BBO Smackdown!

[E. Blackadder]

15 boards; 72.46 IMPs. Positive. Net.

Vs. Been There Done That and his partner, Anonymouse!


N/S Vul; S dealt

J6532
-
KT754
KT8
K AQ84
K8653 JT742
J93 Q2
J632 A5
T97
AQ9
A86
Q974


The bidding was standard. South opened a close 1C; North Responded 1S. I interjected 2H on principle to mess with a 1 over 1 auction. South doubled to show 3 spades, and (I think) interpreted as penalty. West couldn't resist taking the auction to game on his effective five-count. North noticed he had a heart void in addition to opening values, so he opted not to defend, and I doubled based on the a priori likelihood of the opponents being able to take ten or more tricks with spades as trumps.

To cut down hypothetical offensive ruffs, I embarrassingly led the spade Ace, to the seven, king and deuce.
The heart Jack went to the Queen, King and Spade Trey.
Four of diamonds to the ace;
High heart, pitching a club.
Club to the King and Ace.
Heart Ten, ruffed.
Diamond King.
Club to the Queen.
Club ruffed and overruffed.
Spade Queen; and
out a spade. (a mistake on my part, caused by failure to count.)
Diamond to the jack. (a mistake on bt's part.)
and the last trick was ours.

[MNBridge]

Are we on for Monday again?

Oh and I wanted to ask:

"If the responder bids at the 2 level in a new suit over the openers bid is the responder required to bid again?"

In the sequence --

1 :sp: - 2 :cl:
2 :sp: -

Or

1 :ht: - 2 :dm:
2 NT

Or

1 :sp: - 2 :cl:
3 :cl:

etc.

According to 'Root' common sense bidding he is. (Though he does say it MUST be discussed).

[E. Blackadder]

see other thread.

[Klaymen]

I don't think i would have bid 4:sp: but it's hard to say since I wasn't faced with the situation. 4:ht: would have been -1. My double was meant as a support double and there's only so much you can do with 8 trump...

[Been There Done That]

That wasn't my best effort, and I would like a rematch.

BTW as I recall, that was 72 IMPs in 20 boards, not 15.

[Klaymen]

Edmund has conveniently left off the first 5 hands which he played with a different partner and they lost 18 IMPs.

Two weeks from right now I'll be in Pittsburgh, most likely enjoying a compact KO with the District 14 Flight C NAP respresntatives. :guitar:

[Been There Done That]

Ah, maybe that was 15 boards to get to 72 IMPs, the score having been reset after the first five.

[E. Blackadder]

Edmund has conveniently left off the first 5 hands which he played with a different partner and they lost 18 IMPs.

I resemble that remark. :-) But you're going to pay for that one, anyway.


N/S Vul; E (moi) dealt

K2
AKJT76
J43
93
Q4 J987653
52 9
AQT9865 2
Q8 JT62
AT
Q843
K7
AK754


Here, we see a routine preempt of 4S on the power of 11 cards headed by two jacks, doubled by South. When North eked out a jump to six hearts, South gave him the benefit of the doubt and confirmed that his double was valid by raising to seven.

East's club jack was headed by the ace.
A heart from dummy to the ace.
Back to the queen, and east discarded a small spade.
King of clubs
four of clubs, ruffed.
Spade to the ace
Club ruff, setting up the seven.
King of spades
and the diamond hook was taken, for down two.

Preempts work, except when they don't.

Correction by Captain Nemo noted. Some people around here don't even get 13-card hands right. I gotta get all 52 right or it's b----, b----, b----. :swear:

[Captain Nemo]

I assume that in the above, West held the Q of diamonds and not the J?

[Been There Done That]

Yech!

Playing on BBO, IMP Pairs none vul, you deal and pick-up:

AJT987
AQT
T4
AJ

You open 1 spade, any objections?

Partner bids 2C (you have agreed to play 2/1 GF) and you respond 2S, okay?

Partner jumps to 3NT, and having seen his dummy play and having no tools you bid 6S.

The club 7 is lead and dummy comes down:

Q3
K83
AKJ3
Q632

Every single other pair in the room is in game (half in NT, half is spades).

Every other declarer made exactly 12 tricks.

I went down 1.

What happened?

[Steve White]

You won trick one in your hand. Crossed to dummy in a red suit. Took the spade hook, losing. RHO ruffed that red suit.

That seems the most likely. That you played A and a spade, RHO winning and giving a ruff either means a red suit broke 7-0, or it's surprising that other declarers made only 12 tricks. If you played A and a spade, LHO winning and giving a ruff either means a red suit broke 7-0 or it's surprising other declarers made 12 tricks (as the club 7 from 10 987xx seems unlikely), though maybe the diamond Q dropped stiff.

[Been There Done That]

Based on the information given, that is a good explanation.

I should have added: no bad breaks, no defensive ruffs.

[Klaymen]

You took the spade finesse and got a club ruff? At IMPs I play the ace of spades and throw the Q on it. You don't even want the minimal risk of going back to your hand to rid the opponents of spades. You have all the high spades so don't be a miser. Give away the :sp:K as quickly and safely as possible and lay out your 12 tricks. By ousting 2 rounds of trump you improve chances that one person no longer scores a ruff.

Without the :cl: lead and an uncertain 12th trick, the :sp: hook seems reasonable.

[Been There Done That]

What 12 tricks? The club lead is through the AKJx.

[slam]

Huh? Through the AKJx?

To me, it looks like the club lead is through Qxxx into AJ giving you your 12th trick. But what do I know. The spade safety play as suggested by Charlie Brown at imps seems reasonable. Even at matchpoints it might make sense if you don't expect many pairs to be in 6.

[Been There Done That]

Yikes!


I reversed the club and diamond holdings when I typed the hands.

Try this (corrected) version:

Dummy:

Q3
K83
Q632
AKJ3


Me:

AJT987
AQT
AJ
T4

Lead: club 7

I ended up being the dummy in the sense that I was in slam and took 11 tricks (in spades) and everybody else was only in game all making 12 tricks.

No weird distribution, no defensive ruffs. What happened?

[MNBridge]

Yikes!


I reversed the club and diamond holdings when I typed the hands.

Try this (corrected) version:

Dummy:

Q3
K83
Q632
AKJ3


Me:

AJT987
AQT
AJ
T4

Lead: club 7

I ended up being the dummy in the sense that I was in slam and took 11 tricks (in spades) and everybody else was only in game all making 12 tricks.

