2023 AUGUST MSC

[Masse24]

AUGUST 2023 MSC
Deadline: JUNE 30 at 11:59 p.m. (ET)

Submit your AUGUST MSC responses here: The Bridge World - MASTER SOLVERS CLUB

BWS 2017 System: BWS 2017
BWS 2017 POLLS, CHANGES AND ADDITIONS: BWS 2017 - Polls, Changes, and Additions

• Bridge World Standard 2017 (BWS or BWS2017) is effective beginning with the January 2017 Master Solvers' Club problems. This page shows (1) the results of the panelist polls that were used to adjust the system; and (2) the changes in and the additions to Bridge World Standard 2001 (BWS2001) that were made.
  In the listings of the questions and answers, an asterisk indicates the BWS2001 agreement; the proportion of the expert votes for each item, rounded to the nearest percent, is shown in brackets.

IAC Forum MSC Scores

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[blubayou]

PROBLEM A:>>  Blackwood is not good enough (unless pard has ONLY TWO keycards !?) The chain of cue bids that I have come up with  is to first show my stiff spade,  then rebid  5   over partner's 5 -- then leave the final push to north.  Rather than doing that, I'm about ready to just raise us to 5 .  Passing 4   is out.
  Put these two 3 key-card dummys across from our J, QJxxxxx, Ax, QJ8x ... (a) KQx, AKxx, xxx, AKX or
(b) Qxx, AKxx, Kx, AKxx.  (a)  is near hopeless and (b) is ice cold, and we are out of room for more inquiries below slam level.  The only try that gets partner to help solve the diamond problem is to cue  that QJxx!  Then there is a chance he will find a cue in diamonds convenient ifhe has that king, or that he will have 4 1/2 to 5  quick-tricks if he decides to cue the spadeA  ,above the 5 heart level.
                                                 ---Five Clubs---

PROBLEM B:>>  ---Four Diamonds---     What else?  Are we supposed to admit to having 2 baby hearts now instead?


Problem C:>>  impossible.  will roll my 4-sided dice on June 30th, probably.


Problem D:>>  This is a full ace better than a double of 1 .  Almost a "breather" to raise here, compared to #@!!&* problem C.   If you switch the suit doubled to a minor, I really consider raising to game.-(holding back because 1NT after a X of one SPADE is sometimes done without the values it should have)
                                                 ---Two Notrump---


Problem E>>  Cannot think of any bid that isn't a diamond raise.  What level of Diamonds is higher than "four" and lower than "six"??
                                               ---Five Diamonds---                              Notoce I expect the law of total tricks number to be off by about THREE:  Trumps being  7 + 8= 15, while Tricks being 7 + 11 = 18...wazzup with that??

Problem F:>>  Passing 1 spade is completely wrong,  so "D" for disagree;  2NT over pard's 2H might be unanimous,  so "DA_";
As for part three, we should realize that so far we have not shown ANY useful values  for a red-hand 6-5  , so 4   now is pretty wimpy, given our black ACE and lovely  heart Q....I would hope partner has AKxxx+AKxxxx  or better and give him 5 , but maybe I'm dreaming.  Disagreeing with four diamonds so i vote...
                                                      ---DAD---

Problem G:>>  I am about equally afraid of a heart trump suit getting blown sky high as of any contract having three inescapable holes .  Almost ready to wimp out and bid four-only    s!
                                                ---Four Hearts---

[jcreech]

My initial thoughts:

Problem A:  4 NT  It sounds like we have a double fit and partner has a massive hand.  I essentially need information on certain key cards, that 4 NT is likely to provide.  With hearts as trump, a 5 response normally could be a concern, but I have the queen and enough length that partner is highly unlikely to make that bid.  If we have all of the keys, then I can find out about the two minor suit kings for a possible seven.

Problem B:  4   Where is my weak NT, so I can get this hand described in one bid, then just follow instructions.  Partner sounds distributional - at least 5-5 - aces play well in suit contracts and I have three diamonds with partner.  May as well raise; multiple single stops don't make me want to follow Hamman's Law.

Problem C:  3 NT  I'm not really caring whether this shows a heart stop and a smattering of values, or is asking partner to bid a minor unless he has length in spades, and suppressed the suit to ask me to show a preference.

Problem D:  Pass I wish I had bid 2 and then doubled, but I didn't.  Now I I don't think I have enough to bid either 2NT, trusting partner, 3 on my own, or even double to see if partner wants to convert.  I am now in a wait and see of what partner wants to do.

Problem E:  4   No good bid available, but a great hand.  I can easily visualize spade shortness in partner's hand, so the diamonds are likely to be real and slam possible.  May as well let partner know I have a good hand.  I feel stuck now with a nebulous cue-bid, and maybe time will give me better perspective.

Problem F:  f - DAD  I like getting my hands described quickly.  I have a decent 7 with a double stop in the opponent's suit, so I want to bid 1 NT immediately and Disagree with pass.  Partner reversed and I have stoppers in both of opponent's suits, so I Agree with showing the stoppers.  Now partner is showing at least a powerful 5-6 in the reds.  Should I show a preference with my pair of deuces or push for the notrump game?  It is close, but I think the notrump game is more secure than the diamond slam, so I Disagree.

Problem G:  5   I don't want to stop short of game, but partner may have felt a lot of pressure to double with only three hearts.  I have a better chance of surviving opposite xx in diammonds than opposite AKx in hearts and needing to ruff one or two spades.

Problem H:  9  A trump seems safest.


Sets like this one make me see the wisdom of Ken Berg in opting out of MSC.  Still would love to hear his comments though; always thoughtful.

[blubayou]

We need a guest appearance by Kenberg -- who can possibly explain what we are trying to accomplish by leading ANYTHING OTHER THAN A TRUMP  on this problem H.   I have tried and tried to cook somthing up  and failed miserably
    PROBLEM H:>>  Spade Eight---

[Masse24]

August 2023 Contest


SOLUTIONS FOR:
Todd Holes


PROBLEM A: 4 Notrump
A safe inquiry since I hold the queen, therefore no response (except 2 keys and a void) gets me too high.

PROBLEM B: 3 Notrump
Not sure what partner is up to, but I’ about as flat as can be. If he is groping for a diamond slam let’s hope he is strong enough to continue.

PROBLEM C: 4 Hearts
I haven’t pulled a “Woop-de-woop” bid in some time. Here is a good example. This will either score 40 or 100 with the former more likely. This should (I would think) deny four spades, but still keep 4 in the picture should partner have AKxx. Does it imply three? I hope so.

PROBLEM D: Double
Not selling out to the 2-level.

PROBLEM E: 4 Spades
Is 4 better? It forces.

PROBLEM F: (f)


PROBLEM G: 4 Hearts
Partner is almost guaranteed to have four hearts, so I’ll choose the one-level-lower contract as opposed to the 5-level minor. It’s IMPs --- so it’s a close call.

PROBLEM H: Spade 9
I’m not going to buck the time-worn suggestion of leading trump against a grand. It should score decently at worst. But I worry the Diamond deuce might be the lead that defeats this. There is not enough information to direct me to do otherwise.

[bAbsG]

PROBLEM A: 4 Notrump
PROBLEM B: 3 Notrump
PROBLEM C: 4 Clubs
PROBLEM D: Pass
PROBLEM E: 4 Spades
PROBLEM F: (f)
PROBLEM G: 4 Hearts
PROBLEM H: Spade 4

[veredk]

PROBLEM A: 4 Notrump
PROBLEM B: 3 Notrump
PROBLEM C: 3 Notrump
PROBLEM D: Double
PROBLEM E: Double
PROBLEM F: (f)
PROBLEM G: 4 Hearts
PROBLEM H: Spade 9

[ccr3]

PROBLEM A: 4 Notrump
PROBLEM B: 3 Notrump
PROBLEM C: 3 Notrump
PROBLEM D: Double
PROBLEM E: 4 Spades
PROBLEM F: (f)
PROBLEM G: 4 Hearts
PROBLEM H: Spade 9

[yleexotee]

