paulg: i'll try to work through some of the interesting boards ... paulg: starting with the match that I arranged .... paulg: this was board 4 and I liked the practical auction of chandaa and vanzilla paulg: many people play bergen raises nowadays, so do not play strong jump shifts .... paulg: this makes it more difficult when strong hands come up, and this is a good example of a strong 3!c bid paulg: shows values, good suit in a single-suited hand paulg: i actually prefer a 4!h rebid ... suggesting a very good heart suit and little outside ... chandaa: i was worried p might take it as sign-off :) paulg: but ash had the hand under control paulg: after his strong 3!c bid, vanzilla actually has a minimum so "signs off" paulg: ash now makes a very practical bid .... paulg: even if he is missing !dAK opponents may not lead them paulg: and he would have discards on the clubs angela_it: non capisco molto l'inglese paulg: at the other table they only bid 5!h so this was the largest swing in the match ... paulg: in fact, the only big swing ... jdelang: there was an 8 point swing also paulg: this is board 7 from that match .... paulg: so the players sitting North both made the same bid now ..... paulg: what do you think they bid? tony stack: 5c paulg: ... or what would you bid? 1marko: 5c I think sceptic: 2!C chrissie5: yes definitely chrissie5: 8 quick tricks paulg: this is a little like bidding over a strong 1!c ... 1marko: 2!c initially paulg: this is your one opportunity to make a big bid before the opposition have exchanged information unter4: x paulg: game is unlikely for NS after partner's pass .... Rae123: 5!c chandaa: 4!c vanzilla: something to be said for 4!c here paulg: so I'd bid 5!c and give them a problem .... chrissie5: 2c forcing for 1 round? paulg: 4!c is also ok, but would you be happy if they bid 4!h round to you? paulg: a simple 2!c overcall would not be forcing paulg: look at the problem you set East if you bid 5!C? drgarie: how about 3c bergen ? paulg: East has a good 6-card heart suit and 4-card spade support .... tough to double ->drgarie: you are opposition paulg: anyhow, both players bid 2!c which I think is a little pessimistic and allowed EW to bid comfortably to game paulg: so the advice would be to make it difficult for them with distribution like this .... bendin: at the table a possible -3 in 5!C vul seemed wrong bendin: X chandaa: is it better for East to Q-bid !c or bid !h ? paulg: Here, 5!c doubled goes down two for -500 against -620 for game ... a gain of 4 IMPs paulg: in the worst case you will go down three (-800) is partner has nothing ... of course they probably have slam then paulg: and you will gain more! bendin: ty nzakosek: down one paulg: so let's have a look at the IMPs flying about in the other match --- this is board 2 paulg: 2nt being Jacoby paulg: 4!c showing a non-minimum and 5-card suit ... paulg: double presumably to tell West what to lead ;) paulg: ... even though on lead against spades vanzilla: I often make doubles to remind myself of what to lead ;-) paulg: at this point South should probably pass, off two keycards as slam cannot be better than 50% paulg: and 50% is the threshold ... paulg: Also those keycards may be aces, so it may be 0% slam :) paulg: so this was -13 IMPs paulg: sometimes people say that Val and Wayne are playing a very scientific and advanced system nowadays ... paulg: but they have a little way to go ... I play that South can open 2!h to show the majors here :) paulg: the IMPs on this board were mainly decided by North's auction .... paulg: what would people bid with the North hand? spectre72: dbl Rae123: thanks paul llooll feel small now llooll guyb2: x chandaa: pass GP: I would double GP: to strong for michaels Rae123: being the wonderfully aggressive person i am i passed llooll paulg: so pass, as Tammi did, is not wrong .... paulg: partner is a passed hand and so you are only competing for the partscore ... paulg: On the other hand, this is the best vulnerability to make trouble for the opposition ... paulg: you have a perfect shape for a double and are happy to compete in any suit partner bids paulg: so I think double is best .... paulg: at other vulnerabilities, especially if I was red, then I would pass paulg: however, our hero did not want to leave this open to any debate .... spectre72: since K!s on side and !h 2-2 makes 4 !h ???? paulg: so found the fit immediately .... an extremely fortunate bid paulg: i think rosemary is too strong for 3!c as most would play that as non-forcing chandaa: isnt the 3!c weak in competition ? paulg: in sayc double would show spades, so perhaps a 2!h cuebid or even a natural 2!d would