Bridge: 2024 MSC discussion

A) 4H
B) 3H
C) 2S
D) Pass
E) Dbl
F) 4D
G) 2H
H) Club 2

                       A     B     C            D     E     F       G         H
procrastinator                                                                
oirg                                                                          
SW                  4H *    3D    2S            1S    2S    4D      2H        C3
Klaymen               4H    3H    3S            P    2S    5C      5D        C3
ST                                                                            
BTDT                  4H    3H    2S            P   Dbl    4D      2H        C3
NN                    4H    3D    2S            P    2S    4C      5D        C3
veni vidi vici         P    3D    3H            1S    2S    4C      5D        H8
Leading               4H    3D    2S            P    2S            5D        C3



4H *: wll score based on original 4H pick, but now think P is better

The fact that we have leaders on all except 1 suggests you are right about that.

Recorded as club 3 since we donā€™t have the club 2.

May guesses:

A. 5C can stop in 5H
B. 3D
C. 2S
D. pass
E. 2S
F. 4C
G. 5D
H. club 3

                       A     B     C            D     E     F       G         H
procrastinator                                                                
oirg                  5C    3D    2S            P    2S    4C      5D        C3
SW                  4H *    3D    2S            1S    2S    4D      2H        C3
Klaymen               4H    3H    3S            P    2S    5C      5D        C3
ST                                                                            
BTDT                  4H    3H    2S            P   Dbl    4D      2H        C3
NN                    4H    3D    2S            P    2S    4C      5D        C3
veni vidi vici         P    3D    3H            1S    2S    4C      5D        H8
Leading               4H    3D    2S            P    2S    4C      5D        C3



4H *: wll score based on original 4H pick, but now think P is better

Now a leader on all 8. May well submit soon.

A. 5 clubs. I am driving to slam. I cannot construct a hand for partner worth 3S where slam is bad. Bidding 5c on the way to help with any competitive decisions
B. 3 diamonds. Considered 3H, but think this way, partner can put 3H if needed, so less likely to end up past 3NT. Did not bid 3NT directly though, since rather play from pdā€™s side opp Qxx.
C. 4 spades. Not sure how it will score in a bidding contest, but definitely what I would bid at the table.
D. Pass. Donā€™t expect it to score well, but I donā€™t like to open light on balanced hands.
E. 2 spades.
F. Double.
G. 4 diamonds. Competing against spades, diamonds are just as good as hearts, so rather jam as high as I can.
H. Club 3. Probably been playing with the robots too much.

Wow, way different opinion than the group on C. I think 1NT by pd is 8-10 HCP range, are yā€™all expecting less? King of hearts should be pulling some weight with pd implying a stopper as well.

                       A     B     C            D     E     F       G         H
procrastinator        5C    3D    4S            P    2S   Dbl      4D        C3
oirg                  5C    3D    2S            P    2S    4C      5D        C3
SW                  4H *    3D    2S            1S    2S    4D      2H        C3
Klaymen               4H    3H    3S            P    2S    5C      5D        C3
ST                                                                            
BTDT                  4H    3H    2S            P   Dbl    4D      2H        C3
NN                    4H    3D    2S            P    2S    4C      5D        C3
veni vidi vici         P    3D    3H            1S    2S    4C      5D        H8
Leading               4H    3D    2S            P    2S    4C      5D        C3



4H *: wll score based on original 4H pick, but now think P is better

OK, giving a last opportunity to sway the vote on A, since I now prefer P to 4H. That still makes 4H the only choice that has 3, and itā€™s the plurality. OTOH, 4 of 7 think 4H is too conservative (though both passes will stop at 4H if partner doubles). So if BOTH @procrastinator and @oirg indicate a preference for P to 4H, Iā€™ll go with P (or if only one indicates a preference for P over 4H and the other does not indicate a preference for 4H over P).

Vul at imps, I certainly am tempted to bid more. The poor spots and limited value of the heart K, and the knowledge that partner has at most 2 spades deterred me. 8-10 HCP is normal, but maybe 7 or 11. If any 2S bidder wanted to change, that would shift to consensus (IMO) to 3S.

I prefer 4!h on A.

I may be out to lunch, but I really think the hand in A is worth a slam drive, so 4H is way too timid.

While 2S was a strong raise, it not a game force, and partner responded with a slam try. We have a gigantic hand in context. A hand like Axx QJxxxx void KQxx is lay down for 6H, and partner should have more for 3S.

What hand are we worried about for partner that is consistent with the bidding where 6H is bad? I honestly spent some time trying to come up with one and failed.

Yeah, on C, I admit when I constructed hands for pd, they had doubleton spades, which may not be the case, that is a good point.

Leading row submitted

fwiw I decided to go along with everyone else on H and make it unanimous.

