2010 MSC Problems

[Steve White]

A. 5 spades. Heart A,K likely opposite a void
B. 2NT. No aces, no intermediates
C. Start by assuming partner has not lost his mind. Realize partner has almost certainly in fact lost his mind, but that it will be better for the partnership to act as if he is doing something sensible. He's got to have a good hand, and I don't think he should be 5-6 in the reds. 3NT, hoping to make it on power, though I'm rather afraid partner's diamonds are xxxx.
D. (c) 3 clubs. Encouraging, and I don't have a diamond stop
E. 3 clubs. Slight overbid in hopes of getting to the right strain.
F. (c) Win, and play the heart 4. Avoids any risk of losing 2 diamond tricks, except to a ruff.
G. 3NT. Should try a game. We can hope.
H. Heart 2. Gotta try something.

After reading answers of others, my without-sufficient-thought answer to what to do after winning the diamond ace on F was with far too little thought. Heart ace is an improvement, but I think NN's spade is even better.

[procrastinator]

Spoiler:

A. 5S
B. 2NT.
C. 3S
D. c: 3C
E. 3C
F. c. diamond ace, then spade 7.
G. 3NT.
H. spade 4.

[Len Myers]

ok, I've selected tentative picks. Problem F, is there any difference between the spade 8 and spade 7? And why are any of my picks silly. you've got until 10:30 or so tonight to clue me in, and earlier is better.

[4sigma]

My thoughts on the "interesting" ones:

B) Given that the majority appears committed to bidding NT, I agree with inviting rather than jumping to game. 2NT is not unreasonable.

C) The answer to this problem hinges around what Double would have meant. Is it penalty oriented, or more cooperative with any balancedish hand with extra values and no clear direction? My sense in a strong field is that it ought to be the latter, though this is unclear.

If pard will double with the balanced hands then I think there is a presumption that pard has a less balanced hand for bidding 3, and therefore bidding by us now is more perilous. I expect a sharply divided panel on this one.

D) I support the change in "consensus" to 3 directly rather than the cuebid sequence. I don't see what the cuebid gains us. This hand really isn't about a choice of strains, but a lack of such choices. It is doubtful that a major suit is playable and we cannot bid NT. Our best hope is that pard has a stopper and bids NT -- while a 2 cue will accomplish this, so normally will a 3 bid. If pard lacks a stop he's going to bid a major but odds are that he has only 4 of them, so it's risky to raise. More likely we simply have to bid our clubs now anyway, and the cuebid has overstated our level of game interest opposite a partner who can't bid NT.

F) I still have no idea what's right here.

Leading clubs at trick 2 wins when clubs are 3-3. When clubs are 4-2 you are doomed. Even if they are 2-4 I believe you now need to find the QT doubleton, or Qx and guess spades. If you misguess spades you are of course doomed to lose 3 and a even if you have no trump loser, as they can lead a 3rd round of trump when in with the A or Q.

Attacking spades immediately does require that you guess spades, which is presumably 50%ish. But if you get spades right you will get to ruff dummy's 3rd spade. And if the opponents negotiate a diamond ruff it may have been with the trump trick they were getting regardless when East held Qxx, or QTx, and which they no longer get when you cash the AK.

I think that the leading spades line may be right in a vacuum. However, the 'leading clubs' line may get a bit of vigorish from the fact that East rates to not be short in clubs since he is apparently short in diamonds. And East being short in diamonds makes it slightly less than 50% that spades are guessable.

[Len Myers]

Thanks guys. someone's looking at the forum so I'll give it another hour before submitting...

1. This is your game. I am open to suggestions for making this more fun for you. Don't hold back.

2. I've noticed that a few hours ago, there were about three "guests" looking at the forum. Perhaps they were spies. Or perhaps they were just misguided. Should we ask for a protected subforum? Inquiring minds want to know.

Submitted.

[notreallyme]

Note: My pick for F is incorrect in the list of our picks. I chose c) Ace

[Len Myers]

I beg of you a thousand pardons.

[4sigma]

I beg of you to report what was submitted for problem F.

[Len Myers]

ANSWERS FOR 1/2010
-------------------
PROBLEM A: dbl
PROBLEM B: 2NT
PROBLEM C: 3S
PROBLEM D: (c)
PROBLEM E: 3C
PROBLEM F: (c);S8
PROBLEM G: 4D
PROBLEM H: S4

[Runner-JRBS]

Originally Posted by Len Myers

ANSWERS FOR 1/2010
-------------------
PROBLEM A: dbl
PROBLEM B: 2NT
PROBLEM C: 3S
PROBLEM D: (c)
PROBLEM E: 3C
PROBLEM F: (c);S8
PROBLEM G: 4D
PROBLEM H: S4

Meh - close enough... As I said in my post, I've been playing a lot of team games recently.