Author Topic: 2021 February - MSC  (Read 14616 times)

thornbury

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Re: 2021 February - MSC
« Reply #15 on: December 27, 2020, 11:34:56 PM »
PROBLEM A: Double
PROBLEM B: Pass
PROBLEM C: 3 Hearts
PROBLEM D: Double
PROBLEM E: 3 Notrump
PROBLEM F: 1 Diamond
PROBLEM G: 2 Hearts
PROBLEM H: Club Ace

wackojack

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Re: 2021 February - MSC
« Reply #16 on: January 02, 2021, 11:13:17 AM »
Initial thoughts
A 5♦
Partner should have been prepared for me to play in 5♥ opposite no aces.  I have a singleton ♣ and the K♦ which could be crucial for making 12 tricks.  So 5♦ should give that message.
B 3♦
West’s 2♣ overcall does increase the chances that partner is short in this suit.  Could partner have   ♠ Axx; ♥ KJx; ♦ KQxxxx; ♣x?  Yes easily.  So I will press on to make the invite in ♦s.
C  2♥
This looks like a misfit so I will bid a conservative 2♥ with my quacky 11.
D 2♠
The best chance of finding a fit and should be able to stand the 3 level.  A take out double perhaps gives you a better chance of finding a fit as it does not exclude diamonds.  However, you will be kicking yourself if partner turns up with a decent hand with 3 hearts.
E 3♦
How I hate partner pre-empting me.  8 tricks in my hand and likely zero in partner’s hand except when ♣ are trumps.  I will try 3♦ hoping partner has something like ♣ KQJ10xxx and a doubleton ♥. Of course partner might well have ♥ Kxx and ♣ KQxxxx .  And we may well have missed 3NT.  ☹
F  1♠
If partner has 3 card ♠ support we likely buy the contract.  If West out bids us then we have got our lead director in. 
G dbl
The heart suit is too poor to overcall 2♥.
H A♣

blubayou

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Re: 2021 February - MSC
« Reply #17 on: January 03, 2021, 12:29:07 AM »
PROBLEM A:>>  We are not ALLOWED a bid here, And a solid wall of  25 "5D" votes won't change this.   The Captain has elected to take a lead to five clubs, and I don't even have to figure out what those reasons might be .
    PASS
PROBLEM B:>>  3D might be our limit, but it will never go down. On the other hand,  the club  bidder might be coming in spades and be pleasantly suprized.   LET that happen at the 3-level, eh?   Also, partner's  non-jump to 2D can yet be making five with this dummy, so raising seems clear.
    3 Diamonds
PROBLEM C:>>  Can't explain why raising 1 spade feels like such a happy compromise for this large pile  so i will just bid it and move on.
     2 Spades
PROBLEM D:>>   Am letting the united voice of our contributors suck me in on this one.  I.E.  switching from the 2H overcall to Michaels cue:(  Via con Dios, Jim--I am with you in my heart.
     2 Spades
PROBLEM E:>>  Am tired of going down in 3NT in my nightmares--whether they grab 5 hearts, or collect 5 something at the end after a different lead.   This hand reminds me of goulash maxim #4: "The quick tricks belong in service to the guy with the looong suit"-- so i will put this down as dummy
     PASS
PROBLEM F:>>  Hell hasn't frozen over,  so no ONE-BID  for me.  And I am terrible at playing catch-up after oddball two-bids, so this remains a...
    PASS
PROBLEM G:>>.  I broke a promise to myself to stay off the simulator--not on problem C, which is a natural  candidate but on this one.  But gave up after only 24 valid examples.  One thing became clear--"pass"  is a huge LOOSER but "2H", 2NT, and "double" all had their days in the sun.  Also--  if you DO double, it's ok to raise pard's 2 Hearts, but NOT his 2 spades!  (in case you meet this beast in real life).  The 3sided coin came up....
    DOUBLE
PROBLEM H:>>   With max of  KQ, KJ in our suits,  pard who opened has one of their aces  [or at least some stopper].  Definitely go for the ruff--OR RUFFS!] After all if they are 4-1  and 3-0 in our suits there is no setting trick if we don't
    singleton Diamond!

Congratulations  to our February champion --dropping partner in his 3C opener on #E pretty much seals MY fate  I suppose:)
« Last Edit: January 04, 2021, 09:21:30 AM by blubayou »
often it is better to beg forgiveness, than ask permission

jcreech

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Re: 2021 February - MSC
« Reply #18 on: January 04, 2021, 11:56:03 AM »
Jock, I don't care how much you rail about it, but the nature of bidding contests is that there are more than one probable answer, and sometimes the nature of multiple possibilities is that one or more will violate your sensibilities. 