No weird distribution, no defensive ruffs. What happened?


you and your partner had different :dm: and :cl: holdings than everyone else :)

You lost the :sp: fineese and a :cl: fineese (you elected to not go for the :dm: finesse which would have worked :swear: )

[Klaymen]

I try avoid underleading honors against a slam. But many people don't. Let's assume the :sp:K is offside. You have a couple possibilities:
1) The :dm:K is onside.
2) Someone holds :cl:Qx or Qxx and you can set up the long club.
3) Some opponent tries to guard the :dm:K and the long :ht: as well as the :cl:Q
4) LHO holds the :cl:Q and you can win the finesse right now.

I would take the :cl:A, try the spade finesse. If the opponents return a club I will win it with the K and ruff a club. If the Q doesn't drop I cash two hearts from my hand and play and many spades as i can expect 1 and watch the discards. Then back to dummy for the !d finesse. I would try to keep the distribution of my hand a mystery so the opponents don't know which red cards to keep.

Or course, if they were only in game they probably took the :cl: finesse because even if it lost they would score a :dm: pitch. This would be my line of play if the :sp:K were onside. If everyone made 12 tricks then one black finesse is on and one off.

[Steve White]

You won the club lead, lost a trump finesse, pulled trumps, ruffed a club, cashed the rest of the trumps pitching the diamond Q, took 3 hearts ending in dummy to reach dummy D-x C-J opposite your D-AJ. You had learned LHO started with at least 4 diamonds and had at least one left, so you played a diamond to the A. The finesse would have worked.

[Been There Done That]

Exactly.

Was my line that bad?

[Steve White]

Assuming you did in fact know LHO started with at least 4 diamonds, your line was mathematically best. The only argument against it is that a good opponent would tend to lead from a king in an unbid suit (if he had one) against a slam; that might outweigh the 4:3 or 5:2 odds in a vacuum. (Partner's jump to 3NT makes leading from the king a little less desirable than it would be on some other auctions, but I think still the odds before you know anything about diamond length is that opening leader is less than 50-50 to have the K.)

[Klaymen]

Scott & Charlie Brown won by 45 IMPs over 31 boards last night vs Edmund & mnpoker

[E. Blackadder]

If you hadn't screwed up your last auction. :wink:

[Klaymen]

On Monday 3/28 A local partner bh7nt and I defeated edmund & mnpoker by 6 IMPs over 29 boards. In all fairness it's essentially a draw because my partner didn't pry himself from the computer until we got a +8 swing to put us in the black. Each of us bid a chancy, unmakeable vulnerable slam that cost 12-13 IMPs. Other than the aforementioned hand, no single hand was more than 5 IMPs in any direction. A good evening of good bridge.

Scott & I will anticipate Edmund & mnpoker next Monday at 9pm central. Unless Edmund is concerned about his complexion.

[E. Blackadder]

I'd play, but I'm going to be on the road, trying to get scrod. :-? It's an oldie, but a goodie -- unless you live there!

Anyone who knows of a good or pleasant Boston game on the nights of 4/3 and/or 4/4, you know my outpost ID. Don't make me beg, dahling, you know I won't do that!

And of course I'll check the ACBL site.

[Colymbosathon ecplecticos]

Warning: Punch line below.

... and the cabbie said, "You know, I probably been asked that question a thousand times, but never before in the pluperfect subjunctive."

[E. Blackadder]

and there appeared to be nothing available in the metropolitan area on the Tue/Wed nights that I was there. I could be wrong, but the search facility wasn't all that good. Neither was my knowledge of Boston.

Last night, there was a heartbreaker of a hand. #18


KQ54
T85
KT
AKJ2
AT732 986
- K3
987642 AJ5
63 QT875
J
AQJ97642
Q3
94

South dealt and opened a routine first seat favorable preempt of four hearts. I was ahead five IMPs at this point and passed. Unfortunately, while I sat west, I was at the other table. North looked at his hand, chock-a-block with Kings, and decided that South could have two aces, or a void, or... or... something, and asked with 4NT. South showed ONE ace (probably, perhaps a key-card), and North completed the transition from dull, safe contract to sporting chance. the defence took their aces and South made the losing (and correct, CB) percentage play in trump when East was wily [SIC] enough not to cover the heart ten.

The bad news was that North's bidding cost my partnership clear first. The good news was that the perpetrator managed to lose his other two matches as well as this one.

One takes good news any way one can. There's probably a German word for it.

[Klaymen]

I made the brilliant 4NT bid. Hoping for a 1-1 trump split isn't the percentage play?

[4sigma]

One takes good news any way one can. There's probably a German word for it.

I believe it's "Schadenfreude"

[E. Blackadder]

Sometimes crime does pay. Witless this exhibition of unmitigated greed.


A963
AKQ4
72
Q54
QJ 8
973 J2
T943 AKQJ85
AK86 JT97
KT7542
T865
6
32


White on white, West dealt and North opened a routine 15 to 17 Notrump. East disdained the possibility of beating 3NT off the top and showed his suit. South, who was drowning his sorrows in Classic Coca-Cola signed off with Two Spades. West -- who was paying attention -- raised his partner, and North (Mart someone or another) showed his super maximum with a fit by bidding Three Spades. East, knowing that his Queen and Jack of diamonds were working, decided to push to the Four level, and I... I mean South... just couldn't resist.

In a triumph of working cards, friendly breaks and a failure to revoke, South managed to just make when the defence found the diamond switch on trick three. One East-West pair actually doubled Four Spades, though they were unavailable for comment.

The new losing trick count assigns a 6.5 loser count on North and 9.0 on south, for an estimated 25.0 - 6.5 - 9.0 = 9.5 tricks. If north was going to have two Queens, he had a 50% chance of one of them being the useful heart Queen. A little bit lucky.

[Klaymen]

This week's 24 boards:

66 me/martsco
63 edmundb/mnpoker
49 wily/rfactr
46 btdt/bc1968


Here are the cumulative IMPs over 42 boards followed by avg net gain:
123 (+0.46) edmundb/mnpoker
110 (+0.15) wily/rfactr
95 (-0.20) me/martsco
86 (-0.42) btdt/bc1968

[E. Blackadder]

And that match-up was on for sixteen boards today. Or did you notice?

I'll set up the tournament next week. And I'll post some of the more ridiculous results later today. Sparing no one, including myself.

[Klaymen]

I messed up the movement? *sigh*

Good grief!

I edited the totals above to reflect this.

