Nice hand here 4th to act:

s: QT9765
h: AJ3
d: QJ53
c:

pass - 2c - pass - 2s
pass - 3h - pass - 4nt (rkcb 1430)
pass - 5c - pass - 6h
pass - 7h - passed out

Partner shows A3 - KQT964 - A - AK72 and it makes, nobody else bids the grand, ship it holla

And if your partner shows you three keys, you're going to do what?

Thou shalt not use Blackwood with a void, saith the Lord, for when a key card is missing, thou knowest not whether to play 6H, 6NT, or 7H.

cue bid clubs.

I am more awake now... and am surprised 7H made (6 hearts in the long hand, a diamond, a spade, two clubs, and two club ruffs is only 12 tricks. You need to either catch the diamonds breaking 5-3 with the king in the short hand, or have the ruffing finesse work... 50% at best. You definitely do not want to be in seven here.

As to the auction... I would respond 2D waiting even with six ugly spades; with most my partners I require two of the top three honours in my suit to make a positive response to 2C. After 2C-2D-2H-3H you can cuebid (and you'll stop in six after you find out you are missing kings). After 2C-2S-3H, it may not be obvious whether 4C is a cuebid or a second suit or what.

pass - 2c - pass - 2s
pass - 3h - pass - 4nt (rkcb 1430)
pass - 5c - pass - 6h
pass - 7h - passed out

I wouldn't give an iffy positive but wouldn't get religious about it. If after said iffy positive partner assumed he knew the best contract given the auction so far and the RKCB answer was all he needed I would be a little huffy. Maybe huffy enough to bid 7 anyway
EDIT: I would bid seven in his spot every time on reflection

SAYC I assume???

This is a hand where the second bid will help define your hand and you would like to get it as cheap as possible because unless there is a meld w/ partner, making a 2 level bid could be REAL tough.

I believe you need to lie to partner and bid 1 with the intent to bid diamonds if allowed on your next bid. Your hearts are strong enuf that the lie won't get you into too much trouble. "Worse" case partner raises to 2. You respond to 3 and (in this case) yer off to the races. If partner retracts to 3 hearts, u pass. Or partner passes 3 if weak. Or you end up in 3NT which is where you were stuck anyway....and that contract really sucks, though I think I would find a 4 heart bid in there if partner had responded 2H.

I played a lot of tourney bridge in my yute. Haven't played in a few years so my advice needs to be taken w/ a grain of salt.

(((Edit for clarity))) This is really a classic two suited hand. And because it's marginal, you want to be able to mention both suits as cheap as possible. Diamonds then hearts implies a MUCH bigger hand and is not a choice IMO. That leaves hearts then diamonds. Are you bidding 1 diamond with the hope that partner will respond 1 heart? If that's the case, when partner responds 2 or three hearts, I think you'll be good to go also...yes?

There can not be victory unless the opponent is worthy.

Do any of you guys have a team set up for the college championships (or whatever ACBL calls it), or have any of you experienced it? How tough is the competition?

I played in it in 1997 and 1998, and have kept an eye on it from afar after I graduated. I've never had four college-aged players at the same time in my area to coach and enter a team since.

There are a few schools with serious bridge clubs. *Winning* the college championship is at least as tough as winning a similar-sized sectional. You may notice that the same few schools win every year...

Placing above average is not hard, if you have four people with a clue. There are going to be a lot of schools with one or two serious players who twisted their friends' arms into filling out a foursome to enter. (That was what I had to do.)

Alright I have a bidding question that came up tonight.

My partner opens 1nt, standard 15-17 hcp balanced
RHP bids 2 clubs
I have 6 hearts to the JT9 and no other HCP.
Normally I transfer

But should I still transfer after the interference?

I did
partner bids 2H
RHP bids 2S
I pass

Should my partner ever bid?

He bid 2NT

Should I put him back in 3h?

chuck,
1) I play systems off over an overcall of 1nt, but i think it's a matter of partnership agreement.
2) I have a lot of trouble envisioning a hand that makes a 2NT call right. 3H I could see, if he had good support for you. But other than that, you have a good idea of his hand, and he should be leaving it to you to make the decision whether to compete.
3) No. Presumably, P bid 2nt because he only has 2 hearts. Unless he has AQ or something way better than you deserve, you have 2 or 3 heart losers. Plus 3H gets doubled a lot. AND you can blame the disaster that 2nt is sure to be solely on your partner, whereas you would have to share the blame in 3Hx-3

chuck,

what's your complete distro? i think if you're 6-3-2-2 you should leave him in 2nt but if you have voids you should bid 3h

6-3-2-2. Yeah I should of left him there. Then mistakes just keep toppling on top of each other.

