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Topics - wackojack

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16
Sleight of Hand / Double or overcall?
« on: May 04, 2020, 11:16:26 AM »
North NV opens 1  !S.  These are the East-West hands:

 !S QJ4        !S A108
 !H A2          !H KJ754
 !D AJ542     !D KQ106
 !C J64         !C 10

Looking at the EW cards you can see that 6 !D is an excellent contract since the spade finesse will almost certainly work. The problem is what does east bid over the 1  !S opening bid.

Say you double:  Then sods law says that partner will respond in a number of clubs and the higher the number the more embarrassing.  Say 3 !C then you bid 3 !D, but you have to be sure that you are playing ELC (Equal level conversion).  If you are not what do you bid?  If at worst partner bids 5  !C and you bid 5  !D partner might think you have a GOSH too strong to overcall 2 !D. 

Say you overcall 2 !H:  Then West (according to BWS) cannot now bid 3 !D because that is not forcing.  (aside:  How I hate this rule)      So West bids 3NT and you pass.  Disaster!.

I would like to put this in my Wacko's Work-out tomorrow and get your views. Thanks

17
Sleight of Hand / Line of play with the best odds of making
« on: April 29, 2020, 01:07:24 PM »
 For working out odds a Ken special?

!S Q109542
 !H J875
 !D Q
 !C 97

 !S A
 !H AKQ962
 !D A762
 !C K2

Bidding: 1 !H - 3 !H - 6 !H
Lead J  !D.


This was played in a TM last night.  Please don't spoil it by looking before you have replied.  Just to say that opps carding may not help you because a reserve stepped in on this hand alone with no discussion.   


18
Sleight of Hand / Don't bid your hand twice
« on: April 19, 2020, 02:01:54 PM »
"Don't bid your hand twice" is a very good maxim that is not often observed in the iac world.  So what do you do if you get nv v v:

 !S AJ8
 !H KQJ8642
 !D  void
 !C K84

I was the dealer and opened 1  !H.  LHO doubled, partner responded 1  !S , RHO passes and I re-bid 4  !H.  Next LHO comes in with 5  !D.  Passed round to me.
1 !H -(x) - 1  !S -(p);
4 !H (5 !D) - p - (p);
?

Partner did not double 5  !D bearing in mind that my rebid of 4  !H would show good high card strength as opposed to out an opening bid of 4  !H.  So I assumed that 5 !D might well be makeable.  At the table my choice appeared to be between 5 !H for -800 if partner really did have zilch (but much more likely -500 or -300 or even -100) or pass accepting -600.  So I decided to bid on giving away 300 when partner had:

 !S K653
 !H A9
!D 652
 !C 9752

 So 5 !D would have gone 1 off.  I did castigate myself for breaking the rule "Don't bid your hand twice"  However, on reflection I am moving toward thinking that partner with 2 likely tricks and knowing that my hand shows power and is not just a pre-empt and should judge that 5  !D is likely to go at least 1 off. And so double.

Thoughts?

19
Sleight of Hand / Wacko's MSC
« on: March 29, 2020, 11:25:39 AM »
Below are some "your bid" questions that arose during a recent match.  Different choices were made which could have been crucial.  No doubt you could find what actually happened, but if you did, that could spoil genuineness of your answers. 

A.  At WvR, you dealer open 1  !D
    !S AQ8,   !H 862, !D QJ109,  !C KQ5.
   
     1  !D - (1  !H) - Dbl - (p);  ? 

B. At WvR, partner the dealer:
    !S KQJ5,  !H K97542,  !D J3,  !C 2
   
     p -(p ) - ?

C. Game all, RHO opens 1  !H:
    !S K87632,  !H 62,  !D A6,  !C J75
   
    1  !H - (?)

D. At WvR. RHO opens 1  !S:
     !S Q943,  !H KQJ10753,  !D K3,  !C -
     
      1  !S - (?)

E. At game all. partner the dealer opens 1 !C, opponents silent
    !S 10963,  !H AQJ1074,  !D - ,  !C KQ9
   
    1  !C  -  1  !H
    2  !D  -  2  !S *
    2NT    - ?
   
