[ahydra]

So sometimes I write interesting hands on the backs of my scorecards during the club games. Here's my recent collection of scribblings.

1) NS vul. MPs.

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2S was an intermediate+ jump shift, 6 card suit. Agree with the bidding so far? What now?

2) All vul. MPs.

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You'll have the auction to yourselves, but limit the bidding to a simple-ish system (cue bids, RKC).

3) NS vul. MPs.

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What's your plan for both hands after South opens 3D in second seat?

4) EW vul. IMPs.

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Pick a number of spades - 1, 2, 3 or 4 - or even pass?!

If you pass then North bids 1D. If you open 1, 2 or 3S then North doubles. Now pick East's action. (If you opened 4S, that buys the contract).

ahydra

[TWO4BRIDGE]

2)

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I'm afraid it may not be as "simple-ish" as you would want:

South North
1H
......... - 3x ( your favorite limit raise )
5C! ( Exclusion-RKC, excluding the ♣Ace )
......... - 5NT ( 4th step = 2 + ♥Q [ or extra length if no ♥ Q ] )
6D ( 3rd Rnd Ctrl-ask in ♦ [ by-passing the 6C K-ask ] guaranteeing all key cards )
......... - 7H ( no ♦ Q but can ruff 3rd Rnd ) .

[lalldonn]

1. 5C for your first bid is clear. Your partner's double shows reasonable values and support for all the suits outside hearts. Your hand has a ton of potential for clubs and there is no good way to be scientific so just bid game. Don't be worried that the 2S bid is "intermediate" so that the opponents would have too much strength for you to make a game. Trust your partner, not them.

2. There are a million possible auctions on these hands, but responder is clearly worth an immediate game force in support of hearts. One possible auction (without relying on exclusion blackwood) which utilizes cuebidding is
1H 4D (splinter bid, showing a game-forcing heart raise with diamond shortness)
4S 5C
5S 6D
7H
Opener should avoid bidding (regular) blackwood since if his partner shows one ace he won't know whether it's in diamonds or clubs.

3. West would double the 3D bid since he is too strong for 3S but doesn't have enough spades for 4S. Opposite the double, east is worth 4S with his values and great holdings in the suits his partner showed. Over that, west could bid blackwood and 6S would be reached (hopefully making). If west doesn't think he is good enough for blackwood then another option is to cuebid 5D to show a strong hand in support of spades, and then slam might or might not be reached.

4. West should open 4S. He has a great hand for playing in spades and not much interest in anything else. West doesn't have enough strength for 1S, and there is way too much playing strength for 2S or 3S, so 4S it is.

[mikeh]

1. I don't like the auction: I would have bid 5♣over 2♠. While I have several reasons for this, and one of them is just 'gut instinct' aka experience, the LTC (Losing TrickCount) confirms the validity of this action. Assume a LTC of 7 for a minimum takeout double (akin to a minimum opening bid) and our LTC is 6, and we have a combination of 13....subtract that from 24 and we have 11...and that represents our trick-taking expectation. This method is not a primary method for me, but I find it quite reliable when we are know to have a fit....and we have a fit opposite virtually all hands consistent with the auction, and when we don't, it is because partner has a hand too strong to overcall, and now we don't need a fit.

2. I would open 1♥, and then as N I have several choices. I generally don't splinter with a stiff Ace if I can find any excuse not to do so. I don't want to suggest spades and then gf in hearts, because partner will (except on this freak) expect me to have length and strength in the suit and will upgrade holdings like Qx for slam purposes, and downgrade shortness, at least early in the slam exploration. So I am left with an eccentric 2N.

How matters proceed from there is a matter of agreement....there are many forms of J2N. I would expect, however, to reach 7 with an expert partner, almost no matter what. I mean, look at the S hand...if I were allowed only one bid as S, over 2N, it would be 7♥. Personally, I would use exclusion here.....the worst I get to is a slam needing a diamond hook, and the vast majority of the time, I won't need that....partner with shortness, partner with discards on my spades, or me discarding on the club AK.

3. This is tough....I'm tempted to double as West, but I really don't like rebidding 3♠ over 3♥, nor am I going to be really happy with my choices over 4♥. And if he is bidding either 3♠ or 3N, he won't pass 3♠...so I make that call, altho unhappily. Now East shows a good raise to game via an otherwise meaningless 4♦...this doesn't promise a control for most, nor for me. West has a monster....once again, if confined to just one call, it would be 6♠, but we might miss a biddable grand, so I won't do that. I don't see keycard as helping here....even if we have all the keys, how can I count 13 tricks and no losers? So I would cuebid, and hope to hear a response cue...maybe 5♣ and over 5♦ bid 5♠, imploring partner to bid slam with a heart control.

4. I don't understand any action other than 4♠ as my opening call.

[Zelandakh]

On 1, 5♣ is clear. Whether on the first round or the second is less clear but I have a preference for the first.

