Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - kenberg

Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 89
1
The IAC Café / Re: IAC vs ACOL - Challenge #9 Sunday November 6th
« on: October 29, 2022, 08:24:33 PM »
Thanks and yes, teams need to be formed with some confidence so count me out.

2
The IAC Café / Re: IAC vs ACOL - Challenge #9 Sunday November 6th
« on: October 29, 2022, 03:07:38 PM »
I might be able to play on the 6th I would be happy for you to form a team without me. I am a maybe.


What's up?? Well, I am 83, soon to be 84. In 1958 I saw the film version of Gigi, where Maurice Chevalier sings I'm Glad I'm Not Young Anymore. Ok, I can see his point, but a guy has a lot more medical issues when he is 84 than he did when he was 64. I am getting checked over on the 4th, the result could be anything from "Hey, you're fine" to"Time for a total overhaul". Probably somewhere in between. Hard to make plans.

One definition of a bore is a person who when you ask them how they are gives a detailed response, but I decided to give an explanation of why I have been playing less. I feel fine, just busy becoming 84. 

So I am a maybe. Lately I avoid committing myself to specifics. Please plan without me.

My 1958 girlfriend liked the movie Gigi a lot more than I did. Gaston looked like a real jerk, Gigi should have held out for better.

3
The IAC Café / Re: IAC vs ACOL - Challenge #8 Sunday October 2nd
« on: September 10, 2022, 12:25:03 PM »
Life has been hopping around like a drunken bunny so it's best I avoid commitments. Even drunken bunnies can sober up so this won't be forever.

Short version: Skip over me for Oct 2.

4
Sleight of Hand / Re: iac v acol hand 7 1st set: opinions please
« on: September 06, 2022, 05:59:26 PM »
Thankyou for these judgements.  Could I be so bold as to sum them up with (albeit with some hedging) After making a 1 !H overcall
3 !H = distributions overcall
double = highcard points overcall.

Of course the dividing line is a matter of opinion.
However, it would give me more guidance as whether to pass for penalties, sign off in 3!h or raise to 4!h

Yep, that's probably fair enough. I still like 3 !H ="I'll decide", X= "You decide".  But it probably comes to about the same thing. And Pass="I decided".

There is a lot of stuff that goes into this, imps or mps, vul or not, and other stuff. So yeah, the dividing line can be a matter of opinion.

5
Sleight of Hand / Re: iac v acol hand 7 1st set: opinions please
« on: September 06, 2022, 02:48:27 PM »
My view is similar to the above. Basically, a double of 3 !D means "I am not letting them play 3 !D undoubled". And yes, it is expected thatpard will pull to something.

1 !D - (1 !H) - 3 !D - (pass)
pass - (?)
A double requires partner to make a choice. You need to decide if you are apt to be happy with that choice. To think that through, it does matter what conventions we are playing. Partner did not make a responsive double over 3 !D. Perhaps this is because we are not playing that
1 !D - (1 !H) - 3 !D - (X)
is responsive. The point is that partner's pass, together with our agreements, says something about what he has or hasn't got and so says something about how he will respond to a double. We want to think about that. Maybe we want to take a chance, that's the way bridge is, but we can think a little about what pard will do when we double.

With the actual hand overcaller had a three card diamond suit. The opening 1 !D was preemptively raised to 3 !D after the overcall.  Overcaller can suppose that partner is short in diamonds although perhaps that 1 !D opening was on a 4=4=3=2 shape. Depends on what agreements the opponents have. Acolers probably open a 4=4=3=2 shape with 1 !S or maybe 1 !H, or of course maybe 1NT. Anyway, we assume, probably correctly, pard is short in diamonds. If he is also short in hearts, why didn't he make a responsive double, assuming we are playing responsive doubles in that sequence. Well, maybe he is 3=2=2=6. Or 3=2=1=7. Or some such.

I could go on. If overcaller holds three !D s then after the preemptive raise it is likely that opener has only four diamonds [I just looked, opener had five diamonds, preempted four, unxepcted but it still gives pard of the overcaller a stiff]. What do we make of the fact he opened 1 !D instead of 1NT? I guess we should check the range of an opening NT call, and then assume opener probably falls outside that range [It seems, from looking at the boards, they were playing strong NT].

But of course we are not given this much time to think. In the finals of the BB, maybe we get to think all this through, but not in casual games. So we go with the short version. Double means partner has to choose what to do and we had better be prepared for whatever choice he makes. When overcaller holds three diamonds he can pretty well bet that pard's choice will not be to leave the double in.

As to what 3 !H (by overcaller) means, it's got to be at least a bit on a hope and a prayer. It's a hand that is not worth doubling and then bidding hearts, so 3 !H is hoping for the best. Again, if a direct double of 3 !D would have been responsive then overcaller can be a bit more confident that pard has a couple of hearts. Either that or very long clubs.



X by overcaller says "Pard, you choose, do your best", X says "Pard, I choose this, I hope it's right"

6
Sleight of Hand / Re: iac v acol hand 7 1st set: opinions please
« on: September 05, 2022, 05:21:14 PM »
As you folks were toughing out the hands I was watching grandchildren, ages 2, almost 4 and almost 7 playing in the park. But I will comment.

There are always two questions. What means what, and what should one do?

1D-(1H)-3D is, I suppose, preemptive.
1D-(1H)-3D-X is responsive? Let's assume so, although I suppose ti could be a version of maximal, and then 3H would be to play.

1D-(1H)-3D-Pass
Pass -X

The X by pvercaller means what? Sometimes it is called "Do something intelligent". I prefer "Do your best". Asking for intelligence is too risky.
Mostly I think that if the auction goes

1D-(1H)-3D-Pass
Pass -X

then the doubler had better be prepared for partner to choose 4C as his best, aka his intelligent, choice. I'm not up for 4C with my stiff club, even if it is an A.

So those are my understandings of "What means what?"

As to "Who should do what?" that's a bit tough.
The heart overall on the first round seems clear. No way I would double and then bid hearts on that.
The pass over 3D is close, for reasons already mentioned. I might pass, I might bid 3H. I would not blame myself or a partner for doing either.

After
1D-(1H)-3D-Pass
Pass -(3H)-Pass
would I bid 4H?
I think so, or at least maybe. It's often a bad idea to punish pard for competing and that's an argument for passing. As the cards lie, it appears that 11 tricks can be made in hearts, which suggests that we should somehow get to 4H. But it's a hand where we should accept pard's choices. Nothing is clear-cut.

For amusement, I will now post a hand I played in an acbl game earlier today.

S: J5
H: KQT
D: J963
C: KJ72

Mps, red against white, righty opens 3D,  I pass, lefty passes, pard jumps to 4H. Righty passes, coward that I am I pass, lefty, bless him, bids 5D and pard doubles.

So:
3D-Pass -Pass-4H
Pass -Pass-5D-X
Pass-?

Ok, pard is not doubling on his D holding, he must have outside aces, I bid 6H. They can hold it to 12 tricks on a D lead but pard got a club lead and brought in 13 tricks.

Is passing first and then bidding 6H crazy? Maybe so but it worked out.

The situation is a bit like the current posting. Not clear what's right, or at least not clear to me.

Ok, more company on its way. The grandkids were a kick. Exhausting but a kick.

7
IAC & Master Solvers Club / Re: 2022 October MSC
« on: August 30, 2022, 11:47:22 PM »
I have to skip this month. Probably back next month

8
The IAC Café / Re: IAC vs ACOL - Challenge #7 Sunday September 4th
« on: August 22, 2022, 08:37:23 PM »
We will have company on the 3rd and 4th making me unavailable.

9
The IAC Café / Re: IAC vs ACOL - Challenge #6 Sunday August 7th
« on: August 08, 2022, 01:19:57 PM »
There was a time in m life when I played more and encountered a greater variety of systems. With regard to the system over 1NT-X it says, for the opener, "If partner (the responder to the 1NT), passes – you must re-double". This was one of my favorite agreements to run up against. Often third hand had a flat hand with little or no values and we were about to get a good result no matter where they ran to. I played weak NT with someone for a while and once found myself in that situation. Partner opened 1NT, Rho doubled, I passed, opener redoubled, I bid 2C, doubled, then 2D doubled and so on. I miraculously got a good result. The opponents complained that my bidding was misleading because my first bid of 2C was on a three-card suit. I explained that I decided to start with clubs and stop at the first suit that wasn't doubled. It worked. If neither of them doubled my 2H bid that was their choice.

Anyway, I agree. It's fun and interesting to deal with unfamiliar systems.

The 2C opening that you spoke of came up on the last hand of the second set. Everyone vul, imps, I am holding

S: QJ64
H: 85
D: K852
C: KQ9

Rho deals and passes, I pass, Lho opens 2C alerted as either weak with diamonds or a big hand. Partner doubles. Undiscussed but I sure hope that's a club suit, Rho passes, I pass, Lho bids 2D, alerted as the weak D call. Rho passes. Ok, this is an opportunity. I know more about pard's hand than if Lho had opened 2D followed by two passes. Pard has clubs (yes, undiscussed as I said but I hope she does and she does) and presumably some other values since a shaggy club suit is not enough to warrant the X if my Lho has the big hand and I have zip. So, now what? Well I got it wrong. We can make 3C and we can make 2NT but my choice was 3NT, off 1. It might have worked. Some days optimism works, some days we should stick with pessimism.



10
The IAC Café / Re: IAC vs ACOL - Challenge #6 Sunday August 7th
« on: August 08, 2022, 01:47:33 AM »
@ken:  Here is something I put together with Doug Smix. It is beautifully named Coyote Run-outs...

https://docs.google.com/document/d/13LmBP_PkS1cgeEgS35ccnT7dOXc37azi-xt61E4IhsM/edit?usp=sharing

Thanks, I will think about it. It turned out that the pair we were playing in the second half were playing strong no trumps. They probably said so but I did not realize it until board 6 where the auction went 1D-1H-1NT-2NT-Pass. Opener and responded each had a 12 count. The opponents of the first half were playing weak NT.

Often that's the way it is. Someone constructs an exotic idea such as Coyote Run-outs but in the practical world I fail to notice this pair is playing strong NT not weak NT.

No harm was done, I just find the gap between theory and practice to be something of a chasm. I recently learned an amusing variant on an old saw "That's fine in practice but how does it work in theory?"

11
The IAC Café / Re: IAC vs ACOL - Challenge #6 Sunday August 7th
« on: August 07, 2022, 11:58:50 PM »
Congrats to the acol team and best wishes for the future.

12
The IAC Café / Re: IAC vs ACOL - Challenge #6 Sunday August 7th
« on: August 07, 2022, 01:20:26 PM »
A question:

The auction begins 1NT(12-14)-X(penaty, starting around 15hcps)?
What happens next?

I realize they have the next bid. Hereare a couple of possibilities
1NT-X-Pass
1NT-X-Xx

Ini my (lmited0 experience against th weak NT different pairs play that beginning very differently.

Maybe 1NT-X-Pass means "nothing to say" and 1NT-X-XX means values.
Other times, against other pairs, 1NT-X-XX is the start of a run and 1NT-X-Pass forces XX from opener if fourth hand passes.

Are there simple written suggestions somewhere for handling either of these developments? I would rather not try to re-invent the wheel between now and game time.

13
The IAC Café / Re: IAC vs ACOL - Challenge #6 Sunday August 7th
« on: August 06, 2022, 03:14:13 PM »
I have now completed a BBO cc for Todd and I. Playing 2/1 UDCA
I note that there is little room for detail.   

This lack of room is a serious problem.
In describing our system I forgot to mention CCR3 and I play five card majors. Of course we do, but for ACOLs it probably is worth mentioning. It is on our card. We also play strong NT (15-17) and udca.

Since, at least so far, I haven't a clue as to what our opponents will be playing ( 4 card majors? weak NT?, how weak?) it would be useful to have maybe five minutes or so to read their cc before the first hand appears. I don't know if that is easy to arrange.

14
The IAC Café / Re: IAC vs ACOL - Challenge #6 Sunday August 7th
« on: August 03, 2022, 11:45:40 AM »
OK, Pat and I had a long talk yesterday. Here is a brief version of what we play:

2/1
Not strict Walsh, but in response to 1C we might well skip over a four card diamond suit to get to a major and maybe skip over a five card diamond suit  when holding only modes values.
15-17 opening NT, including balanced hands with a five card major. As far as I know, a six card minor but of course with no singleton is also a possible 1NT opener.

Opening leads are fourth best, not requiring an honor. Later in the hand a low card lead suggests some strength in the suit. We lead a from AK against suits, again that's at trick 1. We didn't discuss it but for me later leads from AKxx would usually be the K.

I'm not sure how much detail you have in mind but this summary gives the general idea. We have a cc filled out.

Of course there are some things we didn't get to. But we are off to a reasonable start.

15
The IAC Café / Re: IAC vs ACOL - Challenge #6 Sunday August 7th
« on: August 01, 2022, 01:42:31 PM »
I can say that CCR3 and I will be playing 2/1 and udca, with pretty much standard leads. ""pretty much" is because "standard" means different things to different people. I have been too busy to have a lengthy discussion so I am the reason I can't yet give details but Pat is up for discussion and we will try to get it straight and then post it. A typical issue that needs discussion: If we agree, as we might, that X over their NT is conventional if the NT is strong and penalty if their NT is weak then we have to decide what range of NT is which. I usually treat their 13-15Nt as strong, 12-14 as weak, but that's just one of the many things we need to discuss. My days have been a bit hectic lately but we will get to it.

Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 89