[fred]

Here is a hand I enjoyed on Saturday in the team event of last weekend's Icelandair Open. I was playing with my regular partner, Brad Moss.

The reason I like this hand is that I was able to come very close to figuring out Brad's exact hand after a short auction that did not contain any fancy relays or conventions.

I had:

♠AKQ8
♥K9xx
♦AK
♣xxx

Brad opened 1♣ (we play 5-card majors and with 14+ to 17 1NT openings and we open 1♦ with 4-4 in the minors - we can open light with good playing hands that do not present rebid problems).

I responded 1♥.

Brad raised to 2♥ (ususually but not always showing 4-card support).

I bid 2♠ (tentatively a "natural game try" - suggesting but not promising 4-cards in spades).

Brad bid 4♥ (accepting my game try, but keep in mind that, since 2♠ might have been either an attempt to find the right game contract or a prelude to a slam try, Brad would not bid 4♥ on all hands that would accept a game try).

I bid 4NT (RKCB 1430).

Brad bid 5♣ (1 keycard).

I bid 5♦ (asking about the ♥Q).

Brad bid 5♥ (denying the ♥Q).

Question 1: What is Brad's hand?

Question 2: What call do you make?

Question 3: How do you play as declarer?

OK - I admit that question 3 will be hard to answer until I tell you the correct answers to questions 1 and 2

I am still in Iceland. I will post answers to questions 1 and 2 when I get home tomorrow...

Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com

[FrancesHinden]

1. Partner has enough to accept a game try, but not enough to want to do anything more dramatic. He also has 4 hearts, to insist on playing there. So he has 4 hearts, no diamond singleton (not a surprise there), not a balanced hand (might have bid some number of NT), not 4 spades (might have raised spades).

I don't think partner is 4-6 in hearts and clubs, because he would have bid 4C over 2S with that. So partner is either 2425 or 1435

2. I shall bid 6C which probably can't be worse than 5H as a contract. I'm hoping for something like

x
Axxx
xxx
KQJ10x

(which is a light opening with good playing strength that doesn't present rebid problems).

This isn't much of a play problem, so he obviously hasn't got this hand....

2a. I don't think 6C is going to be a picnic opposite various possible hands (most 2425s for example) but I doubt it will be much worse than 5H and it scores a slam bonus when it makes.

[kgr]

Question 2: 6NT (a little gamble)
Question 1: (a bigger gamble)
x
Axxx
QJxx
KQJx
Question 3:
I first want to see dummy. Even after seeing dumy I will take some more time to think before playing the first card.

[kgr]

kgr, on Feb 20 2006, 12:08 PM, said:

Question 2: 6NT (a little gamble)
Question 1: (a bigger gamble)
x
Axxx
QJxx
KQJx
Question 3:
I first want to see dummy. Even after seeing dumy I will take some more time to think before playing the first card.

This could not be right because it would open 1D.
So make it:
x
Axxx
Qxx
KQJxx
6C will play better then 6NT. But I'm not really convinced about the 5-card C, so I would bid 6NT.

[mr1303]

6H looks like at best being on a heart guess, assuming trumps don't break badly. So I'm not going to bid that, especially as I always get those guesses wrong.

Out of interest, what would a 5S bid after 5H be? Hopefully not a grand slam try, but just interested in other contracts besides 6H. If so, I might try that, otherwise I think 6C looks a good bet. However, partner would be playing that one, so that wasn't the bid that Fred made.

[badderzboy]

My guess would be...

1.

---

2. I'd be in 6♥ grr but 6♣ looks sweet if this was the case...

Steve

[Free]

I'd also try 6NT, but I'm not sure about his distribution. 4♥ for sure, probably 5♣, but what in ♠ and ♦??

[joker_gib]

Partner wants to play 4♥ so he's unbalanced with nothing special to say, not ♠/4, no shortness... something like :

(J)x
A(J)x
(D)x
KQJxx

and pick some cards to add in J of ♥ (likely in the hand for accepting), the Q or J of ♦ or the J of ♠

So, any slam will be risky : 6NT being the one with the best chances IMHO

Alain

[cherdano]

I think 6N is wrong. Yes partner MIGHT have only 4 clubs, but in that case he will not pass 6 clubs. This depends on partnership understandings of course, but I would expect him to know I have only 3 clubs -- with 4 clubs and a slam try, I would have bid 3♣ instead of 2♠.

