A) 1H
B) Dbl
C) Pass
D) Pass
E) Pass
F) 3S
G) 3D
H) Club 3
A B C D E F G H
procrastinator 1H Dbl P 2N P Dbl 4D C3
oirg 1H 3H P 2N 2N Dbl 3C C3
SW 1H Dbl 3D 2N 2N 2S 3N H10
ST 1H P P P 2C Dbl 2S C3
BTDT 1H Dbl P P P 3S 3D C3
NN 1H Dbl 3H Dbl 2C 2S 3D H10
veni vidi vici 1H 3S 3H P P 2S 4D C3
Leading 1H Dbl P P? P 2S? 4D? C3
Three don’t really have a consensus, but by posting now I’m giving anyone about 6 hours, until I submit, to try to change my mind. G is clearest; I didn’t have either of the tied choices, so by taking a preference between that one it has more support. On C I had one of the tied entries, so it should be fine to break the tie against my choice. On F, I’m one of the tied votes and am sticking with that, having no desire to shirt my vote.
procrastinator did say
He only said “might”, but that was written on a different day than today. I’ll still score his vote as for double.
July guesses:
A 4S. Should get across 2 great suits and a void. If 3N were right, pard wouldn’t have bid three spades
B Dbl. Probably a H lead through K will be bad, but everything else is worse if I try to avoid that.
C 3N. Shows a quack gallery and a stopper. Partner might not even have four clubs. Which would be OK if I had another diamond and thus support for long diamonds. But, alas, I don’t think it’s safe to go past 3N on this turn.
D 4S? 5S? Not sure. Lots of hands give slam decent play. Not enough to jump directly, but 5S may be an effective blame transfer as long as we have at least 11 tricks.
E 2H. With the spade support, this is a game force
F Pass or 5C? Either stay out of this or bid the most likely game.
G 4S. Because it’s matchpoints
H SJ. RHO Can routinely have five hearts, since 2N was forcing, Similarly, LHO can have lots of diamonds. I don’t really want to lead away from CQ into RHO’s stopper, but partner may have something in spades behind dummy
A B C D E F G H Total
procrastinator 1H 100 Dbl 100 P 100 2N 50 P 90 Dbl 100 4D 90 C3 100 730
oirg 1H 100 3H 40 P 100 2N 50 2N 100 Dbl 100 3C 50 C3 100 640
SW 1H 100 Dbl 100 3D 30 2N 50 2N 100 2S 70 3N 0 H10 40 490
ST 1H 100 P 30 P 100 P 100 2C 80 Dbl 100 2S 100 C3 100 710
BTDT 1H 100 Dbl 100 P 100 P 100 P 90 3S 30 3D 60 C3 100 680
NN 1H 100 Dbl 100 3H 70 Dbl 40 2C 80 2S 70 3D 60 H10 40 560
veni vidi vici 1H 100 3S 30 3H 70 P 100 P 90 2S 70 4D 90 C3 100 650
Submitted 1H 100 Dbl 100 P 100 P 100 P 90 2S 70 4D 90 C3 100 750
1H 100 Dbl 100 P 100 P 100 2N 100 Dbl 100 2S 100 C3 100
P 70 3H 40 3H 70 2N 50 P 90 2S 70 4D 90 H10 40
3S 30 3D 30 Dbl 40 2C 80 3S 30 3D 60
P 30 3C 50
3N 0 There is strength in unity, so the consensus 750 tied for 6-9 in the honor roll. procrastinator’s 730 would have been 13/14; Sweet Tooth’s 710, 23/28. BTDT’s 680 would have just missed. 690 was the minimum to make it; 54 people did.
And VVV’s answers, so I don’t lose track of them, posted before I posted the June results and July problems.
My recommendations for the July contest are feeling kinda lonely.
