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Matchpoints
Feel free to comment if you would have bid your hand differently.
Partner is a known lunatic, so despite the vulnerability he may have a very poor hand for his 4♠ call.
What do you lead? What other leads seem reasonable?
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Quick opening lead problem Matchpoints
#1
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Posted 2011-December-20, 13:09
Matchpoints
Feel free to comment if you would have bid your hand differently.
Partner is a known lunatic, so despite the vulnerability he may have a very poor hand for his 4♠ call.
What do you lead? What other leads seem reasonable?
Brian Weikle
I say what it occurs to me to say when I think I hear people say things; more, I cannot say.
I say what it occurs to me to say when I think I hear people say things; more, I cannot say.
#2
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Posted 2011-December-20, 13:27
lead a spade, others don´t seem reasonable to me, ♥A might hit jackpot but it could be ridicoulous.
#3
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Posted 2011-December-20, 17:49
I would try the spade K--- one possible defense is p is void in hearts and
the only way we can get a ruff in is if we retain the lead and make a heart
switch. It is very unlikely leading the spade K will cost us a trick and it
might just be a lifesaver. If the spade K holds we would see the dummy and
hopefully make a much more informed decision about what to do at trick 2.
the only way we can get a ruff in is if we retain the lead and make a heart
switch. It is very unlikely leading the spade K will cost us a trick and it
might just be a lifesaver. If the spade K holds we would see the dummy and
hopefully make a much more informed decision about what to do at trick 2.
#4
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Posted 2011-December-20, 20:08
It's matchpoints, so we have to consider the overtricks as well as the chances for a beat on various layouts. Sounds to me like RHO has secondary clubs or a good one suiter. Probably unlikely the bad guys have all 8 missing hearts to bid this way. On the other hand cashing the HA is a huge position. Therefore...
Don't we want to try to get partner on lead? If so the SK is the wrong spot (and will confuse partner as to the direction of the defnse). I lead Sx.
Don't we want to try to get partner on lead? If so the SK is the wrong spot (and will confuse partner as to the direction of the defnse). I lead Sx.
"It is not enough to be a good player. You must also play well." -- Tarrasch
#5
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Posted 2011-December-20, 22:39
Small ♠, if the partner is a lunatic enough to make me doubt his obvious preference, may be he should be looking for another one 
Yehudit Hasin
"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.
"Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here."
"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.
"Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here."
#6
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Posted 2011-December-20, 23:30
If partner is a lunatic then you have no chance- he has four little spades and maybe a doubleton.
If he was sensible He has ♠Axxx ♥x afterall you put in 2♦ Michael's which is just asking for nonvul opponents to preempt to game.
If he was sensible He has ♠Axxx ♥x afterall you put in 2♦ Michael's which is just asking for nonvul opponents to preempt to game.
#7
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Posted 2011-December-21, 11:04
any lead but a spade is chasing moonbeams.
This is the sort of post that almost always ends up being based on how a spade lead cost the board....so what? Anyone who 'learns' from such a post that a spade is 'wrong' will have become a worse bridge player than they were before they 'learned' that point.
If one is leading a spade, the only reason to lead the K is to retain the lead. Retaining it to cater to the opps having a combined heart holding of Kxxxxx for their 5♦ auction seems like a very tiny target, and probably unnecessary.....where are their 7 hearts going?
Plus partner might get cute and overtake with Axxx in order to shift to hearts, and declarer will be delighted to win a trick by strength with xx opposite Qx. Admittedly, that is a very low percentage, but where's the upside to offset the downside?
This is the sort of post that almost always ends up being based on how a spade lead cost the board....so what? Anyone who 'learns' from such a post that a spade is 'wrong' will have become a worse bridge player than they were before they 'learned' that point.
If one is leading a spade, the only reason to lead the K is to retain the lead. Retaining it to cater to the opps having a combined heart holding of Kxxxxx for their 5♦ auction seems like a very tiny target, and probably unnecessary.....where are their 7 hearts going?
Plus partner might get cute and overtake with Axxx in order to shift to hearts, and declarer will be delighted to win a trick by strength with xx opposite Qx. Admittedly, that is a very low percentage, but where's the upside to offset the downside?
'one of the great markers of the advance of human kindness is the howls you will hear from the Men of God' Johann Hari
#8
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#9
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Posted 2011-December-21, 13:37
mikeh, on 2011-December-21, 11:04, said:
This is the sort of post that almost always ends up being based on how a spade lead cost the board....so what? Anyone who 'learns' from such a post that a spade is 'wrong' will have become a worse bridge player than they were before they 'learned' that point.
I agree that my OP kinda looks like this, but in reality it's nothing of the sort.
What happened at the table was that North broke tempo over 5♦ and South bid 5♥. The director ruled the contract back to 5♦ making (this is the ACBL where you can't give weighted rulings). The whole room was in 5♦ making 5; I just posted the question here to see if anyone in the universe would find the lead which sets the contract.
The winning lead is a club. South has ♠8xxx ♥8xxx ♦x ♣AJT9. (I did say he was a known lunatic) You need to lead a club to get partner in to play a spade before declarer can set up a discard on the ♥K.
I didn't expect anyone to find this lead (at least not on this auction) so this confirms that 5♦ making 5 is the right ruling.
Brian Weikle
I say what it occurs to me to say when I think I hear people say things; more, I cannot say.
I say what it occurs to me to say when I think I hear people say things; more, I cannot say.
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