[jvage]

Hello, I am new to this forum. Here are some bidding problems from earlier this week, in all 3 partner disagreed with my choice. I am of course hoping to get more support here

It's MP in an uneven field, but on these deals both partner and opponents are strong players. You have no agreements relevant to these problems and your basic system agreement was Polish Club (WJ2005). You are playing live with a fellow Norwegian, and have only agreed to try it for fun. Neither of you know the finer points of WJ2005 that may be relevant here

1. With no-one vulnerable you have:
A93
A54
A542
J953

Partner opens 1♠ (5 card limited to 17hp) first to speak. RHO enters with a weak 3♣. What do you bid?

2. At unfavourable you have:
KQT85
AJ6
6532
9

LHO Partner RHO You
1♦ 2♣ 3♦ 3♠
pass 4♦ Pass ?

3♦ was preemptive. Do you agree with 3♠ and what do you bid now?

3. All vulnerable, you have:
J83
AJ9
AKT853
K

LHO opens 1♠, partner bids a preemtive 3♣ and RHO bids 4♠. What do you do?

John

[hrothgar]

Hand 1

Choice seems to be between 3N and 4♠...
Wish I knew whether partner or RHO was the one with short clubs.

The three bullets suggest a suit contract. My 4333 suggests 3N.
I'm gonna bid 3N and pray.

Hand 2

3♠ is a bit aggressive, but it seems to have worked.
I'm bidding 4♥

Hand 3

Double seems clear

[whereagles]

1. 4♠ (or 4♣ if it only showed support, not singleton). Hand has 14 cards by the way..

2. 4♥. Costs nothing to cooperate since pard might have a decent hand still.

3. 5♣. Looking at my hand, RHO seems to have bid 4♠ on shape alone. 6 might be on, but I got no tools to find it. Will double 5♠.

[mikestar]

Pretty much agree with Richard.

1. Is a hard decision. I lean toward 3NT becase the preempt makes it more likely we get a bad spade break--likely fatal in 4♠, may be survivable in 3NT.

2. 4♥ is a no-brainer.

3. The 4♠ bid is no doubt a shapely hand, but should not be a pure prempt over our preempt. So X is the most likely to work. Depends somewhat on your partnership standard for 3♣.

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

1) 4S, either it makes or not,
but I am to strong to bid only 3S.
2) No, I would not bid 3S,
where do I hid, if opener finds
a red card? With no fit for partner.
Now I bid 4S.
3) Pass, wtp?
Where do you want to go?
Dbl? How many def. tricks do you have / does partner have?
Do you think declarer knows where
he has to look for missing honors outside clubs?
5C? How many tricks do you have for partner?
5D? How many tricks partner will have?

With kind regards
Marlowe

[awm]

1) 4♣. This is the type of minimum game force that fairly often makes a slam opposite a limited opening. Give partner something with a little shape like KQxxxx KQxx Kx x and you have excellent chances (this is not even a maximum). Many 15-17 counts with singleton club will also make slam (for example KQJxx KQx KQxx x). Obviously you need partner to have a good-ish hand, but it's not that far-fetched given the club length. I don't think a "hide the values" 4♠ call is the way to go with this control-rich hand, nor am I excited to play 3NT with a jack-fourth stopper and no clear source of tricks.

2) 4♥. There is a mild risk of getting overboard -- 3♠ here was aggressive but reasonable, and the singleton club is not the best holding. Of course, partner is marked with diamond shortage which has got to help. Nonetheless partner has made a strong try and it seems right to cooperate.

3) I'd pass. This is certainly not the "right" decision because it's extremely likely that either 4♠ goes down (hey why didn't I double) or 5♣ is a good sacrifice (hey why didn't I sac). However it seems like most of the time 4♠ will go down, but it will rarely go down more than one (RHO usually has singleton diamond on this auction). I also expect 5♣ to go down fairly often (again, I don't think diamonds are breaking, and I wouldn't guarantee that the opponents don't have a spade trick, and hearts seem wide open after the ace).

[HeartA]

whereagles, on Aug 31 2006, 09:09 AM, said:

1. 4♠ (or 4♣ if it only showed support, not singleton). Hand has 14 cards by the way..

2. 4♥. Costs nothing to cooperate since pard might have a decent hand still.

3. 5♣. Looking at my hand, RHO seems to have bid 4♠ on shape alone. 6 might be on, but I got no tools to find it. Will double 5♠.

They are my choices as well.

[joshs]

jvage, on Aug 31 2006, 08:53 AM, said:

Hello, I am new to this forum. Here are some bidding problems from earlier this week, in all 3 partner disagreed with my choice. I am of course hoping to get more support here

It's MP in an uneven field, but on these deals both partner and opponents are strong players. You have no agreements relevant to these problems and your basic system agreement was Polish Club (WJ2005). You are playing live with a fellow Norwegian, and have only agreed to try it for fun. Neither of you know the finer points of WJ2005 that may be relevant here

1. With no-one vulnerable you have:
A93
A54
A542
J953

Partner opens 1♠ (5 card limited to 17hp) first to speak. RHO enters with a weak 3♣. What do you bid?

