paulg: so we'll make a start .... paulg: tonight we are going to bid and play a single hand .... paulg: it's not system specific paulg: as we go through the hand I'll ask what you would do ... and also ask what bids might mean .. paulg: please tell me! .... it's also most interesting to hear your views .... paulg: and many others are probably interested in the same thing paulg: As we are in a chat room ... hands will scroll off the screen ... paulg: so i will repeat them paulg: please ask if you cannot see them paulg: right ... paulg: we are playing IMPs (teams) paulg: you are NORTH, the dealer, North/South are not vulnerable paulg: you hold .... paulg: what do you open? sceptic: 2nt 1Valeria: 1!C adi_agm: 2nt deeze21: 2nt elek1: 1!c Iunatic: 2D LoveBrdge: 2cl Trym: 1!D cul de sac: 2nt sallyally: 1!D tootsie769: 2c juve: 1!d 1Valeria: 2NT yes Hasty: 2c flowers16: 2 nt drgarie: 2clubs chandaa: 2nt juve: 2 nt sorry MarN: 2nt sallyally: sorry 2nt paulg: so most of us I think 2NT shows either 20-22 or 21-22 balanced LoveBrdge: 2nt drgarie: sorry 2nt paulg: we have a nice 21 count, so 2NT tells most information in one bid ... so I think is best paulg: so what is 3!d ? cul de sac: transfer Iunatic: xfer Trym: You don't want to devalue KQ tight in !H a bit? geofspa: transfer deeze21: trans sallyally: transfer to !H tootsie769: tr to hearts sceptic: transfer to !H juve: transfer to !hs geofspa: jacoby adi_agm: transfer LoveBrdge: transfer bb_patty: transfer to !H ->Trym: a bit, but not much 1Valeria: 3!H transf Trym: thx cdt: trans to !H paulg: ok, how much strength does partner have? geofspa: 0 - ???? Iunatic: can have zero sceptic: unknown juve: could have nothing sallyally: unknown Trym: 0-x cul de sac: 0- 1Valeria: o + Iunatic: but has 5 H wakullaman: dunno LoveBrdge: min 4pts cdt: 0 + sceptic: 0-19 paulg: 0-17 is probably correct ... nzakosek: unlimited sceptic: and 5!H minimum paulg: with 18-19 I'd expect 7NT! paulg: yes - the key point is that partner is unlimited - could be 0, could be lots paulg: what do you to bid now? geofspa: 3!h LoveBrdge: 3h sceptic: 3!H Iunatic: 3!H 1Valeria: 3!H cul de sac: 3!h juve: 3!hs sallyally: 3!H bb_patty: 3!H cdt: 4!H flowers16: 3 nt paulg: ok, we seem to almost complete agreement .... paulg: but the other answers are questions I was going to ask ... paulg: what do you think 4!h would show sallyally: 4!H LoveBrdge: minimum 3h nd 22 pts Trym: should show 5!Hs, many use it with 4 1Valeria: fit 4th Hasty: six H - slam interest adi_agm: 4th 22p sceptic: 4!h would show more heart support geofspa: a holding of 3H and 22 points maybe more hearts sallyally: super accept paulg: before answering that ... what would it mean if I bid 4!c now like ... nzakosek: max hand plus 4 cards !h Trym: super accept, doubleton !C sallyally: beats me :) LoveBrdge: max hand and 4h and 1st controle in cl sceptic: cue bid, looking for slam in agreed by implication hearts Iunatic: that would be superacceptance with shortage in C ThumperMat: splinter ? cul de sac: cue juve: long suit ->sceptic: good! wakullaman: slam invite 1Valeria: strong fit max hand cue bid !C paulg: splinter after opening 2NT - possible but unlikely :) cdt: show hand plz paulg: however this is not the hand to bid 4!c !!! ThumperMat: sorry, true :-) LoveBrdge: :-) paulg: so, as most have said, 4!c MUST show heart support - probably 4 or 3 good ones paulg: it is also a CUE BID, showing club control paulg: I play that it denies a SPADE control paulg: since I would 3!s rather than 4!c paulg: trym suggested weak doubleton ... paulg: not many play this after a 2NT opener, it is more popular after 1NT opener