x 
xxx 
AKQ10xx 
AKx
| You | LHO | CHO | RHO |
| Pass | | Dbl |
| ? |
- LEN
- Support XX.
- ED
- Redouble showing three hearts. Lots to say, and it's nice to begin without taking up room or misdescribing my hand.
- MARSHALL
- rdble. You have a good hand with three possible (probable) games,
3NT,
5 and4 . The support redouble shows three card heart support, and it is very unlikely that you will have a problem later. If opponents stay out of the bidding, partner will probably pass, the doubler will bid something, and you can jump to3 . More likely LHO will bid1 or2 . If he bids1 , and partner bids2 , partner must have at least five, and4 is a likely contract (although you would bid3 or2 ). If3 comes around to you, you will bid4 , which invites4 or5 . [Does it really? How do you simply compete to4 , say with an ace fewer? --Jeff] - BARRY
- Redbl. Support to be followed by diamonds at some acceptable
level. Over
4 will I wish I'd bid3 first? Possibly but then again I might miss hearts if I do not take this action. I can see cases for3 ,2 ,3 et al, but none of them seem perfect, When given this as a problem we know Redbl does not work and I am not wedded to it even now but I'd probably do it at the table. - DAVID
- I was going to bid
3 without the double, I don't think that the double changes anything. I am not a fan of redouble being a 3 card raise and I wouldn't use it on this hand even if it were my agreement. - MIKE
- XX. I assume this is a support redouble. This accurately
describes my level of enthusiasm for hearts, although not for
the hand in general. I plan on bidding diamonds next, including
5 if it goes4 P P back to me. The rank order of the suits makes this approach more attractive than an immediate3 call.2 is misguided as we would like to describe with this complex hand. - BOBBY
- Clearly between
3 and support XX. I don't see the disadvantage of not making a support XX here; I'll be able to convey my strength and diamonds later, and it gives partner valuable information. - JJ
-
3 . This is an awkward hand to bid. I delayed answering this problem set because I kept changing my mind about this one. No bid on this round appeals to me. Before Support Doubles we all would redouble and then jump in diamonds or cuebid [How? --Jeff]. Redouble (support, but I wish it were good hand), may be just what pard needs to hear but it's not terribly descriptive. I don't want to emphasize my three card heart support because of my 8 trick hand in NT or diamonds. Pass and cuebid is great if the opps don't bid too many spades before I can bid again.3 is a distinct underbid,3 a splinter, so both are out. That leaves3 , a misdescription of my shape, but getting across the good hand message. - JEFF AT THE TABLE
-
3 . - WINNING ACTION
- none. If you get to
4 , they'll bid4 for +100. If you bid3 , you get +130. Teammates didn't double and thus were -420. - CONSENSUS
-
Action Votes Rdbl 6 3 1 3 2 - JEFF UPON REFLECTION
- OK, I'm convinced. I don't
think redouble shows any of the important facets
of this hand, but upon reflection,
3 is an underbid. 3NT is cold vs.3 . If3 were right on values, I think it'd be more likely to get us to a good spot. It's pretty likely that the opponents are about to begin a spade barrage. Since the most likely spot if so is diamonds, I think getting across the good diamond suit and the hand strength is urgent. But there's no way to do it. If RHO had overcalled1 , a cue bid would have been perfect.
xx AKJ10x xx 10xxx
| LHO | CHO | RHO | You |
| 2NT | Pass | | Pass |
| Pass | 3NT | ? |
- LEN
- Would 5NT here show a two suiter? I pass.
- ED
- Double looks pretty reasonable to me as partner is likely to
lead a heart. He may be a bit perplexed if he holds the
- MARSHALL
- Pass. Too dangerous to double.
- BARRY
- Dbl. Yes I would not find it at the table, but in a problem I do like it!
- DAVID
- I don't. Not enough good things can happen. They may wrap it, they may rewind, it may give declarer the information necessary to make an otherwise unmakeable hand, they may run when its right, partner might not lead a heart. Let's just see if we can beat them. Who knows—partner might lead a heart anyway after my hesitation (only kidding).
- MIKE
- DBL. Doubling is really banking on partner holding
the
- BOBBY
- Double is too aggressive for me. I pass.
- JJ
- Double. Too easy. I'd be a tad worried that RHO had
extras, and pard had no quick entry and no
- JEFF AT THE TABLE
- pass. Chickened out.