2. At unfavourable you have:
KQT85
AJ6
6532
9

LHO Partner RHO You
1♦ 2♣ 3♦ 3♠
pass 4♦ Pass ?

3♦ was preemptive. Do you agree with 3♠ and what do you bid now?

3. All vulnerable, you have:
J83
AJ9
AKT853
K

LHO opens 1♠, partner bids a preemtive 3♣ and RHO bids 4♠. What do you do?

John

1. 4C. You hav a good raise to game, and who knows, you might have slam if partner has shape. For instance, KQxxxx Kxx KQxx - produces 6S (and 7D but don't ask me how to get to 7D). Also if, suprise suprise, LHO raises clubs, you want your partner to know you have a good hand. Most likely you are just going to end in 4S but whenever you have a sound raise to game that doesn't mind partner bidding more with extra playing strength, you should cue-bid to set up the force.

2. 4S. The cue bid just says, I have a good hand and I think we have game somewhere. You don't have anything extea to bid, but since you have to bid something you are at least lucky your suit is good enough to play against Hx.

3. Pass. You don't have a fit. You might beat this (I would say you are a favorite to beat this, where are their tricks coming from?). Partner might have a decent diamond fit for you, but you are just guessing. When in doubt raise with a fit and pass with a misfit...

p.s. You should NOT lead a club or a high diamond. Lead trumps as fast as you can....

[pclayton]

jvage, on Aug 31 2006, 05:53 AM, said:

Hello, I am new to this forum. Here are some bidding problems from earlier this week, in all 3 partner disagreed with my choice. I am of course hoping to get more support here

It's MP in an uneven field, but on these deals both partner and opponents are strong players. You have no agreements relevant to these problems and your basic system agreement was Polish Club (WJ2005). You are playing live with a fellow Norwegian, and have only agreed to try it for fun. Neither of you know the finer points of WJ2005 that may be relevant here

1. With no-one vulnerable you have:
A93
A54
A542
J953

Partner opens 1♠ (5 card limited to 17hp) first to speak. RHO enters with a weak 3♣. What do you bid?

2. At unfavourable you have:
KQT85
AJ6
6532
9

LHO Partner RHO You
1♦ 2♣ 3♦ 3♠
pass 4♦ Pass ?

3♦ was preemptive. Do you agree with 3♠ and what do you bid now?

3. All vulnerable, you have:
J83
AJ9
AKT853
K

LHO opens 1♠, partner bids a preemtive 3♣ and RHO bids 4♠. What do you do?

John

Hi - welcome to the forums.

1. 4♣ looks normal. 3N is OK I guess with the 4333, but why delude pard you have a lot of club strength opposite his shortness?

2. I agree with 3♠. I now cue 4♥.

3. Here's where I want to know my opponents and my pard's style. If they are randoms, I will x 4♠ since there is no guarantee of spade shortage. 6♣ or 6♦ will often make opposite a normal preempt and I don't want to give up +500 when 600 or 620 (1370?) is available. 4N is the most sensible bid if Im not doubling (2 places to play; including clubs).

[mike777]

jvage, on Aug 31 2006, 08:53 AM, said:

Hello, I am new to this forum. Here are some bidding problems from earlier this week, in all 3 partner disagreed with my choice. I am of course hoping to get more support here

It's MP in an uneven field, but on these deals both partner and opponents are strong players. You have no agreements relevant to these problems and your basic system agreement was Polish Club (WJ2005). You are playing live with a fellow Norwegian, and have only agreed to try it for fun. Neither of you know the finer points of WJ2005 that may be relevant here

1. With no-one vulnerable you have:
A93
A54
A542
J953

Partner opens 1♠ (5 card limited to 17hp) first to speak. RHO enters with a weak 3♣. What do you bid?

2. At unfavourable you have:
KQT85
AJ6
6532
9

LHO  Partner  RHO  You
1♦       2♣      3♦    3♠
pass  4♦    Pass    ?

3♦ was preemptive. Do you agree with 3♠ and what do you bid now?

3. All vulnerable, you have:
J83
AJ9
AKT853
K

LHO opens 1♠, partner bids a preemtive 3♣ and RHO bids 4♠. What do you do?

John

Welcome

1) Pass I expect pard to reopen with x on any hand with short clubs.
2) Disagree with 3s...bid 4s minimum now.
3) 5clubs now, I expect pard to have 6 playing tricks for her 3club preempt.

[inquiry]

Hand 1.. I would call the director as I have 14 cards.. Assume I have only three diamonds or three clubs, I will bid 4S.

Hand 2. 4♥. Hey, I went out on a limb with 3♠, but now I am forward going.

Hand 3. 5♣. I have four tricks for partner (clbu King, DAK, heart A) for his 3C preempt, he should be able to take 7 tricks in his hand. 7+4 = 11.

