July - first guesses:
PROBLEM A: 2
. This one is difficult, I think. My gut tells me 2
, which I may change to. (changed.)
This is an underbid. But 3
is an overbid. I can see several possible answers to this one.
PROBLEM B: 1
. It occurs to me that 1
is a good way to preclude partner from a silly jump in hearts. This is the only suit I can bid on the one level.
PROBLEM C: 3
. Partner’s range is wide. My range is limited to a 6-9 or so (or bad 10). Pass seems timid. 2NT is a slight overbid, though the lead coming up to my heart and club honors is desirable. If partner has the values to go on, since he has already denied four hearts, a 3
bid on the tails of my 3
would ask me to bid 3NT with the proper club honors.
PROBLEM D: 3
. Follow the MSC hint. This feels safer than 2
. The spades are not going anywhere, and I want the lead to come into my
KJT tenace.
PROBLEM E: 3
. Trying to find a spade fit. We always have clubs to fall back on. Shows 5+ spades and is a GF. We have the length, but is that hand a GF? Maybe with the 30 point deck—and spectacular club support—it is? Aggressive—often a winning choice in the MSC.
I could also see double here, which would be the "slow roll" approach.
PROBLEM F: 3
. My first impression choice, which is more flexible. Maybe partner has a fifth
? Two decent
? I may reconsider this. But I do worry that the "Hamman's Rule" 3NT is now or never. Partner has something like
QTxx
xx
xx
HHxxx. Actually, I think either 3
or 3NT will score okay.
I flip-flopped on this. My explanation for 3NT was a pithy: TGBH. This is usually enough, but we have enough to explore a bit with the cuebid.
PROBLEM G: 6
. Make 'em guess high. Not brave enough for 7
. Tempted to pass and hope they miss slam.
I totally get 5
, but the space-consuming jump to 6
, while keeping partner out of the loop, certainly creates more problems for the opps.
PROBLEM H: Pass |
3. Holding fast to my "dislike" of lead problems. This (formerly 7
) is today's choice. Tomorrow might be different. I'm preparing my apology to partner.
[Added] Today is tomorrow. I can't do it. I can't find a convincing reason to pull partner's double.
FINAL PICKS:PROBLEM A: 2 Spades
PROBLEM B: 1 Spade
PROBLEM C: 3 Diamonds
PROBLEM D: 3 Clubs
PROBLEM E: 3 Spades
PROBLEM F: 3 Diamonds
PROBLEM G: 6 Hearts
PROBLEM H: Pass | Diamond 3 --- Almost pulled the trigger on 7
at the last second, but just could not do it.