PROBLEM A: 4 Notrump - this has to be slam territory
PROBLEM B: 3 Notrump - I'm worried about this one because what else can it be!?
PROBLEM C: 4 Hearts - I really wanted 4S, but what if p only has 3 spades also and its a disaster. Hopefully this says pick your minor and I might even have a control in hearts, unless you have a great spades setup. AK109!
PROBLEM D: Double - I was going to pass, but non-vul it doesn't seem right to do so for their 2 level bid.
PROBLEM E: Double - I am completely lost on this one. I actually was thinking of following folks 4s but that seems just to ask for  pard to bid 5d. If I'm ok with that, why don't I show some diamond support with 4d, or show my clubs in the chance that p reversed their minor openings. dunno! X was the lowest bid I could think of, and I hope that it does not show 4 hearts because we are too high.
PROBLEM F: (f) - I"m shocked that so many people are in the DAD condition. I thought this was going to be all over the map.
PROBLEM G: 4 Hearts
PROBLEM H: Spade 9 - chicken lead. not sure what else. Can't imagine a club will help.

[blubayou]

Jock McQuade  3 Bag End Hobbiton OR 97030U.SA
.PROBLEM A: 5 Clubs  These hands will loose a diamond plus a key card UNLESS pard's non keycards include BOTH minor kings.  so                                                                                                                                             good luck  with your 4NT, folks
PROBLEM B: 4 Diamonds
PROBLEM C: 3 Spades   We lost our D.
PROBLEM D: 2 Notrump
PROBLEM E: 5 Diamonds
PROBLEM F: (f)
PROBLEM G: 4 Hearts
PROBLEM H: Spade 8
A copy of these solutions will be e-mailed to you for your records.
Thank you for participating in the Master Solvers Club contest.  xxx

[jcreech]

Here are my submitted answers.  One change from the inital guesses; appropriately telegraphed.


SOLUTIONS FOR:
James Creech
Fredericksburg VA 22407
U.S.A.

PROBLEM A: 4 Notrump
PROBLEM B: 3 Notrump  As soon as I mentioned Hamman in my initial guesses I knew in my heart that I would bid 3 NT, despite the high probability the the opps would attack my weakness.
PROBLEM C: 3 Notrump
PROBLEM D: Pass
PROBLEM E: 4 Spades
PROBLEM F: (f)
PROBLEM G: 5 Diamonds
PROBLEM H: Spade 9

My big question on Problem G is where is the spade raise from East?  If partner is short in spades and I only have the stiff king, why wasn't there a courtesy bump?  I feel certain that partner has too many points to pass, and not good enough spades to bid 3NT, so Todd's "almost guantee" that partner holds four hearts is not my gut feeling on the hand.  My gut is saying AKx or AQJ with a bad split looming and the spade ruffs coming in the long hand.

[blubayou]

BWS section E  "Competition After Our Minor Suit Opening":
After our minor-suit opening and an overcall:(a) a double is negative through three spades.
So, how does that allow a double of 3S to win the quizz, with  xxxx, Kx, KJx, AKxx, huhh??   And why did 11 panelists  choose this?  Granted, the other 3 or 4 possible answers are  yukk

[jcreech]

I apologize for not being able to do this with more flair.

VeredK won this month with 730.  Close behind were Hoki with 720 and YleeXotee with 710.  VeredK and Hoki also made this month's honor role.  Congratulations!

Also participating were BabsG, BluBayou, CCR3, JCreech, Masse24, WackoJack.

[jcreech]

BWS section E  "Competition After Our Minor Suit Opening":
After our minor-suit opening and an overcall:(a) a double is negative through three spades.
So, how does that allow a double of 3S to win the quizz, with  xxxx, Kx, KJx, AKxx, huhh??   And why did 11 panelists  choose this?  Granted, the other 3 or 4 possible answers are  yukk

I agree with you, Jock.  The winning bid on Problem E was off the wall.  I would have felt much better with the shape bending 4 , that appeared as second.

However, I am having a hard time squaring the weird winning response on Problem E with the repudiation of Hamman on Problem B.  Although I agree with 4 , and reluctantly tried to hit the field, I was shocked to see only one Panelist going with 3 NT.

[blubayou]

Regarding problem B, I imagine the old wisdom "A weak Notrump containing 3 aces always indicates putting the pedal to the metal" is on their mind.  Oops!-we haven't actually  shown a 12-14 balanced have we, though a couple of our star quizzers whould prolly have done so.   Anyway, if we die in 5Diamonds it should have play, and it is IMPS.  I want to keep the ball rolling if we have slam.  My actual first choice was three spades-not four diamonds after all.