[E. Blackadder]

943
A4
AKT2
J865
AKQJ2 T65
T6 KJ73
93 Q874
A973 K2
87
Q9852
J65
QT4

South dealt; all were vulnerable.

The bidding was routine, EDIT begins here: (P) - 1S - (P) - 2S - (P) - P - (Dbl*) - P - (3C) - Dbl. (all pass) except that the game was mistakenly coded as IMPs. At matchpoints you balance and take your occasional -1100s stoically, (it's no worse than -200, realistically), and score up your -100s with quiet glee.

*Doesn't make sense. North must have bid 2NT, othewise South would surely have responded 3H.

I couldn't resist doubling the 3C runout, and after winning the king, East not only found the club return, he even had one to return. Good partners have aces, kings and trumps. Bad partners don't.

This almost helped us recover from a blowout. I'm more delighted that we kept our composure than I'm sad about losing this matchette.

[E. Blackadder]

S dealt, E/W vul.

72
JT2
T762
J752
AJ96 QT854
AK965 87
A94 QJ5
4 A63
K3
Q43
K83
KQT98

South opened a club and West doubled. North made an intriguing one notrump bid. East bid two spades, and West invited. This is probably West's my fault. Since North bid notrump, nominally showing values and a balanced hand, a competent East probably isn't going to fish around on a random hand with four spades. So West should have bounced to game, or clarified with two clubs.

While I wouln't normally bid 1NT as north, it has a lot going for it. N/S won't really go overboard unless South is too strong to bid game. West can't double unless he has N/S beat in his hand; East will have to trust partner and not his opponent. Not necessarily easy to do, unless you have good fundamental agreements and a reasonable probability that someone (not on your side) is being a goof.

[MNBridge]

S dealt, E/W vul.

72
JT2
T762
J752
AJ96 QT854
AK965 87
A94 QJ5
4 A63
K3
Q43
K83
KQT98

South opened a club and West doubled. North made an intriguing one notrump bid. East bid two spades, and West invited. This is probably West's my fault. Since North bid notrump, nominally showing values and a balanced hand, a competent East probably isn't going to fish around on a random hand with four spades. So West should have bounced to game, or clarified with two clubs.

I was very very close to going on.

I would have if I had any sort of distribution other than the 5 card :sp: suit.
Change the 7 :ht: to a club or :dm: I go. Or change the A :cl: to a :dm: I go then as well.

Plus I'm not totally clear yet on what it takes for others to reopen the bidding in these situations. Or exactly what my bid showed (I know for me it was showing 6 - 9 but not sure if everyone reads it as such : which means I probably should have gone on)

[Klaymen]

Charlie Brown's first law of IMPs was violated here:
When vulnerable, bid game first and ask questions later. I know there are times where you have to recognize via the auction that your hands have limits. But with edumund's 3:sp: invitation I would only decline 4 with a hand that I felt had already overbid to get to 2.

The moment partner opened a club and Edmund doubled, it was 95% likely you guys had a vulnerable game. I wish I had some sort of 3C bid available to make matters difficult (and I had no such bid) but that would probably only propel you to game anyway. 1NT seemed better - much more strategic, despite the fact that opponents regularly bid to 2 of a major anyway. Plus, I'm not going to get hurt too bad if I play it, and no opponent is going to want me to play it anyway. It was enough to create the doubt that our side had enough points to defeat game. Plus now, mn has little choice but to bid 2:sp: and it becomes a bit more ambiguous than having both a 1 and 2 bid to choose from. The only possible backlash would have been watching partner increase the strain of NT but i didn't think the risk was very great - you were almost certainly competing to 2 of a major.

By the way, West would have to try three clubs, not two. That shows a big hand and now mn has an easy jump to 4:sp: the chance of bidding 3:sp: with a lousy competing hand or 3NT or something else. 4:sp: is a good choice with the 5th spade, but 3NT isn't ridiculous, showing values in partner's weaker minor suits. But I expect Edmund to prefer 4S anyway.

I like the 3C bid although I'm not sure in practice if I would bid 3C or just blast to 4S. After all, opener is more likely to have wasted club values and partner's hand just might be more relevant. Blasting to 4 seems good with your 6-loser hand because you can make game with as little as

KQxxx
xx
xx
xxxx

if ether the trump or the hearts are agreeable.

[Klaymen]

Monday April 25

Scott & I defeated EdmundB and mnpoker by 16 IMPs over 24 hands. 23 IMPs were kindly donated early on (they referred to it as a handicap) on two memorable boards. Aside from those blunders, it was a relatively even matchup.

[Captain Nemo]

I arrived late and ended up playing with an old college buddy. The following hand evoked an interesting comment - he's a better player than I am, but I have to disagree on this one. But I thought I'd let y'all tell me if I was wrong or not.

Dealer opens 1:ht: on your right. You hold:

:sp: AK9876
:ht: J
:dm: 42
:cl: AK86

What do you do?

At MPs, our result would have been a tie for top; we gained 10.53 IMPs. So the result was good, I was just surprised because I thought I'd made the "obviously" correct choice.

[Klaymen]

You mean bid 4:sp: directly and hope partner has the equivalent of two black queens?

At IMPs with this 6-loser hand you have little to lose and everything to gain (were you vul? even more reason to do so). I like to envision what little partner needs for me to make game:

Qxx
xxxx
Axxx
xx

Qxx
xxx
xxx
QJx

[MNBridge]

I arrived late and ended up playing with an old college buddy. The following hand evoked an interesting comment - he's a better player than I am, but I have to disagree on this one. But I thought I'd let y'all tell me if I was wrong or not.

Dealer opens 1:ht: on your right. You hold:

:sp: AK9876
:ht: J
:dm: 42
:cl: AK86

What do you do?

At MPs, our result would have been a tie for top; we gained 10.53 IMPs. So the result was good, I was just surprised because I thought I'd made the "obviously" correct choice.

I double then bid spades at as low a level as possible.

But this begs the question that keeps coming up:
- what's it take to dbl and bid again? I would say this is about right.

--- If the spades and clubs are BOTH 5 cards suits then I overcall 1 :sp: and bid clubs next.

[Captain Nemo]

Both were vulnerable, IIRC.

My comments (in white for now...)

I figure you need about the equivalent of 17HCP to dbl and bid a suit (strong overcall) and Kaplan Count suggests this has an opening strength of about 19. Deducting 1 for the opening to the right (not much in the way of finessable values, and partner now has an expected 5 HCP instead of the expected 8 HCP you would anticipate if righty passes) and this still qualifies. Yes, I know Kaplan Count was designed to model their strong 2 Club openers, but it doesn't do a bad job of modeling 1-bids, and you use a continuum to work after that, adjusting as the auction goes along, as I see it.

