What a lovely autumn day. This is what we've been waiting for. Now if we can keep the new boiler from running away, it'll be perfect. Congratulations to Rick and Margie (64%) and Herb and Marge (59%) for high scores for the day. You've all done very well.
Next Monday we'll cover the Slam Bidding Worksheet. This Thursday Skip will talk about Inverted Minors at 10:30.
Check back for my comments on today's boards.
See you.
Dave
PS Comments added to boards 1,2,5 and 12.
It floats to West who opens 1 Spade. East responds 2 Diamonds showing to or more points and forcing partner to describe his hand. West jumps to 3 Spades to show 6 or more Spades and 17 or more points, being sure that partner will not pass with his 10 or more points. East has adequate support for partner's Spades, but no extra values, so raises to 4 Spades.
West stops to reevaluate and now counts 24 points opposite 10 or more. He has some holes and a lot of distribution points, so may settle for game. Desperately Seeking Slam, however, will bid 4 No Trump, Blackwood, and go to slam when partner shows the missing Ace. Two pairs made 12 tricks, but DSS got the top.
It floats to North who opens 1 Club. South responds 1 Diamond and North rebids 1 Spade. South rebids 3 Spades to show the fit and 10-12 points and North raises to 4 Spades. The bad split did most pairs in, but Ted found 10 tricks for the top. Good job!
A good competitive hand, but N/S have their hands tied by unfavorable vulnerability. Suppose East opens 1 Heart and South overcalls 1 Spade. West responds 2 Diamonds forcing partner to describe and North competes to 2 Spades. East competes to 3 Diamonds showing his two suits and 13-16 points and South competes to 4 Spades. West reevaluates to about 19 points opposite partner's opening bid, considers slam, but just competes to 5 Diamonds. North and East pass and South stops to think. If he competes further with the unfavorable vulnerability, he could go down 2 doubled for minus 500 and the opponents only make 400 for making 5 Diamonds. He passes and later figures that he could have made 5 Spades. Would that have just pushed the opponents to a makeable slam?
Ah, competitive bidding!
West opens 1 Spade and East responds 2 Diamonds to force partner to describe. West reverses to 3 Clubs to show his two suits and 15 or more points. East has a Spade fit and 18 points opposite partner's 15. He's interested in slam, so bids 4 No Trump to check the Aces. Partner shows both missing Aces so he bids 6 Spades. It makes an overtrick for a good score.
One pair bid 6 No Trump since they had all the Aces, but should go down. Who says there's no luck in this game