It seems Frances has said all about the bidding, except from what I remember of Fred/Brad's opening style, I would expect one more Jack than the x Axxx xxx KQJTx she gave.

I can see many layouts that make for an interesting play problem, e.g. the above hand plus ♦J and a 4-1 heart break.

Arend

[hrothgar]

Hi Fred...

How was Iceland? (I'm not sure why, but the Icelandair Open has always been one of my favorite events. I think it has something to do with the ridiculous quantity of GOOD smoked salmon available. However, the Icelanders always seem to run a nice smooth event. If only the beer were cheaper...)

Here's my best guesses about the hands in question:

1. I would expect that partner holds (approximately)

♠ Jx
♥ AJxx
♦ Q4
♣ KQT62

Other hands are certainly possible, however, the jump to 4M consumes a lot of bidding space. Accordingly, I'm be wary about about making this jump with a first/second round control in a side suit. The hand that Frances presents is a tricky one, where opener holds a distributional control in a suit that was bid semi-naturally. Given that you hold 4 spades and two Diamonds, I suspect that the 1=4=3=5 shape is more probable that the 2=4=2=5 pattern. Even so, I might try to chose a slower approach with this pattern.

2. Ideally, I'd like partner to be able to make an intelligent decision regarding strain based on the solidity of heart/club suits: I'm going to try to bid 5NT as choice of strain. I hope that partner forgives me...

[FrancesHinden]

hrothgar, on Feb 20 2006, 03:39 PM, said:

How was Iceland?  (I'm not sure why, but the Icelandair Open has always been one of my favorite events.  I think it has something to do with the ridiculous quantity of GOOD smoked salmon available.  However, the Icelanders always seem to run a nice smooth event.  If only the beer were cheaper...)

p.s. my husband says he played you (fred) once in Iceland. You probably wouldn't remember him, but you were famous then as well and he told me about it afterwards.

[Codo]

Part cannot have enough in HCPS to bid 4 H with a balanced hand, because he did not open 1 NT.
As others, I believe in a spade shortness in Pds hand, because with other hands, he may had another bid avaiable besides the jump to 4 Heart, f.e 4 Club to show real good clubs or 4 Diamond as a splinter if he likes my invitation.

So it is something like:

x
AJxx
Qxx
KQJxx

With this Hand 2 Heart had been enough, but you can gladly accept any invitation.
(of course, some other hands are possible, but my imagination is too small to think about them....)

2. I would bid 6 NT and
3. if pd tables this dummy, I should collect 3 Spades, 2 Hearts, 3 Diamonds and 4 Clubs...If the clubs don`t behave, or he is missing the diamond trick, I can still try to find another heart tricks....

[hrothgar]

Codo, on Feb 20 2006, 05:54 PM, said:

Part cannot have enough in HCPS to bid 4 H with a balanced hand, because he did not open 1 NT.

Not sure if I agree with this:

Partner's 2♥ bid limited his hand. His decision to accept the 2♠ game try shows a maximum hand conditional on the earlier bidding.

[Codo]

hrothgar, on Feb 21 2006, 12:01 AM, said:

Codo, on Feb 20 2006, 05:54 PM, said:

Part cannot have enough in HCPS to bid 4 H with a balanced hand, because he did not open 1 NT.

Not sure if I agree with this:

Partner's 2♥ bid limited his hand. His decision to accept the 2♠ game try shows a maximum hand conditional on the earlier bidding.

Yes his hand is limited. But if he has 12 or 13 balanced with no additional feature, he is minimum for his bidding so far and shoud decline the invitation.

Of course, he may had opened even weaker hands with no rebid problem, but then he had to have other extras, which maked his hand better. So the worst hand can be s.t. like Jx, Axxx, xx, KQJxx and I doubt, that he had accept the invitation with this.
And this is a slam, which I would always like to be in.
... And with, lets say, Jx, Axxx,Qxx,KQxx, where slam chances are there, but very remote, he had surely declined.

