[nige1]

 Kungsgeten, on 2015-January-23, 18:44, said:

Not quite sure that this qualifies as a clueless/hopeless comment, but I came to thinl of it writing about TDs

We're playing a team match against the best team at our club, possibly the best in the district, and are underdogs. We've played a couple of boards and the opponents has studied our convention card. This sequence comes up, partner being dealer:

1D*-(P)-1NT-(2H);
P-(P**)-Dbl-(Rdbl);
3C-(P***)-P-(3H);
P-(3S)-AP

* Alerted

** RHO looks at our convention card, asks me about 1D, I reply "12-14 NT or an unbalanced hand 11-15 hcp with a four card major and at least four cards in a minor". RHO asks some more followmup questions (the bid is a bit hard to explain so I try to explain that our 2m openings are natural 11-15 with 5+ minor and no major).

*** RHO thinks a good ammount of time, then asks some more questions about 1D, then thinks and passes

Before my final pass I ask what LHO has shown: redouble shows strength and 3H shows extra heart length, so far so good. I think the auction is very fishy, but decide to lead to see what dummy holds. I have something like 2-2-5-4 if I remember correctly and perhaps 10 hcp.

Dummy has 7 hearts, 3 spades, 2-1 minors and 10 hcp. I call the TD, tell him about the bidding, the pauses and the explanations of Rdbl, where LHO claims that it does not promise extra strength but simply that he "had enough for his bid". TD asks me to clarify the problem and I say that I think pass is a reasonable alternative and that RHO's pauses may have influenced LHO, I also question if the hand is worth three free bids when partner haven't bid anything.

TD: "I think he has enough for his call."

Declarer makes 3S and at the other table they bid and make 3NT on our cards due to lucky honour placement in the heart suit. We lose the match by one IMP. It was a knockout match.

It's understandable that Kingsgeten posted the director's comment in this rather than a legal forum

[Antrax]

I declare very fast and people sometimes accuse me of doing it to pressure them. You just can't win.

[dicklont]

 Antrax, on 2015-January-24, 01:05, said:

I declare very fast and people sometimes accuse me of doing it to pressure them. You just can't win.

Vary your pace of play and you will always win

[blackshoe]

 BunnyGo, on 2015-January-23, 18:48, said:

Sigh....then I had to teach this kid for a semester...

Heh. Did he pass the course?

[eagles123]

not a specific example but hate when someone does a ridiculous action and then excuses it by saying "
but we were non vulnerable"

[helene_t]

 eagles123, on 2015-January-29, 18:23, said:

not a specific example but hate when someone does a ridiculous action and then excuses it by saying "
but we were non vulnerable"

Lots of club players think that they can bid game more aggresively in constructed auctions when nonvulnerable.

[billw55]

 dicklont, on 2015-January-24, 03:53, said:

Vary your pace of play and you will always win

I remember once declaring at a sectional, I ducked a trick. The ops then tanked .. and tanked .. and tanked. What the hell is taking so long? I look at them, they don't even look like they are thinking. Turns out they ducked lower than I did, still my lead

[GreenMan]

 helene_t, on 2015-January-30, 03:39, said:

Lots of club players think that they can bid game more aggresively in constructed auctions when nonvulnerable.

That's loss aversion -- we're cognitively wired to pay more attention to possible loss than gain. So since the raw-score penalty for overbidding is less when nonvulnerable, it seems less risky.

[gwnn]

---

Declarer actually had AJ543 of hearts (dummy the stiff 7 and I had QT8 amazingly enough after a 1NT freebid) and when he played a small heart to the jack, my partner, who doubled initially, ducked the king, letting opponents make 8 tricks. After the hand:

me: "why did you double with that hand?"
pd: "oh well I had 4-4 in the majors"
me (puzzled): "but.. they opened 1H.. um.."
pd: "well yes, but the king of hearts is always worth a trick after the 1H opening"

[Cyberyeti]

I had this facepalm over the weekend.

