Just the first four for now.  Aside from proper cricket, I'm taking part in the British Chess Solving Competition (the MSC might be tough, but the 8 problems for this are crazy devilish).

A.  Pass? Yuck! Support doubles are great when partner does have a 5-card major, but they can lead to this type of mess.  2 means being tapped in hearts - West is making a 2-level vulnerable overcall so probably has AKxxx(x).  2N from me gives the wrong message and, if East has 2 or 3 hearts (which is possible), fatal.  On the other hand, partner could have J9xx in hearts.  In that case would he not have then bid 2N?  Faced with showing a heart stop or 3-card spade support what would partner’s priority be?  3 looks fine if partner does have a heart stop, but without one we’re suddenly in a dark alley with mist descending: 4 ? 3 ? 
 
Can I pass 2 doubled and hope that with 23/24 HCP between us we can sneak 200 or more.  To make 3N partner needs to have Jxxx in hearts.  If he does, what are our chances of putting 2Hx two off for 500?   If we only have a part score (or a horrible spade Moysian or 4 contract), passing and aiming for +200 doesn’t look too bad. 

B.  3N or 4 .  Suppose partner has 19/20 HCP, where are we heading?  At MPs isn’t 3N better than 5 ? But can we make 6 ?  I have good red suit controls, so if partner’s HCP are largely in the black suits, 6 might make.  However, partner may not be 55 and with AKxx in clubs opposite my holding, 6 looks likely to be one off.

C.  4 /4 .  I’m with Jock in his interpretation of BWS.  The idea that 4 is a control bid showing club support, as we didn’t support spades is cunning but will these MSC blighters who tend to ignore BWS when it suits them be as clever as Jock?  Where does that leave 3 ?   

Going back two steps, does the 1 bid show 4xx5: BWS: with 4=3=5=1 or 4=3=1=5 distribution, opener should rebid in spades after a one-heart response. Then 2 over 1N would be 4xx6 and a minimum opener, which means 3 over 1N doesn’t necessarily show a huge hand.  However,  partner would have bid the same with 20/21 HCP and 4xx6.  That makes a sign-off in 3N at this stage a tad wimpish.  So, let’s pursue 6 with 5 as the fallback.  With a lovely spade K and diamond Ace, 4 or 4 gives partner the opportunity to show heart control.

D.  3 .  BWS is not clear about whether 2 promises a 5c suit (as I’ve seen often on vugraph), but let’s agree diamonds now.  Excitement or deflation will be immediate, as partner will next show the state of his spades.  If partner bids 3 , my 4 gives him a chance to show second round spade control.  Alternatively, I think a 4 RKC bid here would leave space for a king ask, but not sure that BWS allows it.

A.  4 .  Partner rates to be short in hearts and has not bid diamonds over 3 , so 4 must show 5125 or a Walsh-like 4126.  Partner is an unpassed hand, so I’m not comfortable with passing.  With Ax in clubs opposite a partner holding 4126, clubs may be preferable to spades.  Do I bid 4 to show Hxx (as opposed to xxx) or 4 to show the solid suit?  A 4 bid may carry the implication that I’m rejecting clubs (say I am 3451), 4 is more neutral.

B.  Pass/4 .  BWS; a single jump-overcall of a suit opening in direct position is pre-emptive.  Red v white opposite a passed partner, suppose East has eight (7?) clubs topped with KQJ and not much else opposite a partner with 8 HCP (say).  That leaves 18 HCP with partner, which makes sense.  Then we have game, but perhaps I should pass: West’s HCP are under partner’s strength and we could easily take 6 tricks for 500.  That’s better than 3N. 

• If West has only 4 HCP and partner his max of 22, have we got a chance for slam in a suit?  Partner with 4531/3541 would bid the second suit rather than double, so may be 4540.  I’m not quite sure what partner would bid with 21/22 HCP and six hearts – 3 over 3 looks a bit weak with that hand.  So, we may have a 62 heart fit or a 54 diamond fit.  I’m not bidding at the three-level – that’s too weak for my hand in these circumstances.  4 doesn’t look that helpful for partner if we are searching for a thin slam, whereas 4 does.  Slam chance or 500 penalty? Dreamer or realist? 

C.  1N.  This looks straightforward (last words?):  BWS; In reopening position: a one-notrump overcall shows 10-14 HCP. 

D.  (A) a3 (B) pass/b3.  BWS; A first- or second-position weak two-bid that includes three of this list of characteristics is unacceptable: five cards in the bid suit; seven cards in the bid suit; flimsy (definition adjusted to suit the vulnerability) six cards in the bid suit; side void; side four-card or longer suit. Otherwise, opener may use judgment.  This hand has only 2 from this list, so it’s down to my judgement – that’s ok then!?!     

