BPO-006F

[mikeh]

5♣ is down 1 ..by the way.

The only ways I am down are if I lose 2 trump tricks and a ♦ ruff (which requires very weird shape on my right) or 3 trump tricks: the latter being more likely. That makes partner stiff or void in ♣ with a decent hand (he bid 7♦) so am I really going to be passed in 5♣?

 

I voted for 5♣ to be followed by 5N, so I get in both suits... not with precision, admittedly.

 

BTW, Richie, does 1♦ for you promise 4?

[reisig]

Mike ...1♦ promised 3+ -- partner had 1♣ (small) theirs were 4-0..(KQJx)..so over 5♣ - they'd happily Pass.

[Guest Jlall]

how many diamonds did partner have? If they were 6 solid or longer he may correct to diamonds (if they were SOLID).

[luke warm]

i have a question, richie (or anyone else)... how would your partner interpret a 5H bid by you? i guess i'm trying to figure out why it's such a poor bid

[Double !]

how many diamonds did partner have? If they were 6 solid or longer he may correct to diamonds (if they were SOLID).

I suspect that many who selected 5C, might have done so with the hope that opener might correct to diamonds with such a holding, making bidding slam a much more likely proposition.

I must say that I admire the 6D bid to elicit a sac. I recall an article eons ago after two of the highest ranking US players had had a bad result following a 1m-3H(by opps)-? situation, when the 1m opener said to his/her partner something like "when the bidding goes 1m-3M-?, I do not have a balanced minimum!! or something to that extent. That certainly ran through my mind before and as I ultimately chose a losing bid.

[mike777]

I disagree that this is a total guess.

 

I do think we can make some educated estimates and come to some decisions that have some "reasonable chances" to work.

 

1) Bidding boldy may make the opp sac or if not then;

 

2) FTL gives us a hint that if we have 19 working hcp we can often make 12 tricks in our longest suit with this shape. Partner did open 1D is another hint.

 

3) Bidding clubs and hoping partner will have the judgement to correct when winning is another option.

 

4) If I double or cuebid I do not know where I am headed or what information I have gained that is all that useful? In any event doubling with a void at the 4 level is anathema to me.

[Walddk]

I don't understand why we are supposed to make a decision or an educated guess when we can ask him for advice. How about getting both minors suits into play? 5♣ doesn't show a diamond fit; 4NT does, with emphasis on clubs.

 

Roland

[Blofeld]

What do you think are the relative merits of 4NT and 5NT? 4NT is obviously better if you're going to leave it at the 5-level. I thought 5NT would be nicer, as I'm not sure that the opponents have finished bidding yet, and I wanted to let partner know my slam intentions immediately. I feel that 5NT is more likely than 4NT to fetch a sacrifice, which could be a good thing or a bad thing.

[Walddk]

What do you think are the relative merits of 4NT and 5NT? 4NT is obviously better if you're going to leave it at the 5-level. I thought 5NT would be nicer, as I'm not sure that the opponents have finished bidding yet, and I wanted to let partner know my slam intentions immediately. I feel that 5NT is more likely than 4NT to fetch a sacrifice, which could be a good thing or a bad thing.

I, and hopefully partner too, would like to know if my LHO can bid 5♥ first. That gives us both a better chance to evaluate how to proceed after that. That's the reason why I prefer 4NT to 5NT. Additionally, 5NT could very well be interpreted as a grand slam try. I have a good hand until now, but it's not that good.

 

Roland

[Guest Jlall]

Isn't there a possibility that 4N will be interpreted as keycard? I prefer to play it the way roland is obviously intending it as, but I don't think it is standard (maybe it is).

[Blofeld]

It wouldn't have crossed my mind that 4NT might be keycard if you hadn't just suggested it. Reminds me of the agreement that 4♣ is always Gerber ...

[Walddk]

Isn't there a possibility that 4N will be interpreted as keycard? I prefer to play it the way roland is obviously intending it as, but I don't think it is standard (maybe it is).

In competitive auctions when no fit has been established 4NT is never Blackwood to me. There must be room for a jump if 4N is to be BW. I think it's a good agreement.

 

Roland

[mike777]

We have 8 clubs, when is partner choosing clubs? I hope partner reads this as choice of strain but what level are we playing at and why?

 

I guess 4nt or 5nt could be the expert solution but it sure sounds confusing at this point :P. More explanation would be helpful, what strain are we playing and with what hands? What level are we playing at and why?

 

At least with 6D I have some reasons for level and strain, reasons that may be very wrong....but

 

 

btw it seems Russia has lost a Rocket ship, has anyone seen it and if so please return it, thanks.