On 2, 1♥ - 2NT; 5♣ - 5NT; 6♦ - 7♣; 7♥ looks reasonable.

3 is somewhat awkward and nothing is exactly perfect. I think simplest is probably to overbid a bit and announce a GF black 2-suiter with 4♣. Of course East is enormous after this. Something like P - (3♦) - P; 4♣ - 4♦; 4♠ - 6♠ perhaps. Without NLM I think West has to double. Then East jumps to 4♠ and West goes slamming. These kinds of deals are always difficult looking at both hands though.

Hand 4 seems like a clear 4♠ opening. What am I missing?

[ahydra]

Just in case anyone missed it, EW are at unfavourable vul on deal 4, despite the hand diagram showing the hands with white headings.

ahydra

[Cyberyeti]

1. 4N rather than 5♣ if it's going to be understood as clubs with secondary diamonds, might tell partner that his diamonds are not as many tricks in defence as he thought and that Qxxx, void, AKxxx, Kxxx really needs to bid, possibly a lot.

2. 1♥-2N-5♣ is surely exclusion to anybody with half a brain and seems to sort this out trivially.

3. I'd probably have opened the E hand, but would depend on my agreements what I do over 3♦, with some partners 4♣ is ♣+M, with others 4♦ and pull 4♥ to 4♠ will do.

4. 1♠-X-XX-P-3♠(weak, lots of spades)-4♠

[ArtK78]

1) While I agree with everyone else that this hand is a 5♣ call over 2♠ (well, almost everyone else - Cyberyeti wants to introduce his diamond suit, such as it is), if you only bid 3♣ originally, you should bid 4♠ over 4♥ in an attempt to get a spade lead against 5♥x.

2) This really should not be difficult. Assuming that you choose to open 1♥ (and 2♣ is certainly a reasonable alternative), the auction should go:

1♥ - 2NT (or whatever forcing raise you have available)
5♣* - 5♠**
7♥ - P

*exclusion RKCB (I know you said a simple system, but really, what else can 5♣ be?)
** 2 without the trump queen

If you have sophisticated methods over RKCB, you can follow up with 6♦ asking for third round control for a grand. Lacking any methods, 7♥ should still have good play.

3) I am sure that my auction would go 3♠ - (P) - 4♠. Slam is certainly reasonable, but I am not real worried about missing it.

4) 3♠ - (x) - 4♠. At this vul, 3♠ seems about right. With Ax of spades and a side AQ, East should certainly bid one more. What happens after that I can't tell you.

[Zelandakh]

ArtK78, on 2012-March-08, 12:24, said:

2) This really should not be difficult. Assuming that you choose to open 1♥ (and 2♣ is certainly a reasonable alternative), the auction should go:

1♥ - 2NT (or whatever forcing raise you have available)
5♣* - 5♠**
7♥ - P

*exclusion RKCB (I know you said a simple system, but really, what else can 5♣ be?)
** 2 without the trump queen

Just to pick up on a small point, this North hand should respond 5NT (over 5♣) showing the trump queen as there is a 10 card fit known only to her/him. This is one of the advantages of 5 card majors.

[ArtK78]

Zelandakh, on 2012-March-09, 02:00, said:

Just to pick up on a small point, this North hand should respond 5NT (over 5♣) showing the trump queen as there is a 10 card fit known only to her/him. This is one of the advantages of 5 card majors.

I considered this but rejected it. I did not consider the one additional heart to be equivalent to the ♥Q.

[Codo]

H1: I disagree with your bidding, 5 ♣ earlier had been better. Afer bidding just 3 ♣, 4 ♠ had been better.
Now, I would double. Will partner understand this? Well, maybe not, after all I missed the opportunity to bid 4 ♠ as a lead director already. But I will still give it a try.

H2: Many ways to reach 7 ♥, with or this time even without exclusion.

H3: I had doubled, intendending to bid 3 ♠ over 3 ♥ but to pass 4 ♥. After 4 ♠ from partner I had made a slam try. If East bids 3 ♠, I would just raise to four. But even HCP counter would not bid a lame 3 ♠. The 5. trump and the shortness are golden.

H4: I open 4 ♠. And if you had written: After 1 ♠ you reach 2 ♠ - 1, but 4 ♠ will be doubled down 4, I would still open 4 ♠.

[wank]

Zelandakh, on 2012-March-09, 02:00, said:

Just to pick up on a small point, this North hand should respond 5NT (over 5♣) showing the trump queen as there is a 10 card fit known only to her/him. This is one of the advantages of 5 card majors.

yes

ArtK78, on 2012-March-09, 06:15, said:

I considered this but rejected it. I did not consider the one additional heart to be equivalent to the ♥Q.

no

[ahydra]

Thanks for all the input - very useful!

On hand 1 it was partner in the West seat. He passed 5H and it made. I like 5C the first time, that puts the opponents on the spot immediately and they probably wouldn't have found 5H (can't remember the full hand).

