[mike777]

1s=p=?
imps nv vs. vul

4
T9754
J764
743

How do you bid this with your favorite 2/1 partner?

[inquiry]

Pass....

[flytoox]

inquiry, on Aug 3 2005, 07:47 PM, said:

Pass....

Agree. Being too smart is dangerous.

[mikeh]

My mama told me: when you hold no Aces, no Kings, no Queens and no fit, you have no bid.

Well, actually, my mother has never played bridge, but you get my point

Yes, opposite me (and most others, I suspect) you may have missed a game. So what? This is a game of percentages and the percentages say pass. Only superman can bid here (because his x-ray vision allows him to see through the backs of the cards, and he knows whether it is safe) We Clark Kents meekly pass.

[Walddk]

Is 1♠ forcing? Come on, there must be a limit. Yes, we may have 4♥ on, too bad. It's much more likely that patner's rebid over 1NT is 3♠ or 4♠. I don't even like to think about it.

Roland

[Walddk]

mikeh, on Aug 3 2005, 10:03 PM, said:

Only superman can bid here (because his x-ray vision allows him to see through the backs of the cards, and he knows whether it is safe) We Clark Kents meekly pass.

Typical Canadian; they can't see through the cards, and yet they want to steal our island! If you spend your time learning how to see through the cards, you would have less time to violate the simplest of rules: let the sea gulls on Hans Ø alone!

[mike777]

mikeh, on Aug 3 2005, 03:03 PM, said:

My mama told me: when you hold no Aces, no Kings, no Queens and no fit, you have no bid.

Well, actually, my mother has never played bridge, but you get my point

Yes, opposite me (and most others, I suspect) you may have missed a game. So what? This is a game of percentages and the percentages say pass. Only superman can bid here (because his x-ray vision allows him to see through the backs of the cards, and he knows whether it is safe) We Clark Kents meekly pass.

In this case it was Superwoman or Wonderwoman and she is a Mother. A Danish one now.

Her partner in this event has been accused of having superpowers but that is another story for another time.

[Fluffy]

give me ♥A and I will also pass.

[mikeh]

Fluffy, on Aug 3 2005, 03:30 PM, said:

give me ♥A and I will also pass.

[QUOTE]

Ignoring, for the while, the rantings of a certain pipe-smoking Danish imperialist (who displays no concern for the wishes of the permanent residents of a certain small Canadian island), let me respond to this post

I believe that it is almost always right to respond at the one-level, including a forcing 1N, if you hold an Ace. There are exceptions: if the Ace is in a short side suit (xx xxxxx xxxx Ax) I might pass. But with x AJxxx xxxx xxx, I would always respond. Now there is simply too much risk of missing a good contract.

For example, I would always open 1♠ on Axxxx KQxxx void AKx... as who would not, playing a non-big club method? Now a decent slam is missed!

As I have said in several posts, Aces are undervalued in the 4321 count, and you have to be aware of that in your evaluation, just as you should upgrade hands in which your hcp is concentrated in your long suits.

[bearmum]

pass

[sceptic]

wish I had read the post properly hehe

[coyot]

Pass. P has at least 5 losers, I'm not likely to fix two of them for him - and most of the field will probably bid the same way.

Even with Ace of hearts I would probably pass with a spade singleton. OK, I would miss an occasional game... but I would also prevent an occasional disaster...

[Winstonm]

Pass: too much bad can happen; too little good.

[joker_gib]

Pass WTP ?

Alain

[mike777]

joker_gib, on Aug 4 2005, 09:26 AM, said:

Pass WTP ? 

Alain

Well I thought this was a wonderful example of top class thinking outside the box and not just a wild LUCKY guess that happened to work but........

1) Sabine thought there was a wtp?
2) Long imp world championship match, no field score to worry about
3) She bid 1nt forcing
3) Zia rebid 2s down 3 for minus 150
4) 3nt was bid and made the other direction.

[Al_U_Card]

And that is the difference between them and us. Seeing clearly helps you find your target, be it a contract or an opponent. Knowing what can and can't make or will or not be doubled are the hallmarks of expert players. Kudos to Sabine

[mikeh]

So Sabine psyched and it worked. What does that tell us about the wisdom of responding on this hand? Not much. What if partner had gone down 150 and the opps would have failed in game? Or had only 110 available? Would the hand have been posted?

Psychic bidding can be effective, especially if used early in a long match. But it carries costs as well: the result being that in world class play we see fewer psyches than we did 40 or 50 years ago (judged on my sense gained from reading Bridge World reports of all world championships since the 1950 bermuda bowl)

This is not to detract from Sabine's judgement that this was a hand and a time to psyche... just a comment that I doubt that we should look at this as a useful guide to 'how to bid like an expert'.

I once held Qxxx xx Qxxxx xx and at favourable heard partner open 3♠ and RHO bid 4♠. I jumped to 6♥. RHO feared that we had a cheap save in 6♠, so she passed. -600 the hard way, against grand slam playable in 3 denominations: her partner led the stiff ♠A.

A funny story, maybe, but not an illustration that 6♥ was the technically correct bid.

BTW, nothing in this post is intended to in any manner detract from Sabine's well-earned reputation as a world class player.

[joker_gib]

Totally agree with Mike !

You can always find a hand where everything works but in the long run, responding with those kind of hands will often lead to disaster.

Alain

[helene_t]

Last sunday this happened:
2♥-pass-pass-3♣
pass-3♦-pass-5♦
(all pass)

3♦ was based on a doubleton diamonds. Partner picked the wrong card from the biddingbox. 5♦ in the 2-4-fit was made while most pairs for some reason missed game or went down in 6♣ (two aces off).