IMPs, both red, short matches. You hold
Kxx
AJxxx
Kxx
xx
The bidding goes
Partner | You |
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![]() | ![]() |
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a) do you bid
b) what now?
(a) was a bust. Everyone bid
Thereafter, everyone diverged. Turns out the main
reason for that is that folks don't agree on what's
going on. Some think that
The rest don't say, but most show examples with three
hearts. On a related note, what would
Many of the panel think that A
If you are sure that
Valuation is an issue. Most drive to slam, but
some will settle in game. Partner said (and it seems
reasonable) that he'd've bid
x
KQx
AJxxx
AKQx
x
Kxx
AQJxx
AKQx
I'll just keep life simple with 5NT. Partner should read
this as a choice between diamonds and hearts. IMO, my
holdings in the red suits are completely typical for this
auction. With a diamonds vs. notrump decision, I'd bid
It seems like the only alternative bid is
[Kickback is not without its disadvantages. I've seen lots and lots of mixups with it. No, more mixups than that. --Jeff]
[Over A
|
I decided calling this a consensus was a bit of
a misbid. Despite folks' mostly bidding
Everyone else gets to some small slam.
Can you get to the laydown grand intelligently? Ed's
auction will get you there vs. the actual hand, but what
will happen if opener only has two hearts? Might we play
xx
Kx
AQJxxx
AKQ
Can we stop short of slam when it's bad? I don't see
how. The two who chose a non-forcing A
So all but two simply drove to slam. That's probably the
right valuation; most of the time, slam will have play.
The important issue, then, is getting to the right slam.
Then maybe Chris' 5NT is best; if we can't come up with
an intelligent way to stay out of slam when it is bad,
and we can't find a grand with confidence, then why not
simply focus on strain at the six-level right now? After
all,
I was surprised during early discussion of the problem how many different opinions there are about a fairly simple sequence. Looks like this is one for partnership discussion.
Personally, I think xx
Kx
AQJxx
AKQx
Qxx
QJ10xx
Kxx
xx
I think
As would DavidW, I'd've bid x
KQxx
AKJxx
AKx
Fortunately, much of the time, I'll have two
splinters available, e.g.
After KQJ10
Jxxx
xx
Qxx
Overall, this hand is a minefield for any but the most solid partnerships. It's probably a minefield for most of them, too.