So I have my 17. Partner didn't think I was strong enough to double and then overcall. Dunno if playing 2/1 affects this any, but I doubt it.

Partner had:

S xx
H AT9864
D T987
C x

4S is a good place to be if hearts break 5-1 instead of 6-0, and clubs break 5-3 or better. However, partner didn't put me in 4S, partner passed, and we got plus 800 (SAK, S ruff, CAK, S-declarer ruffs, declarer led QH, partner exits with a diamond, and eventually declarer gets a second trump trick from KQ9532 and D AJ... partner got 3 more trump tricks, basically.
Declarer had

S JTx
H KQ9532
D AJ
C Qx

leaving dummy with the truly excrable (on this auction)

S Qx
H
D KQ653
C JT97xx

Against my 4S, a probable diamond lead quickly nets 2 diamond tricks, a heart ruff, and an eventual additional spade loser. Several pairs were in 2S or 3S making.

[MNBridge]

Hmmm.....

Everything seems reasonable to me. What did P expect?

[E. Blackadder]

It was designed to model Kaplan's opening judgement both for strong two bids and for opening bids.

The count is not flexible enough to adapt to partner's distribution. Shortly after I started trying to use the count in real time (and in offline bridge, yet), I helped my partner and I to a well-deserved cold bottom by not raising my partner's notrump opening with my "quacky" collection.

My opinion is that the count should be weighted with the high card point method, or even with some more extreme methods that apply when both hands are balanced. Or just bid game and analyze the hand later.

.................................................. .................................................

I'll come back with some mea culpas later.

[Captain Nemo]

It was designed to model Kaplan's opening judgement both for strong two bids and for opening bids.

The count is not flexible enough to adapt to partner's distribution. Shortly after I started trying to use the count in real time (and in offline bridge, yet), I helped my partner and I to a well-deserved cold bottom by not raising my partner's notrump opening with my "quacky" collection.

My opinion is that the count should be weighted with the high card point method, or even with some more extreme methods that apply when both hands are balanced. Or just bid game and analyze the hand later.

.................................................. .................................................

I'll come back with some mea culpas later.
Fair enough. I can certainly see how it might be less accurate at judging NT potential or support potential. I still think, however, that it's likely accurate at more than just the two individual points (opening 1-bids and opening strong 2-bids) universally agreed upon. For example, the line segment connecting them.

[Klaymen]

I'm not saying I would bid 4S blindly with that hand, I was just trying to guess what was so exciting about it.

I would not X first, I would insist on more actual hcp for double and rebid. I would bid 1S to show 5 and I'm willing to bid as high as 4S in competition later or with some help from partner, that should show my hand well enough. If partner remains silent I'll figure out what to do next.

[Been There Done That]

If you play intermediate jump overcalls, this hand is perfect. Assuming that you don't, this is an overcall and then double hand. It is not powerful enough for an off-shape double. Partner needs to know if this is your style and respond to your overcalls as though you had openned.

[Captain Nemo]

I thought it was strong enough for a "strong jump overcall", which I put in the "double then bid my suit" category.

If I'm wrong, I'm wrong.

[Steve White]

With the strong suits and concentrated honors, I think it's worth doubling and then bidding spades. Just overcalling one spade is also OK.

[E. Blackadder]

Fair enough. I can certainly see how it might be less accurate at judging NT potential or support potential. I still think, however, that it's likely accurate at more than just the two individual points (opening 1-bids and opening strong 2-bids) universally agreed upon. For example, the line segment connecting them.
Sure.

[Klaymen]

btdt & myself could do no wrong against Edmund and his partner clarity, amassing 63 IMPs over 24 boards.

To be fair, I expect that 1/2 of those IMPs are from realizing that at this scoring you simply bid game when it's close. I can't understand how you can open 1:cl: with a decent 18hcp and 4 hearts and hear 1:ht: from partner and not bid to 4:ht:. That's all I typically expect at any scoring, for that matter. There are several examples of games worth 4 or 5 IMPs because half the field was playing partscores instead of 3NT.

[E. Blackadder]

at least I won't be living in Iowa.

[Klaymen]

at least I won't be living in Iowa.

At least I'll be among a group of people that don't shout "Eat flaming death!" whenever my opponents are enjoying a streak of good fortune. :lol:

[E. Blackadder]

Don't be silly. There must be a few Hell's Angels in Iowa.

[4sigma]

Don't be silly. There must be a few Hell's Angels in Iowa.And how many of them play in bridge tournaments? :-o

[Klaymen]

And how many of them play in bridge tournaments? :-o

I was at the Des Moines regional two years ago. The answer is zero, at least until I get there. I'll be moving everyone there June 28th, if only into a hotel. And I'm playing a 2-session event with a friend from Minneapolis at the regional on July 4th! :spnner: He was looking for an excuse to attend the Des Moines opera on July 5th, so I gave him one!

[E. Blackadder]

Monday didn't happen, as there were three of us, and as usual, I was going to have to be the odd man out, stuck with a random partner against an experienced partnership. The worst thing about last week wasn't the minus 63 IMPs, (although that was in the top two) it was that I was dumb enough to play poker afterwards, in what looked like an easy game, while I was still depressed. This is not a recommended procedure.

On Sunday, I played with Been There Done That. Here's a hand where he didn't give anything away, and an opponent... did.

I'm not in the mood to rotate hands, so.
Board 16 (E/W vul; W dealt)

AKT65
AKQ5
KJ
AT
Q J732
T7643 J
T95 Q832
J732 KQ85
984
982
A764
964

Pard was North. The uncontested action:
2C - 2D
2S - 3S (an overbid?)
4C - 4S
6S Dbl. (uncontested until this point, anyway.)

:ht: J, 2, 3, A
:sp: A, 2, 4, Q (and now, partner paused for thought.)
:sp: 5, J, 8, :ht: 4
:dm: 2, 4, 9, J
:dm: K, 3, 6, 5
:sp: 6, 3, 9, :ht: 6 (and it was over, when the diamond held up and he returned to hand via a club.)

