HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: bpwing@phoenix.princeton.edu (Ben Wing)
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
Date: 11 Oct 92 05:34:55 GMT
Subject: Re: Play problem
Organization: Princeton University
X-Subliminal-Message: You can quit reading news anytime you want.

In article <Bvw3t5.I44@irvine.com> adam@irvine.com (Adam Beneschan) writes:
|In article <1992Oct9.171619.4636@odin.diku.dk> turin@diku.dk (S|ren Turin) 
|writes:
|           
|>           Axx AQx AKT T9xx
|>
|>           JT KJTxxx Jxx AK
|>
|>   How do you play 6S after the lead of 2 of spades (4th highest). 
|
|I assume you meant 6H, not 6S.  Here's the best I could come up with:
|
|I tried to come up with a way that you could make it if RHO has the diamond
|queen, perhaps on a show-up squeeze or some other type of squeeze, but I 
|couldn't figure one out, because dummy has to discard before RHO.  If anyone
|can come up with a better line of play, I'd love to hear about it.

You would have a nice club-diamond squeeze against either opponent but your
entries are screwed up.  Unfortunately, all you got here (unless I'm missing
something) is a squeeze against West, and in that case you're better off
taking the finesse.

ben
--

Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty.
From: dinah@rockytop.tivoli.com (Dinah McNutt {sysadmazon})
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
Subject: Re: Funny story
Date: 13 Oct 92 13:50:40 GMT
Organization: TIVOLI Systems

In article <4932@tivoli.UUCP>, taylor@foraker.tivoli.com (Eric Taylor) writes:
|> White vs White, Playing in a local sectional I pick up:
|> 
|> K1098
|> QJxx
|> AQx
|> xx
|> 
|> Like it or not you open 1D.  Partner responds 2C which you alert
|> as game forcing with real clubs.  RHO bids 3S.   You double, all float.
|> 
|> In all seriousness, RHO then informs me that she thought
|> 2C was forcing to game!!  While I am fumbling for words, partner
|> says, "It certainly does not rule out doubling the opponents."
|> RHO grumbles and says we should start giving complete explanations
|> of our bidding.
|> 

Same sectional, same game, different opponents:

The bidding went:

1NT on my right
Pass
3 NT on my left.
All pass.

Dummy came down with 1-4-4-4 distribution. Down 2, vulnerable. (I led
a spade.) Dummy's explanation for not bidding 2 clubs (Stayman) was that
she didn't want to describe her hand to the opponents. Everyone else 
was in 4 hearts making.
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
From: sgm@sgfb.ssd.ray.com (Steve Myerson)
Subject: Re: Play problem
Organization: Raytheon Company, Portsmouth, RI
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 20:44:20 GMT

In article <1992Oct9.171619.4636@odin.diku.dk> Soren Turin writes:

* A friend of mine gave me this play problem a couple of days ago.
* 
* 	Axx AQx AKT T9xx
* 
* 	JT KJTxxx Jxx AK
* 
* How do you play 6S after the lead of 2 of spades (4th highest). 

Well, I'd much rather be in 6H with a 6-3 fit, rather than 6S with 3-2.

Playing 6H:
Take the Ace of spades. Draw trumps. Cash the AK of clubs.

If an honor falls, lead a diamond to the A, and lead the ten of clubs.
If not covered, pitch the losing spade,
and either that wins and I take the diamond hook for an overtrick,
or it loses but my last diamond goes on the nine of clubs.

If a club honor doesn't fall, I fall back on the diamond finesse.

Steve Myerson (sgm@sgfb.ssd.ray.com)
From: bpwing@phoenix.princeton.edu (Ben Wing)
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
Subject: Re: psych
Date: 16 Oct 92 22:44:24 GMT
Article-I.D.: apadravy.55656
Organization: Princeton University
X-Subliminal-Message: You can quit reading news anytime you want.

