[pclayton]

gnasher, on Oct 12 2008, 11:07 PM, said:

pclayton, on Oct 13 2008, 03:39 AM, said:

I think most of you know what these calls are so i won't bother to explain them.

I'm surprised that methods over 2NT in your part of the world are so uniform that everyone knows what this sequence means without explanation.

Anyway, can you show pity on a poor ignorant foreigner and tell me what it all means?

Bring me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, and bidding systems too!

3♠ - puppet to 3N
4♦ - single suited slam try
4♥ - cue agreeing hearts
4♠ - cue
4N / 5♣ / 5♥ - 1430
5N - ♦Q + a King we 'can't] show (hearts)
6♣ - last train
6♥ - card there; good enough for 6N and passing 6♦

[FrancesHinden]

TimG, on Oct 13 2008, 03:33 AM, said:

7♦ was bid and made only twice (spades were not 4-3, but the ♣K was onside) and one pair went down in something.

I assume they went down in 7D. I assume you would have done too on a club lead.

I'm not certain 7D is with the MP odds played by the long diamond hand. IF you are going to get a club lead - it needs spades 4-3 and diamonds not 4-0 the wrong way (count those entries!) or a black suit squeeze if diamonds are 4-0 the wrong way. Obviously it's much better if you aren't going to get a club lead, but now that depends on the auction and the opening leader's hand.

At pairs, if I can't play 7D by the strong hand I think I'd rather be in 6NT.

[han]

Really Frances?

It seems that 7C is slightly better than 50% on a club lead and much better than that on any other lead. Given that I expect the whole field to be in slam I would want to be in 7D from the wrong side rather than 6NT. Of course, I'd prefer to be in 7D from the right side!

[FrancesHinden]

han, on Oct 13 2008, 03:36 PM, said:

Really Frances?

It seems that 7C is slightly better than 50% on a club lead and much better than that on any other lead. Given that I expect the whole field to be in slam I would want to be in 7D from the wrong side rather than 6NT. Of course, I'd prefer to be in 7D from the right side!

I'd be interested to know what the other 23 contracts were - in particular how many were in 6NT and how many in 6D. That is, do you want to be in a 60% (let's say) 7D contract? How about a 70% one? Or an 80% one? (this one is somewhere between 60% and 80% depending on the chance of a club lead)

Again, this depends on the auction, but if you know you are getting a club lead, I wonder if you would actually rather play in 7NT than 7D. Given that Tim didn't get a club lead, the odds are obviously different to the theoretical ones.

I don't know what the field in a NAP is like (what's a NAP?) but there are very few clubs I know of where I would expect the whole field to be in slam. Someone is always going to bid 2NT (20-22) P 3NT (got to be in NT at pairs).

[han]

Yes, obviously it depends on the field and maybe I overestimated the part of the field that will be in slam.

NAP is national american pairs (I think), some national pair game in the US for which you have to qualify locally. The strength of the field depends on the flight you play in (C, B, A, open), as well as the round (unit, district, national finals, which I think are in the spring).

Winning locally means you get some money to go to the national championship so I think Richard mentioned it to show that he wanted to win this game, rather than give an indication of the strength of the field.

[pclayton]

I'm guessing Richard / Tim were in the NAP-B's, so 6N should get at least 80% of the matchpoints.

[TimG]

pclayton, on Oct 13 2008, 10:23 AM, said:

I'm guessing Richard / Tim were in the NAP-B's, so 6N should get at least 80% of the matchpoints.

We did play in Flight B. I did not get a club lead. Spades were 5-2, but the club king was onside (and diamonds were 3-1). Yes, I imagine the pair that was -50 got a club lead and declined the finesse.

In Flight B, the scores were 1520, 1440, 1020 (x8), 920, 520 (x2).
In Flight A, the scores were 1020 (x10), 940, 520, -50.

So, if we had played 6N, we would have scored 7/12 = 58% in Flight B.

[FrancesHinden]

TimG, on Oct 13 2008, 04:52 PM, said:

pclayton, on Oct 13 2008, 10:23 AM, said:

I'm guessing Richard / Tim were in the NAP-B's, so 6N should get at least 80% of the matchpoints.

We did play in Flight B. I did not get a club lead. Spades were 5-2, but the club king was onside (and diamonds were 3-1). Yes, I imagine the pair that was -50 got a club lead and declined the finesse.

In Flight B, the scores were 1520, 1440, 1020 (x8), 920, 520 (x2).
In Flight A, the scores were 1020 (x10), 940, 520, -50.

So, if we had played 6N, we would have scored 7/12 = 58% in Flight B.

OK, I take it back, you do want to be in grand.