[Winstonm]

1) I think partner holds xx, AJxx, xx, KQJ9x.
2) My bid is 6 clubs
3) My play is to cash 2 diamonds and 3 spades after 1 rounds of clubs if the club ace is held up and playing for a spade/heart squeeze or the heart finesse depending. I think the slight risk of LHO ruffing round 3 of spades with xx or xxx of clubs is worth taking in order to increase the overall chances of making.

Winston

P.S. Say hello to Siggi and Mary Pat for me while you are in Iceland. Thanks.

[kenrexford]

I also agree with the 1435 crowd. However, if this is correct, which I believe it to be, the answers to 4NT were pre-determined and expected. 4NT made 6C ambiguous. Thus, I would suggest that the partnership call for pick-a-slam might have worked better here, whether 5NT or 6C.

As to play. I expect a club lead against 6C. Small from Axx. I win the club, cash two diamonds, back with a heart for a diamond ruff. When I exit a club, the Ace will be won and another heart sent at me, forcing spade-spade-ruff to get back AND pitch my two heart losers.

A greater problem comes with a heart lead. Now, I expect that the club Ace is with the length in hearts, and hearts split 4-1. This is BAD news. This gives me another heart trick, where I do not need the diamond ruff. However, life is really bad. I cannot really trick anyone. So, I hope that I held the stiff Jack of spades and can ditch all the hearts. Then, I can also hopefully execute a high cross-ruff of sorts. If I was 2425, I might even need to take a spade finesse, planning to force RHO to either ruff (me overrruff) or ditch as a way to pull one of his two trumps.

I suppose Opener might be 1345, where the lead of a heart is immaterial. I want Opener to have 109-AJxx-xx-KQJ109, though. That is most fun on a heart lead.

[Walddk]

1. 2425 seems likely. If this is the shape, his hand rates to be something like

♠ xx
♥ AJxx
♦ Qx
♣ KQJxx

The reason why I give him ♦Q is that with this shape he may not jump to 4♥. 2425 and an 11 count with two empty suits is not quite good enough for 4♥, in my opinion. Without ♦Q I would have bid 3♣.

" I don't want to sign off in 3♥, but I am not quite good enough for 4♥. I have an excellent club suit in case you are interested".

I am not 100% certain regarding ♦Q; he could conceivably be without it.

There is one more point. He bid 4♥ over my game try in spades. Two small is not exactly the perfect holding, so I think it's fair to assume that he has something to "support" my suit. Perhaps the jack, perhaps 109.

The latter is interesting as to the final contract. If he has ♠J and KQJxx clubs (no 10) we have 12 tricks, provided that clubs come in for 4 tricks. If they don't (4-1), we are in trouble in 6♣ and 6♥, but we may still be able to make 6NT.

109 instead of Jx, or even 10x could make it interesting too. The 8 spot might come into play.

2. 6NT seems like the best of slams, so that is what I bid. I am prepared to lose the Icelandair Open .... and even worse, the post-mortem after I go down in this contract.

Roland

[Winstonm]

Roland convinces me that 6N is the best slam contract - it might make on a heart/spade squeeze opposite A109x of hearts.

Winston

[luke warm]

would brad accept a heart game try with 2 or 3 spades to the jack? probably not.. stiff spade, probably yes.. so i think he's 1435..

is it possible he's 4414 or 4405? anyway, i agree with frances' comments and would bid 6C

[pclayton]

I think I'll try 6N. Off the cuff it seems it will combine chances in ♥/♣. I may not be able to effectively combine the chances opposite: x, AJT(?)x, Qxx, KQTxx, since I will have a guess after the pointed suit lead and a club to the King. Still, 6N has to be better than 6♥.

In most of my partnerships (and per Kantar), 6♣ would be some sort of grand slam try, so thats out. Besides, I don't think we have any confidence about the ♣J anyway, which is about the only card that makes 6♣ substantially better than 6♥.

As a side note, I think bids such as Brad's 4♥ should be VERY well defined. The 2♠ bidder may be making a game try, or may have bigger things in mind. 4♥ 'hogs' a lot of space; a lot of hands with a 4♥ bid should probably be cue bidding or doing something else constructive.