[nige1]

A selection from the hands that I butchered, in last night's team match. You are West, opposite an expert partner, playing 2/1. Please mark your choices out of ten.

1. "Let the pre-empt do its work."
Teams. You are west. Your call? Pass, Double, 5♣, 5♦

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2. "If it were done."
Teams. Would you pass over 2♦? Now, over 2♠ what do you do?

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3. "9/11".
At teams you are West, declarer in 4♥. Opponents lead two rounds of ♠. Plan the play. No singletons or voids. If opponents gain the lead, they will probably lead a third round of ♠.

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4.
"Hog-tied Gazelle"
At teams you employ partner's favourite "Gazzilli" convention. Your 2♣ is artificial and forcing. Partner's 2♥ rebid usually shows 2-3♥ but denies 8HCP. What do you do now?

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[BunnyGo]

Can we see dummy at 3?

[pooltuna]

1) 5♦ ....not 5♣ they already know you have a ton of diamonds minimize the information outflow
2) pass and try and beat it
3) Do I get to see dummy b4 I play?
4) 3♦ if that is a help suit game try ...pass partner's decision

[bd71]

1. P=10, 5♦=6, 5♣=1, X=0

2. I would have bid 3♣ over 2♦. Now, I will bid 3♣ for real.

3. I have considered declarer play before when not told the bidding, the vulnerability, or the scoring. But I've never thought it through without being given the dummy.

4. 4♥.

[ggwhiz]

1. 5♦ with the comfort of our style that gaurantees this is not a phantom.

2. 3♣ I would have bid that directly as a passed hand.

3. Claim 10 tricks and hope they accept.

4. 3♦ game force? I don't know Gazilly or her sister

[nige1]

BunnyGo, on 2011-October-26, 13:46, said:

Can we see dummy at 3?

pooltuna, on 2011-October-26, 13:54, said:

3) Do I get to see dummy b4 I play?

bd71, on 2011-October-26, 13:57, said:

3. I have considered declarer play before when not told the bidding, the vulnerability, or the scoring. But I've never thought it through without being given the dummy.

ggwhiz, on 2011-October-26, 15:10, said:

3. Claim 10 tricks and hope they accept.

OP amended to include dummy.

[CSGibson]

on 1 I would bid 5D (5D = 8, pass = 4)

On 2 I would have preempted 3 clubs first seat. Having failed to do so, I push to 3 clubs now. (3C = 8, p = 5)

3 seems pretty simple - A & Q of hearts, ruff the 3rd spade, then T of diamonds. If they win & return another spade, I ruff in dummy & come to hand with the A of diamonds to pull trump & claim. If they let the T of diamonds win, I pull the last trump, and cash my winners, conceding a diamond at the end. (this line of play = 10, all others = 0)

4 I don't know Gazzilli, but I think a 3D natural game try would be best. If you don't play natural game tries, then whatever game try you use where you can specifically ask about diamonds - I'm not making a short suit game try on this. (diamond game try = 10, all others = 0)

[ypiper]

Bd 1: 5C
Bd 2: looks like pd has 5/4 D, 4/3 H, 2 S. Odds more likely 2-4-5-2 which 2S will go off. 3C is risky
and may make with perfect fit, but against this vulnerability I pass.
Bd 3: play D to the 10, if a S returns, ruff and play A and Q of H, what ever returns, draw last trump. If a S returns, try to ruff in dummy.
Bd 4: pd is marked with 2 H normally not 3 and with 5-7 pts. This is a misfit. Looks like nothing going to make. Best contract maybe in D. At teams I would risk 3D

[nige1]

A selection from the hands that I butchered, in last night's team match. You are West, opposite an expert partner, playing 2/1. Please mark your choices out of ten.

1. "Let the pre-empt do its work."
Teams. You are West. Your call? Pass, Double, 5♣, 5♦?

IMO, It's a close decision. It is tempting to take out insurance against a vulnerable game. In fact,however, partner's pre-empt has done its work. Opponents are in the wrong major game. The winning action is pass. I bid 5♣ and played 5♦X. Opponents collected 300 when I failed to guess trumps

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2. "If it were done."
Teams. Would you pass over 2♦? Now, over 2♠ what do you do?

I passed then protected with 3♣. On reflection it's better to bid 3♣ immediately. Then partner is more likely to place you with some values. So, at least you have a vague chance of reaching 3N.

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3. "9/11".
At teams you are West, declarer in 4♥. Opponents lead two rounds of ♠. Plan the play. No singletons or voids. If opponents gain the lead, they will probably lead a third round of ♠.

You can't afford to draw trumps too early as then opponents will be able to cash ♠ tricks. At match-pointed pairs, the best line may be to concede a ♦, win the return, cross to dummy with a ♦ and finesse ♥. As the cards lie, you take eleven tricks but there is a danger of a ♦ ruff (if LHO has ♥K doubleton and four ♦ and the player who wins ♦K returns a ♦). At teams, CSGibson's line seems better: play ♥AQ, ruff the ♠ return and lead ♦9. Dummy's ♥ protects you against being forced in ♠, so you make ten tricks on normal breaks. I adopted a daft line that should have resulted in nine tricks (one down) but luckily defenders didn't realise that I was on their side . I played ♥AQ, ruffed the ♠ return. Now I cashed ♣AKQJ. If LHO discards a ♦ then he will get a ♦ ruff but luckily he ruffed and I survived when the ♦ finesse worked.

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4.
"Hog-tied Gazelle"
At teams you employ partner's favourite "Gazzilli" convention. Your 2♣ is artificial and forcing. Partner's 2♥ rebid usually shows 2-3♥ but denies 8HCP. What do you do now?

I agree that 3♦ is correct. I passed and so missed 4♥. Even if pass had worked, it is still master-minding. It must be right to consult partner rather than make a unilateral decision.

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[kgr]

Nigel,
I think it is clearer to have 1 hand per post.
Koen

[han]

On 1 5D could have been right, but I agree that it is probably -EV.

On the 2nd, 3C directly is right for many reasons.

On the last, passing is not masterminding, it is just bad judgement. The hand is too good.