[Echognome]

Scoring: IMP

---

Playing in a league match, your opponents aren't that strong. However, their bidding styles seem to mesh well.

West opens 2NT showing 20-22 balanced. Now East has a bit of a problem as their methods are 3♣ Baron and 3♦, 3♥ transfers. So East decided to get clever and thinks "If I bid diamonds (transfer) then bid clubs twice, partner will surely know I have diamonds and clubs."

So it goes 2NT - 3♦(A) - 3♥. They aren't playing super-accepts. East continues with her plan and bids 4♣. Alert! West thinks this is Gerber.

West pauses for awhile and then bids 5♠! She didn't use the stop card, so it must have been just a slight mixup. East then follows with her plan and bids 6♣. Now west thinks that this wasn't Gerber after all and must show a real suit. So she decides to pass!

I lead a diamond and dummy plays the Ace. Declarer then plays Ace and another club. I win my K (which was Kxx onside by the way) and think for and pause to think after patner shows out on the second round. Is declarer 1-5-1-6 or 0-5-2-6? Ugh, what a decision to have to make. After a couple of minutes, declarer finally lets me off the hook by claiming.

Of course, although the bidding is strange, West had no UI on the auction, only East did. And of course the 5♠ bid is so strange, that 6♣ is a fair bid from East.

Needless to say, partner and I just sat there with our jaws dropped and said "next board please."

[Walddk]

You know things aren't going well when...

Well, on the contrary I would say. Things are going very well indeed when you see that the opponents can take 14 tricks in clubs, diamonds and NT, and still end up with 12.

What a lucky man you are

Roland

[Gerardo]

Seems to me West have no logical reason on that bidding to pass 6♣, when partner promised 5♥.

[Echognome]

Walddk, on Nov 16 2005, 01:08 PM, said:

You know things aren't going well when...

Well, on the contrary I would say. Things are going very well indeed when you see that the opponents can take 14 tricks in clubs, diamonds and NT, and still end up with 12.

What a lucky man you are

Roland

This is a fair point. We actually gained 3 imps on the board. (Teammates in 6NT+1)

So I agree that the title stinks. Maybe better title is "The Wild and Wacky World of Bidding"?

[Walddk]

Echognome, on Nov 16 2005, 02:46 PM, said:

This is a fair point. We actually gained 3 imps on the board. (Teammates in 6NT+1)

Hmmmm You'd better have a word with your team-mates then. 6NT is less than 50% on a spade lead! You see how lucky you were?

Roland

[cherdano]

Indeed. Obviously your opponents bid much better than your team mates, and would have deserved to win 10 IMPs

Arend

[Echognome]

Our teammates bidding was probably as egregious:

2NT - 4♦ (alert)
4♥ (no alert) - 6♣ (alert)
6NT - Pass

They also didn't have the best methods. Our West thought they were playing Texas, whereas our East thought they played 4m as natural slam try.

We have 3♠ as a slam try in both minors, so I don't think it would have been as difficult. To each their own.