CAYNE TEAM TAKING IT ON THE CHIN – LOSING FIRST QUARTER 38-0

#1 GAME SLAM SWING -- Systemic quirk wrong-sides the contract for Cayne

AQJ975 AKJ754 – K: 43 QT83 AQ83 J52

2C P 2H (ONE ACE OR TWO KINGS) P

2S P 2N (FORCING) P

3H P 4H P

4S P 5D P

5H PASS OUT

SMALL CLUB LEAD – MAKING 5, +450

2C P 2D P

2S P 2N P

3H P 4D P

6H P P P

SMALL DIAMOND LEAD FROM EAST – MAKING 6, -980 LOSE (11) IMIPS

BOARD 2 – PUSH BOARD – BOTH IDIOTS BID TO 4S RESPONDING WITH A RAT 4-COUNT

AQT83 Q AQT4 KJ6 J95 KJ9542 53 74

1S 1N

2D 2S

3C 3S SMALL SPADE LED, 3S -2 = -100

1S 1N

2N 3C

3D 4S STIFF HEART ACE LED, 4S -2 = -100    PUSH BOARD

REALLY NOW, MUST WE RESPOND TO A ONE SPADE BID WITH A RAT FOUR COUNT?

BOARD #3

                   8 T4 KQJT95 9853

Q6 KQJ9 863 AQT2             AJ542 8753 A74    7

                    KT973 A62 2 KJ64

1D    1S    P    1N                P    1D    1S    PASSED OUT

P       P     P     X

RESULT -2 = (300)                RESULT -2 = (100)        lose FIVE IMPS (5)

#4 PUSH BOARD ON A GOOD BALANCING SEAT PASS OUT AUCTION

1C     P     P     1S                           1C     P     P     X

P      2D    PASSED                       P     1D     P    1S

                                                        P      2H    PASSED OUT

2D MAKING 4 +130                   2H MAKING 3 -140                       PUSH BOARD

BALANCING SEAT AUCTIONS after 1-suit pass pass

The auction goes:  1suit  PASS  PASS  ??

To you. The Notrump Structure Changes:

1NT = 11-15
X  followed by cheapest NT = 16-18
2NT = 19-21
3NT = gambling - long solid minor with stopper in their bid suit

OVERCALL   7-16 HCP, 4+ suit
X followed by minimum response, and simple new suit rebid = 18-19 HCP, 5+ suit
X followed by jump rebid = 20-22, 4+ primary support for advancer's suit
X followed by cue-bid = GAME FORCE, 23+ "playing points"

SO ... the bidding goes:

1S   P   P   ?     x   Jx   AKxxx   A1087x

Just overcall two diamonds (intending to compete to 4 clubs if necessary)

1S   P         P   2D
X     2S*      P   4S**
P     5C***   P   5D or pass****

Advancer's hand:   xxx  A9x   Jxx   KQJx

*  10+ HCP with xxx or better

** game-force, slam invite with stiff or void of spades

***  concentration of values

**** enough is enough - there might be two hearts and a spade lose

More getting to slam with good hands opposite VERY strong hands and a fit

Glad to hear you've been getting good cards.

Any time you take an action which ends up with your opponents missing a laydown grand slam and only getting to game, you've done a good thing!

I'm a little confused by all kings and queens of clubs. Any chance the layout looked like this?

........ Q J 3
........ Q J 9
........ K Q J x
........ J x x

x . . . . . . . . . . . x x
x x x . . . . . . . .  x x
A x x . . . . . . . . 10 x x x x x
K Q x x x x . . . . x x x

........ A K 10 x x x x
........ A K x x x
........ --
........ A

Bidding
W .... N .... E .... S
-- ..... -- .... -- ... 2C
3C ... X ....  P ... 3S
P ..... 4N ... P ... 5S
Passed out


Some questions:

1.  What did North intend the double to show?
    
     If the answer is - good hand with no good suit to bid
     (like a negative double perhaps)
     Then double is fine
     Really helps for N/S to be in agreement here

2.  Assuming that North's double showed some kind of
     good hand, it would be a good idea for North to now
     raise spades. A raise to 4S seems kind of dangerous,
     but if South is off two aces, four spades will be enough

     Another idea is for North to raise to 5S, which says
     to South, please bid 6S if you don't have two quick
     club losers

3.  If South takes the 4NT bid as an affirmation that
     spades will be trump, then South must jump to
     at least 6S, but 7S would not be out of the question
     because .... is North is good enough to ask about aces
     AND has a spade fit (the only rational for bidding 4NT)
     then South wants to play in at worst small slam,
     and, an optimistic South might even leap to seven
     spades !!  not worrying about the spade queen
     (partnership is on a 7-3 fit) and hoping only for
     either Q-x of hearts, x-x of hearts (with x-x-x-x of trump)
     or J-10-x of hearts.

