[lakers1]

All the problems here occurred in a recent Flight A Sunday swiss team.

Board 1. Both nv.

---

We don't play equal level conversion (ELC), so 2D promises extra values. What is your call?

Does 2H here shows forward going values or just a mere attempt to correct to a better contract?

Board 2. NS vul.

---

Okay, 4♥ is rkc for ♦, and 5♣ shows 2 rkc w/o queen. 5♥ is specific king asking, and 5♠ is suppose to show the ♠K. So, our North misbids the hand and the declarer knows other table is not going to be in this <50% vulnerable grand slam. It's time to be lucky. Your LHO lead the ♦7. RHO plays the DJ after dummy plays low. Who, east or west, is more likely to hold 4 card ♦. FYI, ♠K finisse is on. But D are 4-1 break.

Board 3, Both vul.

---

What call do you make?

Thanks for your comments.

[gnasher]

(1) 2♥ would be a correction of contract. I'd pass 2♦. 2♥ won't be much fun with spades being led through partner's trumps.

(2) I'd be surprised if either player had four trumps, but it's probably more likely to be a sneaky 7 from 107xx than a singleton.

(3) Pass. I don't have a 15-count, and I don't have support for all the unbid suits.

[Free]

1. pass. Imo 2♥ shows a weak hand with ♣>♥, but I'd expect a 4 card ♥.
2. a falsecard from JT42 is much easier than leading the 7 from T742. On the other hand, pretty much nobody leads a singleton trump against a grand slam. I would play West for the 4 card trumps.
3. We have a nice hand, definitely upgradable, so I wouldn't mind 1NT. However, bidding 1NT may be asking for trouble, so I guess I'll just pass.

[Vampyr]

lakers1, on 2011-February-07, 01:46, said:

Board 1. Both nvDoes 2H here shows forward going values or just a mere attempt to correct to a better contract?

gnasher, on 2011-February-07, 03:15, said:

(1) 2♥ would be a correction of contract. I'd pass 2♦. 2♥ won't be much fun with spades being led through partner's trumps

Free, on 2011-February-07, 03:56, said:

1. pass. Imo 2♥ shows a weak hand with ♣>♥, but I'd expect a 4 card ♥.

I am surprised at all of this. I would definitely expect 2♥ to be forward going. (In this case I would call it an attempt to correct to a worse contract.)

[Free]

Vampyr, on 2011-February-07, 05:39, said:

I am surprised at all of this. I would definitely expect 2♥ to be forward going. (In this case I would call it an attempt to correct to a worse contract.)

With a decent hand and 4♥ you usually just bid 2♥ and hope you find a fit. With a very weak hand you want to play in the best fit available, so you bid your longest suit hoping to find a 5-4 fit. That's why I think bidding a minor first (without jumps) followed by 2♥ must show a weak hand.

[Vampyr]

Free, on 2011-February-07, 07:16, said:

With a decent hand and 4♥ you usually just bid 2♥ and hope you find a fit. With a very weak hand you want to play in the best fit available, so you bid your longest suit hoping to find a 5-4 fit. That's why I think bidding a minor first (without jumps) followed by 2♥ must show a weak hand.

I don't see why I would want to bid over 2♦ though. Partner will usually have a good 6-card suit.

[gordontd]

Free, on 2011-February-07, 03:56, said:

pretty much nobody leads a singleton trump against a grand slam.

It used to be popular wisdom, especially in North America, that one should always lead trumps against a grand slam. I wouldn't be surprised if an opponent, especially if not young nor a strong player, led a singleton trump against a grand.

[Free]

Free, on 2011-February-07, 03:56, said:

1. pass. Imo 2♥ shows a weak hand with ♣>♥, but I'd expect a 4 card ♥.

Vampyr, on 2011-February-07, 08:07, said:

I don't see why I would want to bid over 2♦ though. Partner will usually have a good 6-card suit.

Me neither

Obviously you might have a 3=4=0=6 with 0HCP in which case one of your own suits might play better. In that case you might consider bidding 2♥.

[Phil]

Hey Fang - nice to see you dropping by. Sorry I didn't say hi to you yesterday.

1. I would pass, but a lot depends on our style.

2. Against competent opponents, a singleton trump lead is weird, but a trump lead from T7xx isn't that weird, and muddying the waters by leading the 7 looks like a reasonable strategy. So play LHO for the length. The fact LHO needs to hold the ♠K isn't that significant for me.

3. Pass. Everyone in this event is beyond aggro and I'm guessing you passed and the other table got to some weird 3N with 14 opposite 9.

[ilkz]

Hand two is one of those that is easily solved by looking to your left and right. Since it is a "flight A swiss" I would play LHO for long trumps. If LHO were a a beginner, of course I would play RHO for long trumps.

Effectively you must decide if LHO leading a stiff trump is more likely when they almost surely have a safe round suit to lead from (and if they did happen to have Kxxx Jxxx x Jxxx, they would probably have agonized for a while and not led a trump anyways), or if leading a trump from T7xx while happening to falsecard the lead is more likely. I'm sure you'd know better than us!

I would never use this to decide but on a technical note, if it was something like a 50-50 spot, then a reason to play RHO for JTxx would be that if the spade hook is off and they happen to play 6 diamonds rather than 6N, they will go down (and possibly also down in 6S if it's Kx of spades off). Of course, you could just spin the SJ at trick 2 in 7D to find out, but you risk RHO having failed to make a lightner double and LHO having failed to lead a spade and it being ruffed.

[lakers1]

Phil, on 2011-February-07, 13:18, said:

3. Pass. Everyone in this event is beyond aggro and I'm guessing you passed and the other table got to some weird 3N with 14 opposite 9.

It was the complete opposite scenario. I upgraded my hand and overcalled 1NT b/c I thought my ♠T is well-placed behind the opener, so this hand certainly worth one extra playing point. The heart texture is another great feature. So overall, I think this hand will be better than a lot of other 15 HCP hands.

So far no one has overcall 1NT and it really surprises me. I overcalled 1NT and partner raised me to 3NT on solid 10 count w/ 5 clubs to the K. I made 10 tricks fairly easy after my LHO lead the ♠J. If you pass first round, opponent will get their D fit in, and no game can be made after that. We won 10 imps for this board but lost 16 imps on the first board where 7D went down 1 b/c our team misguessed who has 4D. Of course, any other lead will result in making, so kudos to our opp who lead the D to give us a losing option.

[Phil]

lakers1, on 2011-February-07, 17:50, said:

It was the complete opposite scenario. I upgraded my hand and overcalled 1NT b/c I thought my ♠T is well-placed behind the opener, so this hand certainly worth one extra playing point. The heart texture is another great feature. So overall, I think this hand will be better than a lot of other 15 HCP hands.

So far no one has overcall 1NT and it really surprises me. I overcalled 1NT and partner raised me to 3NT on solid 10 count w/ 5 clubs to the K. I made 10 tricks fairly easy after my LHO lead the ♠J. If you pass first round, opponent will get their D fit in, and no game can be made after that. We won 10 imps for this board but lost 16 imps on the first board where 7D went down 1 b/c our team misguessed who has 4D. Of course, any other lead will result in making, so kudos to our opp who lead the D to give us a losing option.

1. Judging from your comment, LHO had the diamond length. Nice lead, but both of your teammates are good enough to get this right I think. How good were your opponents? Was this against Roger's team?

3. Sure, 1N could work, but if LHO leads diamonds it sounds like its going down and it sounds like LHO might have a 2♦ call anyway over 1N, right? My experience is that when 3N is right we get another shot. The ♠10 is nice, but you really don't have a trick source.

[MrAce]

1-Pass

2-Depends on opponents but i agree with majority here.

3-i would bid 1 NT .