[cherdano]

I assumed 4NT would be for the minors, but I thought that partner would never expect a 4-card disparity for this bid, I think 4-6 would be a more common shape in the minors for this bid. 5♣ then 5NT over 5♥ if I get the chance should rather the suit lengths across.

[Walddk]

I assumed 4NT would be for the minors, but I thought that partner would never expect a 4-card disparity for this bid, I think 4-6 would be a more common shape in the minors for this bid.

Right, 4-6 would be normal, but we must bid the cards we are dealt, and since we don't have 4½NT available, we shall have to compromise somehow.

 

Roland

[Guest Jlall]

In competitive auctions when no fit has been established 4NT is never Blackwood to me. There must be room for a jump if 4N is to be BW. I think it's a good agreement.

 

Roland

Agree, like this rule.

[Rebound]

Well. Seems I'm all alone in my choice. I think I'll keep it to myself until I hear what the experts have to say :-)

[cherdano]

Well. Seems I'm all alone in my choice. I think I'll keep it to myself until I hear what the experts have to say :-)

I think there are so many bids that could work on this hand, I can hardly imagine that anyone could call your choice "wrong", whatever it is.

 

Arend

[Guest Jlall]

Well. Seems I'm all alone in my choice. I think I'll keep it to myself until I hear what the experts have to say :-)

I think there are so many bids that could work on this hand, I can hardly imagine that anyone could call your choice "wrong", whatever it is.

 

Arend

Maybe it was 7N :P

[Double !]

I assumed 4NT would be for the minors, but I thought that partner would never expect a 4-card disparity for this bid, I think 4-6 would be a more common shape in the minors for this bid. 5♣ then 5NT over 5♥ if I get the chance should rather the suit lengths across.

FWIW, my reasoning was similar.

 

The more I think about it, the more I'm impressed with reisig's 6D bid. The opps turned on the heat via 4H, and he turned it right back on them big time with 6D. (I was going to add "in spades", but he did it "in diamonds",lol)

Well Done!

 

DHL

[Rebound]

Well. Seems I'm all alone in my choice. I think I'll keep it to myself until I hear what the experts have to say :-)

I think there are so many bids that could work on this hand, I can hardly imagine that anyone could call your choice "wrong", whatever it is.

 

Arend

That's nice of you to say, but I would not be surprised to see my choice deemed to be lunacy. :-)

 

FWIW, I voted pass.

 

Here's my thinking: RHO has preempted. I have just a couple of aces and a lot of distribution. I think someone at the table has a monster holding good distribution and HCP. If it's my LHO, we may push them to slam if I bid (assuming no club tricks on defense). If it's my partner, I expect a move of some kind over 4♥. That may give me more info to decide how to handle this freak of a hand.

 

So, have at it lol. Let me hear your thoughts on my reasoning, if it is not too off topic. I'm not saying I'm sold on this call, but it was my original decision.

[inquiry]

This problem, as predictably had a lot of answers. Let’s just jump in with the top choices (5♣ and 4NT which together garnished 7 votes

 

Sergey 5♣ - any bid may be right with freak hand :)) Besides 7-4 isnt 2-suiter. Next bid will depend on partner's reaction on possible 5H by LHO.

 

mikeh 5♣: if he bids 5♦, I have an easy 5♥: if LHO bids 5♥, I reopen with 5NT

 

Gerben42 5♣. I'd feel better if partner would have promised 4♦ for his bid.

 

Fluffy 5♣, Don't like the idea of taps in a ♦ contract, but this could be very wrong if partner has ♠ tricks.

 

Frances & Jeffrey 4NT, both minors (by the way, if partner bids 5C and I convert to 5D, that should show a mild slam try in diamonds with an immediate 5D bid weaker). This shouldn't be any form of Blackwood: once the auction gets pre-empted this fast, it's far more important to be able to describe your hand than just to ask a wide ranging opener how many aces he has.

 

ritong 4 nt. tough one. hope we can convince them to go to 7♥, if we have good enough ♦s. my idea is not to try to "play in peace",they never agree, i just hope i can get them one step higher than the other room.

 

Roland 4NT. No, it's not Blackwood. Shows a club suit with diamond support. Partner could still be 4432 I suppose, but I've got to bid with this hand. It has great potential with the heart void. If LHO bids 5H and partner passes, I will not give up. Then 6C is my next bid.

 

In addition to the these seven bids that were not aimed directly at forcing to slam were two votes for 5♦

 

Fred 5♦. If I had to guess at the final contract, I would bid 6D now, but I think there is a good chance I will have another opportunity to bid (I will try 6C next). 5NT here probably should by a "choice of slams", but I don't think my partner is going to choice clubs with 4-2 in the minors.

