Yes,I had added pretty much the same thoughts to my original post. I have a tendency toward impatience. Partly this is just me, partly it is that it has been a long time since i have had a partner who likes to objectively go over hands, the result being that extended or possibly ambiguous sequences are undiscussed. In the sequence you and I think is the best, I suggest that after partner's 3
call my 3
is not likely to be looking for a full stop. If partner had a full stop she/he/it would presumably have bid NT over my hypothetical 2
. So the 2 !h can be seen as "Maybe NT is still ok if you can help", and Qxx is certainly help.
I was playing with a bot and it would have been interesting to see if the auction would have continued in this way after I bid 2
. I certainly think 2
is right rather than 3NT simply because nobody promised that partner does not have five spades.
Regarding the bots: Just recently I have been playing in the 25 cent all day bot tourneys. For two bits you play 8 boards with the upscale bots. I had not played with the bots that much in the past, and then usually only with the cheap/free version. The upscale ones are pretty good, I have not yet had a bidding misunderstanding with them and some of the auctions have been at least a bit involved.
Bottom line: If someone wants to practice in a relaxed and realistic setting, I think playing in the 25 cent online tourney and then going over the boards is a reasonable idea.
The play of this hand:
The opening lead is the
6 and here are the hands.
Q986
Q93
J76
Q54
A72
A2
Q8
AKJ763
The auction was as stated. After 1
on the right the opponents are silent and it goes uncontested X- 1
-2
-2
- 3NT.
Bots lead small from three small so the 6 could be from 876, or J76 or K76 to name a few. It actually was from K76 but here is an interesting feature. When it is from K76 we do not have to go up with the Q on the board to make the contract. We have 25 hcps and Rho has opened the bidding so if Lho has the
K then (almost) surely the
AK and the
K are on the right. So I won the heart, two rounds of clubs ending on the board with RHO discarding a heart!. Then a small
from the board. E is in and has no play to stop me from taking 9 tricks. In fact, if he is not careful I might take 10.
So this worked out, but it required luck. Definitely it would be both easier and safer to have 3NT played from the N hand.
I'll just repeat about the bots. Occasional experience with the lesser bots convinced me that they are too erratic to have a decent game with. But now I have played a bit, maybe 5 or 6 eight board rounds, with the better bots and that has gone decently enough that I enjoy it. I think it is very possible that had I bid 2
as I should have then we would have ended in 3NT played by N, as we should have.
The full play, fwiw. You have to copy the whole thing and paste it in as a url.
http://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?bbo=y&lin=st||md|4SA72HA2DQ8CAKJ763,SJT4HK76DT543C982,SQ986HQ93DJ76CQ54,SK53HJT854DAK92CT|sv|E|ah|Board%206|mb|1H|an|Major%20suit%20opening%20--%205+%20!H;%2011-21%20HCP;%2012-22%20total%20points|mb|D|an|Takeout%20double%20--%203-5%20!C;%203-5%20!D;%202-%20!H;%203-4%20!S;%2012+%20total%20points|mb|P|mb|1S|an|4+%20!S;%209-%20total%20points|mb|P|mb|2C|an|rebiddable%20!C;%2018+%20total%20points|mb|P|mb|2H|an|3+%20!C;%204+%20!S;%206+%20HCP;%207-9%20total%20points;%20forcing%20to%203N|mb|P|mb|3N|an|5-%20!H;%205-%20!S;%2019-26%20HCP;%20rebiddable%20!C;%20likely%20stop%20in%20!H|mb|P|mb|P|mb|P|pc|H6|pc|H9|pc|HT|pc|HA|pc|CA|pc|C2|pc|C4|pc|CT|pc|C7|pc|C9|pc|CQ|pc|H5|pc|D6|pc|DK|pc|D8|pc|D5|pc|H4|pc|H2|pc|HK|pc|H3|pc|D3|pc|D7|pc|D9|pc|DQ|pc|CK|pc|C8|pc|C5|pc|S3|pc|CJ|pc|S4|pc|S6|pc|D2|pc|C6|pc|DT|pc|S8|pc|HJ|pc|C3|pc|D4|pc|S9|pc|H8|pc|SA|pc|SJ|pc|SQ|pc|S5|pc|S2|pc|ST|pc|HQ|pc|SK|pc|DA|pc|S7|pc|H7|pc|DJ|