[Foxx]

All problems are IMP scoring

(1) Dealer North, E/W Vul

♠Q8xx ♥Jx ♦KJx ♣J9xx

North, partner, opens 1♥. You bid 1♠, partner bids 2♦. The opponents pass. Your call.

(2) Dealer West, None Vul

♠Kx ♥AQxx ♦AJx ♣J987

RHO, in third seat, opens 1NT (15-17). You double (penalty), LHO bids 2♥, announced as a transfer by RHO, who bids 2♠. You pass, LHO jumps to 4♥ and RHO bids 4♠. All pass. You ask RHO about the meaning of 4♥, she says that she thinks it's a splinter, but your table presence tells you it might not be a splinter.

Choose your lead.

(3) Dealer South, N/S Vul

♠QJ10xx ♥KJxx ♦Kx ♣Ax

You open 1♠. LHO and partner pass, and RHO reopens with 2♣. Your call.

[kayin801]

1) 2♥, and I think anything else is terrible.
2) ♣7, unless 4♥ isn't a splinter, in which case I guess I'm supposed to be leading ♥A and a heart cause lefty is 5-5 in the majors and we're getting 2 aces and 2 ruffs. Loaded question IMO. X of 1NT is horrible btw.
3) X? I guess this could be terrible if partner has a yarborough, but I have a bit more than a min and nothing that looks wasted.

[Bbradley62]

2♥
♣9
pass

[655321]

1) 2♥. This is called giving preference.

2) Double was a truly horrible call. (Edit, OK they did open 1NT in 3rd seat, if you think you need to double in case they are kidding it is not so bad, but it sounds like your opponents aren't the sort who would do that - I would just lead a club.)

3) Pass of course, what else do you suggest - vulnerable, a balanced 14 and partner passed 1♠.

This post has been edited by 655321: 2011-April-21, 20:25

[Phil]

1. 2♥. 3N or 4♥ are still in the picture.

2.A club. You sound skeptical about their agreements - I would too. Passed hands generally don't make slam tries here. Pard didn't double, so maybe they have a 5-2 or 5-3 fit.

3. Pass. Not really a problem. Partner will balance with the right hand although I can see how we might get shut out.

By the way - were you at the GNTs last weekend?

[gszes]

1 PASS i have no good reason to give preference (and possibly encourage p) with this dreck. Game
will have to be a huge longshot at best and so far we are not x in 2d. 2d could easily be superior
to 2h and we can always run back to 2h if 2d is X. One working K and maybe heart J are insufficient
reason to hope we can make any kind of game. At IMPS play as safely as possible. MP bid 2h because
its MP scoring and minors dont MP well.

2. I would hazard the heart A mainly hoping it does not matter (lho has the K) but also hoping
we might get in a couple of heart ruffs the dia A and heart A (maybe even spade K)

3. This is a system question and I dont know if 2/1 or sayc type. If 2/1 we can safely rule out
p having say x Axxxxx xxx xxx or some such because they have an easy 1n forcing call. That means
playing 2/1 game should not really be a strong consideration. Playing 2/1 I would pass(10) or bid
2h(9) and lean toward pass. Sayc I would have to bid 2h just in case p has a hand like
x Axxxxx xxx xxx.

[dake50]

1. 2H.
2. C7. Can I lose "Director" if indeed long hearts?
Terrible Double with no good lead.
But they are giving only 50,100 if set,
so get my C+2nd bid in this auction.
3. 2H. Looks we make 2M; they make 3C.
Game is remote but partial + partial swings 6IMP.

[Foxx]

(1) Partner faced this problem, and chose to raise to 3♦. I played there, holding ♠10 ♥AQ9xxx ♦A108x ♣10x, and ended up down three, when our counterparts took nine tricks in a partial in hearts.

I respect his decision to keep the auction alive, but 3♦ is eccentric. I would have bid 2♥ with his hand. Many here probably would have rebid 2♥ with my hand, but at IMPs, I choose to show the extra red cards in case partner has a stiff heart and 4-5 diamonds. I would always rebid 2♥ at matchpoints (major).

(2) At the table, I led the ♣7. Dummy hit with ♠AQxxx ♥J109xx ♦xx ♣x, and declarer ran off the ♣AKQ, pitching the diamonds. Partner had a doubleton spade, and his only high card was the ♦K. Aargh. Am I really supposed to be leading diamonds here? At the other table, our teammates were +140 in a partial in spades. AARGH.