* 2  !S you intend as 4th suit game force meaning "please tell me more"

20
Sleight of Hand / Opening 2M bids
« on: February 26, 2020, 10:56:38 AM »
My range in common with all the bridge players I know is 5-9HCP in 1st and 2nd position.  A few days ago a pick-up partner in iac opened 2♠ with 11HCP.  The outcome was not good.  When I asked after he said that was what he was taught.   Yesterday I noticed in my “work-out” one of the volunteers opening 2♠ with 11.  OK so be it if that was what they were taught.  However, I fail to see any virtue in this. Weak 2’s, I thought were meant to be pre-emptive.  In other words, to take away bidding room from the opponents if as is likely the hand is theirs.  Also, because it guarantees a 6 card suit, it gives partner a possible platform for sacrificing should she have any length in that suit.  Should partner be strong, the range of 5 points for the opening bid also gives partner the necessary room to make a 2NT range/help-suit ask to assess the prospects of game.     
So, questions to those across the Atlantic who might know the answers to this curious (I think) practice of opening 2♠ with 11:
1.   Seriously would you open 2♠ with ♠ AKJxxx, ♥ xxx, ♦ QJx, ♣ x?   Or   ♠ QJ10xxx, ♥AKJ, ♦ x, ♣ xxx?
2.   Does it follow then that 1♠-1NT-2♠ shows a 6 card suit with 12-16HCP?

An aside:  I noticed when kibbing USA v Netherlands in the Bermuda Bowl a few years ago that the young Dutch pair opened 2♠ with a 3 count.  This was explained by the commentators that they played 2 levels of weak 2’s.  2M very weak, and 2♦ (either ♥ or ♠ and weak)  I don’t remember if this was only not vul.   

21
Sleight of Hand / Bidding judgement stretched to the limit
« on: February 20, 2020, 11:53:56 AM »
F2F match
You have at game all:
 !S AK85
 !H 1064
 !D A82
 !C 872
You are playing 5542 SA 15-17 NT  not 2/1

Partner opens 1 !D and RHO overcalls 2  !C, and I double. LHO raises to 3 !C which is passed round to me. So: 
1  !D - (2 !C) - dbl - (3 !C)
pass -(pass)  ?

My thinking: 
Partner either has a balanced 12-14 with 4 or 5 diamonds possibly with a 4 card major or unbalanced with diamonds and likely no 4 card major.  Options:
pass?  With 3 quick tricks in defence in my hand could we could net +200?  OTOH Too strong to give up on game?
2NT?  This would surely be a natural invite to  3N.  OTOH you are relying on partner to have a club stop.
3  !D? Partner definitely has at least 4 diamonds and likely perhaps has 5.  OTOH a 4-3 fit may not play well with no ruffing value in my hand. 

So any suggestions? I will reveal developments later. 


22
Sleight of Hand / Bid this
« on: February 09, 2020, 02:28:20 PM »
At white, you have:
 !S AJ87542
 !H 9
 !D KQ7
 !C 104
LHO passes and partner opens 1 !H, you respond 1 !S, partner rebids 3 !C.  This I take as game forcing and so I rebid 3  !S taking it slowly in the game forcing situation.  Partner now raises to 4  !S. I still have lots of unadvertised strength and it seemed that there was no alternative to Blackwood 4N.  (comments?) Partner responded 5 !D showing 3 keycards. 
1 !H   1 !S
3 !C    3 !S
4 !S   4NT
5  !D  ?

Would you now go straight to 6 !S?  Or try 5 !H which I believe is a trump Queen ask?  If partner denies the Q !S and just bids 5 !S would you pass or continue to 6  !S? I went on to 6  !S on the basis that if partner had a doubleton spade without the queen, the slam would still be slightly better than evens and partner might even have 3 spades. 

Partner's hand was disappointing:

 !S K3
 !H AK764
 !D A8
 !C QJ96

The 4  !D was led but I still went off when RHO had  !S Q109 and I went with the odds and played for the drop. 

I appreciate that with a good 17 a rebid of 2  !C can sometimes result in a missed game.  Nevertheless I believe that a rebid of 2NT (18-19) fits the bill much better.  I do notice that a 5422 hand does seem to draw partners into showing their 2nd suit.  Now:
1 !H   1 !S
2NT    ?

Am I too good for 4 !S, and would 3 !S be a sign off?  What would 3  !C be taken as?  A Wolf sign-off?  (3 !C is a relay to 3  !D and then 3 !S is a sign-off)  Then 3  !S would be forcing.  So we get to;
1 !H   1 !S
2NT    3 !S
?
Surely opener must next make the courtesy cue bid of 4  !D.  Now if you play that this bid denies 1st or 2nd round control in clubs then we sign off in 4  !S safely. 

What if you are not playing the Wolff sign-off.  What would be sensible?