This was also cute (by partner):

All Vul; S Dlr

K4
8532
A932
Q75
A7653 Q9
6 KT97
K5 QT84
T8632 K94
JT82
AQJ4
J76
AJ

The uncontested bidding was unexceptional:
1 :dm: - 1 :ht:
2 :ht: - 2 NT
3 NT

I assumed that 2NT showed concern about a three-card raise. What it really showed was that he was feeling his oats. (Granted, I was feeling mine, too. but it's not like we were out in public. ) I also assumed I wouln't have to play the hand. :D Hearts never made more than three -- probably due to so-called "lack of values" and the trifling 4-1 break.

:dm: 4, 6, K, A
:ht: 2, 7, Q, 6
:sp: 2, 3, K, 9
:ht: 3, 9, J, :sp: 5
:ht: A, :cl: 2, :ht: 5, T
:ht: 4, :sp: 6, :ht: 8, K
:sp: Q, 8, 7, 4
:dm: Q, 7, 5, 2
:dm: 8, J, :cl: 3, :dm: 3
:sp: T, endplaying west.

Back to Monday, I was pre-warming, just in case, and stumbled into a table of frenchies. Partner advertised himself as "world-class", but his running IMP totals was about -97 when I cut in. He mostly behaved (i.e. refrained from redoubling). I was West.


Board 85. N/S Vul. Dlr: N

-
K953
Q986
AK862
AKJ86 954
AJ T764
54 AKJ2
QT94 75
QT732
Q82
T73
J3

After North opened one club, Partner made the obvious diamond overcall.
I responded 2 Spades, and having extras, partner raised to four.

Unbelievably South doubled this. There's no accounting for taste.

:cl: A, 5, J, Q
:cl: K, 7, 3, 4
:cl: 8, :ht: 4, :sp: 2, :cl: 9
:ht: Q, A, 9, 6
I hopefully played the spade Ace, and when South also held three diamonds not including the queen (not that unlikely), it was over.

Deep Finesse claims the losing play was the club King. Go figure.

We battled the IMP score down to about -75, when this cutie showed up.


board 90. All Vul; Dlr: E.

A8764
J76
87
QJ5
KT 52
Q85 KT9432
QT53 A964
AT32 4
QJ93
A
KJ2
K9876

The contested auction:
1H (Dbl) Rdbl 1S
2H (2S) 4H (4S)
Pass (Pass) Dbl.

As you can see (but I couldn't) partner's opening was from the EB Outer Limits collection.

I can see the point, it's a 7 1/2 (new) loser hand (which I regard as minimum), and has 1 1/2 quick tricks (which I also regard as minimum), but it doesn't look like an opening bid. The whole is less than the sum of its parts. :( Maybe I need to re-think my idea of minimum.)

I meant the redouble as cooperative; when partner showed extra hearts, I upgraded a bit.

I wasn't all that displeased when dummy (south) came down. I figured p likely held the spade ace. ;-)

:cl: 4, 6, A, 5
:cl: 2, J, :sp: 2, :cl: 7
:dm: 4, 2, T, 7 (the ten was a nasty card. Technically correct, it's a nice thing to let partner know he's made the winning play. So the queen was indicated.)
:cl: 3, Q, :sp: 5, :cl: 8
:dm: A, J, 3, 8
and it was over.

Who went wrong?

Tune in next week for more adventures.

[4sigma]

1) It depends somewhat what your 2:dm: bid means, but I don't consider 3:sp: an overbid. You have an Ace. Partner has opened 2:cl:.

Not that you should be proud to be in 6:sp:, particularly. RHO should find the :cl: lead. Even failing that -- looking at that dummy, a more passive continuation is called for when winning the trump trick.

2) Nicely played! Though West ought to part with a club perhaps and avoid the endplay.

3) 4:sp: is unbeatable, no? You can always finesse trumps twice and discard your :ht: loser via the :dm: finesse. The losing play appears to have been South's "frisky" double. ;)

4) Parter's opening is surreal. Still, shouldn't declarer find the :dm:K at trick 3? How can your partner hold an opening bid without the :dm: A? :D

[E. Blackadder]

3) 4:sp: is unbeatable, no? You can always finesse trumps twice and discard your :ht: loser via the :dm: finesse. The losing play appears to have been South's "frisky" double. ;)
I'm just telling you what Deep Finesse said. I'm not really a fan of double-dummy analysis. Comments by double-dummyists are welcome.

[Steve White]

I'm not sure whether the club K was fatal, but I don't think 4S doubled will make on the obvious heart lead.

On 4, the diamond A figures to be in opener's hand to justify the opening bid, and he should play for that even if it's only 50-50 since he cannot make the hand unless opener has the diamond A.

[E. Blackadder]

In the previous hand Charlie Brown had beaten MN and me by getting to a good slam with a pickup partner (caused by connection problems.)

Going to the next table, MN and I perpetrated the following. I was north.


Board 4; All vul; Dlr: W

AK986
AT8
AQJ
AT
QJ73 -
K7 Q93
T864 K752
K65 QJ9872
T542
J6542
93
43

I opened 2C, partner discouraged, I actually typoed and bid 2S (I think 2NT is right). Partner bid 4S = "please stop."
:cl: 8, 3, K, A
:sp:A, :ht: 3, :sp: 2, 3
:cl: T, Q, 4, 5
:dm: 2, 9, T, Q
:dm: A, 5, 3, 4
:dm: J, 7, :sp: 4, :dm: 6
:ht: 2, 7, T, Q
:cl: 2, :sp: 5, :cl: 6, :ht: 8
:sp: T, J, K, :cl: 7
and RHO gets another spade trick.

CB was unlucky enough to save against this game before it could be bid (at another table, of course.), and was punished by the bridge gods.

What with one thing and another, MN and I tied CB for zero black points, as we failed to pick an easy section.

Earlier today I tried an individual event. Twice (in nine entire hands) my partners decided to fake out the opponents by going to 3NT on an unstoppered suit against an overcall. And twice they failed to succeed. My best result by far was this beauty...


Board 6, E/W Vul; Dlr: E
T6
K7
KT974
AQJ3
AK874 9532
QT982 AJ65
- QJ652
976 -
QJ
43
A83
KT9542

I was South, and nobody bothered to bid, so I won't bore you with the play.

then the fireworks started. I'm well known on the board and at the table for my diplomatic ways (except when I'm not), but... but... but... I just couldn't resist. Again.

