=sk742h82d7432ca74&s=sq986hkj3d85cq865]399|300|Scoring: IMP South: 3NT Lead: C2[/hv] Here is the full hand. The bidding was: 1♦ - 1♠ 2♥ - 2NT 3NT - pass Trick 1: ♣2, 3, A, 5. Trick 2: ♣7, 8, J, 10. Trick 3: ?? After the return of ♣7 West correctly realised that the rest of the clubs would not stand up and was now on a guess as to which major suit king partner had. He switched to a heart which was a disaster on this layout. Could he have known? Surely not, but the thing is that he didn't have to guess at this point. The return of ♠3!! would give him another go if East didn't have ♠K. Let's assume that the layout had been this: [hv=d=n&v=b&n=s105haq105dakq96c103&w=saj3h9764dj10ckj92&e=sk742h82d7432ca74&s=sq986hkj3d85cq865]399|300|Scoring: IMP South: 3NT Lead: C2[/hv] Declarer could win dummy's 10 and continue spades to West's ace, and now it's time to switch to a heart. South has no choice; he must take the finesse, and the contract goes down. Note that ♠3 is the card to return, and not the jack or ace. If you switch to ♠A to see if partner likes it or not, you would just have presented declarer with the contract, and the jack is equally wrong in case East had been out of clubs. ♠3 caters for everything whenever the contract can be defeated. Well done to those of you who found the killing switch! Roland

Not sure I understand this. Who bids 4♠ over 3♥? If North, how can he respond 5♣ at the same time? Maybe it's me, please explain. Besides, your auction looks very nice from then on, but isn't it North who bids 7♥? How does he know about ♣Q? If South has Ax AJxxxx Kx xxx you can't even make 6 on a spade lead. Roland

Is out of print :( Atleast, I can't find it on amazon or chapters. Can someone lend me a copy! jillybean2 If Copenhagen is not too far away from you, you can get it at "Bridgebutikken" (The Bridge Shop). http://www.bridgebutikken.dk/Cart/items.ph...4.105.153&bog=S 180 Danish Kroner (US$30). They can also send it to you. Then they will add p&p of course. Roland

If a reverse on a 15 count is no more than you require, then fine with me, but that is obviously not the point. I can tell you, however (others should not peek), that your defence is wrong. Roland

[hv=d=n&v=b&n=s105haq105dakq96c103&w=saj3h9764dj10ckj92]266|200|Scoring: IMP South: 3NT Lead: C2[/hv] This deal is from the English Championships about 45 years ago. The bidding went (North dealer): 1♦ - 1♠ 2♥ - 2NT 3NT - pass North overbid a couple of times, but that is not a concern of yours. You lead ♣2 to partner's ace and declarer's 5. East continues with ♣7 to your jack over South's 8. At this point the player in the West seat erred and let the contract through. Can you do better? What do you lead at trick 3 and why? Again hidden text would be nice, but it's not a must. Roland

I think 2♣ is a fine bid, but as I have said so many times before, I have a lot of respect for 2-level overcalls. Therefore, I would have no qualms about rasing to 3♣ with the South hand. If we get doubled and go for 300-500, we need to talk with partner about overcalls at the 2-level (and higher) when both opponents are unlimited. 3♣ is not obvious for many partnerships, so it's a bit harsh to assign blame here. South gets 12½%, the rest goes to society and lack of agreements regarding overcalls. Roland

[hv=d=s&v=n&n=saqh10652dk10cqj1053&w=s10842hk83d9765ck7&e=sj653haj74dj8c984&s=sk97hq9daq432ca62]399|300|Scoring: IMP South: 3NT Lead: S2[/hv] Here is the full hand. Bidding: 1NT - 3NT. Trick 1: S2, A, 6, 9. Trick 2: CQ, 9, 2, K. Trick 3: ?? Well done to those of you who found the killing switch: ♥8! (unblocking the suit). If you return ♥3, the suit is agonisingly blocked 30 seconds later. A valiant attempt by declarer to conceal his spade holding by dropping the 9 at trick 1, looking like a man who started with K9 doubleton. But no way he can fool us when we see partner's 6. He would have discouraged with the 7 if he had J7653. Now the club play. In a situation like this count is not an issue. You already discouraged spades, and everyone at the table knows that ♠Q is an entry. So count is not what partner needs, but a suit preference signal is. East followed with the ♣9, hoping to tell partner that hearts were the future for the defence. Justin suggested the 8. That might well have worked, but it's a little dangerous in case East has 98 doubleton. In that case he must play the 8 in order to get a diamond switch. Once West sees the 9, he must surely turn his attention to hearts, but that is not enough as I explained. And yes, Jimmy, the 8 does look like a big card (no interest in the suit), but there is no law against thinking, and what you must be hoping for when you do switch to a heart is for declarer to hold Q9 or J9. You can only hope that partner gets the message, but he should really take stock when he sees the 9 from declarer. After some deliberation he will hopefully return the 4. Just as well that you unblocked the 8, wasn't it? By the way, not a good hand for weak notrumpers. The bidding would then have gone: 1♦ - 2♣ 2N - 3N Now the heart switch is much easier to find. Roland

