[GreenMan]

Defending a NT contract, we need two more tricks to beat it. I have ♠QTx ♥A ♦-- ♣Qxx, and I'm sure declarer on my right has AKJ A in the blacks, but I'm not sure which way. As I'm thrown in with the ♥A, partner has the first chance by either of us to make a discard: the ♣2. Obviously there's no future there, so I play a spade. Declarer claims with ♠AKJ ♣A and high diamonds. Partner had the ♣KJxx.

Partner asked why I never led a club. I said, "You discouraged in clubs." Partner said, "No I didn't, dummy's hearts were set up and we were out of diamonds, so the only suits left were spades and clubs, so I played a small club to ask for the lower-ranking suit."

[eagles123]

this was just a funny board tonight, to be honest west and south deserve each other but it went

---

when I asked partner why he doubled 3s rather than just bid 4h straight away or even pass

"I know we're beating 3s, you've bid twice and I've got two aces".

[masse24]

PhilG007, on 2015-May-19, 23:08, said:

Personally, I don't like this device. . . . [T]he negative double . . . must rank as one of the worst coventions ever devised

[ggwhiz]

"Personally, I don't like this device. . . . [T]he negative double . . . must rank as one of the worst coventions ever devised "

A friend of mine was set up for a game in Montreal with a guy that he was told was a real player returning to the game after a couple of decades off.

Filling out the card he said "Negative Doubles?" and instead of saying how high the guy said "No". So he put down his pen and asked the guy about his previous playing life.

The Guy: I started with a really good partner but he moved to San Francisco (Peter Pender). Wouldn't you know it, my next partner moved to Toronto after a few years and I retired from Bridge (Sami Kehela).

Him: Negative doubles are overrated.

[eagles123]

it goes pass (1s) 1n ap

my partner rocks up with like AQJxx spades in a balanced 16 count: "i was going to double but i was afraid you might think it was take out"

[glen]

deleted by me as not "post hand chit-chat"

[MrAce]

blackshoe, on 2015-May-21, 17:33, said:

Bridge is not a game of "always get to the best making contract". It's a game of possibilities and probabilities.

PhilG007, on 2015-May-22, 07:28, said:

Sorry,but I have to disagree I assume you have played MP Pairs(?)
Missing a slam when it's biddable is a disaster. ...........<snipped boring bs> The winners of MP tournaments are those who have achieved the best score possible on every board....

[diana_eva]

This is funnier with the full context though. When he posted the hand I wondered whether it was total points or some such, or else why would it matter that 3NT fails.

[eagles123]

---

We are North/South

dummy comes down and East asks his partner why he passed 1S

"well my spades are good but I don't have much else"

[eagles123]

from the club last night

my partner opens 1c i announce "short club"

LHO: "are you playing 5 card majors?"

[gordontd]

eagles123, on 2015-June-18, 13:19, said:

from the club last night

my partner opens 1c i announce "short club"

LHO: "are you playing 5 card majors?"

It may not be common, but it's certainly not unknown to play a short club with four-card majors.

[Cyberyeti]

eagles123, on 2015-June-18, 13:19, said:

from the club last night

my partner opens 1c i announce "short club"

LHO: "are you playing 5 card majors?"

Aren't you supposed to announce the minimum length ?

And you could be playing 5 card spade but not heart or 4 card majors and still open a short club, but since you don't have to announce a 3 card club, the announcement implies min 2 hence 5M unless playing something odd involving an unbalanced diamond meaning you open a club with a 3352.

[helene_t]

gordontd, on 2015-June-18, 13:45, said:

It may not be common, but it's certainly not unknown to play a short club with four-card majors.

Yeah, in the Scanian system, for example, a 4M432 is opened 1♣ with 17-19 points but 1M with 11-13 points.

But I don't think that is the reason why they are asking. They ask because they don't know what "could be two" means, whereas they know what "5-card majors" means.

[olegru]

I am playing against not very seasoned pair in a small F2F club. LHO is complete novice, RHO is novice with more than 10 years of experience. After bidding all over the places they stopped in 5♦ from LHO side.
I hold ♦AKQ but did not bother to double (it clear will be the top anyway and I did not want to add an insult).

Declarer took couple of aces; made couple of ruffs with long trumps; then gave me trick. I took it, collect all trumps and we took our suits for down a lot.

"Partner," said RHO very sermonize kind of voice. "As a declarer you should learn to collect your trumps first and do not let defenders to collect their trumps. You see what could happened otherwise."

[manudude03]

Maybe not clueless/hopeless, but tonight I heard what was probably the most resulting comment I had ever heard.

I had Kx xxxx JT8x AJx at none vul. Partner opens 2C showing a weak 2 in a major(6-10) or 23+ points, I bid 2D mandatory relay. Partner bids 2S to show the weak 2 in spades and this is doubled by my RHO. LHO doesn't seem sure what's going on so I make what I thought was a cheeky 3S bid. This is passed out. Partner has the dream maximum (AQxxxx x A9x xxx) and when he got the ♦K lead and spades broke, he ended up making 10 tricks. The resulting comment? Partner: "Why didn't you bid 2N Ogust? We might have bid 4S then."

[blackshoe]

Cyberyeti, on 2015-June-18, 14:03, said:

Aren't you supposed to announce the minimum length ?

Not here. If it fewer than three, the announcement is "may be short". That said, some people do says "could be as short as two" or whatever.

[helene_t]

blackshoe, on 2015-June-18, 21:37, said:

Not here. If it fewer than three, the announcement is "may be short". That said, some people do says "could be as short as two" or whatever.

Yeah but Eagles is in EBU land so the correct anouncement is "could be 2" or "could be 1" or "could be 0".

[cherdano]

olegru, on 2015-June-18, 14:47, said:

RHO is novice with more than 10 years of experience.

My new favourite phrase found on BBF.

[blackshoe]

blackshoe, on 2015-June-18, 21:37, said:

Not here. If it fewer than three, the announcement is "may be short". That said, some people do says "could be as short as two" or whatever.

helene_t, on 2015-June-19, 02:50, said:

Yeah but Eagles is in EBU land so the correct anouncement is "could be 2" or "could be 1" or "could be 0".

Yeah, I missed that.

[Jinksy]

manudude03, on 2015-June-18, 15:51, said:

The resulting comment? Partner: "Why didn't you bid 2N Ogust? We might have bid 4S then."

'Because I had the false impression that you held a weak 2'?