- CONSENSUS
-
Action Votes Double 5 Pass 4 - WINNING ACTION
- Double. Declarer has
- JEFF UPON REFLECTION
- I think this is a really close
call. You are very unlikely to beat 3NT without a
heart lead and they are pretty unlikely to have
anywhere to go. If you don't take the first five
tricks, they are likely to make an overtrick for
-650. That's lose six. If you beat them you
win 11. I think it's less than 50-50 that you
can (and will) beat them on a heart lead, but
probably better than one in three. Real close,
but probably worth a double. You'll have to
stand a redouble, too, but will opener redouble
with
| CHO | RHO | You | LHO |
| 1NT | | Dbl! | Pass |
| | ? | |
1NT is 15-17.
Dbl is Stayman.
What do your calls mean here?
- LEN
- I assume you mean absent further discussion.
X is business or negative, however you play 1NT-(
2 )-X. 2NT is a balanced invite, 3m is natural and forcing,3 is probably western.3 might be a3 smolen hand with 4 low spades. Pass is forcing. - ED
- I'd play that my previous bid showed at least competitive
values and that suit bids are basically competitive...
i.e., pass = NF, dbl = penalty, 2NT invite, suits bids
non-forcing and
3 asks for a stopper. - MARSHALL
- 2NT, invitational with 4 hearts.
3 forcing and warning partner that you have club strength but not spades,3 good four card suit, forcing,3 spade strength but nothing in clubs. 3NT natural with values in both black suits - BARRY
- All doubles after the first are pens. All suit bids
retain original meaning; 2NT invites,
3 /3 ??3 stopper ask.[
3 is what partner actually bid.]***Bastard partner! 4 good hearts forcing looking for
4 . - DAVID
- I actually did have an agreement that our version of
lebensohl applied here. But I would say that is a very
special agreement and absent that agreement, I assume that
bids are "standard" with 2NT invitational, three level forcing,
double penalty, and
3 asking for a check. - MIKE
- New suits are forcing, 2NT is invitational,
3 needs help in that suit and double is business. Surely you didn't need me to tell you that though. [Mike thinks3 shows five hearts, presumably originally only looking for a 5-4 fit. --Jeff] - BOBBY
- In both cases my opponent hasn't taken any of my bidding room up. It seems to me that calls should be natural in both, i.e., double is penalty, etc.
- JJ
- Pass is showing nothing
Double is for penalty
2NT is for TO
3 is competitive
3 is competitive
3 is unexpected, but probably competitive with4 and6
3 asks for a stopper (may have long minor)
3NT is to play
4 is vanilla Gerber
4 is forcing and natural
4 is unexpected but to play
4 is a splinter slam try in a undisclosed suit (but assumed to be
4NT is a natural slam try (promises spade control)
5 is to play
5 is to play
5 is natural slam invitational, and asking for a spade control
5 probably is pick 6 of a minor (0445 or close)
5NT is torturing partner
How about this auction:
| CHO | RHO | You | LHO |
| 1NT | Pass | | Pass |
| | ? | |
- LEN
- Same, except X is business, pass is nonforcing (if you play garbage stayman).
- ED
- Same. Some simple basic rule should govern all these undiscussed sequences. My rule would be "non-jump suit bids competitive, must cue bid or jump to search for game or slam."
- BARRY
-
2 was relay; double would be pens all other actions nat, 2NT—do something intelligent? - DAVID
- Same as above.
- MIKE
- I don't see the difference.
- CONSENSUS
- This is tricky; there clearly is none.
Moreover, few stated if a pass was forcing; only
about half mentioned partner's actual call.
I'll try some of the calls which are indicative
of general approach, plus the one partner actually
made at the table.
Meaning Votes Pass Forcing 1 Nonforcing 2 Didn't Say 5 2NT Invitational 7 Takeout 1 Didn't Say 0 3m Forcing 5 Nonforcing 2 Didn't Say 1 3 4 Hearts 2 5 Hearts 2 6 Hearts 1 Didn't Say 3 - JEFF UPON REFLECTION
- This is less obvious than
some of the panelists think. Some play pass is
forcing; some play it non-forcing. Few gave an
answer to the meaning of
3 . Some play new suits forcing, some competitive. Is 2NT lebensohl, natural invitational, or a punt?What should bids mean? I think pass should be non-forcing; we may have been running. I have no idea about
3 ; four good hearts and shortness in spades is silly; having the long hand take the tap will make4 unplayable. Four good hearts and length in spades makes sense. Or a hand which was to Smolen, but has crummy spades.There are two general approaches the panelists use. (1) everything is the same as if they had passed, and (2) now that they bid, we have to be able to bid
3 and3 to play when we couldn't have before. I only have one partner with whom these two approaches are in concert. Mike and I play Lebensohl 2NT in this position, even if RHO had passed. So it clearly applies here for us, and we get both approaches. Everyone else has to choose. It is not obvious without discussion which approach your partner will pick.
|
Kx QJxxxx AJ10x x |  |
Axxx AKxxx x A10x |
| West | East |
| 2NT (Jacoby) |
| |
| |
| |
| Pass |
Assign the blame for missing the laydown grand.