 
 





   

23
Sleight of Hand / A Christmas problem
« on: December 24, 2019, 06:20:43 PM »
At game all you have;
 !S K64
 !H 4
 !D AJ9754
 !C A82

RHO opens 1  !C and you overcall 1  !D.  The bidding proceeded:
1 !C - (1 !D) -p - (1 !S);
dbl - (?)
The double by RHO looks like it is showing a 4 card heart suit.  I reject the 2 additional options of pass and redouble given to me. Redouble I believe should be showing a doubleton top honour in spades and not 3.  Partner's 1 !S bid could I believe be any number of spades from 4 upwards, but at this stage more likely 5+ spades than 4, so I think a simple raise to 2  !S most accurately shows my hand rather than rebidding diamonds. The bidding continues:
1 !C - (1 !D) -p - (1 !S);
dbl - (2 !S) - p - (3 !D);
pass -(?)

Now that partner has supported diamonds and most likely 3 card support,  there is a strong suggestion that partner has only 4 spades, because with diamond support partner could have made
 an initial fit jump to 2  !S with 5+spades and diamond support.  Another question is whether or not 3  !D is forcing and to what level.  The easy answer is that it has to be forcing since the non forcing way of playing in diamonds would be to raise immediately to 3  !D.  Forcing to what level though?  Why would partner first bid 1  !S?  Could it be that she did not want to rule out 3NT?  Partner's distribution is most likely 4432.  and so could be looking for me to bid 3NT with a club stop because she knows that you know that she has 4 hearts and therefore a likely stop in that suit.  So with that in mind what should be my next bid?  I will take the options in order of  rank and not in order of preference:

3 !H: I initially reject this because it suggests a heart stop looking for 3NT if partner has a club stop. Although if she knows that I know she has 4 hearts, then would 3  !H not just be a waiting bid saying nothing about hearts?  So perhaps after all this could be the best bid.
3  !S : Would this passable or forcing?  I think it should be forcing at imp scoring since I am taking out of what seems a perfectly reasonable contract of 3  !D.  If so how many spades am I promising? It must be 4.  So on this basis I should reject 3  !S. 
4  !C:  Is this showing a control and forcing to game and leaving it to partner to choose 4  !S or 5  !D?
4  !D:  Is this saying pass if you are min or is it a game force looking for a slam if partner is max?
4  !S:  It is not certain that partner only has 4 spades and even then the Moysian fit having to make 1 fewer, tricks in 4  !S than 5  !D game in diamonds may be just right. 
5  !D:  Obviously to play.  If in doubt just bid the game you think will make? 

I wont tell you yet which bid I made.  Yet.
   
 

24
Sleight of Hand / Survivor
« on: November 20, 2019, 05:26:27 PM »
This came up playing Survivor: MP
 !S 86
 !H 5
 !D A5432
 !C KJ542

 !S AK2
 !H KJ73
 !D Q987
 !C A8
Bidding: 1NT-3NT Lead 3 !C, 2, 10, Ace. No information about opponents' lead style.  I think most likely from Qxx3, although some like GIB will lead small from 4 small. 
How do you play the diamond suit? I played 7 to the Ace and another.  However, it was suggested in the later analysis in the context of J  !S lead that running the Q was the best play.  This was indeed the play that would lose only 1  !D trick if RHO turned up with the stiff 10.  However, Ken later pointed out that the best chance of losing only 1 diamond trick was the way I played.   Doing the analysis I make it that running the Queen gives you 53.1% chance whereas small to ace and another gives you 65.6% chance of only losing 1 diamond. 

However, even losing 2 diamond tricks I still made my contract.  If the defence is very cute now and lead a club.  (Giving me a free finesse in  !C s but end-playing me in   !S and forcing me to lead away from my   !H suit)  I will go down. But that didn't happen.   

Incidentally I play a 3 !D  response to 1NT to show 5-5 in the minors game forcing. I think I would still bid 3N but it is close. This is BBO Adv.  Is that general in iac?

25
Sleight of Hand / True sleight of hand?
« on: October 30, 2019, 10:48:52 AM »
 Declarer was one of the leading iac players.
1 !H - 2  !C;
2 !H - 3  !C;
4NT - 6NT;
pass

                             !S 82
                             !H A2
                             !D Q2
                             !C AKQ9763

 !S A643
 !H Q10
 !D 109754
 !C J8

Trick 1          10  !D runs round to declarer's King          !D 10 2 8 K
Trick 2          Declarer plays 10 !C to Ace in dummy       !C 10 8 A 2
Trick 3          and back with   !S to Q and Ace                !S 2 7 Q A

What card do you next play?