Whether or not the partnership gets to the grand slam (and knows what it is doing in getting there) absent interference is another matter -- very few pairs have the means to locate the key queen of hearts.

Great to hear from you Regina.

Mark

OPENER'S reverse rebid shows 17+ "playing points" a strong offensive hand with aces and kings and a singleton or void. The most experienced bridge teachers farm this topic out to their student teachers and go drink themself senseless

Hi Mark,  Hope all is well with you.  I wonder if you would look at this holding and suggest bidding for N/S - North deals, E/W passing throughout.      

 

North     S) 10 x     H) A Q J x     D) A 10 9 8 x x    C) A

 

 

South     S) A Q x x x x      H) K     D) Q x x     C) K 10 x

 

Assume North elects to treat the hand as belonging to the "minimum" category.

 

1D          1S

2D*         3C**

3H***      4D****

4H*****   4S*****

5C*****   6D

 

* treating hand as minimum

   unbalanced, 6+ diamonds

** forcing, unlimited

*** showing strength in hearts, not necessarily 4

**** setting the trump suit, and confirming

        a good hand, since we've bypassed 3NT

***** cue bidding the heart A

***** cue bidding the spade A

***** cue bidding the club A

6D - shows respect for the initial 2D response,

       which limited the hand to 12-15 HCP

 

** Why 3C and not 3S?  Because 3S (in the modern style)  shows about 10 HCP, with good 6 spades

 

** Why 3C and not 3D?  Because 3D (in the modern style) shows about 10 HCP with decent diamonds, and suggests something about the

hand is wrong for 2NT

 

** Why 3C and not 4D?  Because 3C permits

opener the chance to rebid 3NT.

 

*** Why 3H and not 3NT? Just in case partner

has a really good hand. If partner were to rebid

3NT over 3H, North would accept it and sign off.

 

 

There is a lot going on here, but North has extras

for the 2D rebid, and South has extras too.

 

6D is not a GREAT contract, but it sure is not bad.

Not bad at all.

 

If the bidding were to start differently

 

1D    1S

2H    2S  (shows 5+ spades since 2H is 1005 forcing one round)

3D -----> (shape showing 6 diamonds, 4 hearts, no club stopper)

        4N  (ace asking with Diamonds the agree suit ... a direct leap to 6N is not wrong)

 

DOUBLING their part-score contract for penalties: The Guidelines of 10 & 12

When you are considering whether or not to make a penalty double of their part score contract, you should be aware of the "guidelines" of 10 & 12 which address the twin and intertwined issues of the penalty doubles own trump suit length and trump suit strength.

One of the underlying assumptions is that the HCP will be more or less evenly divided at worst. Thus, you will have every reason to expect that your side has at least 20 combined HCP.

The 12 part of the guideline helps you determine if your trump length is adequate.  To do this, you add your own trump length to the number of tricks the opponents have contracted for. If the total is 12 or more, your trump are long enough.

The 10 part of the guideline is used to determine if your trump STRENGTH is adequate. Add the number of your expected trump tricks to the total number of tricks they have contracted for.  If the total is 10 or more, WHACK it.

REMEMBER - both your trump LENGTH and your trump STRENGTH must be adequate to double for penalty (or leave in a takeout double) at the one, two, or three levels.

A reiteration:

When you are considering whether or not to make a penalty double of their part score contract, you should be aware of the "guidelines" of 10 & 12 which address the twin and intertwined issues of the penalty doubles own trump suit length and trump suit strength.

One of the underlying assumptions is that the HCP will be more or less evenly divided at worst. Thus, you will have every reason to expect that your side has at least 20 combined HCP.

The 12 part of the guideline helps you determine if your trump length is adequate.  To do this, you add your own trump length to the number of tricks the opponents have contracted for.  Thus, from the example hand we played tonight, where the auction went

Karen     Mark     You     Natalie
1C          PASS     1H       PASS
2H          2S

Your hand:
S:  Q 8 6 5
H:  K J 10 7
D:  K 7
C:  J 9 4

We were vulnerable, you were not.

My 2S bid put us at the 8-trick level.  So, adding your 4 trump to the 8 trick level equals 12, and thus, you have enough trump to make a penalty double.

Your partner has opened the bidding (usually 12+ HCP, maybe even 13 for a solid and upstanding partner such as Karen).  So your side will have 22-23 HCP, maybe a few more (Karen's raise to 2H shows a hand in the 13-15 HCP range.)  Actually, including distribution, she's closer to 17 as her hand is

S:  J
H:  A x x x
D:  Q J x
C:  A K 10 x x

14 working HCP plus a singleton, a six loser hand with 4-card trump support, there are many players who would have raised directly to 3H with this hand (in which case, you will not be hearing me call 3S)

So, the points are evenly divided or better in your favor, and you have sufficient trump length.  Now, do you have sufficient trump strength?  This is where the "guideline of 10" comes into play.

