[nige1]

Harry Smith's Lockdown Swiss Teams.
IMPS Both Vul Dealer South
Over 2♠, what would you bid?
Over 6♠, what would you bid?

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[DavidKok]

With my regular partner 2♥-(2♠)-3♦ would be NF, but this is not standard. Bidding 6♥ is premature unless you have strong negative inferences from failing to make other bids - you want to enlist partner's help in case those whacky opponents take your 6♥ out with 6♠. Since you happen to have almost all the hearts partner seems to have opted to preempt 2♥ holding at best ♥K98xxx and some outside (defensive!) values, which is atypical. I think partner is likely to have Axx(x) or Kxx(x) outside, but not KQx or AQx.
It is very likely that there are no losers in diamonds, so we should focus our bidding on trying to find out if partner has first round spade control. For once I have to give it to the voidwood bidders, 5♣ would achieve this. Some people also play that 4NT followed by some amount of hearts promises a first round control in their suit (4NT is not keycards here when you have all these forcing and fit-showing bids available) whereas bypassing it asks for it, in which case the immediate 6♥ is a good option. I think it is more popular to play 6♥ as ambiguous regarding strength, and decidedly not invitational for 7♥. In that case 3♦ (forcing) followed by 6♥ would get the message across that there is a first round spade loser.

Personally I don't have these tools (4NT showing first round control, voidwood, forcing 3♦) available. I am forced to choose between 4♦ (forcing, shows a fit in hearts) followed by some sophistry on the second round, but that won't do me any good if they jump to 6, or something clever such as 3♠ (general strong GF with fit)/4NT (minors unless I support hearts later)/5NT (no agreement, but certainly forcing and showing hearts). With my regular partner I would bid 4♦ as the cheapest forcing bid in diamonds available (3♦ on the poll, since forcing is standard), hoping to ask for first round spade control at the second opportunity. Now that I think about it 4/5♠ might be a practical punt/psyche - showing a void, but if East doubles then partner is expected to redouble with first round control. If East raises instead we are in trouble.

As for what to do over 6♠ in the poll, I have no idea. As Robson & Segal put it you have managed to give yourself "the last guess of the auction", and if this were a bidding contest all answers (pass, double and 7♥) would be wrong, sneakily adjusting partner's hand after you made a call. There is next to no chance that we can get partner in to play a club early (underlead the diamonds towards partners ♦Qx(+) and call the newspaper?), so there is a chance they might actually make 6♠ with a singleton diamond and a 2-0 heart split. I'm bidding 7♥ as a lesser risk, fully expecting to go down one. As I said this is a wrong call because all calls are wrong, so partner will have something like ♣KQx(x) setting 6♠, and in the post-mortem partner will make pointed remarks about my silly sacrifice and I will try to get a dig in about purity of preempts. If only I had tried to find out why partner is preempting with marked defensive values earlier my call would be automatic instead of impossible.

[Cyberyeti]

4♠ voidwood would be a good gambit, bet they lead something else against 7♥.

[apollo1201]

The 6H call got what it deserved, a transfer to 6S. Now I am to guess.

5C exclusion BW or 4D (5D+4H at least) would help involve partner’s opinion in the discussion, maybe at a lower level. It would be no help for the lead, though, which is unfortunate.

Now I have to do all by myself.

With 7D in my hand and 11H between both hands, there is a fair chance that someone is sg D and the other void in H. Is partner’s C QJx or K the setting trick? Or do they have SA (less likely)? Or maybe the sg D is in partner’s hand and we cash DAK on the lead. Or the 2 red aces...

Overall, 7HX will probably be -1 and so (I hope) would be 7SX. I am not exchanging a lot of IMPs by taking insurance. And if they have 2 voids and bid 7SX, well, it wasn’t my day.

[shyams]

I don't agree with some posters who feel 6♥ is a terrible bid and the round 2 bid problem was manufactured by our haste in round 1.

I like Cyberyeti's idea of 4♠ EKC Blackwood as a bluff.

I'm no expert but I am convinced that 7♥ is automatic now. I also feel it should have a reasonable chance of making.

Imagine West's problem if our side buys the contract in 7♥ (doubled or otherwise). There is a decent chance that West was dealt the ♣A. Would you lead that card (e.g. to look at dummy) in preference to a top spade? Such a lead appears very possible and it could lead to our side making our grand slam.

[nige1]

Harry Smith's Lockdown Swiss Teams.
IMPS Both Vul Dealer South
Over 2♠, what would you bid?
Over 6♠, what would you bid?
You bid 7♥ doubled by West.
West leads ♣K, East plays ♣3, and South wins ♣A.
South continues with ♥2, West plays ♥8. Should declarer finesse?

