Reading the dealing

[Turbin]

You’re playing in a good team match. First board, all not vulnerable.

Before the match all the players were together for the dinner, and all have drunk a glass of good Barolo (A wine from Piemonte, in north-west of Italy). Not all, true to tell: in a bottle is enough wine for five glasses, and you have drunk a second one, but it doesn’t matter: I have said that only for give a precise picture of the environment. The temperature is comfortable.

You pick up these cards:

♠Void; ♥Void; ♦Void; ♣AKQJ1098765432 (are 13 clubs),

and…No, please! Don’t bid seven clubs, you’re not the dealer! LHO is the dealer, and opens 1H; your partner pass, RHO says 2C.

---- 1♥ pass 2♣

The question is: who has the ace of diamonds?

Paolo.

[Free]

Euhm, is this really the question? Because after this bidding, I dont care where ♦A is. I'll bid 6♣ (!!!) :angry: let them find 7 something if I rebid 7♣ afterwards and they double :D

[helium]

lol i have heard this one before somewere,and know its a trck question but can remember the answer,only that its really stupid.lol

[Turbin]

Free, If you think about the ace of diamonds, your bidding could be different from 6♣. Maybe.

Helium, I have devised this problem four years ago. Maybe some other have done that before me, don't know. Maybe the answer is really stupid, don't know. The answer, however, isn't as in a television quiz-show.

A little help for both: how many spades has your partner?

Paolo

[EUVID]

My guess is that east has the ace of diamonds based on the fact that he has the lion's share of diamonds (8?).

 

If west opened with 5 hearts and partner didn't support, I put east at 3 hearts.

If West had 5 or more spades he would have opened 1 spade. I assume he has 4 spades. East doesn't have 4 spades or he would have mentioned them. I assume he has 3 spades. That must put my partner with 6 spades and 6 hearts; and this leaves room in partner's hand for only 1 diamond. Therefore, 12 diamonds are split between east and west in the ratio of 8 to 4.

 

I know, there are a lot of assumptions here. Am I close?

[Free]

I guess you're pretty close, but also pretty far. I made a similar analysis about it, and based on the fact that your partner passed (and didn't bid 1♠) means his HCP (if he has any) are in ♥ and/or ♦, or he hasn't got any.

 

But (!!!), WHY would your RHO bid 2♣ psychic, when he doesn't have a fit ♥? If someone clearly psychics, then you normally can't make any right conclusion about anything I think...

But nevertheless, if I go further into this direction, RHO won't have ♦A because he needs a stop in ♦s and will hear something soon. If he had no stop in ♠s and partner should indeed have at least 6, your partner would've bid at least 1♠ (counting losers, partner has maximum 9 losers, and with ♦A only 8, this means he may bid 2♠). So this leaves West with ♦A.

 

I place ♦A in the West (LHO) hand according to my logic after a psychic bid :)

[Trpltrbl]

RHO has ♦ Ace. He bid 2♣ cause he is not afraid of any other lead.

 

Mike :)

[Free]

If he isn't afraid of any other lead, then he just isn't afraid of any lead (void ♣). Makes no sence to me :P :rolleyes:

[Chamaco]

I have read something on similar hands in a book on Psyches (have it at home, I may quote the deals).

The principle is that bidding 7♣ immediately will likely have the opponents (if they are good) bid 7 of another suit, so much better bid slowly and not be greedy: 5 or 6♣ doubled will bring more than the opponents bidding 7 of a suit.

 

I would start this hand by bidding 3 clubs.

The plan is to bid 4, then 5, then 6 and then 7 in steps, if the bidding does not take off.

There are several hands bid like that by old time champs. It makes the opponents less suspicious.

 

Alternatively, a point can be made of 4NT (if it is intended as Ace asking).

It is of course useless, but intended to deceive the opponents about my kind of hand.

[Turbin]

Revealing the dealing.

I repeat: this is a problem that I have devised; it’s likely that not all will agree with my solving.

Let’s see the RHO’s hand first: why to bid a void suit? The only good reason is: because he has a reverse hand with hearts, and no other way to explain that but laying on clubs, because, forced to bid in an unreal suit, need to choice the one where is a first or second round stop.

The simplest example is a hand as this one:

3-7-3-0 (three spades, seven hearts, three diamonds, zero clubs. If our partner have four hearts, RHO must have six diamonds (3-4-6-0), and can bid 2D.)

Because LHO (the opener), has no more than 4 spades cards (right said Euvid), our partner has at least six spades cards. Partner’s hand is now:

6-1-6-0 (six spades, one hearts, six diamonds, zero clubs).

Or more spades or diamonds and zero hearts. Give you an ace and nothing else, not vulnerable: also if he were a timid player, could bid 1S (or 2S). Your partner sure haven’t any head, ace or king, in his long suits.

Let’s come back to RHO. With DA or DK, forced to bid an unreal suit, better 2D than the void suit. RHO, then, hasn’t the DA (nor the king). The opener holds both.

Here’s a likely overall dealing (less or more):

 

[hv=d=w&v=n&n=sxxxxxxhxdjxxxxxc&w=sqjxxhkjxxxdakxxc&e=sakxhaqxxxxxdqxxc&s=shdcakqj1098765432]399|300|Scoring: IMP[/hv]

 

Now we can think about our wonderful 13 clubs and what to do. At this point we have a privilege: we know the opponents have the great slam. We only know this. We only have the revealed truth. The opponents shall have a mystical doubt: to believe in a double clubs void. We might to pass or, bidding clubs at any level, to become the Prophet that shall light their walking toward the Great Slam.

Paolo.

[Chamaco]

1♥-p-2♣- 2♠

is a clever psyche, but if bidding proceeds

3♦-p-6♥-?

 

what would you bid ?

If you bid 7♣ your pard is 100% sure to correct to 7♠ (in his view opponents did not bid them and you did :rolleyes: ) :D

Then I don't think bidding 7NT would be a good rescue since opponents will be unable to lead clubs :)

[Free]

Weeeeeeeeeeee! I got it right :rolleyes: