[Mbodell]

CJ opening lead

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[BunnyGo]

1) Win A of clubs.
2) Check on trump split with heart to the A.

If trump 2-1

3)Q of trump
4-5) AK of spades
6) ruff a spade

If spades 3-3 claim.

If spades 5-1 or 6-0 sigh.

If spades 4-2

7) heart to K
8) ruff a spade
9) heart to dummy
10-11) 2 spades
12) diamond hook.



If trump are 3-0, try for a similar line, with some minor details changed depending on which side the 3-0 split is on.

[rhm]

I would duck the opening lead, win the probable ♣ continuation and cash the ♥king.
If trumps break I am home.
Otherwise ♦ and ♦ ruff, ♥ to ace and a second ♦ ruff. Now I would consider how best to get back to hand to draw the last trump, most likely with a ♣ ruff.

Unless trumps are 3-0 and either ♣ break 6-2 or ♦ 7-2, this line works and at this vulnerability it is unlikely that an opponent with a ♥ void and either a 6 card ♣ suit or a seven card ♦ suit would have kept quiet in the bidding. For the same reason it is very unlikely that ♣ will break 7-1 and you suffer a ruff at trick 2.

Rainer Herrmann

[phil_20686]

BunnyGo, on 2011-November-28, 04:12, said:

1) Win A of clubs.
2) Check on trump split with heart to the A.

If trump 2-1

3)Q of trump
4-5) AK of spades
6) ruff a spade

If spades 3-3 claim.

If spades 5-1 or 6-0 sigh.

If spades 4-2

7) heart to K
8) ruff a spade
9) heart to dummy
10-11) 2 spades
12) diamond hook.



If trump are 3-0, try for a similar line, with some minor details changed depending on which side the 3-0 split is on.

it seems like an obvious improvement, if hearts are 2-1, to play AC AH two tops spade and ruff a spade high, then i always make 13 if spades are 4-2 or better as can ruff both diamonds. True I might go off if spades 5-1.

If hearts turn out to be 3-0 there are a number of possibilities, but provided rho has the three hearts you can try ruffing spades early, and if they are 3-3 you are golden. If LHO has 3 hearts its not as obvious what you should do. I might settle for 12 by ruffing two diamonds.

[gnasher]

Cash ♥A. If they break, cash another one, then test spades.

If trumps are 2-1 and spades not 5-1, I claim 13 tricks before I make a mistake. (Six trumps, two ruffs, three spades and two aces.)

If trumps are 2-1 but spades are 5-1, I settle for twelve tricks.

If trumps are 0=3, I play ♠AK and a ruff. If they're 3-3, I draw trumps and claim 13. If they're 4-2 I draw trumps, ruff the spades good, and claim 12.

If trumps are 3=0, I do the same thing, but go down if spades are 2=4.

Rainer, did you notice that it says BAM?

This post has been edited by gnasher: 2011-November-28, 05:20

[rhm]

gnasher, on 2011-November-28, 05:18, said:

Cash ♥A. If they break, cash another one, then test spades.

If trumps are 2-1 and spades not 5-1, I claim 13 tricks before I make a mistake. (Six trumps, two ruffs, three spades and two aces.)

If trumps are 2-1 but spades are 5-1, I settle for twelve tricks.

If trumps are 0=3, I play ♠AK and a ruff. If they're 3-3, I draw trumps and claim 13. If they're 4-2 I draw trumps, ruff the spades good, and claim 12.

If trumps are 3=0, I do the same thing, but go down if spades are 2=4.

Rainer, did you notice that it says BAM?

You are right I overlooked this small matter

Rainer Herrmann

[Mbodell]

When you test hearts LHO pitches a club revealing the 0=3 split. Now what?

[gnasher]

Mbodell, on 2011-November-28, 14:25, said:

When you test hearts LHO pitches a club revealing the 0=3 split. Now what?

Play three rounds of spades, then two more rounds of trumps ending in dummy. If the spades aren't good, ruff them good and make 12 tricks. That works when spades are 4-2 or 3-3.

The only conceivable alternative is to draw trumps and then take a diamond finesse, but that's much worse odds.

[BunnyGo]

gnasher, on 2011-November-28, 15:17, said:

Play three rounds of spades, then two more rounds of trumps ending in dummy. If the spades aren't good, ruff them good and make 12 tricks. That works when spades are 4-2 or 3-3.

The only conceivable alternative is to draw trumps and then take a diamond finesse, but that's much worse odds.

My question is should we pull 3 rounds of trump before playing the spades? Things go bad if they ruff the second spade, but if we pull trumps first, we can test spades (we have enough entries for 4-2 spades still by ruffing a diamond) and fall back on the hook if they are 5-1.

[gnasher]

BunnyGo, on 2011-November-28, 15:36, said:

My question is should we pull 3 rounds of trump before playing the spades? Things go bad if they ruff the second spade, but if we pull trumps first, we can test spades (we have enough entries for 4-2 spades still by ruffing a diamond) and fall back on the hook if they are 5-1.

If you draw three rounds of trumps, cash ♠AK with everyone following, ruff a spade finding them 4-2, play ♦A and a diamond ruff, and then ruff the spades good, how many entries do you have left in dummy?

[BunnyGo]

gnasher, on 2011-November-28, 15:52, said:

If you draw three rounds of trumps, cash ♠AK with everyone following, ruff a spade finding them 4-2, play ♦A and a diamond ruff, and then ruff the spades good, how many entries do you have left in dummy?

Not enough...correct. I'll blame the fact that it's midnight here and I've been working since 7 AM, but between you and me I'd've miscounted this more often than I'd like to admit.

[awm]

How certain are we that this slam will be bid at the other table?

[Mbodell]

awm, on 2011-November-29, 18:43, said:

How certain are we that this slam will be bid at the other table?

It's day one of the open BAM against people I don't recognize. Not sure how likely, but I'd think reasonably.

[Mbodell]

As it turns out, the score at the other table was -650, so 12 tricks would have won the board in slam or not. In our section, slam was bid and made 4 times and people were down 10 times (presumably in slam) while game was bid and made 11 times (7 times for 650, 4 for 680) with one silly 2000 sac.

The complete hand was:

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Overall across the open BAM it looks like:

2000 1 (0+0+0+1)
1460 3 (2+0+1+0)
1430 16 (6+3+3+4)
1100 2 (1+1+0+0)
710 1 (0+1+0+0)
680 15 (2+3+6+4)
650 27 (2+8+10+7)
-100 34 (12+7+6+9)
-200 4 (1+2+0+1)

So assuming the people who went down were all in slam, that gives 57 in slam to 43 in game. But only 1/3 of those in slam made it, with just under 40% of those in game took 12+ tricks.

In the Women's BAM it was:

1430 9
680 4
650 12
-100 8
-150 2

In the women's only about 4 in 9 were in slam, but more than half the pairs in slam made it (your guess is as good as mine how 2 NS end up with -150 on this board).

[mfa1010]

I wonder what N was doing signing off with all the key cards when partner was unlimited.

In mps or bam against reasonable opponents, I would have taken ♣A T1 and gone down. The chances for 13 tricks are good: ♥2-1 with ♠ not worse than 4-2 or ♥3-0 with ♠3-3. And still I would often get 12 tricks anyway should this fail. Many of those who got 12 tricks probably didn't get a club lead, because it does really seem obvious to me to go for all 13.

I'm surprised by how few bid the slam (if it was a decent field).