Partner bids 3 NT. RHP bids 4c. I pass. Partner bids 4h

Somehow we didnt get doubled. But yeah down 3 kind of hurt. There was some disagreement about how screwed up the bidding worse after the hand. I still think he screwed up worse but clearly I did as well.

yah dude, definitely pass and let partner try to establish long hearts in 2nt

IMHO, yes, you should transfer. Your J-high suit with no entries is useless in anything but a heart contract.

No, he shouldn't bid 2NT (or anything else except 3H competitive with 4 hearts) except in the rarest of cases. Was 2 clubs natural? If he had a positional spade stopper, maybe something like QTx, AKxx, xx, AKJx maybe he was hoping to scramble 8 tricks. If this was Matchpoints, this might have some utility. But no, I don't think partner should ever bid.

If 2NT wasn't doubled, I'd leave him there on the faint hope that partner knew what he was doing, and happy to avoid a double when the opps have most of the strength (vulnerability matters here too, probably. not vulnerable, you don't mind going 2 tricks down if the opps have more strength). It's close though, and if doubled, I'm definitely running to 3H.

The problem here is that if all of opp's bids are natural then your partner has a nice holding in spades and clubs, and likely nothing in hearts. Your JTxxxx provides no help in NT. I think I am pulling p's 2N to 3H here.

And to whomever asked about the collegiates, I'm a grad student playing on the Michigan team if we can ever figure out whether people born in 1982 are allowed to play. I don't read POG very often, but I will a bit more now that I found a bridge thread. I played in an all-swiss sectional this weekend. We played great for 4 (of 7 rounds). Matches were on the 20VP scale, and we had 57 after 4 rounds. We finished the day with 72. Yuck. Gotta build up my bridge stamina.

Anyone in MI that'd be interested in playing a tournament sometime, my (bridge) partner and I are looking to branch out and play with other people, so feel free to PM.

Hand 1
QJ2
A972
AJT9
J4

vulnerability unfavorable.

P...E...Me..W
P...P...1..2
3..P...?

3? 3NT? Pass?

hand 2
--
AJT98
AKQJ86
86

both vul.

E...Me..W...P
P...1..1..P
2..?

2nd one is relatively easy (this round, anyways): 4H

1st one is brutal, but I'm taking a shot at 3NT. If partner has a 6 card club suit, I think this is odds on. Knowing partners opening tendencies would help (if he is a light opener, or would open 3 clubs on 6 card club suits, that would tip the scales towards passing). I don't think 3H is good; partner should X on most hands with 4+ hearts, your suit quality isn't great, could be a spade ruff, etc.

I would agree with both of these. 3N seems like a good spot, especially if Lyour partner has any honor (10 or higher) in spades. My guess is that you guys have about 23 or 24 points between you two, which is a little low, but definitely not unmakeable, especially with a 6 card club suit (which I'm guessing partner has). It's not a great spot, but I think it's probably the best one available.

On your second hand, 4H screams at least 6-5, although I would have probably opened that 2C (then the auction would probably go 2D-3D-3N-4H) and your partner can decide whether or not to carry onto slam.

1st one is really tough. 3N could be on, but I'm scared of lefty's heart lead from Qx or Jx. I'm still bidding it at IMPs, but maybe not at MPs.

2nd one I think is a definite 4H call. You have 4 losers. If P passes, you can probably hold it to 3 losers by virtue of your heart fit, and if P corrects, his heart shortness should provide ruffs for your losing hearts.

Just found this thread (don't frequent 2+2 that often).

Anyway, I play on BBO and am always happy to play with someone new.

Back in the late 90's I was a member of the Canadian Junior Team and played in the World Championships in '97 and '99.

I prefer playing 2/1 GF w/ whatever gadgets you like. PM me if interested in a game sometime.

I play quite a bit of bridge. I'll have to check in here next time I play. I usually play on yahoo; it gets rather irritating playing with random partners who have no idea how to bid, play, or count cards.

You would really enjoy playing on Swan or BBO (both free). The quality of play is much better.

We get some POG games going on Swan every once in a while.

AIM= FCBLComish. I can usually be persuaded to play some bridge.

If you're serious about bridge, BBO really is the place to go. They also have "vugraph" rooms where you can watch actual World class team matches live (including live commentary). Eg. National Championships, World Championships, etc.

O rly? On BBO I just had someone pass my 2 opening bid. I wouldn't mind if it was a simple case of his inability to read the system I use in my profile, but he lists himself as playing Acol where, er, my opening bid is forcing to game. Having 23 points but only three trumps combined is really crappy. I need to find a regular partner asap instead of playing with randoms