TGIF January 2018: Scores
| 1. IMPs. N-S vul.
|
4
A K Q 8 7
A Q 5
K J 7 5
|
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| |
|
|
|
3
| ? |
Your call?
| Bid | Votes | Award
|
|
3NT
| 8
| 100
|
|
4
| 3
| 70
|
|
3
| 1
| 60
|
|
Dbl
| 1
| 50
|
|
Moderator: With the well-placed diamond values, 3NT gets a lot of love from the panelists.
Jeff Meckstroth: 3NT. I just can't stomach a double here with a singleton spade. 4 would be my second choice.
Steve Robinson: 4. If I double and partner has five or more spades, he would bid them twice, which would not make me happy. Partner is probably short in diamonds and will therefore have a few hearts.
Christopher Diamond: 3NT. When in doubt . . .
Aidan Ballantyne: 3NT. Keep it simple.
Larry Meyer: Dbl. Too strong to overcall.
Andrew Krywaniuk: 3. I may get another chance to bid 3NT.
Hk Ho: Dbl. Dbl is more versatile. We can convert pard's 3 to 3NT, or look for slam if pard takes out to hearts or clubs. It will be a hiccup if pard jumps to 4.
Chris Buchanan: 3. I like 3 here as it keeps 3NT in the picture.
Ig Nieuwenhuis: 3NT. If partner goes on, I'm better placed after 3NT than after double.
Timothy Wright: 3. The problem with 3NT here is that often when it is wrong, partner won't know that.
David Gordon: 3NT. Practical.
Plarq Liu: Dbl. Double and correct spades to notrump.
Allan Simon: 4. 3 is an underbid, double is wrong, 3NT is goofy.
Kf Tung: 3NT. 4 needs a heart fit. 3N does not.
|
| 2. IMPs. N-S vul.
| |
K J 6 4 3 2
---
K 9 5
Q 10 7 5
|
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| |
|
4
|
Dbl
|
Pass
| ? |
Your call?
| Bid | Votes | Award
|
|
5
| 5
| 100
|
|
5
| 3
| 80
|
|
4NT
| 2
| 60
|
|
6
| 1
| 60
|
|
4
| 2
| 50
|
|
Moderator: Most of the panelists think slam is worth exploring.
Larry Cohen: 5. Too much for only 4 but not enough to insist on 6. Picture, for example, Q 10 x x K x A Q J x K J x. 5 doesn't ask for a heart control - it is just invitational.
Barry Rigal: 4NT. . . to show both minors with a heart control. My plan is to convert a minor-suit response to 5. A jump to 5 asks about heart control.
Roger Lee: 4. I'll just choose to say fixed, especially without any convenient way to show the flexibility of my hand.
Mel Colchamiro: 5. Because righty didn't raise the preempt, it sure feels like partner has a balanced hand, and therefore strong hand. Let's say A x x K x x A Q x x A x x. Even with a wasted king here, slam isn't so bad, so I take the high road.
Christopher Diamond: 5. No way to explore. 6 is as good a guess as 4. So I will give him one off ramp at 5 if he only bids that.
Aidan Ballantyne: 4. I have a lot of losers.
Larry Meyer: 5. Too strong to make the minimum bid.
Andrew Krywaniuk: 4NT. 5 sounds like I'm worried about a heart control. 4NT is the only forcing bid that doesn't commit to slam.
Hk Ho: 5. Too strong for 4, 5 or 5. 5 can't show the heart void. 5 forces pard to choose. Hope pard has spades for their Dbl and bids 5. Then, 6 to show first round heart control.
Chris Buchanan: 5. I think with the heart void I have too much for 4. If partner has aces he will know what to do.
Ig Nieuwenhuis: 5. Shows a slam-invite. Will correct diamonds to spades.
Timothy Wright: 6. I know where we want to play.
David Gordon: 4. Let's not hang partner.
Plarq Liu: 4. If takeout is up to 4, then I have to bid spades.
Allan Simon: 6. No idea what's right!
Kf Tung: 4. Collect 620 or 650. A slam is possible, but so is a bad break.
|
| 3. IMPs. None vul.
| |
---
A K
K Q J 9 8 5 4
K 8 7 5
|
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| |
|
|
1
|
1
|
2
| |
|
4
|
Dbl
|
Pass
| ? |
Your call?
| Bid | Votes | Award
|
|
5NT
| 4
| 100
|
|
5
| 4
| 100
|
|
6
| 3
| 90
|
|
4NT
| 1
| 60
|
|
5
| 1
| 50
|
|
6
| 0
| 40
|
|
Pass
| 0
| 30
|
|
Moderator: Another hand with slam on the horizon. This time the panelists punt.
August Boehm: 5. Is partner's double 'serious penalty' with a spade holding like A J 9 x. Or a noise with a spade smattering with a diamond misfit? Forced to guess, I'll hope that we can make a minor-suit slam. I pick 5 so that partner can return the punt with 5NT if he is as confused as I am.
Jill Meyers: 5NT. . . which brings clubs back into the picture.
Daniel Korbel: 6. Should I really torture poor partner with 5NT? What is he supposed to bid with a hand like: K J x Q J x x x x A x x x? Because I won't know enough to respect his choice of 6, I will not give him the option.
Christopher Diamond: 5. Is 5NT a choice of slams after this, or huge wasted values in spades? Another guessing game. Probably 6 is as good as anything else.
Aidan Ballantyne: 5NT. . . offering some choice in the minors; pard's dbl shows game values opposite my non game force 2/1.
