Competing with Partner (off-topic)

[Finch]

Do you ever feel in the auction that you are competing with partner?

Try this:

 

You are to have an uninterrupted auction with partner, where the object is to be the first person to bid 7NT, subject to the following rules at each turn:

 

(i) You can bid any denomination at the cheapest level (so the auction must start at the 1-level).

(ii) You can raise partner’s last call by any number of levels.

(iii) “You shall not pass!”

 

Thus a legal auction would be 1H-2D; 4D-4H; 4S-5S; 5NT-7NT, in which responder would win.

 

Who should win this game with best play and what should their strategy be?

 

And finally, if the aim of the game is to absolve yourself from blame by making partner bid 7NT, what strategy should you now adopt, subject to the same rules?

[bearmum]

Do you ever feel in the auction that you are competing with partner?

Try this:

 

You are to have an uninterrupted auction with partner, where the object is to be the first person to bid 7NT, subject to the following rules at each turn:

 

(i) You can bid any denomination at the cheapest level (so the auction must start at the 1-level).

(ii) You can raise partner’s last call by any number of levels.

(iii) “You shall not pass!”

 

Thus a legal auction would be 1H-2D; 4D-4H; 4S-5S; 5NT-7NT, in which responder would win.

 

Who should win this game with best play and what should their strategy be?

 

And finally, if the aim of the game is to absolve yourself from blame by making partner bid 7NT, what strategy should you now adopt, subject to the same rules?

WHY should one be on COMPETITION with P?? :blink: :blink: surely it should be a GREAT thing if as a PARTNERSHIP you can bid (and make) 7NT :ph34r:

 

 

In a 'Regional' competition a few years ago (where we were in the LOWEST flight because we had only just moved to the USA) -- I opened (playing Precision ) 1♦(11-55 2+♦) and my P bid 7NT ( he had 22 points and a SOLID SEVEN card spade suit ) :P

 

The really funny thing was when the director of our flight asked HOW we got to the (unbeatable) 7NT and I told her -- she informed me that SOME of the TOP flight didn't bid it!!!!!!!!

[MickyB]

Answer below (I hope)

 

 

Responder should win - when partner opens, he should raise...

 

1♣ to 3♣

1♦ to 4♦

1♥ to 5♥

1♠ to 6♠

1N to 7N

 

[MickyB]

Haven't checked this, but it seems that if you are trying to get pard to bid 7N, you should be aiming to bid 7♠. So if pard opens a suit you just raise a level higher than listed above. If pard opens 1N, raise to 2N. If he bids NT you can bid the appropriate suit at the lowest level (eg 5♦ over 4N), if he bids a suit you can raise it to the appropriate level.

[Blofeld]

I agree with Mike's analysis.

[Fluffy]

I've studied many kinds of games like this at uni, but the results of this one are from a kind I never seen before. Bridge has to be a different game hehe.

[Free]

You should be aiming for partner to bid 7♥ or 7♣. Responder has the advantage:

x♣ - 6♣ - 6♦/7♣ - 7♦ - 7♥ - 7♠ - 7NT

x♦ - 7♦ - 7♥ - 7♠ - 7NT

x♥ - 6♥ - 6♠/7♥ - 7♠ - 7NT

x♠ - 7♠ - 7NT

xNT - 6NT - 7♣ - 7♦ - 7♥ - 7♠ - 7NT

 

When you have to bid 7NT yourself, you should be aiming for partner to bid 7♠ or 7♦. Responder still has the advantage, unless opener may start with 7NT :) :

x♣ - 7♣ - 7♦ - 7♥ - 7♠ - 7NT

x♦ - 6♦ - 6♥/7♦ - 7♥ - 7♠ - 7NT

x♥ - 7♥ - 7♠ - 7NT

x♠ - 6♠ - 6NT(or 7♠) - 7♣ - 7♦ - 7♥ - 7♠ - 7NT

xNT - 7NT

 

If you are allowed to bid more than 1 step (might have misread that part, dunno if the auction 1♣-1♠ is allowed), then let me know, but responder will still be at the advantage because there are only a limited number of possibilities and responder can narrow that down like he pleases.

[Blofeld]

Afraid that you've misread the permitted moves, Free. Any denomination is permissible at its cheapest level.

[han]

You misread Frederick (I think)

[barmar]

No, I think Blofeld is correct that Free misread the rules.

 

(i) You can bid any denomination at the cheapest level (so the auction must start at the 1-level).

 

If you bid 7 of any suit, partner wins because he can then bid 7NT over it, since that's the cheapest level for NT.

 

(ii) You can raise partner’s last call by any number of levels.

 

If you ever bid 1-6 NT, partner wins because he can raise to 7NT.

 

What this basically means is that you want your 2nd-to-last bid to be 6♠. This forces partner to bid something between 6NT and 7♠, and in either case you can then bid 7NT over it. Working backwards, this means you want your 3rd-to-last bid to be 5♥, 4th-to-last to be 4♦, and so on. and 5th-to-last to be 3♣. If partner ever bids one of these suits, you should immediately raise to the corresponding level just given, e.g. if partner opens 1♦, raise to 4♦. This is why responder has the advantage.

[awm]

Responder wins. Here's a simple way to look at it:

 

If partner bids 7NT, partner wins.

 

If partner bids 6♠, then whatever I bid, partner can bid 7NT next and win.

 

If partner bids 5♥, then if I raise to 7♥ partner bids 7NT and wins. If I bid anything else, partner next bids 6♠ and wins.

 

If partner bids 4♦, then if I raise to 5♦, partner bids 5♥ and wins. If I raise to 6♦, partner bids 6♠ and wins. If I raise to 7♦ partner bids 7NT and wins. If I bid anything that's not a raise (i.e. 4♥ through 5♣) then partner bids 5♥ and wins.

 

If partner bids 3♣, then if I raise partner can bid 4♦, 5♥, 6♠, or 7NT and win in each case. If I don't raise, partner can always bid 4♦ next.

 

So if I open 1♣ through 1NT, in any case there's some raise responder can make that causes him to win.

[barmar]

that's essentially the same as what I said.