True, after a preempt, you are generally expected to keep your mouth shut.  The primary exceptions being (1) partner makes a forcing bid and (2) you have  a highly distributional hand that you always intended to bid a second time if the opportunity arose.  Problem A is a variant of the first.  Partner has made a forcing bid, you have made two calls that describe your hand accurately and now partner has passed and you can still return to your suit at the level partner, when he forced, he had committed the partnership.  Now we need to make a final decision based on an unfamiliar partner.

Last month, I was burned because the bulk of the panel assumed a light-action partner, so when partner failed to overcall 1H with 1S, it effectively barred a spade lead.  Now I have to guess whether I have a partner who will ask for aces, following my preempt, as a move to just make things more difficult for the opponents, or as a serious slam move.  If partner may have just thrown a wrench, Jock is right - I should pass because partner is captain.  But if it was a serious slam try, then partner's pass should be forcing, and my responsibility is to keep the auction alive.  My choices are to double, bid 5 !H or 5 !D; of the three, I consider 5 !H to be the least forward going, and double as the most.  But my biggest problem will be deciding the nature of my fictitious partnership before I submit this month's entry.
A stairway to nowhere is better than no stairway at all.  -Kehlog Albran

kenberg

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Re: 2021 February - MSC
« Reply #19 on: January 05, 2021, 06:12:48 PM »
Maybe everything to be said about A has been said, but I have changed my mind from Pass to 5 !D and I'll say why.

I agree that after a preempt we should now submit to partner's wishes. But what are his wishes? I'm not so sure that he wishes to defend.
The auction begins 3 !H - Pass - 4NT, with 4NT asking for aces not key cards. Regardless of why partner chose 4NT instead of 4 !C, he has announced that he is willing to play this hand at the 5 level at least, and perhaps at the 6 level. If we go with this, then a pass of 5 !C says "I don't care if you are willing to play this at the 5 level, I am choosing otherwise". That's a pretty independent choice for a preempter.

I admit to not completely understanding this auction, but it seems that E, for his X, probably has some two suited hand and he wants to consider a sacrifice. Maybe not, but that seems reasonable.  The XX is explained as showing no aces, presumably a pass would show one ace, so S had no choice in his call, XX was required.. Now W says he can play in !C if that is one of the  suits E had in mind. And now N is not sure what to do. Maybe he should hit 5 !C maybe not. So he leaves it up to S.

Thinking this way, N is not saying "I wish to defend 5 !C" he is saying "I'm not sure".

And I'm not sure either. But I think that once pard has indicated through 4NT that he is willing to play at the 5 level, a pass of 5 !C is not what he is expecting, or at least not what he is hoping for. So I am going with 5 !D.
Ken

ccr3

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Re: 2021 February - MSC
« Reply #20 on: January 06, 2021, 03:48:33 PM »
Jim is right, first time glancing at these problems can be in error without realizing it.
For instance, Problem A: I thought my partner bid 5 clubs. Lefty bid 5c. But answer remains the same, pass.
Problem B: Thrown again: no, partner doesn't have 18 pts but I do have enough to raise to 3d.
I'm at the top of my bid. Answer again remains the same: 3d.
               

DickHy

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Re: 2021 February - MSC
« Reply #21 on: January 07, 2021, 07:28:22 PM »
Problem A.  I said I'd be willing to learn about forcing passes and Todd, Jim and Ken reckon this to be an example.  I confess to being worried about East doubling 4N holding something like (6511)* and 16 HCP as an intended sacrifice when vulnerable against not.  But putting that to one side, what would I bid?

Todd's construction of partner's hand suggests diamonds might be the target suit, rather than hearts.   

Preliminary thoughts . . .

PROBLEM A: 5 !D
Why 4NT? Why not 4 !C instead? Why does partner not care about the !H King?
What hand I consistent with partner’s bidding? If partner had spades long enough to bid, he bids them. With enough hearts to want them as trump, he asks keycards with 4 !C.

Partner is also single suited. Diamonds. That is what I can come up with.
Maybe:
!S AKJ !H x !D AQJ9xxxx !C x    . . . (this is still not close,but something like this)

Showing my !D King is the only information I can convey.
So I do.



