In which some people who play bridge blog about it.
Matos, the legendary founder of, and occasional contributor to, this site, has unveiled his latest flimsy excuse for not posting as much as we all want him to. Look for his triumphant return some time after the results are announced, I guess!
posted by Paul @ 2:50 PM
Whew, it's going to take me a few weeks to collate all the responses to my informal survey, so meanwhile let's talk about opening leads. What would you lead in this situation?
West | North | East | South | Pass | 1  |
| Pass | 2  | Pass | 2 |
| Pass | 4 | Pass | Pass |
| Pass |
A 9 8 6 9 7 4 Q 8
K J 9 2
posted by Paul @ 2:16 PM
M said: Either the low spade (to indicate ace) or jack of clubs (to indicate king and allow the possibility of the jack taking the trick) would be where I'd go. Unless I'm missing something (and I might be given that my cheat sheet is elsewhere at the moment) the bidding looks straightforward enough in terms of naming suits.
said: If i decided to lead spades I would lead the ace. I would avoid playing long with a partner who underleads aces at suit contracts. The choices here are ugly beyond belief. I would probably lead a trump.
Where do you think your/our bidding could be better? I posted the Jacoby 2NT and Roman Key Card Blackwood conventions to help with finding slam contracts (still a little ways to go there), and we've been working on our Stayman, but there are still vast untapped areas.
posted by Paul @ 12:16 PM
posted by Paul @ 12:07 AM
Your partner opens one diamond, and your right-hand opponent passes. How do you respond holding each of the following hands?
9 8 6 10 5 2 8 6 A K 9 7 2 A 8 K Q 2 K 9 7 3 Q 7 5 4 A 8 K 8 2 K J 7 3 8 7 5 4 K J 8 K 7 6 A Q 3 J 7 5 4
posted by Paul @ 12:32 AM
said: A: PASS!!!
B: 3 Diamonds (No chance of a 8 card major suit, close to the 28 combined points necessary to make a 5 bid, and crap clubs.)
C: 2 Clubs (to indicate >10 points and no 4 card major) 3 Diamonds maybe, but I would assume more points.
D: 2 No Trump I guess???
Paul said: Interesting! Some of these cases are ambiguous. I'd love to hear other opinions. My instincts are:
A) 1NT. It's tempting to pass, but opener might have 18 points (under the McKenna system, as much as 21) and four clubs to an honor, which would be a shame to pass out.
B) If your partnership plays Jacoby 2NT, this might be a great time to deploy it -- 4 cards in partner's suit and 12 HCP. It's intended for major suits but I don't see why it couldn't work in a minor, especially holding 14 HCP like you do here. 3D is a good choice too, but doesn't give opener as much opportunity to describe her hand further.
C) I agree with Bryan -- 2C. To me a bid of 2D would be a signoff, showing four-card support but minimal points. I wouldn't jump to 3D with less than 15 points or longer diamonds -- I think a jump raise in partner's suit is forcing to game, and game might be a stretch here.
D) If you play Jacoby 2NT as in B) then 2NT is off-limits, so I'd say 3C.
South | West | North | East | Pass | 1 | Dbl | 1  |
| Dbl | 2 | Pass | 2 |
| Pass | 3 | 3 | 3 |
4  | Pass | Pass | Pass |
posted by Paul @ 10:40 AM
Continuing Matos' idea (Hi Matos!), here's a hand I feel like I get dealt a lot:
9 K Q 5 A K Q 5 Q 8 7 4 2
posted by Paul @ 6:23 PM
M said: I'd open 1C. It's only 12 HCP but the singleton gives you 14 and sometimes counting it is precisely what is called for. If partner responds 1S, say 1NT. If partner jumps to 2S after your opening bid, you can say 2NT with very little to worry about, since they're indicating a hand of equal or greater strength to yours. (A 1C opener indicates minimum opening points most of the time anyway, doesn't it? That's the way I typically hear it, at least.)
Paul said: It's only 12 HCP? Are you playing aces low?
I like plastic cards, for their feel and their durability. Paper cards are just a dollar a deck, and easy to replace, but they get an awful swollen grubby feel as they age, and their corners get docked, and so on. You can find paper cards in a much more charming variety of vintage designs, though.
posted by Paul @ 1:13 PM
You are the dealer and your hand looks like this:
J 10 9 10 8 7 2 A K 2 A Q 8
posted by M @ 6:06 PM
Paul said: I'd say definitely 1C. The way we play, I'd even open 1C if I had A 10 8 7 in hearts and Q 8 2 in clubs. Other folks might open their better three-card minor (in this case diamonds) but that seems less helpful. You'd want your partner to have five diamonds to support that as trump, and if they have five diamonds they'll mention that over your 1C bid anyway. 1C is acknowledged as an ambiguous bid -- it either means 13 points and support for clubs, or 13 points without support for clubs. Allowing both 1C and 1D to be ambiguous bids doesn't help anything.
1D would be my opening bid if I had four of the suit and nothing better to bid. Likewise if both clubs and diamonds were four-card suits.
In which some people who play bridge blog about it.
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