- LEN
- Would West open with
What is
1 -2NT,3 -3 ? A punt? Extras? Min? [Any of the above.4 shows good trumps and is a mild slam try. So3 is a catch-all. This assumes playing slow arrival, which I prefer. --Jeff]I think the auction should go
1 -2NT (starting with a splinter won't ever describe this hand),3 -3 (3 is ok, but3 hints at the boss trumps and shouldn't deny extras),3 (mild slam try, unrelated to spades, otherwise 3NT/4 /4 control bid for4 -4NT (rolling, denying second round spade control),5 (spade control)-5NT (grand slam try),7 -P.East 100%, since
3 ate up the extra room he needed. - ED
- I'd rather describe the East hand with a strong JS in spades
and then
3 over the relay to show hearts and a stiff7 if East jump shifts. J2NT is usually not the right approach with a singleton unless responder's hand is such that he can find out everything he needs to know by opener's responses. On this hand, East had no idea if they had a 3rd round spade loser (e.g., - BARRY
- I assume
4 was serious and 3NT would have been less inviting... [I wish. We had actually discussed this before the session, but I was 99% sure that partner wasn't going to remember it. Right I was. --Jeff]If so over
5 I bid7 , second choice8 . 100% East. Sorry if this is too demanding of East but what was he waiting for facing5 call over5 ! - DAVID
- My reaction is that it is primarily East. The guy with 4 keycards and a
singleton has to take significant action. But I need to know what
4 was?—What would 3NT have been—serious, not to play? If4 showed extras, then I would say it is 100% East—West is bidding his behind off given a working 9-count. If4 was a random noise, then East's problem is a bit harder because with4 ! showing a splinter and a hand too big to splinter directly, and then follow that up with 4NT, 5NT showing all the keycards. That would have allowed west to bid the grand. I'm not a "point counter" but this is 11 opposite 15. I guess I score it 5-95. - MIKE
- This is a tough hand. Even if West can be goaded into
keycard, the singleton diamond will have yet to come to light
and again the grand missed (via
1 - 2NT;3 -3 ; 3NT (friv) -4 ;4 -4 ; 4NT -5 ; 5NT...). I don't see a good auction to it starting with Jacoby, although the one East perpetrated is probably as close as you can get and it wasn't sufficient to get West to bid 7, as West was concerned about trump quality (having never limited his hand... would East bid the same way with say...If East were to start with a splinter and West used keycard (after
1 -4 ;4 -4 (not kickback); 4NT -5 ... now West can count 13 tricks. That assumes a lot, especially in that East can splinter and follow it up with a spade cuebid which allows for keycard.Perhaps if East starts with a strong jump shift, as might be my choice...
That one has East's using keycard. Without knowing anything about the methods available, it is hard to judge the merits of this particular East's choice to bid Jac2NT (a reasonable bid in a new partnership).West East 1 2 2NT (forced) 3 (stiff+primary hearts)3 3 4 4NT 5 5NT 7 Pass If this is a long-standing partnership with extensive methods, I give East 100% for 2NT. Otherwise, 50/50 as East's auction was intelligent and well planned yet insufficient.
- BOBBY
- A tough bidding problem. I wonder if East had a
strong jump shift in spades available. [Yes. --Jeff]
would allow East to count to 13 more easily. Alternatively, with a splinterWest East 1 2 3 4 4 5 5 5 6
allowing West to be captain, then West can count to 13 tricks pretty easily.West East 1 4 4 4 4NT 5 On the actual auction, I think West did a good job of showing his hand and his extra values. I don't think West can distinguish whether East has
So, I think the blame lies with East. He chose the 2NT bid, which tends to shows a more balanced raise that might entertain NT, since he could have splintered, or SJSed). In any event, he asserted captaincy of the auction with his first bid.
- JJ
- I confess to being West, and I truthfully don't think
that the auction was all that bad.
The grand was more difficult to bid than it might have
otherwise been because we were: 1) leading the event,
2) winning the match, 3) playing a not so strong team
who had a conservative flight B
pair at the other table. Bidding a below 90% grand
was not something either East or West wanted to do. I
asked afterward and was told the other pair struggled
to bid a small slam.
