14
votes
Accepted
Did I underbid or did my partner?
I will dissent and say that your partner underbid, unless you knew you had an agreement that 3H is forcing (or perhaps even a convention on top of it).
Partner, with 16HCP added to your opener, knows ...
12
votes
Did I underbid or did my partner?
It is arguable whether you underbid, but your partner definitely did.
when you open 1H, your partner knows that you have at least 26 HCP and eight hearts between you. This is enough that they should ...
10
votes
Would you pass this 13 high card point hand?
13 hcp with two aces? I’d open that 10/10 times regardless of distribution. 4 diamonds I’m still fine bidding a 1D then; it’s even a more useful bid than the nondescript 1C.
I’m not surprised some ...
9
votes
Accepted
How are bridge hands chosen, at top tournaments? What's the motive?
All bridge players "know" that the hands are cooked. They all have their own ideas how. Each person's ideas are different. They're all wrong. Mostly this is because humans, and bridge ...
8
votes
In Duplicate Bridge, does the person holding a particular set of cards open the bidding in all times that particular deal is played?
In pair competitions, yes absolutely ; everything about each hand is identical every time it is played. The dealer and vulnerability is determined by the board number usually - a sixteen board ...
7
votes
How to bid a slam when partnership cannot find the best suit?
Playing 2-over-1 with a few conventions (including the serious 3nt), my auction would be something like
1d
1s
2c (this is a bit conservative but I think the right call)
2h (artificial game force)
2s (...
7
votes
Who’s to blame for our partnership missing an easy 4S game?
This, as with nearly everything in bridge, depends on partnership agreements and style.
However, taken in the standard methods, 2c is the only real forcing bid available. As such, it usually promises ...
6
votes
Dummy knows more than declarer
From Law 70.B:
B. Concession Defined
Any statement to the effect that a contestant will
lose a specific number of tricks is a concession
of those tricks; a claim of some number of tricks
is a ...
6
votes
How to handle dummy's revoke due to a hidden card?
I am not a TD, but I am a qualified Club Director, and this situation is actually a fairly clear one. Under the Laws of Duplicate Bridge , laws 61-64 govern revokes. It is a common misunderstanding ...
5
votes
Pulling double after Weak 2 and competition?
I would never pull a double on that auction, regardless of my hand. "The book of rebids by preempter is 1000 pages long, and they're all blank," as the saying goes. Responder is the captain ...
5
votes
Accepted
How often do top duplicate Bridge players repeat the same game?
Let's check.
Here are the hand records and session results for the 44th World Team Championships' Bermuda Bowl Final between Poland and Netherlands. Given are the session number and number of hands ...
4
votes
Accepted
Can a team-match VP score be negative?
Until a few years ago most Victory Scales awarded negative VPs to a blitzed team. (This link makes reference to such.)
However, by not being at the table on time, ready to play, your teammates are ...
4
votes
How to bid a slam when partnership cannot find the best suit?
Let's talk capabilities first. In general, Grand Slam should not be bid unless one can identify all 13 tricks expected to be made.
If North is making the final 6/7 decision in Spades after a ...
4
votes
Conventional treatment of a particular negative double
As I understand things these methods originated in Italy. Many Italian experts play that the double shows 4 or 5 spades and hands with 6+ spades start with 2H. I've tried this in a few partnerships ...
4
votes
In response to an opening bid of 1 spade by my partner, why do I have to have at least 5 pieces in hearts (+ the usual points) in order to respond 2H?
In addition to the other two great answers here, I'll expand a bit more on the "why".
Basically, your goal is to describe your hand as low as possible and as accurately as possible, right? ...
4
votes
Bridge auction: 3rd suit tells – 4th suit asks
This Aces on Bridge shows a good example of this. Look in the "Bid with the Aces" section.
What this describes is an auction where you're exploring NT, and trying to figure out if you're ...
4
votes
Who’s to blame for our partnership missing an easy 4S game?
Four Spades is not such a great contract. You are going to get a Club lead. You have to decide immediately whether to try and set up dummy's Hearts, or to ruff your Diamond and Club losers in dummy. ...
4
votes
In match points, do you need to be more aggressive about doubling when your opponents are not vulnerable?
You haven't told us the details, but, at any vulnerability, this could be a situation where you should double without even looking at your cards.
Let's suppose you magically know that every other pair ...
4
votes
How should an intervening bid have changed my response?
If you take an action with this hand, double is the correct action. Pass is also acceptable, but I think it would be a very conservative approach and would expect most of the field to act. In this ...
4
votes
Did I underbid or did my partner?
As Alexander Woo mentions in his answer, there is no true Standard American anymore. In situations such as these I typically refer to the ACBL's SAYC booklet, which is as good a guide as any, I ...
4
votes
How should partner and I have gotten to 3NT?
Your hand is by no means unbalanced. It may be described as semi balanced.
Your hand is difficult to bid, no doubt. I think there are 3 reasonable ways you may choose to bid the hand.
First, you can ...
4
votes
Which of these hands should be opened in which late positions?
I would not open in 4th seat with the five heart hand - the traditional rule is to add your high card points and your spades, and open if you have 15. This hand is a good example - you should not ...
3
votes
How to handle dummy's revoke due to a hidden card?
David Siegel has the laws almost perfect (and thank you for that!) He didn't mention that there is also no automatic trick penalty for the second revoke in the same suit (even if it wasn't from dummy)...
3
votes
Bridge auction: 3rd suit tells – 4th suit asks
I have never heard that phrase for the concept, but it's a very valid one. The version I hear is "two suits shows, one suit asks". That is, if there are two suits your side are concerned ...
3
votes
How to bid and make a slam with 28 HCP between the partnership?
Here are two auctions that aggressive bidders could use to reach a small slam, using common methods in a 2/1 base system:
W E
1NT | 15-17
2H 2S | transfer to spades; acceptance
4S 5C | ...
3
votes
How to bid and make a slam with 28 HCP between the partnership?
The answer is; you don’t. Not with normal 2/1 methods, anyway; and even pretty out there methods would have a hard time finding this.
Why? Because it’s dependent on so many things. The seven card ...
3
votes
Accepted
Dummy knows more than declarer
From the Laws of Duplicate Bridge, Law 46.B.5,
If declarer indicates a play without designating either a suit or a
rank (as by saying “play anything” or words of like meaning), either
defender ...
3
votes
What does Opener's rebid here mean?
Playing a system such as Standard American this shows a balanced or semi-balanced hand with 18-19 HCP. It would usually deny holding 4 Hearts unless with a 4333 distribution, though partnerships ...
3
votes
In what systems are opening 4 card majors ok?
There are plenty of systems that open on 4-cards, I myself play one, and that is not very uncommon here. 4-card systems are commonly used to teach Bridge. Most people prefer 5-card major though, and 4-...
3
votes
duplicate bridge rules for revoke,and any penatly should be imposed
The Short Answer: The Director finds which card is missing and restores the player's hand. This card is considered to have belonged continuously to the owner's hand, and as a result may have caused an ...
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