The uncontested S/W dialogue was as follows:

ibinwid: [Sitting West] pass with 13ptsvk?? vkiss was sitting North
EdmundB: It's a bad 13. [actually it's not, but what did I care?]
ibinwid: rubbish
EdmundB: anyway, you make 4!s. in BBO the !s sign shows up as :sp:
ibinwid: i know that
EdmundB: I'd open *your* hand. in a heartbeat
EdmundB: and vb's hand, too. ... and likely live to regret it.
ibinwid: its not my hand thats the trouble it's your ptns
EdmundB: Oh, come on. You made the first mistake. :-)
ibinwid: i had not 12pts
EdmundB: You have six losers only.
EdmundB: 2 QT.
EdmundB: Two major suits.
ibinwid: 9pts
EdmundB: +620
ibinwid: amounts to cheating im'; afraid
ibinwid: its not bridge
ibinwid: vkiss would have been barred from my bridge club
EdmundB: So would I. But that wouldn't be a loss for vkiss.

I was a bit hard on him. Did I mention this was worth in excess of 13 IMPs. Other than the passout, there was a -500, three -680s (obviously my analysis was suspect. :D ) a -1100, and a -2000. N/S played diamonds on the last two, (once after getting redoubled in 4H) North disdaining the Unusual Notrump for some reason or another.

[Klaymen]

What with one thing and another, MN and I tied CB for zero black points, as we failed to pick an easy section.

Actually, online points are colorless; they're worth even less than black points. They figure in your total points but do not count in any Mini-McKinney race. Plus, no more than 1/3 of the points used to achieve a desgination can be online points.

[E. Blackadder]

obviously I missed a staff meeting. Are they odorless, too? Can you use them when horseback riding?

[E. Blackadder]

Entered an individual tournament on BBO. Hand 1: It goes (from my left)
(1 :ht: ) - 2 :sp: - after a lonnnnnng tank, in which LHO summoned the director ... (3 :ht: ), and

holding approximately
:sp: JTxx
:ht: xxx
:dm: QJxx
:cl: xx

I passed, figuring that there was little point in eating up a vast amount of bidding space with a 3:sp: bid. At this point, the director arrived, and immediately booted me from the tournament. At least there wasn't an entry fee. :roll:

[Klaymen]

I played this hand in 6:sp: and made it:

:sp: KT86
:ht: A2
:dm: 3
:cl: KQT962

:sp: AQ92
:ht: JT874
:dm: AQT9
:cl: -

LHO was kind enough to lead the :cl:A which I ruffed. I played the top two spades in my hand and found out LHO held :sp: J743 to begin with. Took the finesse and ran the clubs until losing one to the jack. LHO now led a diamond into my tenace but I was always falling back on that anyway and RHO held the :dm:K so +980 and 11 big ones.

[Captain Nemo]

At this point, the director arrived, and immediately booted me from the tournament. At least there wasn't an entry fee. :roll:

Good grief! I suppose there's no recourse, though...:-(

[E. Blackadder]

Good grief! I suppose there's no recourse, though...:-(
Like... a full refund of my entry fee? :wink:

I let it go with a pointed "WTF??" and a good, refreshing sulk.

[Klaymen]

AK874
QT982
-
976

ibinwid: amounts to cheating im'; afraid
ibinwid: its not bridge


I wouldn't open this hand either because the last thing I want to do is play 3NT ( or 4:ht: or 4:sp: ) on a 21 hcp misfit. But I won't hesitate to butt in with a michaels call or a double (or even an unusual 2NT if the opponents bid the minors first!) to mention my hand.

Psyching is one thing, but to call the opening of this hand cheating is absurd. It's up to everyone at the table to figure out how much you can afford to bid. Some people just can't bend the rules.

It's like some people who won't bid 1NT unless they have a stopper in every suit, so they play 3 of a minor instead. :shake:

[4sigma]

The hand is not a full opening bid, but I would probably open 1:sp: in 3rd seat. Since partner is a passed hand, I hope not to get too high on our potential misfit. If partner is on opening lead, I probably want him to lead spades. Also I am a favorite to make 4:sp: opposite the right 4333 9-count. (Qxx AKx xxxx xxx.)

[Klaymen]

Got a good board against 3NT yesterday. RHO opens 1:sp: and I bid 2:ht: holding

:sp: K
:ht: AKxxxx
:dm: Axx
:cl: xxx

It's passed around to RHO who bids 3:cl: and LHO now bids 3NT. (equal vul) A heart lead to my king as a spade is pitched from dummy and I'm looking at:

:sp: AQ9xxx
:ht: -
:dm: xx
:cl: AKQJT

I switch to a low diamond and declarer wins with the king. Now a club to the board and a low diamond. Easy enough, I take the ace of diamonds, cash the ace of hearts, and play back a club and declarer is trapped in dummy giving partner the JT of spades at the end. Actually I should have exited with the :sp:K to prevent getting in and leading a red card.

[E. Blackadder]

You're safe until tonight. ;-) I'm no longer able to bring up hands at work.

[4sigma]

Misfits often play poorly in 3NT. With RHO's hand, it is hard to imagine a hand his partner can hold that will make 3NT but not 4S. I think RHO should pull 3NT.

[E. Blackadder]

This was a sad story.

Board 12; N/S vul; Dlr: W

KJ53
5
JT74
KQ97
A98 T62
J3 KQT9
K963 Q3
JT32 A864
Q74
A87642
A85
5

As usual, the bidding was routine.
In 2nd seat North opened a dubious 1 :dm:, doubled by East, and reround by South. West had an unappetizing choice of calls and settled on 1NT, which North whacked to show that he had an opening hand.

The defence was a bit lucky. Reasoning (if that's the word) that West was unlikely to have a major suit, and implicity trusting partner to have the goods, North decided that West might have clubs and weak hand, so...

:dm: J, Q, A, 3
:dm: 8, 9, T, 2
Never wasting an opportunity to go wrong, North continued...
:cl: K, A, 5, 3
:ht: 9, 8, J, 5
:ht: 3, :sp: 5, :ht: T, A
(Note North's clever discard, a subtle hint to South of the distributional rapids in this seemingly calm partscore pool.
:dm: 5, K, 4, :sp: 2
:cl: T, Q, 4, :ht: 2
(why didn't West run some hearts, I wondered... Really. :duh: South's six-card heart suit just didn't occur to me.)
:sp: 3, 6, Q, 8
:sp: 7, A, K, T. (South knows West doesn't have four spades, so the King must be a signal to relax. Or... does he...? I didn't ask.)
:cl: J, 7, 6, :ht: 4... and even I couldn't fail to take the rest, with the master card in each non-heart suit.

This next one demonstrates the problems of partnership nonalignment. As with a car, the wheels can come off.