In article <1992Oct16.110830.16282@ms.uky.edu> taddiken@ms.uky.edu (scott taddiken) writes:
|If you are the sort of person who believes that all psychs are monstrous,
|please do not read beyond this point.
|
|Recently, at imps, not vulnerable against vulnerable, competant opponents:
|
|I held        xxxx
|              xxxx   (Please pardon all the x's.  My eyes tend to glaze over
|              xxx     when I pick up a Yarborough.)
|              xx
|
|A miracle occurs.  Two passes to me!  I opened 1NT, ended up in 3NTx, and made
|only my partner's two aces, shrinking in my seat card by card.
|
|Partner took it rather well, I thought, and we soon made up most of what I'd
|lost us.  But since then I've decided he was much too kind.  What do you think?
|Doesn't my 44 holding in the major suits (and the surprize value of the fact
|that I have no honors whatsoever) make it less likely that the opponents have
|an easy game?  Wouldn't this be a better psych if I held the 2344 distribution?
|Of course, I might have been tricking the opponents out of a slam, as opposed
|to a game.  But in order to take the extraordinary risk that such a psych
|entails, I'd like to have as much as possible on my side.
|
|Please flame on, but only if you obeyed the first sentence of this post.
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------
|Scott Taddiken, University of Kentucky

Hmm, you're right about the 4-4 in the majors being a factor against psyches.
IMHO psyches in NT work best with a highly unbalanced hand; with a hand such
as yours above, I might open it 1S if I wanted to psyche, because it eats up
room but you're unlikely to get in any place as awful as 3NTx.

(if you had that hand first seat, or even better a 2344 hand, it would be
ideal for an psychic 2C opening.  If partner responds 2D, bid some number
of spades; otherwise just pass.  Unfortunately, the ACBL doesn't let you
do this.)

ben

--

Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty.
From: adam@irvine.com (Adam Beneschan)
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
Subject: Re: Play problem
Date: 10 Oct 92 05:12:41 GMT
Organization: Irvine Compiler Corp., Irvine, California, USA

In article <1992Oct9.171619.4636@odin.diku.dk> turin@diku.dk (S|ren Turin) 
writes:
           
>           Axx AQx AKT T9xx
>
>           JT KJTxxx Jxx AK
>
>   How do you play 6S after the lead of 2 of spades (4th highest). 

I assume you meant 6H, not 6S.  Here's the best I could come up with:

Win the opening lead with the ace, playing the jack from your hand.  Now
play five rounds of trumps, discarding spades from dummy.  Assuming the 
opponents are not silly enough to discard the king and queen of spades on
the trumps, play the A-K of clubs.  If a club honor has appeared, enter
dummy with the ace of diamonds and play the club 10, discarding your losing
spade if RHO doesn't cover.  Assuming LHO wins this trick, you will win the
return, get to dummy with the king of diamonds and discard your losing
diamond on the established club 9.  

If no club honor appears when you play the A-K, go to dummy with the ace of
diamonds and ruff a club.  If you're real lucky, the opponents have made a
defensive error, and the queen and jack will both fall on this trick.  
Perhaps they discarded a club on your run of the trumps and the remaining two 
clubs split.  If you're not real lucky, you'll have to take the diamond
finesse.

I tried to come up with a way that you could make it if RHO has the diamond
queen, perhaps on a show-up squeeze or some other type of squeeze, but I 
couldn't figure one out, because dummy has to discard before RHO.  If anyone
can come up with a better line of play, I'd love to hear about it.
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
From: tataru@math.nwu.edu (Daniel Tataru)
Subject: Bridge club
Keywords: 
 
 Does anyone know about any bridge club in the Northwestern University
Organization: Dept of Math, Northwestern Univ
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1992 20:36:52 GMT

community ?
From: brl@kopasker.is (Bjorgvin Runar Leifsson)
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
Subject: Philip-Morris
Date: 16 Oct 92 00:56:17 GMT
Reply-To: brl@kopasker.is (Bjorgvin Runar Leifsson)
Distribution: eunet
Organization: Kopasker Primary, Iceland

Hi, bridge players in Europe.

Anybody who knows if it will be possible to e-mail via Internet the
Philip-Morris results from Iceland?

Thanks,

Bjorgvin R. Leifsson
brl@kopasker.is
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
From: Ed Rotberg <gonzo@ntb.apple.com>
Subject: Re: play or defend?
X-Useragent: Nuntius v1.1
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 22:32:56 GMT
Organization: Apple Computer

play or defend?

In article <4965@tivoli.UUCP> Eric Taylor, taylor@foraker.tivoli.com
writes:
>IMPS, South, White vs. Red, you hold :
>
>Kxxx
>AK1098x
>xx
>x
>
>Bidding has proceeded :
>East      South        West         North
>1C        1H           X            P
>1N        ??

What's the problem?  Pass evenly and in tempo as if you have no problem,
which you don't!  You've already had your opportunity to sacrifice and
chose (correctly) to make an overcall instead.  You have a hand with some
defensive values and a defender loaded in hearts.  To make matters worse,
partner probably has from 6-9 points with little or no support in hearts.
 The auction is not over yet and your partner still has a chance to bid
if he deems it appropriate (Bridge is a partnership game!!).  Remember,
he knows a heck of a lot more about your hand than you do about his, and
I can't think of a call that would clarify your hand any more without
undo risk. If the defenders bid on, they are likely to wind up in a minor
or NT.  Game in a minor would be very risky for them and with the right
values in partner's hand, you have an excellent chance to beat game in NT.

What am I missing here?


Ed Rotberg                 "Just remember...
Professor of Gonzo          a waist is a terrible
Apple Computer, Inc.        thing to mind"
From: taylor@foraker.tivoli.com (Eric Taylor)
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
Subject: Slam bidding over interference.
Date: 13 Oct 92 16:51:39 GMT
Article-I.D.: tivoli.4968
Organization: tivoli


Red vs. Red, IMPS, South, you hold :

AQJ9xxx
QJxx
x
A

Bidding proceeds
North         East         South        West
1D            3C           3S           P
4D            P            4H           P
4S            P            5C           P
5D            P            5H           X
P             P            5S           All Pass

Should 5H be construed as control asking or control showing
in the absence of any particular agreement?

5C and 5D are cuebids by Partnership agreement.

How would other people handle this hand?

BTW we stayed out of the unmakable slam, but only because
we guessed.   My partner was not clear as to what 5H really was.
From: adam@irvine.com (Adam Beneschan)
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
Subject: Re: Defensive falsecard.
Date: 9 Oct 92 20:17:39 GMT
Article-I.D.: irvine.BvvF1F.G51
Organization: Irvine Compiler Corp., Irvine, California, USA

In article <1992Oct8.211955.22014@ms.uky.edu> taddiken@ms.uky.edu (scott taddiken) writes:

>  You are in 3NT, holding:
>
>           DUMMY: JT987
>                  3                 The bidding was, perhaps, optimistic:
>                  6432              V vs NV, opps pass throughout:
>                  QT9               2c(strong and artificial) 2d (neg) 
>                                    2h  2s 
>           YOU:   AK                2nt 3nt
>                  KJT82             All pass.
>                  AK95
>                  A2
>
>  LHO leads 5c.  You play the 9c, RHO the K, and you take with the A.
>  The advised line in the text which contained this problem (which I will
>  keep secret for a day or two) was to unblock the s's, then play off the
>  A and K of d to see if d's will provide another entry to get the s's.
>
>  My problem is this.  It is just possible that RHO holds the protected Qs,
>  and the d's break 4-1, and when RHO gets in, he will present us with a 
>  guess (at best) in h's.  Those are, perhaps, long odds.  But at the club
>  where I play, there are very few RHO's who, holding KJ4 of c's, won't
>  play the J at the first trick.  So an ironclad method of making (except
>  against a couple of the better players) is to use the Qc and Tc as your
>  entries to get the s's.
>
>  Question for those of you who defend well:
>  Were I playing against you, for MPs or $, how likely would it be that
>  you put up the Kc from KJ4?  From other combinations?
>
>  (I'm sorry not to provide you with an entire hand, but that is in fact
>  part of the question.  What kind of hands would make you play such a 
>  falsecard?)

I'm replying again because I thought of an answer to your original question,
which was, how likely would it be that I would put up the Kc from KJ4?  The
answer is:  I definitely wouldn't.  In fact, I definitely wouldn't play the
jack either.  The correct play is the 4, ensuring that declarer will never
get a club entry to dummy.  In the actual situation, where RHO apparently has
Kxx, putting up the king is still a bad play.  In fact, even if I only had
Kx, I'd still probably duck.  This would be the winning play if declarer has
Ax, and if declarer has Axx and I play the king, he's going to read the club 
situation and get three club tricks if I play the king anyway.

Let's see if I can post this without getting two signatures this time . . .
-- 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Adam Beneschan                     voice: (714) 250-1368  ext. 204
  Irvine Compiler Corp.              fax:   (714) 250-0676
  34 Executive Park, Suite 270       email: abeneschan@irvine.com
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
From: barth@bcse.enet.dec.com (Karl Barth)
Subject: Re: Questions
Reply-To: barth@bcse.enet.dec.com (Karl Barth)
Organization: Bridge-o-matic, Inc.
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 92 12:59:38 GMT

In article <9210060836.aa05122@Paris.ics.uci.edu>, kibler@turing.ICS.UCI.EDU (Dennis Kibler) writes:
|>1. Under what circumstance does it make sense to
|>play Rosenkrantz doubles and redoubles. For example,
|>what about after partner opens the bidding with
|>a pre-empt.
|>
|>  e.g.  2h  2s X=Rosenkrantz.   This doesn't seem to cost
|>                                very much with some advantages.

It costs a lot!  One of the major points of pre-emptive calls is to force the
opponents to take risks without the comfort of knowing that the hand is
really theirs.  If you open 2H and partner can't double their bid for penalties,
you have given the opponents an invitation to make bad guesses.  Or should
I say even worse guesses than they would normally make.

Since partner can have a mountain and doesn't have to have a fit, it would
be nice if he could issue speeding tickets when the opponents get reckless.
Removing that option from your arsenal is a MAJOR loss.

Further, I believe the gain is minimal.  What good is it to make a Rosenkrantz
double on the example auction?  The opponents have (say) a mild fit in S.
So over 2H-2S-X, 4th chair says pass (2S doubled is a fine spot) and 
opener now has to bid 3H?  Great - partner has Kx or Qx or something.  
Now Pass-Pass-Double and you're going for 500 when the opponents 
can make all of 110 or 140.  So what have you accomplished?

I believe this is an idea whose time hasn't come yet.  :-)
Keep exploring, though.  Wacko ideas like this (no offense meant) are how
all sorts of things wound up in the bidding we call "standard" today.  I wonder
what people thought of Stayman when it was first introduced.

It might save so newsgroup.bandwidth, though, if you bounce an idea off of
some folks via mail before tossing it into the morass of r.g.b.  Then you can
find out *privately* that it's wacko :-) before someone like me gets to say it
to you in front of everyone.  :-)

~K.
From: grabiner@math.harvard.edu (David Grabiner)
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
Subject: Do you go on?
Date: 9 Oct 92 16:43:38 GMT
Article-I.D.: germain.GRABINER.92Oct9124107
Organization: /etc/organization


North dealer, N-S vulnerable, matchpoints.  Sitting South, you hold:

AKxx
AQTxx
xxx
K

N   E   S   W
P   1D  1H  1S
P   2C  P   P
2H  P   P   3C
P   P   ?

We play sound, unlimited overcalls (Kaplan-style).  Double here would be
action, not necessarily penalty.

Do you bid 3H, double, or pass?

--
David Grabiner, grabiner@zariski.harvard.edu
"We are sorry, but the number you have dialed is imaginary."
"Please rotate your phone 90 degrees and try again."
Disclaimer: I speak for no one and no one speaks for me.
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
Subject: Re: Restricting conventions
From: avir@chen.bgu.ac.il (Avi Roy Shapira)
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 23:47:24 GMT
Organization: Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva, Israel

adam@castle.ed.ac.uk (Adam Hamilton) writes:
:
: 	Starting a change of thread here.
:
: 	I have never played against a forcing pass system or fert bid system
: and would not like to do so without chance to prepare a defence.  Would
: some kind soul out there be prepared to post or make available by ftp or
: mail some "known" defences against these systems.
:
: 	I think there will be a LOT of interest in this.
:
: 		Adam

The forcing pass system is not very popular in Israel. However, several years
ago, my partner and I had the occasion to play a 16 board match against a
forcing pass pair.

Our defence was simple. After a pass, we used any bid as an overcall, with
the same range our usual overcalls at the score, somewhere like 8-16
according to vulnerability. We passed with balanced hands to 15 HCP, and
all our two level bids were weak two. Including 2C.

We must have been lucky. Since they lost on every single board they
used a forcing pass.  I remember two hands in particular. On the first hand
my partner overcalled the forcing pass, 1C with AKxxx in clubs and nothing
else. This allowed me to find the killing lead against their contract,
for 720. On the second, I made a weak jump overcall in clubs (pass, 2C...
on QJxxxx and a side singleton, it went x, 5C, x all pass, and we went
down 1 or two while our teammates were making a vulnerable slam.

Several weeks later, we were playing the same team in a Swiss, and the forcing
pass pair refused to sit against us. So I appealed to the tournament director
who offered them a choice: sit against us, or give up the forcing pass system.

I think that our defence was good against the pass. The defence against the
rest of the system depends on the actual structure of the forcing pass
system and on the fert suit.

Avi
From: taylor@foraker.tivoli.com (Eric Taylor)
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
Subject: play or defend?
Date: 13 Oct 92 16:40:07 GMT
Article-I.D.: tivoli.4965


IMPS, South, White vs. Red, you hold :

Kxxx
AK1098x
xx
x

Bidding has proceeded :
East      South        West         North
1C        1H           X            P
1N        ??
From: jch@cbnewsh.cb.att.com (jeffrey.c.halle)
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
Subject: Re: Play 6NT
Date: 16 Oct 92 14:27:01 GMT
Article-I.D.: cbnewsh.1992Oct16.142701.10974
Organization: AT&T

From article <BRYNJULV.HAUKSSON.92Oct16104406@rosmer.nr.no>, by Brynjulv.Hauksson@nr.no (Brynjulv Hauksson):
> All vulnerable, South dealer.
> 
> 	J953
> 	K64
> 	A5
> 	K863
>                     6NT, club J lead
> 	AK
> 	Q72
> 	KQ7
> 	AQ972

You need to win in hand in case the lead was from JTxx.  When east followed,
you realize it was from shortness.  Your best bet is to try a criss-cross
squeeze and hope they misdefend.  You need five hearts and the spade Q in the
same hand, probably west based on the lead.  At trick two, lead the heart Q.
Hopefully, west has ATxxx or AJxxx, so will have to take the A (or you win
two hearts) and will be reluctant to lead another heart.  If west leads any
other suit, run your minors, coming down to:
                         J95
                         K
                         -
        Qx               -
        Jx                            immaterial
        -                A
        -                72
                         -
                         2

On the last club, west is squeezed.
From: burt@aupair.cs.athabascau.ca (Burt Voorhees)
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
Subject: Re: play or defend?
Date: 14 Oct 92 01:54:26 GMT

taylor@foraker.tivoli.com (Eric Taylor) writes:


>IMPS, South, White vs. Red, you hold :

>Kxxx
>AK1098x
>xx
>x

>Bidding has proceeded :
>East      South        West         North
>1C        1H           X            P
>1N        ??

  I'm going to bid 2H.  May be giving up on finding a 2S contract with
partner holding Jxxx or something, but I certainly don't expect opponents
to let me have it at two level and want to let partner know that hearts
are good.
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
From: sperbr@vccnw07.its.rpi.edu (Ron E Sperber)
Subject: Re: Do you go on?
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 18:41:21 GMT

grabiner@math.harvard.edu (David Grabiner) writes:


>North dealer, N-S vulnerable, matchpoints.  Sitting South, you hold:

>AKxx
>AQTxx
>xxx
>K

>N   E   S   W
>P   1D  1H  1S
>P   2C  P   P
>2H  P   P   3C
>P   P   ?

>We play sound, unlimited overcalls (Kaplan-style).  Double here would be
>action, not necessarily penalty.

>Do you bid 3H, double, or pass?

I pass quickly. Where do I even hope to take 9 tricks? Partner did not
raise hearts directly over 1S. In the balancing seat partner might
well bid 2 H on: xx Kx Qxxxx Jxxx. or even lighter than that. Partner
has done his job and forced the opponents to the 3 level. I can't imagine
bidding 3H and possibly going -200 even if i'm NOT doubled. As for
an "action" double, what do you expect partner to do? Perhaps he can 
pass and it will work out, but I think more often than that partner
will pass and you will go -470, or he will pull and you will go -200
at least. Perhaps you are beating 3C,perhaps not. I would just pass
and hope for a plus score.

	-Ron

>--
>David Grabiner, grabiner@zariski.harvard.edu
>"We are sorry, but the number you have dialed is imaginary."
>"Please rotate your phone 90 degrees and try again."
>Disclaimer: I speak for no one and no one speaks for me.
-- 
    Ron Sperber  sperbr@rpi.edu Ron_Sperber@mts.rpi.edu Ron_sperber@rpitsmts
	"All the World's indeed a stage/And we are merely players"
	"Performers and Portrayers/Each anothers audience        "
	"Outside the gilded cage"                     	-Rush,"Limelight"
From: wchen@beirut.berkeley.edu (William Chen)
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
Subject: Strange happenings at clubs...
Date: 13 Oct 1992 08:54:55 GMT
Organization: U.C. Berkeley Math. Department.
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: beirut.berkeley.edu


Speaking of funny things happening, we had a strong club auction 
where partner showed 3334 dist, with the sA hKQ cK, and less than 14 HCP
Partner got to declare at 6nt.  Now the strange thing that happened was
that even though we alerted every bid and our auction was clearly 
not natural--they didn't ask what any of the bids meant.  Not that
it helps to know declarer's hand or anything...

Anyway I didn't feel that I was under any obligation to warn them that 
declarer described his hand completely (In fact this may be illegal?).
I was just wondering whether anyone else thought this was strange.     
[BTW they didn't know anything about the relays we were using and 
 were quite surprised when told afterwards.]
From: burt@aupair.cs.athabascau.ca (Burt Voorhees)
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
Subject: Re: Play problem
Date: 13 Oct 92 04:09:59 GMT

>In <Bvw3t5.I44@irvine.com> adam@irvine.com (Adam Beneschan) writes:

>>In article <1992Oct9.171619.4636@odin.diku.dk> turin@diku.dk (S|ren Turin)
>>writes:
>>
>>>           Axx AQx AKT T9xx
>>>
>>>           JT KJTxxx Jxx AK
>>>
>>>   How do you play 6S after the lead of 2 of spades (4th highest).

  I assume this is 6NT from the 4th best lead.  I'll also assume that the
xx in spades is not something loke the 9x.  
  Then I'd duck the first spaccde to the J.  Presumably RHO will come up
with an honor to win the trick and will then return the suit.  Take the
other top honor with which T or J is covered with A.  Clean up the board a
bit by cashing A of diamonds and leading to AK of clubs.
     Now run off all the hearts coming down to    m

                      -   -  KT  T

                     -    x  Jx  -

     Depending on how discards have gone I'll decide whether or not to
dump the diamond or club on the lead of the last heart.
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge