From: brett@oce.orst.edu (Brett Barksdale)
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
Subject: Re: Misalert
Date: 14 Apr 92 23:03:08 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Oregon State University, College of Oceanography

In article <1992Apr14.202126.28049@porthos.cc.bellcore.com> atleung@troy.UUCP () writes:

-My hand (south) is
-S  Q 10 8 7 6
-H  x
-D  x
-C  K 10 9 x x x
-
-Partner (North) is the dealer 
-    N      E      S     W
-   1NT(0)2C(1)   2H(2)  pass
-   2S    pass    3C     pass
-   3NT   pass    pass   pass
-
-(0) 15-17 HCP
-(1) Alert as heart and a minor
-(2) Transfer to spade (it was properly alerted)
-
-When I was informed by W that 2C showed heart and an minor (though
-he did mention that he was not entirely sure).  I was almost
-positive that the minor is a diamond (it couldn't be clubs).  
 
 A safe bet, but you never know... :-)

-I sensed a good fit with my partner in the black suits.
 
 Well, unless partner opens 1NT with a stiff, you must have a club fit
 with pard. But with a red-suit monster on your right, you should be
 wary of a 4-1(0) or 5-0 club break possibility.

-I passed the 3NT because with E holding diamonds and hearts.  There was an
-excellent chance that the clubs would run (since E has at most 2 clubs and
-W's clubs could be finesse).   

 Uh. I disagree. Your club holding is borderline at best and you have NO
 SIDE ENTRY for partner to get to them. Partner MUST have A-third of clubs
 or she's going to be stranded from dummy's clubs. And then, with a max
 of only 22 HCP between you, partner is pretty much doomed. 

-Even with 15 HCP, my partner could have held
-
-S K x
-H K Q x x
-D K J x x
-C Q J x

 This is a mirage. Don't give your partner the perfect 15 count. Even with this
 hand, A-third of clubs holds off until the end and you're standed once again.

-Even if it goes down, I don't expect to go down more than 1 in 3NT.

 If you don't make on running clubs, you'll be pretty lucky to get out for
 only down one. It's likely the opps have a red suit to blast you with after
 you're stranded from the clubs.

-Anyway, it turned out that 2C was actually a 1 suiter, and 3NT was
-down 5 (she played the hand badly).

 Whoops.

-My partner's hand
-S A x
-H A K x x
-D J 10 x x x x
-C A x

 I don't like this. IMHO, I don't like opening 1NT with any six bagger. 
 Maybe we can contrive a very "mushy" 16 count with a six bagger minor
 that would work best with 1NT, but this isn't it. Not with all of those
 lovely aces and king. I would open 1D and reverse (a bit weakish perhaps)
 into 2H. I just can't make myself open a AKish 6-4 hand 1NT.

-The committee ruled that no injustice has been done in my team.  One member
-in the committee said that I (who was the one called director after the
-play was over) took a gamble at 3NT, and deservedly going down.  Another

 I tend to agree with the committee. You gambled and lost. Not that it's
 a big deal or anything.

-Since my partner has seen the correct convention card, she was told that
-she should have asked the opponents to avoid the confusion.  It turned out
-that my partner was never sure about the bidding.  She decided not to clarify 
-the bidding to give the defense any information (which I believed was silly).

 Sounds like you need to sit down and work out all sorts of things with
 your partner.

-Question 1
-Was my bidding correct based on the information I have given?

 Not likely. You haven't given full information like the vulnerability
 which is critical on a hand like this, so it's hard to be concise. But
 I generally don't leave partner in 3NT when I'm 6-5 in the blacks with
 only 5HCP. Doesn't work very often. Also, I would be inclined to sit
 back and play 2S (if the opponents will let us). Bidding 3C is fairly
 strong and gives pard the wrong idea about how far to go with the hand.
 If you were to pull 3NT to 4C and pard bids 5C now, could you really
 blame her?

-Question 2
-I had an argument about my partner's opening of 1NT.  I believed that she
-should have opened 1D.  Her hand was much better in suit contract.  What
-is the field's opinion?

 IMHO, 1D would have been better. See above.

-Question 3
-What should I have bidded if I was given the correct information?

 Passed 2S. I don't know the VUL so I can't be sure. If the opps are
 mean and cruel :-) and don't let you play there, you can back in with
 clubs to show the distribution and the weakness. Now pard is unlikely
 to take you for too much.

-Question 4
-What did you think of the ruling?

 Seems in order.


-- 
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                    "Want a twinkie, Genghis Khan?"
             Brett Barksdale        brett@porky.oce.orst.edu
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