Board 16: E/W Vul; Dlr: W

5
QT2
QJ95
AK932
AQ9862 T43
AK 9
872 AT643
T6 J854
KJ7
J876543
K
A7

West dealt and opened 1 :sp:. North made a space-consuming 2 :cl: overcall. East showed support with 2 :sp: , and South leapt to 4 :ht:. West made a routine overbd of 4 :sp: and I, ... I mean North... fell from grace by bidding 5 :ht: . Somehow West found a double, for a well-deserved down 2. and 5 3/4 IMPs away.

East and west were minimum for their bids, so South is unlikely to have more values than he does. My hand is reasonable on the auction. I can keep my big mouth shut.

[4sigma]

This was a sad story.

Board 12; N/S vul; Dlr: W

KJ53
5
JT74
KQ97
A98 T62
J3 KQT9
K963 Q3
JT32 A864
Q74
A87642
A85
5

As usual, the bidding was routine.
In 2nd seat North opened a dubious 1 :dm:, doubled by East, and reround by South. West had an unappetizing choice of calls and settled on 1NT, which North whacked to show that he had an opening hand.
A creative auction to what is surely a normal contract. I confess that if I were North I would not have committed an opening bid on that hand. But East has a fairly normal 1H opener in 3rd seat. This will freeze South out of the auction for the moment, but when West responds 1NT, North can now come in with a takeout double, and it is not unreasonable for this to be passed out, resulting in the same 1NT doubled by West.

[Captain Nemo]

So... on the first hand, did North win the final trick with the 7:dm: ? If not, then I would certainly argue that North misdefended :wink:

On the second hand, I think you're being too hard on yourself. You certainly couldn't have anticipated your partnership's duplication of values in the club suit.

[E. Blackadder]

So... on the first hand, did North win the final trick with the 7:dm: ? If not, then I would certainly argue that North misdefended :wink:

North claimed before he could make a mistake. But his DSL still doesn't support beer.

On the second hand, I think you're being too hard on yourself. You certainly couldn't have anticipated your partnership's duplication of values in the club suit.
Translation: South's :cl: A was really the Q. Don't let it be said that I would step in someone's punchline.

[Captain Nemo]

Translation: The second apparent :cl: A was really the Q.

You know, you kind of ruined my punch line when you fixed that... :-(

Edited to add: You are most generous, EB. Truly a gentleman and a scholar. That was my best punch line all day, so thanks for preserving it.

[E. Blackadder]

... any normal person would pack it in for the night. But, as so many of you have noted, I'm not normal. So I played Bridge.

Mart and CB were kind enough to keep my losses down when I played with a developing lass, and a random partner lasted three hands against my style of butchery, so the real battle began in earnest when btdt showed up to play.

CB and Mart were clever enough to keep me from being dummy for what seemed an eternity (they really do bid enough to frustrate me. If only they'd bid a bit more, I'd be even more frustrated*), and they racked up 21+ IMPs before I could grab some grub from the fridge. Once I was fortified, class began to tell. :-P


Board 17. North deals, none vul.

AK8
T96
QJ43
Q52
954 Q72
KJ854 2
T976 AK85
6 KT843
JT63
AQ73
2
AJ97

Here we see the dark side of a standard agreement, the negative double.

North opened one diamond, and I inserted a bland 2 club overcall. With both majors and game-going values, south had an easy negative double. West passed, and North had a problem. Since I could be counted on not to have full values, his club queen was dubious. Probably. So CB bid his cheapest three-card major, which South took to game. West found the obvious double opposite a sound partner, and there was a chance for a set even with me.

Sensing ruffs, I cleverly led a club to North's Queen. Sensing an opportunity to rub it in, CB led a club to the 9, ruffed by partner, who returned a spade to CB's Ace. Another club finesse drew one of West's hearts, and the spade return drew North's final spade stopper, as I completed an echo.

North led a trump to the ace, led the club ace, and discarded his losing spade on West's trump. West then drew a round of trump and exited with a diamond. My return allowed North to ruff and set up dummy for +300.

...

I hope Been There Done That doesn't mind if I publish this little gem

Board 21, Dealer: N; N/S Vul.

AJ973
K7
9643
AQ
KQT 5
QT2 A964
KJT A852
8532 K764
8642
J853
Q7
JT9


North opened 1 spade, I made a double that was light by all standards, except my own. I felt guilty about it, if that counts. North made a standard raise over a double, and BTDT made a daring (opposite me) bid of 3NT, ending the auction.

At this point, I decided to go back to the kitchen, as I hate carnage. ;-)

North made a routine lead of a low spade to the ten. South followed with the deuce, a play with ramifications.

West led the diamond jack to the ace, and returned a diamond, noting the queen on his right.

A club was led towards the king, and North took his ace.

Remember that spade deuce? Just guessing here (I only seem to read minds a the bridge table, and not very often at that.) CB... I mean North, knowing that partner had a spade raise, no spade values, no diamond values, and no useful club values, inferred from this that partner obviously had heart values (maybe it merely looked like the best of a bad set of choices). So he led a spectacular heart king, which held the trick. But the heart continuation merely pickled South's jack, after which West set up his spade queen for the ninth trick.

Notes:

1: Agree on a meaning for one grape - (dbl) - two grapes. Many partnerships play that lighter than the analogous uncontested sequence. Does yours?

2: When it's obvious to both defenders that one player is broke, that player should pretty much use count exclusively. Maybe it wasn't obvious, but from North's perspective, if South had values, the contract was pretty much going down in flames not matter what.

...

Sometimes BTDT frightens me. Case in point.


Board 24; West dealer, none vul.

QJT653
JT
J96
T9
AK 74
A9832 54
Q K8753
KJ432 Q765
982
KQ76
AT42
A8

The auction was routine. West opened one heart; North jump-overcalled two nonvulnerable spades, and South took him to 3NT. West found a double, and led a low club. In 17th century Massachusetts, he'd have been burned at the stake for that. In 20th century Massachusetts, he'd have been put on trial for... well, something, anyway.

I did my best to gum up the works by returning a heart, but my best efforts weren't enough to really derail the defence. Besides, gum is an ineffective derailing agent.

...

My sole contribution to the game was a bit of levity, on

Board 12; Dealer: W; N/S Vul.

A972
J8432
J8
T2
6 KQJ852
KQT6 7
96542 A73
952 J76
T4
A95
KQT
AKQ84

Opposite a passed hand, I felt I was unlikely to miss a game with a weak-two. South, with an imperfect hand, made the correct double, and North disclosed the heart fit. South cued, and North made the obvious 3NT bid.