Hand 2 was when the opponents conveniently forgot* to arrow-switch the board. Their auction was 2H (strong)-4H; 4NT-5H; 5NT-6D; 7H which I really don't like - for a start, opposite a strong two North should make a slam try, and of course you shouldn't use Blackwood with a void.

My partner and I debated how we'd bid it (no exclusion, only very basic RKC). We thought the South hand was worth a game-forcing 2D (equivalent to 2C in standard). Then 2S (any positive) response followed by 3H-4C; 4D-4NT; 5C-5D; 5S-5NT; 6H-7H or similar. Here 5C is 0 or 3, 5D is asking for the HQ, 5S shows the HQ, 5NT asks for kings, 6D shows two. I'm going to send partner some instructions on the more standard responses to RKC soon , but the question is whether North can judge that, facing two kings, the major-suit aces and the HQ (plus a bit more) that the grand is good. I guess the worst-case is that partner tables the CK and not the SK and you end up needing the spade finesse.

* this is 100% a joke - the opponents concerned wouldn't even dream of cheating in their sleep.

Hand 3 raised a lot of discussion. Again partner was West and bid 4S over 3D arguing that was by far the most likely place the hand was to be played - which seems fair enough. I suggested X then bid spades but it was felt maybe the hand is lacking in strength a little for that. 4C non-leaping Michaels would be a useful agreement to have...

If partner doubled, I would have bid 4S and then we might have got to slam, but it requires finding the club queen which was in the "wrong" hand (South).

Hand 4 cost us 12 IMPs when we played 4H-1 and the other table played 4SX=. I opened 3S and partner passed the double. South bid 4H and that was that.

I'm surprised at the number of votes for 4S here. The hand has good shape and a nice suit but it is missing the AK, the clubs aren't great and we are vul against not. Asking around at tonight's game, I got a lot of support for what my partner and I agreed should have been done - I open 3S and partner raises to 4S.

The funny thing is that apparently the West hand was opened a Multi 2D at the other table! It's WAYYYY too good for a weak two, but about two aces short of a strong two, so I'm not entirely sure what that was all about.

Tonight's game was awesome and we should have won. No scribbled-down hands though - there are hand records for a start, and the only interesting ones are three "how do you make this double-dummy" questions. Perhaps I'll post them if they're suitable for intermediates to wrangle with.

ahydra

[Zelandakh]

ahydra, on 2012-March-09, 17:55, said:

Hand 2. Their auction was 2H (strong)-4H; 4NT-5H; 5NT-6D; 7H which I really don't like - for a start, opposite a strong two North should make a slam try, and of course you shouldn't use Blackwood with a void.

My partner and I debated how we'd bid it (no exclusion, only very basic RKC). We thought the South hand was worth a game-forcing 2D (equivalent to 2C in standard). Then 2S (any positive) response followed by 3H-4C; 4D-4NT; 5C-5D; 5S-5NT; 6H-7H or similar.

You should have mentioned that you play Benji. Assuming you do not play a variant that caters to 3-suited openings I think this is a clear 2♣ opener for you. Then 2♣ - 2♦; 2♥ - 3♥; 5♣ looks like a good start. Without any special methods Responder probably does best just to jump to 7 now.

ahydra, on 2012-March-09, 17:55, said:

Hand 3 raised a lot of discussion. Again partner was West and bid 4S over 3D arguing that was by far the most likely place the hand was to be played - which seems fair enough. I suggested X then bid spades but it was felt maybe the hand is lacking in strength a little for that. 4C non-leaping Michaels would be a useful agreement to have...

This is a common misconception. Doubling and then bidding spades over hearts does not show a better hand than bidding spades directly. Instead it shows a more flexible hand type. This is one of the key differences between take-out doubles over a preempt and over a 1 level opening. With a good one-suited hand you just jump in the suit which allows double then bid to show these very common flexible hands.

ahydra, on 2012-March-09, 17:55, said:

Hand 4 cost us 12 IMPs when we played 4H-1 and the other table played 4SX=. I opened 3S and partner passed the double. South bid 4H and that was that.

I'm surprised at the number of votes for 4S here. The hand has good shape and a nice suit but it is missing the AK, the clubs aren't great and we are vul against not. Asking around at tonight's game, I got a lot of support for what my partner and I agreed should have been done - I open 3S and partner raises to 4S.

Asking for opinions in most clubs is pretty pointless to be honest. Most pairs bid extremely conservatively and, essentially, play losing MP bridge. Your spade suit here plays well even opposite a void and the extreme (7420) shape more than compensates for the defects.

ahydra, on 2012-March-09, 17:55, said:

Tonight's game was awesome and we should have won. No scribbled-down hands though - there are hand records for a start, and the only interesting ones are three "how do you make this double-dummy" questions. Perhaps I'll post them if they're suitable for intermediates to wrangle with.

Congrats on the good session and bad luck on not winning - next time!