[661_Pete]

I suppose, the day after one's had a run of appallingly bad results, one is inclined to 'blame partner', 'blame opponents', 'blame the weather', 'blame a sleepless night' ..... anything in fact rather than admit to oneself that one's 'losing it'....

Oh well.

I honestly believed that, playing standard Acol, I can find the right bid more than half the time at the very least. But this sequence utterly stumped me. All playing weak two's:

---

Show one of my minors at the 4-level? 3NT with no spade guard (and lead coming through my partner)? WTF????
I passed, and, needless to say, the result was a mere -12 imps....

I think I'm in the wrong game....

[MrAce]

You should not pass.
Pd has at most 2♠ which makes them have at least 9 if not 10 card fit.


I'd bid 4♣ and not get too excited. Am I happy with it? No But I don't think there is any bid that I would be happy with this hand and auction.

[nullve]

There appears to be 17-18 total trumps, so I think pass was the right LoTT decision.

[The_Badger]

MrAce, on 2016-September-18, 03:38, said:

You should not pass.
Pd has at most 2♠ which makes them have at least 9 if not 10 card fit.


I'd bid 4♣ and not get too excited. Am I happy with it? No But I don't think there is any bid that I would be happy with this hand and auction.

And I can think of plenty of worse hands than this where you have to squeeze a bid out of 'used tram tickets'. As MrAce says, don't pass, and I say don't complicate things by imagining that you may be missing game, bid 4♣. Keep it simple.

It's better to have any plus score than a minus score. Doubling opponents' part scores into games is one of the worse things, in my opinion, you can do at the bridge table.

[1eyedjack]

661_Pete, on 2016-September-18, 02:39, said:

I passed, and, needless to say, the result was a mere -12 imps....

It may be inappropriate to imply a causal link between the IMP loss and the decision to pass.

Having looked up the hand I am unconvinced that your partner's double is gold plated, but that aside the contract should have been defeated (on any opening lead).

[661_Pete]

1eyedjack, on 2016-September-18, 06:37, said:

Having looked up the hand I am unconvinced that your partner's double is gold plated, but that aside the contract should have been defeated (on any opening lead).

Possibly; this hand came in the middle of a run of dire results (which ended in an explosion, but I won't go into that! ) - and I wasn't feeling too chirpy. Furthermore, defence is far from being my strong side.

Anyway thanks for the tips guys. I'm relieved that no-one's suggested 3NT - which is what my then partner said, after the hand, that they were asking for. So it's not 100% my fault after all....

[The_Badger]

661_Pete, on 2016-September-18, 02:39, said:

I suppose, the day after one's had a run of appallingly bad results, one is inclined to 'blame partner', 'blame opponents', 'blame the weather', 'blame a sleepless night' ..... anything in fact rather than admit to oneself that one's 'losing it'....

Oh well.

I think I'm in the wrong game....

Very British and stoic of you to post the worse board of the session here. That session was a humongous disaster, in my opinion.

I remember a long time ago having an evening session of 4 matches at a tournament and losing 20-0, 20-0, 18-2, 19-1. And our team had a long drive home too. Total silence in the car on the journey home. It happens...

But there's always another day

[661_Pete]

The_Badger, on 2016-September-18, 07:10, said:

But there's always another day

"Another day" indeed! I'm half minded to give it another 30 days, just so as to ensure that yesterday drops off the "Hand Records" monthly average (just in case people are in the habit of checking me out).... But I'll probably be back somewhat before then - that's how addictive bridge is! At least opponents are going to love me....

[msjennifer]

Four Hearts.Partner has promised hearts.

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

playing MP MP, Pass is certainly a good choice, it is most likely even be percentage.
playing IMP it is closer, ..., you have the majority, but they are in a 9 or even 10
card fit, so take your pick, I would not fault Pass.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[billw55]

Some decisions are difficult. I am convinced that the opponents do this on purpose

That said, partner has found a takeout double at the 3 level, and I am looking at perfectly good 10 count with a near triple fit. I see no cause for panic. Is there some reason we can't have game here? I would bid 4♣ with much less, but at least it seems like a safe plus. Pass could also be right, we should beat 3♠ if partner has his bid. Yes, it is difficult, but bearing in mind that partner has forced me to the 4 level when I could have a substantially worse hand, I will try 4NT pick-a-minor. Maybe I am too optimistic, but I would rather overbid than underbid.