26
Sleight of Hand / Your call?
« on: September 19, 2019, 09:52:34 AM »
This came up in a Regional tourney last weekend.  You have vul v nv:
 !S void
 !H 1098632
 !D K1092
 !C A63


Playing 5542 15-17, partner opens 1  !C; RHO overcalls 3 !S your call?  In the style of "Master Solver" please award marks out of 10 for the following?  (i) Pass? (ii) 4 !H? (iii) double?  (iv) other?
 

27
IAC Teaching Sessions / Hoki session yesterday
« on: September 19, 2019, 09:38:15 AM »
 !S AJ1083
 !H 97
 !D Q93
 !C J97

 !S 65
 !H AK63
 !D K1062
 !C KQ2

Bidding with opps silent: 1 NT-2  !H -2  !S -2NT-pass. Lead 4 !H. Plan the play.

I will start the ball rolling with some questions.
1. Do you play the 9 or the 7  !H from dummy and do you think it is important?
2. Assuming you play the 9  !H and RHO plays the J, do you duck or take with K?  Is it important you find out ASAP whether or not the lead is from 4 or 5 or possibly even 3?
3.  Assuming you do not duck and take with K  !H or you duck the J  !H and RHO continues with Q  !H and you now take with the K !H.
4. Which suit do you play?  !S to 10? or  2 !D to 9? or 2 !D to Q? or other?  In each case what high card placements and suit breaks are you hoping for? 

 

 




28
Sleight of Hand / Awkward hand to bid
« on: August 28, 2019, 01:36:19 PM »
 !S 97
 !H A976
 !D A4
 !C 98532

 !S J
 !H KQJ
 !D KQ8752
 !C AK4

This tricky hand to bid came up in iac.  I am going to post some possible auctions with my comments.   Then over to you comments welcome.

1. 
1  !D - 1  !H
3  !D (i) - 3  !S (ii)
3NT (iii) -  pass

(i) In my book a jump rebid of a minor shows a 6 card suit with stuffing and 17+HCP or a 7-8 playing trick hand. So although the diamond suit lacks a bit of stuffing the 19HCP makes up for this.  So it qualifies.  However, is it the best bid?
(ii) There are 2 unbid suits and so the BWS rule says that a bid of either unbid suits is a stopper  "tell" not an "ask"  Or does this apply only when both the unbid suits can be bid below  level of 3NT?  Instinct tells me that 3  !S should be an ask because a 4 !C "tell" is above the level of 3NT.
(iii)  If 3  !S is an ask then opener should definitely bid 4  !H.  If it is construed as a "tell", then there is still a strong argument for opener to bid 4  !H.

2.
1  !D - 1  !H
3   !C (i) - 3  !S (ii)
4  !H (iii)  - pass

(i) Partner would normally bid this to show a 4-5 card  !C suit.  However, it prepares the ground better for bidding (or avoiding) 3NT.  One would not expect partner to insist on a club contract without 5 card support for clubs. 
(ii) Now 3  !S has to be saying bid 3NT if you have a spade stop. So 4  !H is the obvious bid.

3.
1  !D - 1  !H
3   !C (i) - 4  !C  (ii)
4  !H (iii)  - pass (or 5  !C?)

North is more likely to respond a forcing 4  !C with 5 card club support.  Now surely opener's 4  !H bid is showing 3 card support.  The question now which is safer?  Pass in the known Moysian?  Or go for the better fit in 5 !C?  Seeing both hands which is safer?  4  !H or  5  !C?

4.
1 !D  1  !H
4  !H  pass

Short and sweet?



29
Sleight of Hand / Wegot thrashed (iv)
« on: August 23, 2019, 10:14:21 AM »
Red v white
you have:
 !S AKJ732
 !H 106
 !D Q4
 !C K105

Opps silent, you are playing 2 over 1 GF
1  !S -  1NT
2  !S - 3 !H
?

 

30
Sleight of Hand / We got thrashed (iii)
« on: August 20, 2019, 05:38:07 PM »
Game all:
 !S A9542
 !H A108
 !D 93
 !C A83

 !S KQ
 !H J65
 !D Q2
 !C KJ7542

1  !C - (1  !D) - 1  !S - (p)
2  !C - (2  !H) -  3  !D - (p)
3  !S - (p)    - 4 !S -all pass

I thought we constructed that auction quite well.  Comments welcome.

Guess how many imps we lost and why?

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