My hand: ♠ 4 ♥ 9 ♦ A Q T 4 ♣ A K T 6 5 4 2
West open 2 spades, weak. Partner jumps to 4 diamonds, alerted. I think I turned Leaping Michaels on, so I bet that's what this is. Shows 5-5 or better in hearts and diamonds. East passes and now my hand is awesome. I think Blackwood stands out here to find out how many of my stiffs he can cover. I bid 4NT and partner bids 5C to show 1. I bid 6 diamonds. East leads the K of spades.
North ♠ T 7 2 ♥ A K Q 4 3 ♦ J 8 7 6 2 ♣ | ||
EAST ♠ K | ||
| SOUTH ♠ 4 ♥ 9 ♦ A Q T 4 ♣ A K T 6 5 4 2 |
| West | North | East | South |
| 2♠1 | 4♦2 | Pass | 4 NT3 |
| Pass | 5♣4 | Pass | 6♦ |
| Pass | Pass | Pass | |
| 1Weak Two | |||
| 2Leaping Michales | |||
| 31430 Blackwood for NT | |||
| 41 or 4 Aces | |||
I have 3 hearts, 2 clubs, 0 spades and 4 or 5 diamonds. I can ruff two spades on board. I can set up a heart if they split 4-3. I can set up a whole ton of clubs. I have tricks out the wazoo. Loserwise I will lose this spade and maybe the K of diamonds. Nothing else to it. K-4-9-T. East plays the Q of spades and now I need to consider how to play diamonds. I can try to drop stiff K in the preempter's hand. Or I can finesse. If I finesse, how do I not lose to K9xx in East? I'd need to lead 3 times from hand without playing the J and i don't think I have the entries to do that so I have to lose to that too. I ruff with the 4 of diamonds. Q-4 of diamonds-3-7.
I ruff a club to board. 2-Q-2 of diamonds-7. I lead the J of diamonds and East plays the 9. I play the T and West wins the K. Oh well. West cashes the A of spades and I ruff in with the A of diamonds. I draw another round of trump and West shows out. Turns out he did have stiff K, so I'm in a lot of trouble. Q-6 of spades-6-3.
I cash two clubs pitching my two small hearts. East follows to both, so I'm not in trouble after all. I ruff another club to board, draw his trump and cash my high hearts. Down 1.
| NORTH ♠ T 7 2 ♥ A K Q 4 3 ♦ J 8 7 6 2 ♣ | ||
| WEST ♠ A J 9 8 6 3 ♥ 6 5 2 ♦ K ♣ Q 9 3 | EAST ♠ K Q 5 ♥ J T 8 7 ♦ 9 5 3 ♣ J 8 7 | |
| SOUTH ♠ 4 ♥ 9 ♦ A Q T 4 ♣ A K T 6 5 4 2 |
On the replay the auction goes a lot differently. They aren't playing Leaping Michaels at the other table so North passes over the 2 spade bid. South bids 3 clubs, North bids 3 hearts, South bids 4 clubs and North passes. Seems sketchy...
On the play West cashes the A of spades then plays his stiff K of diamonds to South. South draws 3 rounds of trump, losing the 3rd and is very happy they split 3-3. West returns a spade which gets ruffed. Declarer has the rest thanks to that K of diamonds play earlier. Making 5.
I went back and any other card but the K of diamonds results in making 4. I guess if he catches his partner with the A they can set the contract with a ruff which was probably his plan.
Nick: -50
Jack: 150
IMPs: -4 (-8 total)
Why is it blackwood in NT as opposed to Diamonds?
ReplyDeleteHe showed two specific suits and I haven't shown a preference between the two of them. From his point of view I could just as easily be jonesing for a heart slam.
ReplyDeleteI guess I don't understand the value of Leaping Michaels. What would 2S-3S, show?
ReplyDeleteIs this bid game forcing, invitational, mini-maxi?
What is the structure over this? It seems like you should have some way of agreeing on a suit immediately (and bidding blackwood), maybe something like 4S as BW in D, 4NT as BW in H?
The value is you get to immediately pinpoint both suits. Normal 2S-3S Michaels shows hearts and a minor. 2S-4C shows clubs and hearts. 2S-4D shows diamonds and hearts. You use up marginally more room (mostly just bypassing 3NT) but get both suits known immediately. I don't think there's any way it can be a mini since there's not much point in preempting a preempt.
ReplyDeleteI do like the idea of having 2 blackwood bids over it but I doubt there's any way to make the computer play it. I do wonder what it would take 2S-4D-P-4S to mean...
I rebuilt the deal and tried it again. He thinks it shows control in spades for diamonds. 5S is natural.
ReplyDeleteAs a follow-up to a conversation we had on WoW, Leaping Michaels is a strong bid. We're talking like 16+ high card points and 5-5 or better. But given that the opponent preempted that doesn't seem too unlikely and what are you using the 4C and 4D bids for anyway, right?
ReplyDeleteAll treatments I saw use the 2S-3S bid to show a running minor suit without a spade stopper. The idea being partner should bid 3NT if he has a spade stopper. No one talks about what to do when partner doesn't have a spade stopper but I imagine you'll likely just play 4 of the long minor. (4C pass/correct, other bids as natural and forcing I would assume with an eye towards a minor game or a slam)