paulg: however worth a partnership discussing this ... paulg: but if playing with a pickup partner, assume a new suit in this auction is a cuebid showing support paulg: right, back to our hand paulg: we bid 3!h ... and partner bid 4!c --- what does this show? LoveBrdge: no controle in spade Trym: Either !C-control or RCK for !Hs ThumperMat: cue, denies !S control LoveBrdge: controle n cl chandaa: 5+ cards in !c 1Valeria: 5H 4!F+ forcing sceptic: now the responder is looking for slam with a cue bid of his own no spade control chiquita: Aces? adi_agm: asks a paulg: like many teachers I feel the world would improve if we BAN ace asking! paulg: i think this is a NATURAL bid ... paulg: showing 5!h and 4!c paulg: it is forcing to game and slam invitational paulg: IF it was a club cuebid, then partner is in control and will understand that we think it is natural paulg: so we should treat as a natural bid ... so what should we bid now? geofspa: hand please 1Valeria: 4!d geofspa: 4!d Trym: 5!D, cue accepting !C LoveBrdge: 4 dia juve: 4!s Trym: 4!D, sorry aditan: 4d MarN: 4!d chandaa: 4nt juve: 4!d paulg: 4!d bidders, take a sweet paulg: well done sceptic: 4!D paulg: 4!d must be a cue bid agreeing clubs .... ollozzo (Lobby): hi paulg: partner has offered 2 suits ->ollozzo: hi - chatting to the BIL in a chat room tonight paulg: he would NOT be interested in any other suit that we have ... ollozzo (Lobby): BIL ?! :) paulg: so 4!d is not a natural bid ... it can only be a cue bid ->ollozzo: beginners/intermediate lounge paulg: is it a cue bid for !h or !c ... ollozzo (Lobby): aha :) paulg: well, it cannot be !h ... because we would have cue bid rather than bid 3!h 1Valeria: for !C paulg: so 4!d is a cue bid, and it sets clubs as trumps paulg: so what does 4!h mean? juve: it sets the last trump named? cul de sac: cue geofspa: a!h aditan: cue chandaa: shows !h Ace 1Valeria: cueee-bid Trym: H!A or void juve: 6 !hs JMcCrea3: or void guyb2: first round control paulg: given that partner has shown 5+!h a void is unlikely :))) chandaa: cant b void as p asked for a Xfer Trym: he forgot transfers, so has !D and !H-void ;-) (joking) adi_agm: void after transfer? geofspa: LOL @ Trym sceptic: 4!S cul de sac: y paulg: so the key point is that partner is NOT trying to play in 4!h ... if he wanted to do that he would not have introduced clubs juve: or pt i have norhing else to offer you LoveBrdge: ace of hearts paulg: so it is a simple cuebid showing !hA 1Valeria: 4!S now geofspa: 4N ... find out about k!c and Q maybe ThumperMat: 4!S, cue paulg: i prefer cuebidding to keycard, especially in the minors, so 4!s is my choice LoveBrdge: 4sp 1Valeria: pass LoveBrdge: 5 dia Trym: pass cul de sac: cue cul de sac: we are slam going paulg: so the 5!c bid is interesting ... hallway: Hi :-) paulg: is it forcing? geofspa: no sceptic: no wakullaman: no ->hallway: good morning -- should I mention the cricket? paulg: no, it's not forcing ... paulg: even though we have shown all the first round controls ... sceptic: but would be silly to pass as he knows you have max 21 so he has to have 11 min sceptic: (I think) hallway: now , now I have just woken up - lol remember the All Blacks will be seeking vengeance ! wakullaman: p has 5!H and 5!C and A!H. May have singleton !S paulg: certainly partner has invitational values for this bidding paulg: so we should evaluate how good our hand really is .... 