Larry Meyer: 5. This hand is much more suited for offense than defense.
Andrew Krywaniuk: 5. I think I'd just bid 6 at the table since I have no idea what the follow-up bids to 5 mean.
Hk Ho: 4NT. . . . keycard for diamonds. Pard's opening should be enough. If he bids 5 to show 2, bid 5 to show first round spade control to try for a grand. Pard is unlikely to have only one key and wastage in spades.
Chris Buchanan: 5NT. Pick a slam.
Ig Nieuwenhuis: 5. Going for minor (grand?) slam.
Timothy Wright: 5. I am a lot stronger than partner fears on this auction.
David Gordon: 4NT. Keycard.
Plarq Liu: 6. Partner has extra values.
Allan Simon: 5NT. Suggests 7-4 in the minors, as opposed to 6 which suggests 6-5 or 6-4.
Kf Tung: 5. How can I bid 5 without these cards? Therefore partner can go to a grand slam with A and A Q.
|
| 4. Matchpoints. Both vul.
| |
K Q 6
7 5 3
Q 4
A Q 10 8 4
|
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| |
|
|
|
|
1
| |
|
1
|
2
|
Pass
| ? |
Your call?
| Bid | Votes | Award
|
|
2
| 6
| 100
|
|
3
| 3
| 80
|
|
3
| 3
| 80
|
|
2
| 1
| 50
|
|
Moderator: This problem offers three reasonble choices: 2, 3, and 3. The panel favours 2, which is not a reverse because partner bid above our first suit.
Mike Lawrence: 2. Forcing, of course. I don't expect North to have four of them. It's likely that his next bid will be helpful, something that can't be said of other bids.
Josh Donn: 3. I often don't mind rebidding notrump without a stopper, but if we belong in notrump, then partner is still there. As for what else to bid, 3 leaves 3 in the game, but not the other way around.
Sylvia Shi: 3. Sure, it's less than average support for 3, but I'm not in a great position here. Anyway, my partners tend to have their bids more often than I do.
Eurydice Nours: Pass. Normally, will make a support double to show 3-card support. This does not allow me to dbl, so I pass.
Christopher Diamond: 3. If somebody's bidding notrump it should be pard. Maybe a diamond card helps.
Aidan Ballantyne: 3. Bidding 2 may prevent stopping in 3.
Larry Meyer: 3. Western cue to ask for a heart stopper in 3NT.
Andrew Krywaniuk: 3. It would be a useful space saver to play 2 as any minimum here, with other bids being strong. If I had a psychic partner I'd try that.
Hk Ho: 2. Asks pard for a heart stopper and implies black stoppers to go NT. Assign 11-12 HCP to pard for his 2. If he has more, he can go 3NT.
Chris Buchanan: 2. All choices are unappealing here but 2 should be a safe course of action.
Hendrik Sharples: 2. I'm assuming 2 is forcing in Canadian standard?
Ig Nieuwenhuis: 2. In my own methods (2: NF) I would pass; here I think with a heart-stop partner should bid the right amount of NT (2NT = min / 3NT = opening values).
Timothy Wright: 3. I am a lot weaker than partner hopes on this auction, but 2 is forcing.
David Gordon: 2. Temporizing and showing spade values.
Plarq Liu: 2NT. Weak.
Allan Simon: 2. . . shows where I live.
Kf Tung: 2. You have extra, and the extra is in spades.
|
| 5. IMPs. N-S vul.
| |
9
A J
K 10 6 5
A K 9 8 7 4
|
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| |
|
|
|
1
|
2
| |
|
Dbl
(1)
|
Pass
|
2
| ? |
| (1) Negative.
|
Your call?
| Bid | Votes | Award
|
|
2NT
| 7
| 100
|
|
Dbl
| 4
| 80
|
|
Pass
| 2
| 70
|
|
3
| 0
| 60
|
|
3
| 0
| 30
|
|
Moderator: The majority find 2NT, in order to bring diamonds into the picture without bypassing 3.
Jeff Meckstroth: Pass. I don't think we have a game, and it's very dangerous to bid without a guaranteed fit. I would always bid at pairs, though.
Barry Rigal: 2NT. Both minors, 4-6. Not just the perfect bid, but the only bid . . . well maybe, double is an option, but I prefer this.
Kerri Sanborn: Dbl. Again, I could bid 2NT to show the clubs plus shorter diamond hand, but I have good defense in case partner wants to defend. Sometimes righty bids a three-card spade suit.
Christopher Diamond: 2NT. Dangerous, but so is passing when they could have 10 opposite 5 at these colours.
Aidan Ballantyne: Dbl. Just barely enough for this call.
Larry Meyer: Pass. Partner will not pass out 2 unless he thinks that is best.
Andrew Krywaniuk: Dbl. It's tempting to bid 2NT so partner has no option to pass - but partner also knows the vulnerability.
Hk Ho: 3. LHO should have some diamond strength. If 3 could force them to 3, let them collect 140. It is IMPs. It would be too aggressive to rebid 3, which might find us in 4.
Chris Buchanan: Pass. I concede. These hands are what -1100 are made of.
Ig Nieuwenhuis: Pass. Not our hand; let's try to go plus on defense.
Timothy Wright: Dbl. This is the cheapest way to show my second suit.
David Gordon: 2NT. Shows diamonds.
Plarq Liu: Dbl. Take out for minors.
Allan Simon: Dbl. Too strong to pass, trying to bring diamonds into the picture.
Kf Tung: Dbl. Usually it ends up in 3. However, partner may pass 2-X or bid 3 with the correct cards.
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