• If East opened 3 , partner and West have 24 HCP between them, a 20/20 hand perhaps. Passing feels poor with six hearts, but looks correct … even for methed-up MSC bidders? 

E.  1N/2 .  We may have 25 HCP between us.  Presumably I didn’t bid 1N because I am a tad too strong for this (10-14), so bidding 1N now shows my strength, but does it obscure my 3c spade support?  2 might be better from that point of view, as partner is forced to bid.  Partner will know a subsequent spade bid from me shows three of ‘em.     

F.   3 .  We’re heading for a slam, but I know not where, so 3 looks a decent option. If my 2 does not necessarily show a 6c suit, I would like to bid 3 .  What will partner do over these bids holding 2524?  After 3 he will bid 4 even if he has diamond control because from his point of view clubs are uncontrolled – then I can’t make a move because diamonds may be uncontrolled.  That looks a mess.   After 3 won’t 2524 partner bid 3 in case I have six spades?   That leaves more room to found out about diamond control. 

G.   2 .  If, with no further prompting from me, partner bids clubs, I’ll raise to 7 ; if hearts, 6 .  If the auction goes (1 ) – 2 – (4 ) – p, I’ll bid 5 .

H.   AS/something else.  East looks to be (2/1)3(2/3)6 or (2/1)4(2/3)5 and must hold the heart king.  They have crept somewhat to 3N (perhaps relying on six club tricks) so partner may have a queen or even a king.  If partner’s honour is in clubs we’re dead.  In diamonds, a queen might be too slow or die if East is 1345 (and preferred no trumps to the diamond fit), but the king would win.  Then there’s the perfect partner who is clutching the spade queen. 

• Normally against no trumps, leading the ace forces partner to unblock or give count (both catastrophic here), but surely with an opponent having bid the suit, partner will revert to attitude if I lead the spade ace?  He knows I know that he has only one honour card, and it has to be in spades or diamonds to be useful, so an attitude card will tell me which.  Surely, professionals must adapt carding to particular circumstances, rather than following standard agreements by rote.  If partner gives negative attitude (or the spade queen is in dummy), I will switch to a diamond.

 

I must make these dits much, much shorter

Problem H.  Aside from technical points, don't partnership cohesion and trust play an important part?  At the table, if partner said he could see setting tricks, I would pass immediately and think what to lead.  Bidding 7 would undermine trust.  If partner turned out to be wrong, well ... I make tons of mistakes.  It will be interesting to see if professionals think that way!

We've had a dreadfully wet May.  Yet again, cricket has been stopped, so I'll post this even though it may be tripe.

A.  3H (3N).  According to BWS: Among advancer's actions when responder raises opener: a double is not for penalty (for takeout or showing general values, depending on level).   If N’s double was for takeout, EW have a 10/11 card fit and one of them would have bid 3H (or some punchier bid than 2H).  Therefore, N must have three (maybe four hearts) and “general values”.  For a passed hand these had better be in the 8-10 HCP range or there’s going to be shouting in the bar afterwards.  Holding the heart king, should I simply bid 3N?  Suppose I bid 3H asking for a heart stop (does 3H have this meaning in BWS?) and partner has JTx or Qxx, will he bid 3N? Still, 3H gives more options 

B.  X.  Balancing seems right.  N and W have 28 HCP between them.  N could well be 12-14 with three or four diamonds (pretty much like W), but probably hasn’t got five hearts.  That raises hopes for a spade fit.  Balancing with a 2C bid is likely to lose the spades if they’re there.  When N bids 1H over my x I can bid 1S; p will know I have only four spades and because I’m a passed hand won’t get overly excited.  My hand is close to a 1N balancing bid (10/11 by a passed hand and not necessarily promising a stopper over a minor suit opening), and I wonder if that will get some votes.

C.  3D or 2N (see above).

D.  3C.  We don’t open a weak 2 with an outside three- or four- card major, so EW have a nine-card heart fit.  I can lead my spades safely, so if I want to direct the lead, 3C is the choice. 

E.  3S.  W is yet to bid, so how strong is p and what are his diamonds like?  3S is over-egging but gives N a chance to bid 3N with decent diamond stop(s).  If N is 2425/2434 with no diamond stop, he may well bid 4H; after all, I could be 54 in the majors. That will mean we play in 5C.  Will it be that bad?