NT contract, I'm defending, we've just cashed the diamonds, the whole suit has gone, dummy has the only remaining clubs in the deck plus KJ, x in the majors. I tank for a long time, trying to work out what declarer can have if she doesn't have the 2 major suit aces which she can't have or she'd have claimed.

I produce a spade and it quickly becomes apparent that declarer has both aces and another spade. I then hear:

"Why were you thinking so long, you've put us behind"

"Why didn't you claim ? you know you have the rest of the tricks"

"How do you know what I know ?"

At this point I refrained from saying what I was thinking, which is probably fortunate.

[Zelandakh]

 Cyberyeti, on 2015-March-04, 20:05, said:

"Why didn't you claim ? you know you have the rest of the tricks"

You must surely be aware that there are many players that will never claim when it is an opponent's turn to play. Nothing unusual in that at all.

[manudude03]

I had this post-mortem after giving declarer 2 tricks from QJx opposite xx in 3NT. I had AT98x with partner having Kxx. Playing 2/4 leads and the T promising the jack and another higher honour, I lead the 8 ducked around to the jack, and then later the 10 ducked again.

Me: Why didn't you put up the King?
Partner: Your 8 was a high card. You should lead your low card.
Me: But we play second and fourth, my 8 was my fourth.
Partner: Yeah, but sometimes you just have to tell a white lie.
Me: The Rule of 11 should have alerted you to the possibility that I was leading the 8 as a low card.
Partner: I don't play Acol, so I don't know the rule of 11.

[Zelandakh]

If you play the ten promising the jack then you need to combine that with the 9 promising the ten (Rusinow style). A decent alternative (part of Journalist) is to use the ten to show the jack or the 9 with a higher non-touching honour and then the J and 9 are weak leads showing the ten and nothing higher.

[manudude03]

 Zelandakh, on 2015-March-05, 10:24, said:

If you play the ten promising the jack then you need to combine that with the 9 promising the ten (Rusinow style). A decent alternative (part of Journalist) is to use the ten to show the jack or the 9 with a higher non-touching honour and then the J and 9 are weak leads showing the ten and nothing higher.

I'm not a fan of the lead system, but I'm just going along with what partner wants, it's a lot easier than getting him to play what I do in my most competitive partnership, even if the latter is more natural . Also, as you surely worked out, he plays 9s as completely standard...

[blackshoe]

 manudude03, on 2015-March-05, 09:01, said:

IPartner: I don't play Acol, so I don't know the rule of 11.

ROFL!!!

[Zelandakh]

I think you should just ask him what he leads from AT9x(x), KT9x(x) and QT9x(x) - seems like the easiest way to find out, assuming he would (at least sometimes) lead from the interior sequence and not a low one.

[helene_t]

Yeah, I asked a pick up partner for pivot teams about spot leads and he just said something similar, that he would only lead 2/4 if he thought partner would be able to read it.

[helene_t]

- We have cheaters in this club
- How do you know?
- Ms X raised her partner's 3H opening on a void !
- Did she have a good hand?
- Yes of course. But a void hearts!
- What's the problem?
- How could she know they had an eight card fit? She should assume seven hearts and bid 3nt! Her partner must have signalled that he had eight hearts!

[manudude03]

 Zelandakh, on 2015-March-06, 03:31, said:

I think you should just ask him what he leads from AT9x(x), KT9x(x) and QT9x(x) - seems like the easiest way to find out, assuming he would (at least sometimes) lead from the interior sequence and not a low one.

Bolded the cards he leads.

[Zelandakh]

 manudude03, on 2015-March-06, 15:06, said:

Bolded the cards he leads.

Well I hope you are getting paid then! If you want the partnership to work long-term then I think you have some teaching to do. Given that your p does not know the Ro11 another decent temporary option in addition to the two mentioned earlier might be Busso spot leads. Really though, first thing is for the partner to understand standard leads, then find a carding method they are comfortable with that accomodates these.