A. 3N. Think partner is showing spade stop, lacking heart stop
B. 4S. Trying to be declarer, hoping to be declarer in a makeable contract
C. 3N. Nothing else close
D. 4S. Automatic, even if it tuns out badly
E. 1N. 3H is awful with three-card support. 2H reasonable, but I’ll just invite
F. Pass. Not going to bid on what may well be a misfit
G. 4S. If partner wants to suggest a possible 4-3, I want to accept it.
H. C3. Best among 4 bad alternatives.
A B C D E F G H
SW 3N 4S 3N 4S 1N P 4S C3
veni vidi vici 4S Dbl 3N ? 2H ? 4S SJ
Leading
Also kinda incomplete. I interpret D as preferring 5S to 4S, but at this stage I’ll leave it up in the air in the table. On F, no clue whether you prefer P or 5C.
Definitely 5S on D. Axxxx – xxx xxxxx gives play for slam. I’d sooner bid 6S than 4S.
Definitely NOT 5C on F–4C is tempting but since my initial gut was that would be wrong will probably go with Pass.
Will reconsider A and B.
H is an interesting problem. If 2N had been invitational, this would be a classic case where it is often right to lead hearts. I am nonetheless reluctant to lead clubs here. Maybe I should…after all, unlimited hands by opponents at IMPs suggests an active lead. On the other hand, hearts and likely diamonds lying badly for the opponents suggests a passive lead. I think I still stick with SJ but a club is certainly reasonable.
July guesses:
A. 4S
B. 3N
C. 3S
D. 4S
E. 2S
F. pass
G. 3N
H. diamond 10, passive
A. 4S. IRL I would bid 6C, but those types of bids never score well on MSC.
B. 4S. Seems wrong, but don’t want to double and wrongside, and don’t know what else to do.
C. 4C. Gerber.
D. 4 spades. Seems really obvious to me…what am I missing?
E. 2 hearts. I know, an overbid but I can’t stand to invite when AJxxx Axx xx xxx is a almost laydown game.
F. Pass. Also seems obvious to me.
G. 3NT. Yuck, really not sure. Tempted by 4C or 5C. If partner had spades and diamond cards and a heart hole, he might have bid 3D, but then there are enough HCP has has to have at least something in one of the reds, guess he could be AQx QJ xxxx AQxx, or similar?
H. Diamond ten. If we are going to beat this, need to find partner with a suit, and given auction, diamonds seems most likely.
A) 6C
B) 4S
C) 5C
D) 4S
E) 2H
F) Pass
G) 3N
H) Diamond Ten
A B C D E F G H
procrastinator 4S 4S 4C 4S 2H P 3N D10
oirg 4S 3N 3S 4S 2C P 3N D10
SW 3N 4S 3N 4S 1N P 4S C3
ST
BTDT 6C 4S 5C 4S 2H P 3N D10
NN
veni vidi vici ? ? 3N 5S 2H ? 4S SJ
Leading 4S 4S 2H P 3N D10
Getting closer. We might even have a leader on A, but VVV is reconsidering his original 4S.
I’ll go with 4S on both A and B and Pass on F
Question for the more experienced among you: Do you suspect 5S or 6S will score higher on D?
Steve, my bid on E is 2S, not 2C.
NN by e-mail
ST by e-mail
A B C D E F G H
procrastinator 4S 4S 4C 4S 2H P 3N D10
oirg 4S 3N 3S 4S 2S P 3N D10
SW 3N 4S 3N 4S 1N P 4S C3
ST 5C 4D 4C 4S 2H 4C 4S SJ
BTDT 6C 4S 5C 4S 2H P 3N D10
NN 4S Dbl 4C? 4S 1N P 4H C3?
veni vidi vici 4S 4S 3N 5S 2H P 4S SJ
Submitted 4S 4S 4C 4S 2H P 4S D10
G was tied 3-3 between 3N and 4S, but I think 4H must prefer 4S between 3N and 4S.
From quotes above, ST would bid above 4S if he had much faith what alternative to 4S would be best. NN thinks anything about 4S is too much, prefers 5S to 6S (not exactly what you asked). My thinking is the same as NN’s.