- Opening style was Enhanced Rule of 20, 11 HCP needed. I dropped that to Rule of 20, 10 HCP needed. I'd put the second slider lower if I could.
- Inverted minors on. I'm not really comfortable with these but Andrew wanted to play it when we were clubbing so I might as well practice. I can't find a criss-cross option, sadly.
- Jacoby 2NT on. Bergen complex on.
- Walsh on. I've never heard of this and will probably screw it up but the help file makes it sound useful. Screw you, diamonds.
- Weak jump shifts on.
- The Overcalling box was set to mainstream. (Maybe this is why Jack complained about my 1S overcall on board 2?) I move this to Aggressive.
- I unchecked 'Heavy upper range overcall' which will force Jack to start with a double when he has a really good hand.
- I lowered the range on a 1NT overcall to 15-17. Sadly, it won't let me turn this into raptor.
- I set our NT defense to Cappelletti in both seats.
- I switch from Stayman to Stayman with 2NT reply. Seems like it could be useful.
- I turn on 4 way transfers. And Texas transfers.
- I turn on Dutch Puppet Stayman over 2NT.
- I switch preempt bidding style from Semi-solid to Not-solid. The help file claims I need to have at least 2 of the top 5 and some trick somewhere to do this. Jack is going to be disappointed.
- I turn on Leaping Michaels. Never used it before but it sounds fun.
- I switch from Blackwood to Roman Keycard 1430.
- I turn on DOPI.
- I turn on splinters.
- I turn off competitive doubles since I don't know what they are and the help file doesn't help.
- I turn on support and responsive doubles. (I typoed that as responsible doubles to start. I wouldn't turn that on if it existed, since I don't guarantee any of my bids are responsible.)
- I switch 4th suit from forcing to gameforcing.
- Michaels style is a cryptic box. I can choose from constructive, aggressive, very constructive, or very aggressive. I don't know what these mean. I choose very aggressive and hope it means I can bid with any 5-5s.
- I turn on Sandwiches. Yum!
- I turn off Unassuming cuebid. I don't know what that means and it isn't in the help file at all. I'm going to make assumptions!
- I turn on Gambling 3NT.
- I turn on weak jumps in competition.
- I force opening leads to be A from AK.
Board 4 – Dealer West – All Vul
My hand: ♠ K 8 7 3 ♥ J 9 5 ♦ J 6 5 4 ♣ 6 4
West passes, partner opens 1NT and East passes. My hand has nothing useful to say, so I pass. West does as well, and East leads the A of diamonds.
North ♠ Q T ♥ A K 7 4 ♦ T 9 8 ♣ A Q 9 8 | ||
EAST ♦ A | ||
| SOUTH ♠ K 8 7 3 ♥ J 9 5 ♦ J 6 5 4 ♣ 6 4 |
| West | North | East | South |
| Pass | 1 NT | Pass | Pass |
| Pass |
I have 1 spade, 2 hearts, 1 club, and 1 (eventual) diamond trick. I need to find 2 more tricks and all three other suits have options, but none are really great. I play low. A-4-3-8. East switches, for some reason, to the J of clubs. This gives me one more club trick for sure and might help get a third, but it does slow down my diamond trick. J-4-7-Q.
I go back to diamonds. 9-Q-5-7. East cashes the K. K-6-6 of spades-T. East returns to clubs. 3-6-K-A. I can brute force another club trick and it's only a bad idea if one of them has 5. I don't really want to break another suit, so I play a club. 8-T-3 of spades-2. East puts me right back on board, so I guess I get to break a suit after all. 5-5 of hearts-4 of spades-9.
I need 4 tricks and I have AK of hearts, J of diamonds, and one of the KQ of spades. But I don't have entries to cash them. I can lead up to the J of hearts to build one, but then I lose my hearts on board because I pitched wrong. Guess I should have planned ahead, huh? I do it anyway as I don't want to touch spades. 4-Q-9-2. East returns a heart, forcing me to choose where to win this trick. If I win in hand I can cash a diamond, but then I have to pitch off dummy and I will lose 2 spades. I can win in hand and then lead up to the Q of spades. If West has it I take 3 tricks on dummy to make. If East has it then I still get my K of spades and my J of diamonds for down 1. Or I can overtake now but then I don't see a continuation that doesn't screw me. East has already showed up with a 12 count, so he probably doesn't have the A of spades too. I decide to go for it and duck in dummy. 8-J-6-7.
I lead the 7 of spades. West ducks, I pop the Q and East plays the 2. I get my 2 hearts and make just in.
| NORTH ♠ Q T ♥ A K 7 4 ♦ T 9 8 ♣ A Q 9 8 | ||
| WEST ♠ A J 6 5 4 ♥ T 6 2 ♦ 7 3 ♣ K 7 2 | EAST ♠ 9 2 ♥ Q 8 3 ♦ A K Q 2 ♣ J T 5 3 | |
| SOUTH ♠ K 8 7 3 ♥ J 9 5 ♦ J 6 5 4 ♣ 6 4 |
On the replay they have the same auction. East switches to a heart at their table when at mine he switched to the second club. Declarer didn't have to pitch and still had a club entry to board so when he brute forced his J of hearts into an entry he was good. Making 1NT as well.
Nick: +90
Jack: +90
IMPs: +0 (1 total)
3 comments:
Out of curiosity why A from AK?
Mostly because it's what I play with Andrew so I'm used to it.
I believe the reason we started doing it that way was to remove the ambiguity when a king is lead. It denies the ace and generally promises the queen and we can be sure of that.
It does add ambiguity when an ace is lead. Is it from AK or A-empty? I try not to lead A-empty unless it's particularly warranted so it doesn't come up as much as the K from AK or KQ situation.
Mostly I think it's important to know what to expect from your partner and I don't have a huge preference one way or the other. Jack won't tell me the default so I didn't even know what he meant earlier when he lead an ace. Had to pick something!
After reading what I could about competitive doubles (and I couldn't find anyone who explains exactly what it means, just people with examples of them) it seems like something you want to have. Basically it means that if you realize you are in a competitive auction you'll double your opponents into game to let your partner decide whether to 1) let the double stand for penalty, 2) go to game, 3) abort to a partscore.
I had to look up virtually every convention you mentioned.
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