[Apollo81]

ALERT!!

Some of the comments below may have been in response to the above hand with ♠AKQ rather than the cards shown above. I fixed it after 2 comments had been made. Apologies.

IMPS, red vs. white, 4th seat

♠ AQ76
♥ Q76
♦ AK10
♣ AKQ

(p)-p-(1♠)-Dbl
(2♠)-3♥-(p)-???? (see notes)

1♠ was Precision
2♠ was limited to a bad 8 points
3♥ shows 5+ cards

-Noble

[hrothgar]

Trust your partner, not the opponents...

Given the vulnerability, I expect that you should make at least 6♥
The real question is sorting out whether you can make 7.

I'd start with a 3♠ cue bid, and then cue bid 4♠ over the expected 4♥ rebid

[inquiry]

Needless to say RHO psyched 1♠. We are in no the joke, but not LHO, so he has the smattering of missing hcp. So if you need the D-finessee it is off, but if you need the heart king finessee it is on.

Grand slam is possible, but may require partner to have five hearts, not four (do you have a way to check for the heart JACK). But, the good news is that 7NT might be laydown in that case, with WEST squeezed in hearts and diamonds (give west a possible.. JTxx JT9x QJx xx for instance).

So the question is how to bid? I see nothing wrong with 4♠ as RKC in your methods (I wouldn't play it that way, but ok). If partner has two keycards, I will bid 7NT, planning on 5H and my winners (14 tricks) or 4H and my winners (13 tricks). Should WEST have a fourth round heart stopper, then I will hope for the squeeze should partner lack the diamond queen (or perhaps a hook if he has the jack of diamonds).

Should partner have only one key card, I will rely on him having the heart jack and diamond queen and bid 6NT.

[Apollo81]

inquiry, on Jul 11 2006, 10:58 AM, said:

...
Grand slam is possible, but may require partner to have five hearts, not four (do you have a way to check for the heart JACK). ...

The original post said that 3♥ showed 5+ hearts by agreement.

ACK - I posted the wrong hand.

The previous posts may have been in response to ♠AKQ rather than what is there now. Sorry about that.

[inquiry]

New hand, new problem. Now with much weaker spade holding, we are certain the spade finessee if off if we need it. And partner might have five hearts to the ace and the diamond queen-JACK and the club JACK, so we could be off at least 1H (maybe 2) and potentially a 1S. My grand slam ambitions are much more restrained, and I am worried about slam.

We do however, have a potential endplay on WEST if partner has AK of hearts and the diamond JACK. West can be stripped down to KX of spades and Qxx of diamonds after the the last trumps (5H, 3C) then endplayed in one suit or the other for the 12th trick (remember, WEST is not in on the joke that his partner psyched, so he does have values for his 2S raise). Partner also might have four clubs to the jack, which would help a lot. But for sure, RKCB is not going to help us here now.

So I will start with 3S (I can no longer change my vote of course, so subract one from 4S above in your mind). Partner will bid 4H for sure, and now i will bid 5H. This is asking for good trumps (immediate 5H ask for spade stopper).

This will not only get us to slam when partner holds AKxxx, but also if he holds AJTxx or KJTxx plus the diamond Queen for his bid, and will avoid slam if he has Axxxx, Kxxxx, or AJxxx plus diamond queen and club jack and short spade. On way to the 6H, I expect partner to "cue-bid" a short spade if he has both top hearts (his 4H denied first or second round control in either minor), I will cue-bid 6C to see if he shows the diamond queen. If he does, I can reflect on my grand slam chances again (5H, 1S, 3D, 3C), and partner has either a sixth heart or a four card minor that can come into play with squeeze chances.

[Apollo81]

inquiry, on Jul 11 2006, 12:40 PM, said:

New hand, new problem..... So I will start with 3S (I can no longer change my vote of course, so subract one from 4S above in your mind)....

I wish I could reset the poll somehow. Anyone know of a way to do this?

-Noble

[inquiry]

Apollo81, on Jul 11 2006, 11:45 AM, said:

inquiry, on Jul 11 2006, 12:40 PM, said:

New hand, new problem..... So I will start with 3S (I can no longer change my vote of course, so subract one from 4S above in your mind)....

I wish I could reset the poll somehow. Anyone know of a way to do this?

-Noble

I thought I could delete the poll and then re-enter it. I could not. I think the solution is to start a new thread and attach this one to it.. I will do so....

[whereagles]

Hum.. I usually give opps credit for their bids. Still, it costs nothing to try 3♠. If pard makes some noise, I'll go to 6♥. Otherwise I'll settle for 4, just in case pard has long hearts and little else.

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

3S, if partner bids 4H I pass.
The main question is, how weak
can partner be, would bid with
a 6 carder and a single spade
+ 2 Jacks?

I probably would, i.e. after 3S
and a sign off by partner, further
bidding would simply say, partner
you are an idiot.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[Apollo81]

Apollo81, on Jul 11 2006, 11:48 AM, said:

IMPS, red vs. white, 4th seat

♠ AQ76
♥ Q76
♦ AK10
♣ AKQ

(p)-p-(1♠)-Dbl
(2♠)-3♥-(p)-???? (see notes)

1♠ was Precision
2♠ was limited to a bad 8 points
3♥ shows 5+ cards

-Noble

Partner's hand was

♠ x
♥ K98xx
♦ QJx
♣ 10xxx

I don't think partner is supposed to pass 2♠, yet slam is terrible on these cards. Was curious whether anyone can stop short of slam here. The♠K is offside, the ♥AJx is with opener, and the ♣J does not fall, so 3NT only takes 8 tricks as well on best defense. You had to bid 3♠ then pass if pard bids 4♥ to avoid disaster on this hand.