F.  3N.  Would N make a negative x with five spades?  Hopefully not, but he might have four spades and three hearts (a 44 trump fit leaving the hearts for discards).  3N looks reasonable – apart from being a pragmatic bid, it shows my hand quite well (18/19, stop in diamonds).  If partner has got three hearts, I can rely on him bidding 4H and then I will go slamming.  Of course, p with 4315 might make a heart slam move himself (quite what that may be eludes me just now – 4C? 4N? or just 5H?)

G.  6H (6D).  We’re not vulnerable so partner may well just hold AQ in hearts.  One opponent with a heart void and the other with a diamond singleton looks entirely possible - say E is 5215 – so they have a slam.  Will 5H really change the price of fish? 6H looks better.  If W then bids 6S, we can sacrifice in 7H.  If W was eyeing a minor suit slam (3046), well … let him squirm a bit. 

• What about 6D instead of 6H?  If W passes that, partner will need to be on the ball and bid 6H.  Can I rely on that?  I wonder what partner would conclude if asking the same of me.  If I can rely on p, 6D gets a lead director in – to what end, though? It might dissuade them from bidding a failing grand.  But would the grand fail if I bid 6H and partner missed the diamond lead?

H.  Pass and D3.  W must surely be void in clubs, but what does N mean with his x?  Does it mean “don’t lead clubs” – in which case he must want a diamond lead.  Is it likely that he is 4207, with W 4450 and E 3442?  Well, maybe.  Partner would hardly double without a second trick.  That must be partner’s major suit king (after all, he’s got only 3 HCP in clubs).  Therefore, partner has the spade king which looks a sure trick on the auction.  Partner might have the heart king instead of the spade king but then his double is more of a gamble, but not without a chance – although the heart king will be stiff after ruffing a diamond, W might still contrive to take the losing trump finesse.   

SOLUTIONS FOR:
Richard Harvey
5 Westwood Rd
Southampton SO31 5EL
U.K.

PROBLEM A: 4 Clubs
PROBLEM B: 3 Notrump
PROBLEM C: 1 Spade
PROBLEM D: (d5)
PROBLEM E: 5 Clubs
PROBLEM F: 2 Clubs
PROBLEM G: Pass
PROBLEM H: Heart Queen

Late this month, but still as dodgy:

A) 3N.  Partner should have 10/11 (+) HCP for a negative double at the 3-level, and they all figure to be outside clubs.  What are the chances of us making 3N?  We have to hope the pre-emptor doesn’t have the diamond ace.  Perhaps that’s reasonable given the vulnerability?  We will need 5 major suit tricks if partner does not have the diamond ace.  In that case his HCP will be split between the majors; AQxx(x) and AJxx(x) say.  But if partner has that minimum we could well lose 5 tricks (2 major suit kings, two clubs and the diamond ace).  With that same minimum hand can we take 5 tricks against 3Cx?  We’re unlikely to get two tricks in both majors alongside the trump ace (unless West is 3316, and partner is exactly 44 in the majors).  I might be bidding 3N to avoid the risk of 3Cx making when partner is minimum, knowing that if he is not, I’ll be scoring 400 against 300.

B) 4C.  Partner has at most two hearts but with a 18/19 HCP hand, a variety of games seem possible including 3N – if partner has KJx KQ AQxx(x) Axx(x).  However, with that sort of hand partner would have bid 2N over 1S.  So, I guess we’re aiming at a minor suit.  I’ve got the space to show my clubs, so why not?  Partner could be 44 in the minors (xxx AK AQJx Axxx) rather than holding 5+ diamonds.  What would 4S be from me here – equal length minors, confusion for everyone?

C) Pass.  I would expect both majors from partner probably (45)31 or 4441.   One problem with 3N is that the missing high cards are likely to be over partner.  One problem with 3S is that partner may pass (?) and leave us with a measly 140.  Maybe it’s time for the axe for 200.

D) Pass. I seem to be considering an awful lot of passes for an MSC bidding quiz!  West figures to have big hand and this feels a little like a trap.  I can offer a trick – two on a non-trump lead, with perhaps a club too.   

E) 5H.  Partner’s 4D suggests equal length majors and East’s x of 4D suggests partner is void in the suit, so maybe 4405 or (much more excitingly) 5503.  4H from me is a woeful underbid.  Do I pass and let partner set trumps, and then leap into slam action and what would 4N from me mean?  If partner is 4405 we’d prefer a heart slam to a club slam, so I could get us going in that direction with 5H – which maybe has the message of “bid 6H if your hearts are Qxxx and not xxxx.”  Maybe a straight 6H is better than that.