 

If it turns out that my 5D ends the auction, we may still get a good result. The 4H overcall suggests bad breaks so good slams will fail more often than they normally would. Furthermore, when we can make a slam, there is a good chance that the opponents have a cheap sacrifice. +620 in 5D does not have to be a bad score.

 

Anyone who attempts to embark on a constructive auction that gives them a chance to get to 7D is dreaming. My experience strongly suggests emphasizing practicality in high-level competitive auctions. In other words, don't try to be perfect over preempts.

 

Beto 5♦. It would be great if 4NT shows clubs and some diamond support. After big preempts i only bid the obvious slams. In here i can easily loose 1 trick in each minor or 2 trump tricks.

 

Then there was the tactical bidders, pushing the hand immediately to slam level. Where Fred bid 5♦ thinking he will end up in 6♦, Justin bids 6♦ thinking he will end up defending against a save. The others had similar ideas.

 

Jlall 6C. Tactical. In poker they call this a "semi bluff." If 6C is passed out I could easily be cold, but they will often try a save at these colors. This is not the type of hand I'm going to get scientific on, I have no idea who makes what and they probably don't either. I would not bid 5 of a minor as I would likely end up bidding on over 5H anyways.

 

Ng 5H. We have slam here, I guess. After 5S, I bid 6C, so partner will know that I have Diamonds also. Nobody could be too smart here, so I pick 5H to save some time. If we will have plus score on this board, I'l buy a lottery.

 

Luis 5NT. If pd has solid diamonds I’m going to play 7d, in freakish hands anything might work so I really don't see the point in polling the panel in a hand where anything might work. Expect votes for 7d, 6d, 5d, some clubs, 5h, etc etc. This is my scoring for this problem:

 

5d: 100 if you only win 5d

5h: 100 if pd does the right thing after our bid

6d: 100 if you can make 6d and not 7d

5c: 100 if you can make 5c and not 5d

6c: 100 maybe you win 6c and diamonds are breaking horrible

7c: 100 maybe 7c and not 7d

5NT: 100 maybe pd does the right thing after 5NT

7d: 100 maybe you win 7d so why not bid it?

 

ADDED NOTES:

I didn't like the problems a lot this time, I hate problems that just depend on partnership style and guessing what to do in freak hands is not very challenging either. Guess we should look for problems where there's something to learn from the expert votes.

 

reisig I submitted this hand..but I'll stick to the bid I made at the table 6D.

 

I went with panel votes for the scoring. However, I group three of the single votes together as they allow 6♣ or 6♦. While I downgraded the 6♦ vote as it eliminated even the remote possibility to get to 6♣.

 

5♣     4     100

4NT     3     80

5♦     2     60

5NT     1     50

5♥     1     50

6♣     1     50

6♦     1     40

[Walddk]

Luis 5NT. If pd has solid diamonds I’m going to play 7d, in freakish hands anything might work so I really don't see the point in polling the panel in a hand where anything might work. Expect votes for 7d, 6d, 5d, some clubs, 5h, etc etc. This is my scoring for this problem:

 

5d: 100 if you only win 5d

5h: 100 if pd does the right thing after our bid

6d: 100 if you can make 6d and not 7d

5c: 100 if you can make 5c and not 5d

6c: 100 maybe you win 6c and diamonds are breaking horrible

7c: 100 maybe 7c and not 7d

5NT: 100 maybe pd does the right thing after 5NT

7d: 100 maybe you win 7d so why not bid it?

Since 4NT is not listed, I take it that Luis plays this as Blackwood. It surprises me. Partner opens 1 something. When do you have a hand where your only problem is how many aces partner has? I think 4NT is better used for "two places to play". Can only be minors on this auction.

 

Roland

[cherdano]

Sergey 5♣ - any bid may be right with freak hand :)) Besides 7-4 isnt 2-suiter. Next bid will depend on partner's reaction on possible 5H by LHO.

Interesting. I counted 8 clubs.

Of course, if the director is also a player with judgement, it may work to call him and convince him I have only 12 cards. Wouldn't be such a bad idea to throw this board out :)

[Fluffy]

Since 4NT is not listed, I take it that Luis plays this as Blackwood. It surprises me. Partner opens 1 something. When do you have a hand where your only problem is how many aces partner has? I think 4NT is better used for "two places to play". Can only be minors on this auction.

 

Roland

Count me as well for Blackwood :), actually with a minor fit, and many chancees of them competing it is more like an invitational to hand, wich there is no way to show at these level, ,you can use 5NT for 2 places to play ;) (the opposite is true, I know)