Tenerife, largest of the Canary Islands, has an area of 2.057 square kilometers and a population of almost 750.000. It’s situated 200 miles off the west coast of North-West Africa. It is dominated by Mount Teide, the extinct volcano that stands at 12,198 feet high (3.718 m), being the highest mountain of Spanish territory. Its peak can be seen from all of the other Canary Islands. Teide rises above everything on Tenerife and indeed Spain. The volcanic scenery is out of this world and has been chosen as the backdrop to scenes in famous movies such as Star Wars, Planet of the Apes and the Ten Commandments. Volcanic cones are distributed randomly over the whole island's surface and contribute to the amazing landscape. The venue is at Arona (South) and is very well suited for a major bridge championship. Most hotels are located within a few yards from the playing area. I was also there during the European Championships in 2001. It was a great venue. Roland

The simple way to do it is to transfer to diamonds (2NT) and then bid spades, if your methods allow that. 1N - 2N 3♦ - 3♠ To some this sets diamonds and shows a singleton spade, and that's no good of course. If that is the case I suggest 1NT - 2♣ 2red - 3♦ That is forcing with a longer diamond suit than the 4-card major you now (by inference) have shown. Any or both if the response is 2♦, spades if opener responds 2♥. Roland

No apology needed. If you want to post a hidden text, click on "Add reply", and you will see the HIDDEN button top right. Click on it, and after you finish your post, click on HIDDEN again. Just like you do if you want bold text. To see hidden text: click on Quote, and the hidden text will appear on your screen when you scroll down. Roland

4♣, cue bid for hearts. 3♥ shows a strong suit as I play it, and if in doubt, look at your own hand and you may have an idea about where your partner's high cards are. 4♣ should not be natural, or G, or whatever. You cue bid opposite a strong 1-suited hand. The alternatives are 3♠, and with different hands 3NT... and 4♥ even with a singleton. Roland

Clear pass for me; second choice would be 1♣. Never in a million years would I open 3♣ on a hand that could be a suitable dummy in two side suits - majors even. Roland

You are right, but maybe partner finally saw the light and actually did intend it as a suit preference signal. But since we have seen him in action before, I think it would be unwise to bet your life on it ;) No, he was not in the tank before he played the 9. Roland

i might not read the ♥8 as wanting a return.. i know there are different philosophies on this, but the 8 should say 'here's a suit i'm not particularly interested in' Jimmy, here I am again. Just because you have certain agreements regarding leads, you should never stop playing bridge! If a heart return is correct, the 8 is definitely right, the 3 is never. Partner is also at the table I hope. There is no law against thinking. He doesn't have to return a card in a flash. Maybe he will work it out if he takes his time ... if a heart switch is right that is. I will reveal later tonight my time (it.s 7:06 pm here now). Roland

The interesting thing is that with xxx diamonds in the South hand, the 5-level is no longer safe. What else but 4♠ can opener bid with A AK1087 8752 AKQ You may argue that he should have rebid 3♦ instead of 3♣, but I much prefer 3♣ with that hand. Roland

Your posts are usually excellent Winston, but I think you go wrong here. Over 4♠ there is no need for South to bid on with no diamond control (a different hand of course). 4♠ simply denies a diamond control for spades as I and I am sure most experts play it. A 2524 hand with no diamond control. AK AK1054 76 AJ95 so South has no errand with Q109843 K2 753 AJ That's a shame opposite the real hand, is it not? Roland

Jimmy, South can ask about all that by starting with 4NT. I am not ashamed of what I have shown so far - not after 4♦ either. Roland

Justin is spot on. 3♣ is a slight overbid (I wouldn't mind 2♣), but the North hand surely improved after the 1♠ response. 4♦ is also fine; that does not promise extras in the slightest, it merely promises a diamond control for spades. 4♠ could easily be 2524 with no diamond control. I have a feeling that South interpreted 4♦ as natural (0544 I suppose), and then the wheels came off. 4♦ is never natural. That hand would have bid 3NT over 3♠. South had a normal 4NT over 4♦, but was perplexed by the 4♦ bid. I like North's bidding a lot and must sadly give the lady in the South seat the full blame - as much as I dislike blaming nice ladies ;) A 3♥ rebid by opener would have been wrong for two reasons: 1. The hand has much more potential than a mere invite after 1♠. 2. The suit quality is not good enough for a jump rebid. Again a question of hand evaluation which no system caters for. In my opinion, the North hand is worth more than the 17 hcp you count. Judgement is what bridge is about! North judged well when he rebid 3♣, although 2♣ would have been fine too. Having said all that, however, I would not have bid 4♦ facing an inexperienced intermediate/advanced player. I am assuming an expert partnership. With a lesser player/student I would just bid 4♠. No way that bid can be misinterpreted. Roland

I am not sure your partner will be thrilled when he shows out on the second round of clubs and your king drops under declarer's ace. Roland