                  A           B        C        D        E        F        G        H        Total
procrastinator    5C      100 3D   90  4S   0   P    100 2S   100 Dbl  90  4D   80  C3   80  640  
oirg              5C      100 3D   90  2S   50  P    100 2S   100 4C   80  5D   100 C3   80  700  
SW                4H *    50  3D   90  2S   50  1S   80  2S   100 4D   100 2H   90  C3   80  640  
Klaymen           4H      50  3H   100 3S   10  P    100 2S   100 5C   0   5D   100 C3   80  540  
ST                                                                                                
BTDT              4H      50  3H   100 2S   50  P    100 Dbl  80  4D   100 2H   90  C3   80  650  
NN                4H      50  3D   90  2S   50  P    100 2S   100 4C   80  5D   100 C3   80  650  
veni vidi vici    P       80  3D   90  3H   70  1S   80  2S   100 4C   80  5D   100 C3   80  680  
4Sigma                                                                                            
Submitted         4H      50  3D   90  2S   50  P    100 2S   100 4C   80  5D   100 C3   80  650  


                                                                                  
                  5C      100 3H   100 Dbl  100 P    100 2S   100 4D   100 5D   100 D8   100   
                  P       80  3D   90  3N   80  1S   80  Dbl  80  Dbl  90  2H   90  C3   80       
                  4H      50           3H   70                    4C   80  4D   80                
                                       2S   50                    5C   0                          

Congratulations to oirg, whose 700 was our highest score, just 10 below what was necessary to make the monthly honor roll. There was one 800 on the honor roll.

A: 3S? If this means - denying it was clubs, thus it was invitational, but denying even a partial heart stopper. Pass and 3NT also seem to be candidates. 3NT if your Jx is enough of a partial stopper across from 1NT opener, perhaps. Pass was my first instinct, and let partner decide how to proceed. If 3S means anything natural like spade strength, then I would pass.

B: 3H feels right. Not enough to go straight to 4H, but show that you have a decent hand across from heart support.

C: 3NT. No club support. Diamond stopper. Length / strength in the majors. 3S may give you a chance to find a spade game, but may also have you miss 3NT if partner has to pass or jump to 4C without a diamond stopper.

D: 4C. Leaves the most flexibility and canā€™t let opponents play 3NT. Or can you, maybe we have the defense to stop it.

E: 1NT. 2C seems too strong. Feels like you will end up in 1NT or 3NT depending on how strong partner is. Even though I guess theoretically 1NT is forcing here.

F: 3H. Doesnā€™t quite feel strong enough for 2D (fourth suit forcing). 2H feels too weak and doesnā€™t show how strong your hearts are.

G: Pass. Presumably this is a business double?? If so, feels like we have the value to punish them vulnerable IMPs. But thatā€™s a large assumption by me. If itā€™s not, he must be asking for my second suit, so Iā€™d bid 4D.

H: H10. Deciding between the 10 of hearts or the Q of spades. Both seem reasonable given neither opponent is likely to have 5 of a major. I think starting with the hearts can set you up for a trick later when you win a couple of spade tricks as a duo.

Pass isnā€™t an option. That shows a weak hand. (Remember you havenā€™t promised even a jack yet.) You also canā€™t go past 3N, so the options are Double, 3S, and 3N. The question is whether partner will think you need three possible calls with the balanced invite, or whether he will take 3S as a hedge holding 6+ clubs (or the start of a slam sequence with 5+ clubs).

When I am balanced, I have 8-9 HCP with 2-3 hearts, which is already pretty well defined. At these colors, I tend to think I should double without a heart stopper and bid 3N if I have one.

So I double.

A Dbl. The balanced invite without a stopper
B 3H. I could bid 3D as the only invite, but it feels too aggressive. Red at IMPs, partner isnā€™t barred from reraising my preemptive reraise.
C 3N. My spades look like a four-card suit. Meanwhile, Axx is exactly the right stopper to have.
D Pass. I expect to set this a trick, not sure I want to double, especially if it risks partner not passing. I expect partner has something like xxxx Ax QJxx KQx, and RHO has running spades and the club ace. My spade void indicates that spades may work better for them than notrump, which is part of the reason why I donā€™t want to bid 4C (and push them into 4S).
E 2N. I donā€™t like it, but itā€™s the system bid, and in the system thereā€™s nothing else even close, and this isnā€™t a BWS2025 questionnaire.
F 3H. I could bid 2D in an effort not to miss 5C, but Iā€™d get overboard too often. If we arenā€™t going to bid 3H with this hand, then we should make 3H a forcing bid.
G 4D. Partner can have a wide variety of shapes for his double. Iā€™ll describe as best I can and let him choose.
H H10. Praying the CA is on my right and they hook. Because otherwise I probably should have led a spade. (If the S9 were the S10, I would certainly lead a spade.)

A. Double. A bit scary with just J8 of hearts, but have to show I have the invite hand and not a club signoff. Strange auction by East, and a bit worried he has 7+ solid hearts and wanted to defend nt, but decided to come in when we might be playing clubs. Canā€™t get myself to pass though.
B. 3 hearts. We could have game, but to have it be >50% takes a very specific hand for a single raise. Assume if we did want to make a try that 3D is generic try since only bid available.
C. 3 diamonds. Typically has better clubs, but sadly was not dealt them.
D. 4NT. Not really sure what is going on, but will trust pd.
E. 2NT.
F. 3 Hearts.
G. 4 hearts. Diamonds might play better if pd has 5, but this should play ok with these intermediates.
H. Diamonds 5. Partner is light on HCP, and 1D does not really take up much spaces, so seems likely she opened for the lead.

Thatā€™s a good analysis. Iā€™m going to have to rethink the H10.

Sometimes we have 10 tricks in hearts and 12 tricks in diamonds when partner has four diamonds. Other times, when partner has honor-x of hearts, we may get to hearts anyway.