Full of hope, I led the Spade King, and my hopes lasted until partner showed out of spades at trick two. It was downhill from there.

South led a club to the Ace, and played the King. When North played the Ten, I took a golden opportunity to nonchalantly drop the Jack. Alas, North had no reasonable losing options. But North though it was worth a giggle. I'll take a no-cost giggle any day.

Until next time.

*I hope they fall for that "bidding a bit more" line.

[Klaymen]

#17 yes the negative double was a problem.

#21 I do not always attentive to every discard I meet (although I do catch many of them). I shouldn't even lead a spade to begin with probably, btdt is likely to have a double stopper that sets up a second trick on my leading them. Instead lead out my shortest suit, sacrificing my queen hoping to find scott with the jack. What if Scott had nothing to lead to (which is about what he had) - then you try to tell your partner what the least damaging thing is? *sigh*

#12 After you pitched the cJ I had a good 3-minute think. Edmund doesn't appreciate that I do that so he can get some dinner down his throat.

[Klaymen]

Edmund's coverage of bridge is sometimes one-sided. Let's see if we can find some more interesting boards.


Board 5. North deals, N/S vul.

JT3
42
T8432
QT7
Q4 A9762
Q96 J53
6 AJ5
AKJ8653 94
K85
AKT87
KQ97
2


After two passes South opened 1H followed 2C my LHO. Passed back to partner who bid 2D. Edmund (East) doubled the contract. With hearts breaking favorably and spades left untouched we made 4 for +580 and 11.6 IMPs

On board 13, I opened 2S, Edmund overcalled 3D, and my partner bid 4S which was doubled by btdt. Unforuntately, Edmund's ability to overcall was on distribution and not power, and his lack of spades did nothing for the defense and we made 5 for +990.

My side ended up -3 IMPs after 14 boards vs Edmund and btdt. But we accumulated +3 on the first 10 with Edmund's pickup partners.

My regular partner will be unavailable next Monday. We'll see if anything happens.

[Been There Done That]

On board 13, I opened 2S, Edmund overcalled 3D, and my partner bid 4S which was doubled by btdt. Unforuntately, Edmund's ability to overcall was on distribution and not power, and his lack of spades did nothing for the defense and we made 5 for +990.

That one was fully my charge. It was perhaps the worst double I have made in years. I can't even argue that it was a psyche, it was simply bad.

[E. Blackadder]

#17 yes the negative double was a problem.

It was a problem for you.

It would also have been a problem for me, or indeed for anyone.

Handling these sorts of issues is something that every regular partnership should discuss, and few have. I know I haven't. I'm not here to make fun of you -- not solely for that reason anyway ;-) -- I'm here to bring these issues to our bridge community.

[Been There Done That]

I think that the problem on #17 was that North didn't have an opening hand. If that hand does qualify as an opening hand in your system, then South doesn't have a jump to game. Actually, even playing sound openings I would cuebid 3D instead of jumping to game; as North, after 3D, I would have tried 3NT.

[E. Blackadder]

That's just mean. It's not the worst opening bid I've ever seen. I'd call it close/dubious. I'd probably pass with regret.

The important consideration is whether it's an opening bid in the style that CB and Mart employ.


....

Also note that in the CB/Mart partnership, a 1D bid promises four (1C only shows 2+) I think this increases the chance of a negative double misfit after a 1D opening. NTTAWWT.

[Been There Done That]

I certainly wasn't trying to be mean. In my system a 3x4 hand with 2 quick tricks and 12HCP (11.75 Woolsey points) isn't an exciting hand to open.

[E. Blackadder]

at least your taste in bridge literature is reasonable.

[Klaymen]

That's just mean. It's not the worst opening bid I've ever seen. I'd call it close/dubious. I'd probably pass with regret.

The important consideration is whether it's an opening bid in the style that CB and Mart employ.

....

Also note that in the CB/Mart partnership, a 1D bid promises four (1C only shows 2+) I think this increases the chance of a negative double misfit after a 1D opening. NTTAWWT.

Actually I should have opened that 1C. I don't play the short club with anyone else anymore so it's easy to forget. It's easy to assume that I have 4 for my response, but I would have preferred a call other than 4H. Then we have a good chance of landing in 3NT. This problem certainly isn't confined to short club systems by any means.

I pass a twelve-count about once a year. Mart does so more often than I. The short club rarely causes bidding problems. Our ability to find and compete in 4-4 diamond fits more than makes up for any deficiencies.

[E. Blackadder]

Actually I should have opened that 1C.
Now we're moving from silly to sillier.

[Been There Done That]

Last night EB and BC were playing and I joined the table. It was one of those nights when nothing could go wrong. Much more interesting in my mind are those nights when nothing can go right --- I mentioned one last night and promised BC I'd post the hand ....

Playing IMP Pairs with a pickup partner on OKBridge I deal myself:

AKT4
AK6
98
KT54

Nobody is vulnerable. We are supposed to be playing 2/1 with 15-17 NT. I judge my hand to be too good for 1NT and open 1C.

Lefty doubles.

Partner redoubles.

Righty passes.

I pass.

Lefty passes!

The heart 5 hits the table and I see dummy:

Q653
QJ932
AK
A8

(my hand repeated for convenience)

AKT4
AK6
98
KT54

I play small from dummy and win Righty's seven with the Ace.

I lead the club 4, covered by the nine, ace, ... and Righty shows out!

I regroup and lead the club 8, letting it ride, Lefty winning with the Jack.

At this point it doesn't really matter what I do so long as I never lead trump; eventually Lefty has to ruff something and then has to give me my club Ten.

I lose four trump tricks. 1 club redoubled making three on a trump endplay for a cold zero.

Then it starts.

Lefty: How could you leave me there with a void?
Righty: I thought that you'd bid.
Lefty: I can't bid again; I've already shown you my hand. We play "stolen bid" remember?

I sat there shell-shocked.

Lefty's hand:

82
5
J73
QJ97632

(Playing the club nine when I lead towards dummy's A8 was an error.)

[Klaymen]

Bummer, you make 7NT if the major suits cooperate. Your partner probably figures you are a minimum. And your opponents' bid is certainly not a negative double as they are played today. I like the XX when I think we can set them and I don't have the values for game or when the vul is favorable to defend. But often when I have the values for game and the vulnerability is even or better, bidding game is often the way to go unless the opponents start bidding to save each other.

[E. Blackadder]

I think that the robots are free on the first of the month. Want to try a team game where we both sit the same direction? :-P