The guideline of 10 says to add the number of tricks they have contracted for (eight tricks in the two spade example) and the number of expected trump winners in your hand.  Here, in this example, your expected number of trump winners is only ONE.  If you held Q-10-x-x of spades, behind the spade bidder, you could reasonably expect to win two trump tricks.  QJ9x would be even better.   As a defender, count a 5th trump as a "nuisance winner."

You really only have one trump trick.  And 8 + 1 = 9, so you don't have enough trump tricks to double.  You are better off doing as you did, bidding 3H (inviting game, as you and Karen play, I assume.)

The real fly in the ointment was me - I made a horrible delayed overcall.   Much more effective to have overcalled one spade directly over one club, which will deprive you of bidding space.

Hope these comments help.

Really enjoy playing with you two. Looking forward to the next opportunity.

Best regards always,

Mark

thank you mark, this is very helpful.  i never double this kind of interference, i'm glad i considered it at least.  i got bumped off while thinking about it, which i took as a caution, an omen of sorts, not to double.  now i have something more rational to count on than random omens.  if i determine that dbl is not an option, what is a better way to invite my partner than 3h after your interference?  3h might only look competitive, right?  reggie

IT HAS ALWAYS been the case that the biggest points you will ever earn at the table occur on misfit hands when one side or the other gets caught speeding. (WHACKED)  If you are setting all your doubled contracts, you are not doubling enough.  Setting 75-80% of them is about right.  those 1100's, 1400's, etc etc are just GINORMOUS.

if i determine that dbl is not an option, what is a better way to invite my partner than 3h after your interference?  3h might only look competitive, right?

Bingo!  Damn straight - 3H should cannot be either invitational or competitive, because then you partner will never know which hand you hold. It has to be one or the other, and your partnership should have discussed the matter so that you have both agreed.  I almost started to go into this in my e-mail to you last night.

My recommendation is that when your opponents contest your fit auction at the two-level, a simple return to 3-of-your agreed suit by responder is competitive only, saying, "I would rather we take our chances declaring three of our suit than defending two of their suit. I have no interest in bidding game, so partner, please pass."

Thus when responder wants to invite game in these situations, she rebids a new suit which is not an offer to play in that new suit (since you have agreed on a major suit), but rather a help suit game try, showing about 10-11 points and asking opener (who has already limited her hand) to re-evaluate her cards. 

If you had wanted to invite game (on the auction that you had last night), I'd suggest a rebid of three diamonds rather than three clubs - even though from your point of view, your partner needed very strong clubs in order for you to have a shot at making the contract.  The reason I recommend 3D is that your partner might take 3C as competing only (since that was the suit she had opened) with club length and bad hearts, perhaps.


S:  J ................Q 8 6 5
H:  A x x x ..........K J 10 7
D:  Q J x ............K 7
C:  A K 10 x x .......J 9 4

       1C ...... p ........ 1H .... P
       2H ...... 2S ...... 3D --> if you decide your hand is worth a game try.

For the record, I would not have made a game try over 2S with your hand, but simply passed, like a wimp instead, figuring that for offensive purposes (declaring) the Q865 of spades was not worth 2 points, (because partner is likely to be short and can hopefully ruff spade losers), but for DEFENSE, Q865 looks pretty good.

Great questions you ask, as always Regina.  You think like a bridge player (and a lawyer).

Mark  reggie

Mark gets questions - club slam - huge hand opposite one-suit opener - fit found immediately

WILL YOU PLEASE RECOMMEND AN AUCTION FOR THIS DEAL?  NORTH IS DEALER.  SOUTH ENDED UP IN 5C MAKING 6.  SHOULD NORTH OPEN 2C?  OPEN CLUBS AND REVERSE?  HOW TO GET THIS HAND TO 6C OR 6NT?  

 

THANK YOU THANK YOU!  REGGIE

NORTH:    QJ975    AK    A    AJ987

SOUTH:    K4    8    KJ87    K106542

 

#1   SHOULD NORTH OPEN 2C?  NO - with only 19 HCP and 11 of them in 2-1 suits, just bid "naturally" opene the higher-ranking of two 5-card suits with a one bid.  Plan to jump rebid to 3C to show 19+ HCP, 5-4 or more shapely, with a singleton or void somewhere.

RECOMMENDED AUCTION (same in EITHER 2/1 100% GF or Standard 2/1 = 10+ HCP)

1S             2C
4NT           5C
6C

you'd only want to be in six clubs (not seeing all four hands) at MPs ... however, there WILL be days when, in both 6N and 6C, there are two top spade losers.

top board bridge - thank you FRED BLAUMUELLER

Thursday afternoon bridge with Tom and Raeanne Rehwald

Tom and I were partners for the first six boards.