The trick to getting to the grand and knowing it is cold is to have opener (West) Blackwood after finding out about the
Three sequences might work to get opener to bid RKC.
Possible Sequence One:
this might not work because opener might be more worried aboutWest East 1 4 (splinter)4NT ... Possible Sequence Two:
West East 1 2NT (Jacoby) 3 (short4 (short4NT ... Possible Sequence Three:
West East 1 2 (Compressed JS (jump shift in2NT (puppet) 4 (4NT ... [There is a stronger splinter:
1 -4 ;4 -4 shows about 19 dummy points and is nearly slam forcing. It's stronger than the compressed jump shift splinter, not necessarily different. --Jeff]On the actual hand West might bid the grand thinking that it might not be any worse than finding the
Thus, some blame to both players, but still, no bid was ridiculous.
- JEFF AT THE TABLE
- I was East.
- CONSENSUS
- East
- JEFF UPON REFLECTION
- It is not the case that Jacoby 2NT
promises a balanced hand. Usually the bidder will have
one because he has ways to splinter with shortness
(possibly via a strong JS), but by no means does he
promise one. We don't splinter into stiff aces or kings,
for example.
This hand shouldn't splinter because there's no last train available, so we'll be guessing about partner's hand and end up simply making a general grand slam try which partner will reject. If we splinter, then key card and bid 5NT, partner may be able to go all the way, but the odds on that seem slim. Remember, he thinks we have only four trumps; if he has four diamonds, trying to ruff three in dummy will pose enough handling problems that he'll not bid a grand.
Starting with a SJS is better because we can get our shortness shown lower, except that I play compressed jump shifts, so we'd still be at the 4-level (
1 -2 ; 2NT-4 ).I think it's reasonable simply to take control and force partner to cue bid; in fact, I think it's substantially the best approach with the hand. The hope is to find out enough about partner's hand that we can make a good decision to bid a grand.
Frivolous 3NT would have been nice. If I were confident that we had that available, I'd've just bid
7 directly. I don't enjoy having my partner's faces turn red during the auction, though.So how about the last round of the auction? What is the meaning of
6 ? It's obviously a grand slam try. What can East want West to hold to bid the grand? Clubs? We already know the whole club suit. Diamonds? If East wanted to know about the6 to find out about that card. Trumps? 5NT would have found any missing trump honors? The6 expressly asks for. Is it too much to ask a random partnership to work that out? Yea, verily. I should have just bid the grand and not worried about it. Then again, in a swiss (this was), I knew the other table would be in a small slam, so we don't need to lose the match on this hand. I don't like to hear, "boys, six would have been enough." In fact, they almost missed the small slam.Note that I think the final grand slam tries are "asking," not "showing." When we run out of room, the player who has taken captaincy of the auction (Jacoby 2NT does that until further notice) needs to be able to ask specific questions, not show one more card to hope partner can bid the grand. So he leaves room for partner to make the bid he needs to hear. Yes, this is not standard, but with current methods allowing responder to describe huge numbers of hands with support, there needs to be a way for him to take control and keep it.
Someday I'm going to learn and start playing Spiral Scan. It'd make mincemeat of this deal.
| Qx 10x J9xx KQ10xx | ||
| ||
|
AJ6x AQ97 Ax 8xx |
| You | LHO | CHO | RHO |
| 1NT | | 3NT | All pass |
You get the opening lead of the 26
Plan the play.
- LEN
- What's their carding (primary signal at T1)?
I win
- BARRY
- Win
- DAVID
- I am not a fan of the 3NT bid.
Win the
- MIKE
- Win the
[Later...] I'm not so sure about my line in 3NT. I think I get blocked out of my 9th trick even if the cards lie the way I was playing for. [Yup. Mike is the only one who realized this. --Jeff]
- BOBBY
- Win in hand, lead low towards the
- JJ
- I won't comment on the play since I know the entire
layout. I was CHO on this hand, but RHO showed me her
hand. I was fooled by the
- JEFF AT THE TABLE
- Win in hand, club to the king, duck a club.
- CONSENSUS
- Win, lead a club, cross to the
- JEFF UPON REFLECTION
- The majority line was to lead a club
up, come back to the
1 +2 +1 +4 for eight tricks. You need thatAs the cards actually lay, playing a heart at T2 leads to instant defeat. The opening lead was a falsecard; hearts were 6-1. On the bidding, that seems pretty likely, no? So West can win the third club and clear hearts. Then even if he has the
3 +1 +1 before you can reach nine.I thought that hearts were 6-1 at the table, and I think we have enough information to figure that out. Why is West overcalling a single-suiter with
What's better? I'm not sure. Probably either hooking the