1Valeria: we have shown all we had pard might have asked aces or bid 6!C sceptic: 7!c paulg: partner has shown 5!h and 4!c ... so he has at most four other cards ... cul de sac: cue 5!d paulg: we have !sA !dAK to take three of them ... with a finesse in diamonds for the 4th ... in the worst case paulg: we also have excellent heart support ... paulg: and good trumps .. paulg: so we should accept the invitation to slam paulg: wayne is a little optimistic with 7!c ... paulg: partner is unlikely to have a good enough hand for that and not bid slam himself paulg: this is the reason we should not cue bid again ... adi_agm: 6cl paulg: partner is not interested in the GRAND slam .... otherwise he would not signoff in 5!c ... paulg: so a simple 6!c is best ... paulg: a nice controlled auction ... evaluating all our cards ... and no Blackwood :) paulg: so the lead is the !sK and we now move to the South hand to play the contract ... paulg: any comments on the contract ? paulg: are we going to make it? sceptic: looks a goo un to me adi_agm: yes Laird: do cue bids need alerting ? ThumperMat: looks tough :-) juve: where can i get some cuebid notes? sceptic: deppends on club layout wakullaman: will need some luck... LoveBrdge: cl 2-3 1Valeria: only with 3-2 split!C ->Laird: in the UK yes, in America and Europe no, on BBO yes in my opinion chandaa: yeah need 3-2 !c split 1Valeria: and not enough ThumperMat: do you need !hs 3-3? sceptic: 4/1 spilt you can still make if LHO has 4 cards sceptic: including both QJ !C paulg: when you look at a hand ... look at both declarer and dummy ... 1Valeria: not paulg: here, the South hand has long hearts that you might need to establish ... paulg: but look at the losers in the North hand ... 1Valeria: we ruff 2!S paulg: there are less of them ... paulg: so hopefully you can all see that this hand is easy when clubs are 3-2 or 2-3 ... paulg: so an expert looks at how to make the hand when they are 4-1 or 1-4 ... paulg: Can we make this hand if East hast four clubs ? 1Valeria: no sceptic: id diamonds split you can play them so when you end play opp with most trumps that may sole your problem sceptic: if RHO has 4 !C sceptic: sole = solve paulg: yes, that might save the 2nd undertrick ... but you will still go down paulg: And you cannot take a line that loses to any 3-2 distribution paulg: ... as 3-2 is more likely 1Valeria: if they are 4-1 you have to guess so you go down paulg: so i think it's safe to say that we cannot cope with East and four clubs ... paulg: so can we cope if West has 4-1? geofspa: yes paulg: ok, so let's win the !sA and cross over to the !cK --- is that okay for everyone? 1Valeria: unless you see J or q on K!C sceptic: play K!C then lead smal playing 10 if they duck. paulg: ok, so let's play a small club now sceptic: and letting first trick make if they play hiher than a 10 paulg: and West plays the !cQ .... do we win the !cA or duck? geofspa: duck sceptic: duck chandaa: duck cul de sac: duck sceptic: that way you get a second finese against the 10 A LoveBrdge: duck MarN: duck ThumperMat: quack, quack 1Valeria: but we don't have !C any more ThumperMat: sorry :-) paulg: unfortunately ..... 1Valeria: after 2 ruff paulg: Maureen may throw you out of the BIL for ducking .... paulg: since a declarer in the Bermuda Bowl did NOT duck and went down ... paulg: it is the right play :) paulg: East shows out ... juve: i dont understand why duck paulg: so you can now ruff a spade with your third trump and your last trump for a finesse paulg: the duck gives you control of the hand ... paulg: if you win the trick then you have entry problems to cash all the tricks ... paulg: you will end up having to guess wether West has 2!h and 3!d .. or 3!h and 2!D paulg: the full hand is as follows 1Valeria: so we go down with Q and Jxxx? paulg: we have already drawn one round of clubs ...