tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6167918454701652348.post8112258622330451133..comments2024-03-11T11:29:56.577-04:00Comments on The Gargoyle Chronicles: Match 2 - Board 40Phillip Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12686740850642509457noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6167918454701652348.post-7404817959918071972011-02-22T11:20:46.044-05:002011-02-22T11:20:46.044-05:00You have put hand 41 instead hand 40 here.
Hand 40...You have put hand 41 instead hand 40 here.<br />Hand 40 I can not downloadrhmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00201309231901722413noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6167918454701652348.post-35814859427727466252011-02-10T14:51:42.862-05:002011-02-10T14:51:42.862-05:00Once partner can count eleven tricks for declarer,...Once partner can count eleven tricks for declarer, he can see that breaking up the squeeze is all that matters. He should find the diamond switch no matter how I card. Even if I stand up on my chair and scream "Lead a heart, you moron!" he should just laugh at me and lead a diamond anyway.<br /><br />As for four spades vs. three spades, I'm not a believer in fast-arrival. I think four spades is mildly slammish with good trumps. If your methods require you to bid four spades on all minimums with spade support, it means you have no way to explore for alternative strains. <br /><br />And, speaking of exploring for alternative strains, I'm not even sure I would bid three spades with East's hand. It's not hard to find hands for partner where three notrump is a better contract than four spades. I think I would rebid two notrump.Phillip Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12686740850642509457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6167918454701652348.post-34504080075655481292011-02-10T13:31:25.103-05:002011-02-10T13:31:25.103-05:00Interesting hand, but are you sure you will be hap...Interesting hand, but are you sure you will be happy with the lead? Against a heart lead, six spades has no hope, a club lead makes it easy. What about a trump lead? You play for at worst split club honors, and a red suit squeeze against south. If the opponents are helpful you can play it as a double squeeze.<br /><br />Now back to the diamond lead. West plays three rounds of trump ending in hand. He then leads the queen of clubs, king, ace, and back to partner's jack. What does north lead now? More to the point, you had three discards, what did you ask for? If north leads anything but his remaining diamond, the squeeze comes home.<br /><br />I'm not sure about Jack, but with most human opponents (er, partners in this case ;-) once south pitches a high heart, it is all over. Well, with good partners, you can pitch the three and nine in that order on the spades, but are you good enough to find a low heart at trick three? Much more likely you will want to pitch a diamond there, and I hope you didn't play low on trick one.<br /><br />Very interesting hand. I can see where Jack is coming from on the four spade bid. Even though all his values are gilt edged, he only has 22 HCP and flat distribution. Look at the west hand, would you want your partner to NOT bid two spades over two diamonds, especially at match points? If you do want partner to bid with three queens and a six card suit, better cut him some slack later. So three spades is an overbid, and five spades is right out. (Five spades asks about first or second round control in diamonds in most partnerships. But even if it is pure invitational with all key cards in hand, your hand is too weak.)<br /><br />Since four spades is effectively sign off unless west has lots of additional values, I think Phillip should have passed it to partner. If he has a distributional hand he can bid on. Since you didn't bid 2NT, north knows you don't particularly like clubs. Yes, he could have four hearts and not bid, but you took that gamble the first time around. <br /><br />Just to make Phillip feel a bit better, I bet the pair that ended up in 3NT did so after an auction starting two clubs, two diamonds, pass, pass. (Two clubs, two hearts, pass, pass, is also possible.)Robert I. Eachushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14500484244426395165noreply@blogger.com