Why can't partner have spades as a single suit instead of diamonds?  His bidding would make equal sense - he simply wants to know about aces.  He might also make the same bids if he was aiming at hearts (holding Ax Kxxxx AKQx xx). If those are not ludicrous thoughts, conceivably partner might be thinking of diamonds, hearts or spades.  That rules out a bid of 5 !H for me.  5 !D is attractive, but in fact I can support him in spades (with much less elan, admittedly), so double might be better.  Further, perhaps he passed 5 !C because he's worried about two losers in the suit, a double would be more informative than 5 !D - surely this would show a void/singleton (it can hardly be for penalty from a pre-emptive opener who has no aces).  If I become completely convinced this is a forcing pass situation, I will double. 

Problem E.  I have to say I find 3 !D an unattractive bid because it almost certainly converts a positive score into a negative one.  Suppose partner has KQJxxxx in clubs.  Now let's say he has nothing outside.  With any 7222 hand 3 !C is cold (and possibly has 2 overtricks)  and 3 !D is doomed.  With a 7(321)* hand, partner is most likely to have a singleton in diamonds and so 3 !D goes down again, whereas even if he has 3 hearts and opponents lead them, we're making with 3 !C (with an overtrick). 

I'm hesitant over 3N for the same reason; if partner has nothing outside clubs I've swapped a positive score for a negative one.  Moreover, if partner does have the K !S, I will need hearts to break 4-3 or 4-4, otherwise that's 5 tricks gone from the start (opponents have hardly got the HCP to lead any other suit). 

I am not afraid to say that I don't understand how this plays out at Matchpoints.   I'm a bit ashamed about that - whenever someone says "well, it's matchpoints ... " my mind seems to become a void.   I hope someone can point me to a nice document which explains MP v IMPs.  But, to my simple mind, 3N is either a clear top or a shared bottom, and 3 !C is better than average (much better if everyone keeps choosing 3 !D!).  So, I will pass or if it's better to aim at a putative-but-quite-unlikely top at MP, 3N.   



bAbsG

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Re: 2021 February - MSC
« Reply #22 on: January 07, 2021, 10:37:06 PM »
Your solutions have been received. This copy is for your records.

SOLVER: Babs Giesbrecht
              Canada

Your Solutions for the February 2021 Contest 
-------------------
PROBLEM A: Pass
PROBLEM B: 3 Diamonds
PROBLEM C: 2 Spades
PROBLEM D: 2 Hearts
PROBLEM E: 3 Notrump
PROBLEM F: 1 Spade
PROBLEM G: 2 Hearts
PROBLEM H: Club Ace

Masse24

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Re: 2021 February - MSC
« Reply #23 on: January 08, 2021, 03:37:51 AM »
SOLVER: Todd Holes
        Glen Ellyn IL 60137
        U.S.A.
 
Your Solutions for the February 2021 Contest
-------------------
PROBLEM A: Pass
PROBLEM B: 2 Hearts
PROBLEM C: 3 Hearts
PROBLEM D: Double
PROBLEM E: 3 Notrump
PROBLEM F: 1 Spade
PROBLEM G: 2 Notrump
PROBLEM H: Heart Ace

Modified comments upthread.
« Last Edit: January 08, 2021, 04:04:25 AM by Masse24 »
“Kindness is the only service that will stand the storm of life and not wash out. It will wear well and will be remembered long after the prism of politeness or the complexion of courtesy has faded away.” Abraham Lincoln

wackojack

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Re: 2021 February - MSC
« Reply #24 on: January 08, 2021, 11:30:36 AM »
Final thoughts
A 5♦
Partner should have been prepared for me to play in 5♥ opposite no aces.  I have a singleton ♣ and the K♦ which could be crucial for making 12 tricks.  So 5♦ should give that message.
I refuse to believe that partner is psyching 4NT so stick with 5 !D

B 3♦
West’s 2♣ overcall does increase the chances that partner is short in this suit.  Could partner have   ♠ Axx; ♥ KJx; ♦ KQxxxx; ♣x?  Yes easily.  So I will press on to make the invite in ♦s.
2 !H is too esoteric for my liking so I stick with 3 !D

C  2♥
This looks like a misfit so I will bid a conservative 2♥ with my quacky 11.

D 2♠
The best chance of finding a fit and should be able to stand the 3 level.  A take out double perhaps gives you a better chance of finding a fit as it does not exclude diamonds.  However, you will be kicking yourself if partner turns up with a decent hand with 3 hearts.

E 3♦ pass
How I hate partner pre-empting me.  8 tricks in my hand and likely zero in partner’s hand except when ♣ are trumps.  I will try 3♦ hoping partner has something like ♣ KQJ10xxx and a doubleton ♥. Of course partner might well have ♥ Kxx and ♣ KQxxxx .  And we may well have missed 3NT.  ☹
Change of mind.  I will gamble that partner's 3  !C pre-empt is "pure"  Even with a "dirty" K !H 3NT is still only 50%.  So a match point pass.
 