[MrAce]

I think passers deserve to find pd with a hand that was too strong to start overcall. Something like

A
KQxx
AK
Axxxxx

or

A
KQxx
AKxxxx
Ax

[GrahamJson]

billw55, on 2016-September-19, 07:04, said:

Some decisions are difficult. I am convinced that the opponents do this on purpose

That said, partner has found a takeout double at the 3 level, and I am looking at perfectly good 10 count with a near triple fit. I see no cause for panic. Is there some reason we can't have game here? I would bid 4♣ with much less, but at least it seems like a safe plus. Pass could also be right, we should beat 3♠ if partner has his bid. Yes, it is difficult, but bearing in mind that partner has forced me to the 4 level when I could have a substantially worse hand, I will try 4NT pick-a-minor. Maybe I am too optimistic, but I would rather overbid than underbid.

I go along with this. I think it was Terrence Reece who said that it is usually worth going one level higher in order to ensure you are in the right strain.

Having said that, I wouldn't criticise anyone who chose to pass. It could easily be the winning option. However as someone else said, we would probably all do better if we took out partner's take out doubles and left in his penalty doubles.

[neilkaz]

msjennifer, on 2016-September-18, 23:58, said:

Four Hearts.Partner has promised hearts.

I have such happy memories from a couple weeks ago of playing in a 3-3 fit after bidding 4H with a similar hand.

[661_Pete]

As to the play - well this was the full deal (rotated to match actual positions):

---

I led a trump to partner's Ace. If he'd returned another trump, we could have come to three club tricks before declarer can set up hearts, so contract goes down. But can you blame him for returning a heart, or me for not ducking the Ace? 3♠x made. OK we didn't find the right defence, but my point is, I was given an impossibly difficult position during bidding. The wide variety of suggestions given on this thread, testifies to this. As Neilkaz says, a 3-3 fit in 4♥ would have been - ahem - interesting .

[billw55]

661_Pete, on 2016-September-19, 10:02, said:

I led a trump to partner's Ace. If he'd returned another trump, we could have come to three club tricks before declarer can set up hearts, so contract goes down. But can you blame him for returning a heart, or me for not ducking the Ace? 3♠x made. OK we didn't find the right defence, but my point is, I was given an impossibly difficult position during bidding. The wide variety of suggestions given on this thread, testifies to this. As Neilkaz says, a 3-3 fit in 4♥ would have been - ahem - interesting .

IMO east doesn't have his bid.

[neilkaz]

East should be shot for not returning another trump!

[MrAce]

billw55, on 2016-September-19, 12:31, said:

IMO east doesn't have his bid.

Yes.
He should bid 3 NT if he wants to take any action and make 3 NT on ♠ lead.

[billw55]

MrAce, on 2016-September-19, 14:06, said:

Yes.
He should bid 3 NT if he wants to take any action and make 3 NT on ♠ lead.

As it happens yes, but I think east should pass. West need not have so much, nor the magic ♠T.

[Caitlynne]

This is a very difficult problem, to be sure, but the one call I would not make is Pass, converting partner's takeout Double to penalties.

If the opponents have a 9 card fit - a situational hypothesis strongly supported by the opponent's bidding AND your partner's TAKEOUT Double - you are 100% certain that your side has an 8 card fit. What's more, with a minimum of 17 total trumps (their 9 and your minimum of 8), the Law of Total Tricks "promises" you that if you can beat 3S two tricks or more, your side can take 10 or more tricks. If they have 10 spades between them and you can beat 3S, you almost surely can make game.

So the question is what to bid. Surely bidding 3NT is unreasonable, so you must consider 4C, 4D, or 4H. They are all underbids, but you don't have enough to do more and besides, bidding 5C or 5D is a mastermind bid.

Personally, I feel confident that partner has at least 4 hearts and I would bid 4H. I have a doubleton spade, so my hand can prevent a forcing defense on the long heart hand. And, if I am going to contract for 10 tricks, it might as well be a game.