We used hands that Natalie Jean and I played against the bots.  Tom and I sat N-S.  When the smoke cleared after Natalie Jean and I had burned through the bots (01-15-2011), Natalie and I were up 29.6 to 0.5

Board #1 - what constitutes an opening one-of-a-suit bid?  

(a)  Some defense (at least 2 quick tricks)
(b)  A convenient rebid
(c)  A source of tricks

Tom and I get to an unbeatable 4H holding:

QT64  KT964  AQ9  8  --  A5  QJ952  732  K63

a very routine  1H - P - 4H swish .. making 10 tricks

we are plus 420 -- Natalie and I were plus 420 === push board

#2  Opps really mess this one up
      DONT MAKE FANCY CUE BIDS PARTNER MIGHT MESS UP

bidding went  P  P  1D  ... X
                    2D 2S Passed out

at the "other table" our opps had a major bidding muck up

P   P   1D  X
XX 1S  P  P
2S  P    P  P ... our "teammates" were -200

we lose 6 imps .... we are down after 2 boards  0-6

#3  LEARN TO PASS WHEN THEY OPEN YOUR BEST SUIT

Natalie and I actually picked up 2 imps declaring 1NT, off one

AQT  A8753  94  KT8   --  J632  Q  KJ753  964

1H                          P           1NT    (not wrong in our style, because I will freely raised with three spades, Q-x-x or better and a singleton)

Mom elected to overcall the one heart opener 2C holding
K984   KJT3   A8   J52 ... not a success, off two Tom and I go +200,
we get the six imps back after three boards, score remains tied

6-6

#4  On the nature of opening one-of-a-suit

Don't even ask why I opened 1H holding:  J  AQ52  10874  K952 (I wanted a heart lead)

The ended up in four spades going a slightly different route

P  1H  P  1S:   P  2D (we had agreed this shows more than a minimum, either 5-5 or 15+ HCP)
    3S  P  -  4S    four spades made, both ways, pushed board

#5  Renegade preempts with nice shapely offensive hands

Tom opens 2H holding ... (prepare to hold your nose)

Kx  987432  --  AT763 ... Raeanne holds:   Axx   AKQJ   ATx  Q92

They waltz into six spades, and Tom leads the Ace of clubs, catching my stiff four.  We end up scoring club A, club ruff, diamond ruff, club ruff, diamond ruff

NOT QUITE the same as when Natalie and I held the cards (the hands were flipped 180 degrees)

I opened 3D, vulnerable on  76  T65  J965432  4   (vul vs not, no less)
bidding continues
3D    3S    P    4N
P      5N    P    6S
P      P      X    P
P      P

Natalie shows a tad more gumption ... in both cases six spades goes down four .. its just that in one instance, it was -400, in the other -1100, ginormous pick up for anne and raeanne

 ... 12 imps for the little ladies, who now are leading   18-6


#6   Raeanne and Anne handled this one like champs - Raeanne showed a minimum opener with long clubs and Anne let her have it they made 3 (there is a reasonable 2S, off one sacrifice our way, however ... we held 6 HCP in clubs, good only for 2 defensive tricks).

Raeanne & Anne pick up an imp ... after six boards

Raeanne   19
Anne         19
Tom            6
Mark           6

- - -  Will continue posting

KEY LESSONS FROM THE EUNUCH HORNS MATCH #2

01A. NEVER pass an opportunity to overcall one spade with a good hand and a decent suit. The boss suit is worth a fortune!  HOW in the world could 4th hand have passed these cards after this auction (none vulnerable)?

S:  K J 7 6 4    H:  Q J 10 xx    D:  x     C:  K x

ought to be an AUTOMATIC one spade overcall – decent suit, offensive hand, great shape, the boss suit, nobody vulnerable, you can get the over call in on the one level. With all these things going for it, this overcall  IS automatic.

01B.  SUPPORT WITH SUPPORT!  When your partner makes a simple, non-jump overcall, whether at the one-level or the two-level, make sure to raise with 3+ trump.  The single raise shows 7-10 "support points."  With 11+ points, CUE BID FIRST! 

02A.  SUPPORT WITH SUPPORT IS ALWAYS CORRECT.  WHEN YOU HAVE EXTRA TRUMP LENGTH AND MOST OF YOUR TRICK-TAKING POTENTIAL IS RUFFING VALUES (RATHER THAN HIGH CARDS) MAKE A PREEMPTIVE JUMP RAISE TO EITHER THE THREE- OR THE FOUR- OR EVEN THE FIVE-  LEVELS.

Eunuch Horns - Match 2