[goffster]

http://tinyurl.com/zbvntbs

the play of the spade ten is a little baffling

[AyunuS]

Because your bidding shows 4 spades at most, so if you and LHO have 1 of the 9 and J left, the J will win the other trick and the 10 is irrelevant.

[johnu]

AyunuS, on 2017-February-19, 01:22, said:

Because your bidding shows 4 spades at most, so if you and LHO have 1 of the 9 and J left, the J will win the other trick and the 10 is irrelevant.

If you click on the 1NT opening bid, you will see it shows 2-5 ♠ so the bidding does not limit South to 4 spades. In any case, this is just another example of GIB randomly playing high cards that could take tricks.

[1eyedjack]

Indeed even the acceptance of transfer bid 2H is expressly consistent with South holding a 5th Spade. What, I wonder, is South supposed to bid over a 3S splinter when holding a 5th Spade, if not 3N?

[AyunuS]

Look at it again. It's not until the 3NT bid that it shows a maximum of 4 spades.

[1eyedjack]

Yes we are all aware if that. So what has changed between the 2H bid and the 3N bid that has magically reduced South's maximum Spade length by one?

To put it another way, how do you think that a robot in the South seat would have bid differently?

I suggest to you that the limitation to a maximum of 4 spades in the description of 3N is simply a typo and of no significance. Unless you think that, with a 5th Spade, and a hand consistent with the earlier 2H bid, South has some other reasonable call than 3N over 3S?

[smerriman]

1eyedjack, on 2017-February-20, 14:53, said:

Yes we are all aware if that.

I think AyunuS was replying to johnu, who clearly wasn't

For reference, putting it into a practice bidding table, GIB would bid 4♥ rather than 3nt.