-Noble

[inquiry]

Apollo81, on Jul 12 2006, 11:19 AM, said:

Apollo81, on Jul 11 2006, 11:48 AM, said:

IMPS, red vs. white, 4th seat

♠ AQ76
♥ Q76
♦ AK10
♣ AKQ

(p)-p-(1♠)-Dbl
(2♠)-3♥-(p)-???? (see notes)

1♠ was Precision
2♠ was limited to a bad 8 points
3♥ shows 5+ cards

-Noble

Partner's hand was

♠ x
♥ K98xx
♦ QJx
♣ 10xxx

I don't think partner is supposed to pass 2♠, yet slam is terrible on these cards. Was curious whether anyone can stop short of slam here. The♠K is offside, the ♥AJx is with opener, and the ♣J does not fall, so 3NT only takes 8 tricks as well on best defense. You had to bid 3♠ then pass if pard bids 4♥ to avoid disaster on this hand.

-Noble

Well, that isn't exactly true... I mean, in my reply I proposed a strategy to avoid most disasters on this very hand...where I said..

Quote

So I will start with 3S (I can no longer change my vote of course, so subract one from 4S above in your mind). Partner will bid 4H for sure, and now i will bid 5H. This is asking for good trumps (immediate 5H ask for spade stopper).

This will not only get us to slam when partner holds AKxxx, but also if he holds AJTxx or KJTxx plus the diamond Queen for his bid, and will avoid slam if he has Axxxx, Kxxxx, or AJxxx plus diamond queen and club jack and short spade.

No one who bids 3♠ should pass 4♥. I mean, you hold the AK of clubs, and the AK of diamonds. What do you expect partner to bid over 3♠? He has no possible cue-bid and surely he is nearly broke. If your "plan" is to pass 4♥ if partner bids that, you might as well bid 4♥ yourself. Even if partner has the magic hand (xx AKxxx Qx Jxxx) it is hard to imagine he will bid anything other than 4H over 3S. Your bidding strategy has to include a way to separate between these hands. An immediate 5H doesn't do it (emphasis on spades), but 3S followed by 5H does. On the giving hand you suggest, 5H avoids the disaster without having given up on the slam with a whimpy pass of the surely manditory 4H bid you will hear from parnter (unless he happens to have a singleton in one of the minors).

It is true 5H is in some danger, but the spade king will surely be marked when you fnd the heart ACE with opener, and three rounds of spades is likely to drop it, or the club Jack might drop of clbus might be 3-3 or WEST might have 4 clubs to jack and 4 spades and be subject to squeeze. A reasonable (and predictable) line, is win spade ACE trick one (I think all points with WEST if parnter was stronger -- but surely he has some). Heart to king loses to ACE (good play would be to duck, but doubt you will get that). Ruff next spade. Low heart. Opener iwth Jx must play low, duck in dummy. West wins Ten. Can not lead a spade, You win diamond Return, Cash top heart. Two top clubs, Then 3 diamonds, winning last one in dummy... ending is...

Qx
--
--
A

--
x
--
Tx

If east had 3S to the King, you can ruff it out. If he had 4S to the king, you can play him for 4-2-3-4 or 4-2-2-5 and this last diamond won in dummy squeezes him. This trump squeeze might be hard to read at the table, but to fool you, both opponents have to discard carefully. At least you have a chance to lose just 2 trumps (if opener also has four clubs to the jack, you are toast of course).

[mike777]

Apollo81, on Jul 12 2006, 11:19 AM, said:

Apollo81, on Jul 11 2006, 11:48 AM, said:

IMPS, red vs. white, 4th seat

♠ AQ76
♥ Q76
♦ AK10
♣ AKQ

(p)-p-(1♠)-Dbl
(2♠)-3♥-(p)-???? (see notes)

1♠ was Precision
2♠ was limited to a bad 8 points
3♥ shows 5+ cards

-Noble

Partner's hand was

♠ x
♥ K98xx
♦ QJx
♣ 10xxx

I don't think partner is supposed to pass 2♠, yet slam is terrible on these cards. Was curious whether anyone can stop short of slam here. The♠K is offside, the ♥AJx is with opener, and the ♣J does not fall, so 3NT only takes 8 tricks as well on best defense. You had to bid 3♠ then pass if pard bids 4♥ to avoid disaster on this hand.

-Noble

Object to 3H, strongly prefer a responsive x and can later correct to 3H if need be showing this hand type. Direct 3H would be stronger.

A direct 3H might be:
xx
AJ9xxx
xxx
xx

or

x
AJxxxx
xxx
xxx

[Apollo81]

[quote name='mike777' date='Jul 12 2006, 01:19 PM'] [/QUOTE]
Object to 3H, strongly prefer a responsive x and can later correct to 3H if need be showing this hand type. Direct 3H would be stronger.... [/quote]
Keep in mind that partner does not know about the psych yet. The auction looks legit from his hand, and for all he knows opener is about to jump to 4[sp]. I think he should show what he has (5+ hearts) rather than make a vague responsive double.

[whereagles]

They did psych? Seems like RHO could have KJTxx AJx xxx Jx, a legit 3rd seat opener.

[inquiry]

whereagles, on Jul 12 2006, 01:27 PM, said:

They did psych? Seems like RHO could have KJTxx AJx xxx Jx, a legit 3rd seat opener.

And responders 2S bid was made on ? xxx of spades and mabye a ten?