[flytoox]

1. 4C, good raise. 3N is an alternative, but with all good controls, I prefer suit contracts.
2. 4H, slam looks good.
3. Dbl, Take sure plus.

[jvage]

1. Embarassing, my first hand posted got 14 cards

I really had a doubleton heart (Axx, Ax, Axxx, J9xx). This may have affected the solution to the problem, since this is a stronger hand than several of those suggested. I think there are 2 points to this hand, the first is wether you should make a stronger move than 4♠. I think you should, but then the second is what move is most descriptive? Does 4♣ show some form of club-control and do you have any alternatives?

With the only partner I have discussed this with 4♣ would show a control. My current partner belived 4♣ should not promise a control and was the best bid (as do most of the posters). I bid a not very pretty 4♦, would you take this as a fit-bid, splinter or cue? Since no-one suggested it it looks like I have to give partner 1-0 regardless

2. I took 4♦ as promising spadesupport. The question now was wether 4♥ shows extras, and if so, wether I have the goods. We all agree 3♠ was minimum, but with a partner marked with an opening (bidding at unfav) and some majors (since he got maximum 1 diamond) I think it is clear. Most posters seems to agree with this and my 4♥.

3. I think if the scoring was IMP's 5♣ (since partner is known to be short in spades, are 4NT or 5♦ alternatives?) would be clear. Since this was MP I decided to double, but did not have a good feeling about it.

I wait a little before I reveal how these bids worked. In practice 1 worked very well and 2 ended in tragedy

John

[Codo]

1. As for me 4 Club more often as not is a club control, I think I will double now and raise spades later. Maybe PD will then get the idea, that my hand is too nice for a direct 4 Spade bid.


2. There are players, who play, that 4 Heart from you shows extras. They must bid 4 Spade now and hope, that pd will understand, that this does not deny a heart control but that it shows minimum. Most psoters here think, that 4 Spade will just deny a heart control, so this is out. I believe the same, you must bid 4 Heart now.

3. I´m used to partners, who will not make 5 club opposite my hand. Not even close. Okay in socond seat all vul, he should have some tricks... But enough?
I double and hope for the plus.
For 5 Club her needd f.e. AQJxxxx in clubs + one extra trick from the Queen of Hearts or opponents who let him develop diamond tricks. Unlikely, even in this vul.

[jvage]

Some comments to hand 3:

Both partner and the current opponents are junior internationals. That means both 3♣ and 4♠ are sane, but may be agressive.

There is an inference no-one has explicitly mentioned. You have a lot of high-cards, but there has still been a lot of vulnerable bidding before you. While 4♠ could have been bid on a balanced 12 count with 3 card support (see 1!), your high HCP-count (some posters have assigned partner with ♣AQJ and another Q, leaving only 15HCP for the opponents) makes this very unlikely. There must be some uneven distributions around. One should definitely not be surprised if opponents got 10 spades (partner got a void). This makes it much more likely that there are lots of tricks both ways.

John

[jvage]

jvage, on Aug 31 2006, 08:53 AM, said:

1. With no-one vulnerable you have:
A93
A5
A542
J953

Partner opens 1♠ (5 card limited to 17hp) first to speak. RHO enters with a weak 3♣. What do you bid?

2. At unfavourable you have:
KQT85
AJ6
6532
9

LHO  Partner  RHO  You
1♦      2♣      3♦    3♠
pass  4♦    Pass    ?

3♦ was preemptive. Do you agree with 3♠ and what do you bid now?

3. All vulnerable, you have:
J83
AJ9
AKT853
K

LHO opens 1♠, partner bids a preemtive 3♣ and RHO bids 4♠. What do you do?

Here is what happened in practice:

1. Any encouraging move (4♣/4♦) will get you to the OK slam, partner had:
KJT9xx
KQx
QJTx
-
I don't know what happens after 3NT (but you are very unlikely to get to slam), if you bid 4♠ you surely stop there. The diamondfinesse failed, but preemptor had a singleton ♠Q (partner would probably have played for a 3-1 split), so there was nothing to the play, 12 easy tricks.

2. This is the only board where I disagree with partners bidding. I bid 4♥ and partner had:
Axx
98x
-
AKT8xxx

He bid 5♦ and we ended in 6♠. This is an OK slam on anything but a diamondlead. Maybe I should have told LHO, who didn't ask, that partner promised 1. round diamond-control . When LHO lead the ♦A the slam was almost hopeless, in practice I went 2 down (most people failed even in 4♠).

We both stretched here, who do you think overbid the most? From partner side, if I got clubsupport or the sixth spade the slam got reasonable play and may be laydown (he knows I have shown slaminterest with relatively few HCP).

3. As expected partner is very minimum (-, xxx, Qxx, QJ98xxx). RHO got AQxxx, xx, Qxxx, Tx, so doubling 4♠ was no safe plus, 12 tricks were easy. Both 5♣ and 5♦ got some play our way, but can be defeated.

John