F)  No/5D.  I had to do something over 3H, and 3S probably struck me as too weak, but why not 4D which gives a better view of the hand?  4H also has virtues.  There’s no doubt that the double has woken up partner.  With two spades would he have bid 3S?  I can’t criticise partner over the 4N – it’s about as clear as some of my bids.  My t/o double might be inferred to show 4144, so partner might be asking about minors in which case 5D might correct the faulty picture.   

G) 3S.  Having been told off for obscuring my long spades on F with the co-operative double instead of bidding 4D, I can hardly repeat the mistake (at least not so soon).  Sure, the spades are patchy and who knows how useful the heart queen will be, but this feels right.

H)  CT. Maybe the reason I struggle with lead problems is that by the time I get here, my brain is asking for a rest or drugs.  Let’s put the lead question as Problem A from now on!  Partner looks to have 4 spades, but he might also have just one honour there (the K).  So let’s not kill that straightaway.         

Quote from: wackojack on February 06, 2021, 05:53:16 PM

B 3♦
If partner has 7 clubs ♣ AJ9xxxx must have good high cards outside and yet did not rebid 2NT or 3NT.  I reckon he could well have 8 of them.  I think that with 7 or 8 tricks in clubs we could well have 3NT on. And as DickHy observed right siding for 3NT could be crucial.  So, I will go for 3♦.  I will pass 3N or 4♣.   

There it is!

That's what I've been thinking. 3 . . . Wondering if I was the only one. But . . . does this imply my holding?

I keep intending to post but am constantly pulled away. Too many irons in the fire right now.

I worried too about whether 3 would show my club holding.  I'm wondering about making a cue bid to show a good club raise.  I could have bid 2 directly over East's 1 , but instead passed.  If I bid 3 now, surely partner will understand that my promised "good club raise" is simply good clubs?

I suppose I could make a cue bid of 3 instead, but 3 seems (to me, anyway) much more clear as a "delayed" heart cue bid.

Suit Preference Leads

These were mentioned in the review of Problem H of the MSC February bidding quiz (just above).  Ever keen to be educated, I looked at Eddie Kantar’s Advanced Bridge Defense and Kit Woolsey’s Partnership Defense in Bridge.  I imagine most of you know all about this, but some may find it interesting.

“The opportunity for a suit-preference signal on the opening lead is rare indeed,” says Kit.  He and Eddie cite the chief circumstance:

1) Underleading an Ace in a supported suit

This is Kit’s example.

West  North  East  South
  3S      x        4S      6H

West  : AQT9632   : 873   : -   : 652

West leads the 9 or 10.  East unexpectedly wins his King, and realises partner has underled the Ace as suit-preference.  Here asking for a diamond to ruff.  Eddie gives a very similar example but with the auction 4S – (x) – 5S – 6H and opening leader, who has a club void, leading the spade 2.

In each case there is only one spade trick cashing, and no other way of getting a ruff.  Presumably any supported suit situation would count – the one in the MSC quiz arose in a competitive auction – and the suit-preference signal would not always be for a ruff – the MSC quiz asked partner to lead through declarer into an AQ tenace. 

After (1S) – 2H – (2S) – 3S – (4S), presumably a spot card in hearts would be suit-preference.  But after (1S) – 2H – (2S) – 3H – (4S), with weaker heart support, opening leader may need to be cautious.

2)  The Alarm Clock Lead

Kit describes a second circumstance which is more frequent and not strictly suit-preference.  Here you may not be underleading an ace, but partner knows that a) you have “excess length” in the suit and b) are trying to get him to do something unusual.  “The first condition is satisfied if you have shown length in the suit during the bidding.”  Kit’s example is this:

South   West  North  East

   1H       2S      3H      p
   4H

West   : KJT642  : 942   : -   :Q875

You lead the lowest card in your long suit.  Partner is not guaranteed to have the Ace, but if he does, the lead “awakes partner out of his normal lethargy” (hence the name) to do something unusual.  The spade two is not suit-preference, but (in this case) says “I have a void in one of the other two suits.”  The newly-perked-up partner ought to be able to work out where after looking at dummy, his hand and remembering (hopefully accurately) the auction.   The crucial point is that you have shown length in the bidding.  This is especially true if your normal leads against suits are 3rd/5th because the lead of a lowest card in a 5c suit will appear to partner as standard. 

Please, please tell me if in future you make one of these leads.

PS:  Jim, "English" please; I don't want to be mixed up with the neighbouring Celts.  I'm sure they'd be even more alarmed to find me in their midst.  Thanks Jim and Jock.