be better paulg: however, whatever is bid Val is bidding 4!h paulg: i think East-West did well to double this and not bid 5!c ... which has 4 losers paulg: unfortunately they only have 3 winners and 4!h made Rae123: i thought this was brilliant of Wayne and Valeria paulg: wayne played the spade suit well here .... or perhaps successfully is a better description paulg: there are two good lines, equally good, and Wayne chose the one that gave the opps a chance to go wrong paulg: the two good lines are to play for West to hold !sKx ... paulg: .... or for East to hold !s10x paulg: but leading the !sJ first gives West the chance to go wrong by not covering ... paulg: and this is what happened here .... paulg: it is ALWAYS difficult to defend ... paulg: so take advantage of this when playing paulg: as far as West knows East could have !sQ paulg: this is board 7 ... paulg: and we'll look at the two auctions ... paulg: did 2!h show both majors? geofspa: if playing DONT sceptic: thats what the alert was paulg: ok, good aggressive play by John there ;) paulg: 3!c was just natural and forcing? sceptic: strong force paulg: this is a good contract .... and is with the odds considering the two hands in isolation paulg: unfortunately the 2!h bid suggests bad breaks ... and this is what actually happened paulg: North is unlucky that South has so many wasted values in hearts! paulg: so this contract will go down 1, losing a club and a spade JozekM66: -1 paulg: at the other table, no interference so no "concerns" about suits paulg: i think 6NT is a bit of a punt .... with partner holding the suit opposite my singleton I would have invited ... paulg: as we discussed last week, 4NT would still be quantative here Rae123: trying to make up for the previous board Paul :-) paulg: and South would pass ... geofspa: original aution was 1N:6N ...before an undo sceptic: Paul, if you bid 4nt is that quantative for nt slam or bwood or rkcb for hearts paulg: but that would have robbed Marko of his moment of glory :) Rae123: that is why i went directly to 6nt i thought he would take 4nt as RKC for !H 1marko: no I wouldn't have 1marko: :-) juve: but is 4nt quantitative fopr 6 or asking Aces? thxs!! paulg: !cJ is a good lead ... you never know some people may cover it with !cQxx ->juve: quantative paulg: always good to give defenders every chance to go wrong paulg: a slight mistake to throw the !d2 here .... LadyStar17: which scores better the 6 NT or the 5C down 1 paulg: since declarer may finesse us later for !d .. just throw a spade at this point paulg: slight mistake to throw the heart too ... better to keep declarer guessing in his own suit and you can spare 2 diamonds paulg: so note that you keep a losing club here ... it's amazing how many people would have thrown it away here paulg: so what should East throw here? geofspa: squeezed here Rae123: doesn't matter they are squeezed tony stack: club geofspa: doesn't matter opela: !C sceptic: he has to protect dummy paulg: so, basic squeeze defence is to keep control of the suit you KNOW declarer knows paulg: so here, East knows South has a winning club, and therefore throwing a club is instant defeat paulg: so you must throw a diamond paulg: now, if West had kept a diamond then South may be on a guess .... especially if he had not been counting the majors paulg: but it has become a show-up squeeze .... paulg: extremely well played Marko .... 1marko: thx Paul :-) paulg: .... of course this may mean you have to leave the club now :))) Rae123: lol sceptic: lol 1marko: lolol paulg: notice that the hand has 2 threats .... one in each hand ... paulg: one threat is the !c8 in the South hand ... paulg: and the other threat is the !dKJ in dummy paulg: the main error people make when playing squeezes is to discard a threat :) paulg: if Marko had thrown the !c8 on the spade, keeping a second diamond ... paulg: then both threats, the !c9 and !dKJ are both in dummy .. paulg: and East discards after North ..... so North gets squeezed first!! 1marko: I played RHO the !dQ as LHO wouldn't have lead away the Q is she had it paulg: yes, good play Rae123: bloody brilliant i say :-) Rae123: but i am biased :-) paulg: were there any other hands that any of you played that you thought were interesting? paulg: we'll be doing the same next week - probably two matches again - so if you want to play then please message me from ... paulg: TOMORROW Rae123: ty again Paul was fun bendin: thanks aspiring->Club: thanks paul vanzilla: thanks Paul chrissie5: what is the time? I nearly missed this one? 1marko: thx Paul paulg: we will start at 7pm UK, 8pm Europe, 2pm EDT LadyStar17: thanks, Paul really enjoyed