F  1♠
If partner has 3 card ♠ support we likely buy the contract.  If West out bids us then we have got our lead director in.

G dbl
The heart suit is too poor to overcall 2♥.

H A♣

jcreech

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Re: 2021 February - MSC
« Reply #25 on: January 08, 2021, 11:49:02 AM »
SOLUTIONS FOR:
James Creech
5107 SEWELLS POINTE DR
FREDERICKSBURG VA 22407-9355
U.S.A.

PROBLEM A: 5 Diamonds
PROBLEM B: 3 Diamonds  - I think I do need to make one more move after all, and what information does partner need most, where is the !D A.
PROBLEM C: 3 Hearts  - I have the invitational values and I am red at IMPs, so I will make the slight overbid instead of the slight underbid.
PROBLEM D: Double  -  When I have three strains, I like to show them.  The void may see the opponents jumping in spades, so lets get all three strains in play now.  AQx of diamonds is almost as good as KTxxx of clubs.
PROBLEM E: 3 Notrump
PROBLEM F: 1 Spade
PROBLEM G: 2 Hearts
PROBLEM H: Heart Ace

Each of my changes were bids I thought about during when I made my initial thoughts.  Problem D is the one decision that was furthest from being an actual choice, but like so many things, recent experience is coloring my thoughts - I have seen a number of times when I have lost the opportunity to show a second or third suit because the auction careened into the stratosphere in my void and it would have been better to get all options into view.
A stairway to nowhere is better than no stairway at all.  -Kehlog Albran

msphola

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Re: 2021 February - MSC
« Reply #26 on: January 08, 2021, 07:50:38 PM »
A. Pass
B. 3 !D
C. 3 !H
D. 2 !S
E. 3 !D
F. 1 !S
G. 2 !H
H.  !S7

peuco

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Re: 2021 February - MSC
« Reply #27 on: January 08, 2021, 08:17:30 PM »
Nickname Peuco


SOLUTIONS RECEIVED
Your MSC Solutions have been received for the
February 2021 Contest


SOLUTIONS FOR:
Francisco Lizana
Magdalena 75 D 62 Las Condes
Santiago 7550109
Chile

PROBLEM A: Pass
PROBLEM B: 3 Diamonds
PROBLEM C: 2 Notrump
PROBLEM D: 2 Spades
PROBLEM E: 3 Notrump
PROBLEM F: 1 Spade
PROBLEM G: 2 Notrump
PROBLEM H: Heart Ace

A copy of these solutions will be e-mailed to you for your records.

Thank you for participating in the Master Solvers Club contest.

MSC CONFIRMATION
Your MSC entry has been received.


Masse24

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Re: 2021 February - MSC
« Reply #28 on: January 08, 2021, 10:27:23 PM »
A 5♦
Partner should have been prepared for me to play in 5♥ opposite no aces.  I have a singleton ♣ and the K♦ which could be crucial for making 12 tricks.  So 5♦ should give that message.
I refuse to believe that partner is psyching 4NT so stick with 5 !D

Yes, about refusing to believe that partner is psyching 4NT.

It bothers me that we are being forced to consider it as an option! And yet . . . here we are.

As I wrote above, I came up with a construction of all four hands that I thought consistent with the auction. But I could not come up with one consistent with partner's pass. The only thing that made sense, then, was the unthinkable. Partner has choreographed this entire auction. He has kept them out of slam with his "Stripe Tailed Ape 4NT."  ;)

At least, that is what I am banking on.

This problem more than any other caught my attention this month. I can barely wait to see the panel comments!  ;D
“Kindness is the only service that will stand the storm of life and not wash out. It will wear well and will be remembered long after the prism of politeness or the complexion of courtesy has faded away.” Abraham Lincoln

ccr3

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Re: 2021 February - MSC
« Reply #29 on: January 09, 2021, 12:23:52 AM »
SOLVER: Pat McDermott
        8015 Buford Commons
        N. Chesterfield  23235
        U.S.A.

Your Solutions for the February 2021 Contest
-------------------
PROBLEM A: Pass
PROBLEM B: 3 Diamonds
PROBLEM C: 2 Hearts
PROBLEM D: 2 Spades
PROBLEM E: Pass
PROBLEM F: 1 Spade
PROBLEM G: Double
PROBLEM H: Diamond 5