| Board 22 East Deals E-W Vul |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NS 2N; NS 2♦; NS 2♣; NS 1♠; NS 1♥; Par +120
| West | North | East | South |
| Pass | 1 ♣ | ||
| Pass | 1 ♥ | Pass | 1 ♠ |
| Pass | 3 ♣ | Pass | 3 NT |
| All pass |
| Lead: ♦ 3 |
3C is invitational only in ACOL.
South's opening of 1C vs 1D is a matter of partnership style. On the one hand it can confuse pard about the value of his high cards, eg upgrading a CQ. On the other it confuses oppo about what to lead.
| Board 21 North Deals N-S Vul |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
EW 2♥; EW 1N; EW 2♦; NS 1♠; EW 1♣; Par −110
| West | North | East | South |
| Pass | 1 ♥ | Pass | |
| 1 NT | Pass | 2 ♥ | All pass |
| Lead: ♣ 2 |
Why should east bid 2H. They have balanced hand?
C2 lead is good, all others are unattractive
| Board 20 West Deals Both Vul |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
N 4N; NS 4♠; S 1N; EW 1♥; N 1♦; EW 1♣; Par +630
| West | North | East | South |
| Pass | 1 ♠ | 2 ♣ | 2 ♠ |
| 3 ♣ | 3 ♠ | 4 ♣ | Pass |
| Pass | 4 ♠ | All pass |
| Lead: ♣ K |
| Board 19 South Deals E-W Vul |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NS 7♠; NS 6♥; NS 5♣; NS 1N; EW 2♦; Par +1510
| West | North | East | South |
| 1 ♠ | |||
| Pass | 4 ♠ | All pass |
| Lead: ♣ Q |
Most modern ACOL players play 4S as a pre-emptive raise, showing strong offensive values and little defence. A convention that a lot play here is Jacoby 2 NT - shows a GF hand, 4+ trump support, and (if playing splinters) no shortage. The key to this hand is no wastage in diamonds.
A possible sequence would be:
1S 2Nt
3D 4D
3D shows a shortage in diamonds. 4D shows no wastage (needs partnership agreement)
4 NT 5S
5S shows 2 key cards and SQ
6S
At this point, South knows North has SK, SQ, AC and some other values which are not wasted. The key is the HQ, but as said in an earlier hand, queens of off suits are very difficult to locate.
| Board 18 East Deals N-S Vul |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
EW 3♠; EW 1N; NS 2♦; NS 1♥; Par −140
| West | North | East | South |
| 1 NT | 2 ♦ | ||
| 2 ♠ | 3 ♦ | 3 ♠ | All pass |
| Lead: ♦ 5 |
| Board 17 North Deals None Vul |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NS 3N; NS 4♣; NS 2♠; NS 3♦; NS 1♥; Par +400
| West | North | East | South |
| Pass | 2 ♥ | Dbl | |
| 3 ♥ | 3 ♠ | 4 ♥ | All pass |
| Lead: ♠ A |
Interesting bidding.
Let's look at North's bidding - I can only think they had a club stuck in their spades!
Let's look at East's bidding over 3S. How much does East know about West's hand? Not very much, only they did NOT want to play in game (which incidentally is where u have now bid). How much does West know about East' hand. Well, quite a lot. This suggests that West should determine the fate of the hand not East. After a weak 2 or any pre-empt partner is now the Captain of the ship - obey his orders but otherwise be silent.
What is the correct bid with the West hand? Pass or raise. I have a lot of sympathy for West's bid. Oppo are likely to have game somewhere and u are just trying to screw the scrum, right?
Well, I did just this a couple on times and my partner commented that this wasn't expert practice. That's fine, but why, what's wrong with a 6-2 fit? At this point it becomes an experience thing built up over thousands of hands. I decided to put it to the test - but how?
DDA doesn't work for "screw the scrum" situations, as DDA works on "perfect vision" thus u can't screw the scrum. Enter SDA - single dummy analysis. This is quite tricky and no "off the shelf" software apps exist. Essentially what I finally managed to achieve was to generate a number of hands suitable for the task (easy). Then give it to robots to bid and play in all four positions (also relatively easy). Then to get them to do this on hand after hand automatically (really really hard), so u build up a sufficient sample of what works, what doesn't. To be honest, took me absolutely ages. However I got there. Took a bet on the outcome and ran the analysis. LOST comprehensively, wasn't even close.
So, next time at the table in real life, faced with a "similar" situation I passed with negative consequences. Latter pard said, "HOWEVER in this slightly different situation ...." It takes many goes to get a good block of cheese!
| Board 16 West Deals E-W Vul |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NS 4♠; NS 3♥; EW 3♦; EW 3♣; NS 1N; Par +420
| West | North | East | South |
| Pass | Pass | Pass | 1 ♠ |
| Dbl | 2 ♠ | All pass |
| Lead: ♦ 10 |
North's 2S shows a far weaker hand. East has enough to put in a 3D bid.
| Board 15 South Deals N-S Vul |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
EW 4♠; EW 4♦; NS 2♥; NS 1N; EW 1♣; Par −420
| West | North | East | South |
| Pass | |||
| 1 ♠ | Pass | 3 ♠ | All pass |
| Lead: ♣ J |
Sequence looks like 5 card majors are being played. Good initial pass by North