I'll post the full hand with, my opinions, for what they're worth, next week

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[Cyberyeti]

There seem to be 2 3♣ in this deck, E played it and S is looking at it

[mikeh]

For those who think 5C, over 2S, is exclusion keycard, I’d suggest discussing that with partner before haulin* it out. In real life, you might get away with it, since an opponent might double (tho they really should know better) or east might well make the same 6S call he did over 6H.

My own preference would have been to bid 4D. While that may also be undiscussed (I think it is or should be fit-showing), it’s pretty much always going to taken by partner as forcing, even if he’s unsure of what I’m trying to say. Plus there is far more chance of the opponents rescuing me than over 5C.

Even if we bid 5C and partner took it as exclusion, 6S likely does us in. Though in theory and maybe in life he should bid over this with 2 keycards outside of clubs.

As for exclusion in spades, that might work against a lot of players, but the fake exclusion is an old trick. Besides, if they trust you, they know you have first round control in the other suits, so a spade costs only when they have a 13 card fit. I defy anyone to construct a legitimate 4S exclusion hand where any other lead is best (absent the spy v spy double cross of bidding exclusion expecting the opps to,play me to have psyched)


Going back to the hand, I’m now glad that I did not bid exclusion. I bid 7H.

They might try the the unexpected club lead, or maybe they have a 12 card fit....I’ve seen a few, and this auction is consistent with it being such a hand. Plus, they may in fact be cold for 6S.

Can’t see them bidding 7S, but worry that I’m not sure we’re beating it, lol. Odds are pretty good that I have a diamond trick😃

[mikeh]

Looking at the hand, which I did only after posting originally, yes I finesse. East took a huge call with his 6S bid, so I play him for the void.

[nige1]

Cyberyeti, on 2020-October-27, 10:43, said:

There seem to be 2 3♣ in this deck, E played it and S is looking at it

Thank you, CyberYeti. East has ♣3. Pips are now correct.

[nige1]

I've corrected the ♣ pips thanks to CyberYeti.
Harry Smith's Lockdown Swiss Teams.
IMPS Both Vul Dealer South
Over 2♠, what would you bid?
Over 6♠, what would you bid?
You bid 7♥ doubled by West.
West leads ♣K, East plays ♣3, and South wins ♣A.
South continues with ♥2, West plays ♥8. Should declarer finesse?

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Arguably, on this kind of competitive deal, where large numbers of imps are at stake, your main aim should be to play the hand. In the other room, after 2♥ (2♠), North walked the dog, cunningly bidding 4♥, 5♥ and 6♥; which was doubled and made.
I took the more agricultural approach of bidding 6♥ directly and 6♠ came back to me. In fact, both immediate passers had 1st round control in opponents' suit but should that agreement apply in this auction? Anyway, luckily I remembered the old adage: In competitive auctions, when in doubt, bid one more. I bid 7♥, doubled by West. West led ♣K, East played ♣3, and partner won ♣A. South continued with ♥2, West played ♥8. Should declarer finesse? Perhaps indicators are East's 6♠ bid and pass of 7♥.

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This post has been edited by nige1: 2020-November-06, 08:35

[Douglas43]

I voted other on the finesse, because it partly depends who East- West are.

If they are a weak pair, West might double on the strength of Kx. In a stronger pair I think the double ought to be lightener for a diamond ruff?

It is unusual to bid "weak over weak" vulnerable, but here West has overcalled with good spades and virtually nothing else, and East has sacrificed at the 6 level.

In all, I am a marginal finesser, but I am guessing.

[nige1]

Douglas43, on 2020-November-03, 11:02, said:

I voted other on the finesse, because it partly depends who East- West are. If they are a weak pair, West might double on the strength of Kx. In a stronger pair I think the double ought to be lightener for a diamond ruff? It is unusual to bid "weak over weak" vulnerable, but here West has overcalled with good spades and virtually nothing else, and East has sacrificed at the 6 level. In all, I am a marginal finesser, but I am guessing.

The myhands file no longer appears to be accessible, so I've reconstructed the deal here. Opponents are experts. West's double isn't Lightner, because he's on-lead.

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[Douglas43]

Hmm, I must remember only to use Lightener doubles when partner is on lead. Wondered why they weren't working... [smiles]

[helene_t]

I would have doubled but maybe I play too little IMPs. 7H has smaller potential for loss.