[Benoit35]

Just played this freakiest of boards on BBO:

Scoring: IMP

1♣ - 2♣ - X - 2♠
P - P - X - P
P - P

Lead: ♣3

---

I was South and my partner was someone whom I met an hour ago at the table. His profile said "Novice" so I understood why he'd jump at the opportunity to use a Michaels cuebid. I look at the cards and jokingly type "ENTRY TO DUMMY WOOOO" as the jack of clubs stands.

"play well", replies my partner. Oh well, I tell myself, opponents should have been in slam territory...

Small trump to my queen, taken by the ace at my left. West cashes the ♦Q, then switches to a small (sic) heart. When poor East, who couldn't have made his partner rebid her 16 HCP even by shining a floodlight in her face, tries to cash a second heart, he's hit by a tonne of bricks: not only does he get ruffed, but the queen falls and my partner can now gloat at his established hearts.

"holy crap I am making this", I type in total disbelief... Two overtricks, +1,070, 16.3 IMPs... all on a combined 10 HCP. Two boards later we're still talking about it and I'm ROFL'ing while my partner explains that he "knew it was a good hand p... it's about shape, not points".

I didn't dare explain to him how West had contributed to the result... was afraid my RHO might live too close to her for her safety...

Thoughts? I think West is mostly to blame but does East share a bit of the responsibility? And how weak is too weak to speak, even with 6-5 majors?

[helene_t]

I wonder how EW should avoid defending 2♠x. My first thought was that East's second double was wrong, but it seems he can't do much else.

Anyway, the defense wasn't quite optimal. With a trump lead I think it can be two down.

[Benoit35]

Should West not speak again over my 2♠... 3♣ perhaps? Then if they can't find their major stoppers they can fall back on a club game.

Then again, a good defense makes a nice booty of 2♠x... Another table beat 3♠x down 4 (this time played by North). Even down just 2 is a top, white vs. red. (Undisturbed EW pairs had an easy 3NT, a few overreached to 6NT.)

Oh, and just to make matters worse: on the very next hand, while I'm trying to explain that two knaves aren't quite strong enough for a Michaels, I am dealt:

Scoring: IMP

1♥ - 1♠ - P - P
1NT - X - all pass

---

This went down 2 for -500, and there's a good case for bidding on one HCP to bail out my partner (which I didn't do, giddy as I was from the previous hand). 2 of either red suit is no more secure than 1NT but is less likely to be doubled. There's a risk that EW might take up the auction again and reach a makeable 4S; East had all four aces but then again he had the same partner as before...

[Benoit35]

helene_t, on Dec 17 2008, 06:11 AM, said:

Anyway, the defense wasn't quite optimal.

That's like saying the New Orleans levee system "wasn't quite optimal" when Katrina hit...

[han]

Red against white the north hand is far too weak imo. white against red I wouldn't mind.

[foo]

Benoit35, on Dec 17 2008, 09:35 AM, said:

helene_t, on Dec 17 2008, 06:11 AM, said:

Anyway, the defense wasn't quite optimal.

That's like saying the New Orleans levee system "wasn't quite optimal" when Katrina hit...

AFAICT, the only person ATT who was not a novice was Declarer.

DD best on this board is 6C EW. There is no sane reason this auction should die at 2SX.

Most pairs, even those not explicitly playing Unusual over Unusual vs Michaels, will get to at least 5C because W will cue bid in response to E's Negative X.

Even if for some insane reason W passes at their 1st opportunity to respond to E's Negative X, East is good enough to make a subsequent cue bid themselves.

Then there is the "defense".

Underleading AQxxxx against a suit contract? Please.
If the opening lead is CA, or any D, H, or S (yes one can underlead the =SA= with impunity here.), 2SX is -3
...and even the horrible leads of CQ or Cx should result in 2SX-2

In fact, even after the small C lead, DD Declarer must play a =H= at T2 if they want to stay at 2SX-2. The actual ATT play of a Sx brings Declarer back to being minus 3 doubled.
(W can win the SA and put the SJ or a D on the felt. Or They can even go completely passive and hold up)

Playing a H @ T2 is also the best legitimate chance declarer has of inducing a defensive error to bring the outcome to 2SX-1.

The actual T2 and subsequent is an awe inspiring desecration of the deck.

[Benoit35]

Good analysis foo. I didn't think all of this through, obviously, but I object to

Quote

The actual T2 and subsequent is an awe inspiring desecration of the deck.

I agree with the "subsequent" part, but here are my reasons for T2: I wanted to ruff some hearts but didn't want to alert the defense to that fact. I was thinking this: If I lead a heart, they will pounce on the trumps and by the time I can get back to dummy I won't have a spade left in my hand.

And so I opted to throw them a knuckle ball: make it look as if I'm trying to draw trumps myself. I'm going down, but hell if they figure out what I'm trying to do.

Next thing I know I'm staring at 10 cold tricks.

[foo]

Benoit35, on Dec 19 2008, 03:23 PM, said:

Good analysis foo.  I didn't think all of this through, obviously, but I object to

Quote

The actual T2 and subsequent is an awe inspiring desecration of the deck.

I agree with the "subsequent" part, but here are my reasons for T2: I wanted to ruff some hearts but didn't want to alert the defense to that fact. I was thinking this: If I lead a heart, they will pounce on the trumps and by the time I can get back to dummy I won't have a spade left in my hand.

And so I opted to throw them a knuckle ball: make it look as if I'm trying to draw trumps myself. I'm going down, but hell if they figure out what I'm trying to do.

Next thing I know I'm staring at 10 cold tricks.

The problem with your idea on T2 is that
a= They should know that they have the balance of power +and+ good side suits they want to tap you with.

b= That dummy screams that you want to establish H's. But your only likely entries to those H's are trumps.

Both points argue for stripping you of trumps ASAP.

I can well imagine that many W's will have a hard time being as passive as ducking the SK (or SQ) on the 1st round of trumps; but it is just as effective to win the SA and return the SJ.
...and let's not forget the possiblity of the S9 being a winner if you don't pull it.

In short, if you pull trumps @ T2, They should do whatever they can to decrease the odds of you getting a ruff in the short hand.

Winning the SA and beating on D's is just as good because it starts the process of tapping your long hand before you've started the process of establishing H's. In that case, They have gained a tempo on you.

But as I said, the whole situation is mind boggling.

[Benoit35]

What can I say, I was grasping at straws... I saw the "fake wanting to draw trumps" line as a possible (if very unlikely) way to convince them to play hearts for me. Not that I expected it to work, let alone give me the slightest chance to make.

Another thing... that joke I typed about getting an entry to dummy on the opening lead. Maybe it got to them, in some irrational way.