(3) Partner had this problem again, and came back with 2♥, inducing me to drive the hand to 4♥ with ♠765 ♥Q10xx ♦Q10xxx ♣x. (In partner's defense, his hearts MIGHT have been ♥KJ9x.) RHO doubled with 4-3-2-4 shape including the ♠AK and ♥A. We went down two, but our teammates beat 3♠ doubled two at the other table, so the board was a push. It turns out that 5♣ is cold their way, but no one got there, and both E-W pairs did better anyway.

Phil, on 2011-April-21, 21:24, said:

By the way - were you at the GNTs last weekend?

No, but my partner in this regional, and one of our teammates, were. They won the Flight C bid for our district in Toronto. Going by what I know at the present, I might be able to get on the team roster as a substitute.

[Hanoi5]

2♥
♣9
2♥

[jogs]

Foxx, on 2011-April-22, 17:45, said:

(1) Partner faced this problem, and chose to raise to 3♦. I played there, holding ♠10 ♥AQ9xxx ♦A108x ♣10x, and ended up down three, when our counterparts took nine tricks in a partial in hearts.

You should be rebidding 2♥ yourself.

Quote

(3) Partner had this problem again, and came back with 2♥, inducing me to drive the hand to 4♥ with ♠765 ♥Q10xx ♦Q10xxx ♣x. (In partner's defense, his hearts MIGHT have been ♥KJ9x.) RHO doubled with 4-3-2-4 shape including the ♠AK and ♥A. We went down two, but our teammates beat 3♠ doubled two at the other table, so the board was a push. It turns out that 5♣ is cold their way, but no one got there, and both E-W pairs did better anyway.

Partner's 2♥ call was marginal. Your 4♥ call was terrible. I would have passed 2♥.

[ahydra]

jogs, on 2011-April-23, 12:13, said:

You should be rebidding 2♥ yourself.

Standard is to introduce new 4 card suits before rebidding 6 card suits. Why show 6 cards of your hand when you can show 9? 3D is a terrible call, it's an obvious 2H bid.

Quote

Partner's 2♥ call was marginal. Your 4♥ call was terrible. I would have passed 2♥.

Fully agree. I'd have bid 2H and passed with the 4-count.

ahydra

[Yu18772]

Foxx, on 2011-April-22, 17:45, said:

(3) Partner had this problem again, and came back with 2♥, inducing me to drive the hand to 4♥ with ♠765 ♥Q10xx ♦Q10xxx ♣x. (In partner's defense, his hearts MIGHT have been ♥KJ9x.) RHO doubled with 4-3-2-4 shape including the ♠AK and ♥A. We went down two, but our teammates beat 3♠ doubled two at the other table, so the board was a push. It turns out that 5♣ is cold their way, but no one got there, and both E-W pairs did better anyway.

It depends on partnership agreement - how much extra do you need to bid having both majors hand, when partner paseed 1level opening. if it doesn't promise extra - your 4♥ is too optimistic, if it does your partner should have passed.

[jogs]

ahydra, on 2011-April-23, 12:39, said:

Standard is to introduce new 4 card suits before rebidding 6 card suits. Why show 6 cards of your hand when you can show 9? 3D is a terrible call, it's an obvious 2H bid.

ahydra

I would agree with you, if the suits were spades/hearts or the hand were stronger. This game rewards the majors. Nobody cares about the minors.
3♦ isn't even clear with 2/4 in hearts/diamonds.

[han]

I´m tempted to do some serious lolling here. Double of 1NT, really? And 3D on the first? 2H on the third? This is all very weird to me.

[OleBerg]

1) 2♥ Class A Non-problem.
2) Low Club, anything else is resulting. (And yes, against most opponents double is bad.)
3) Resembling a problem, as X would be reasonable if we were white.

[Flameous]

2) I think ♦A lead stands out here. Partner doesn't hold much and we can easily lose our ♦ trick(s). Sure it might cost a lot if dummy tabled 03 minors, but besides that, the ace lead only seems to lose when partner holds ♣A+♦Q or KQ of ♣ and in both cases the minor suit lengths need to be right. We can go for the heart ruff also after the ace if it seems right.

[whereagles]

1. Back to 2♥. Textbook stuff.
2. This one is harder. I'll try the heart ace. Mostly because the club lead feels sucky LOL.
3. At imps I pass. Might stick the neck out with 2♥ at MPs, though.

[whereagles]

Foxx, on 2011-April-22, 17:45, said:

Am I really supposed to be leading diamonds here?

Of course not. Last lead on the book, lol.