[whereagles]

MPs. Adv/expert field.

---

Pree is classic style, responses are standard stuff with 2NT ogust relay.

Bid?

[mgoetze]

I want to be in game if we have a double fit in the majors and 3♥ could still be OK if we don't. If only there were a bid to find out whether partner has spades...

[whereagles]

I decided I wasn't going to allow LHO an easy 3♣ bid, so I tried a tactical (and mastermind) 3♥.

LHO doubled and pard now broke discipline called 4♥ on

--
AKQ953
J97
J643

The good thing is opps slipped and let it through. Had pard passed and RHO, who had ♥JT74 and a side ace, might very well be tempted to PASS

[Fluffy]

2♥ is certainly better than some other opening bids like 4NT, or 2♣, but I would rate it below pass, 1♥, 3♥ and maybe 4♥ and 1NT also.

[whereagles]

This is the same pard who opened a red 2♥ on

Qxxx
Kxxxxx
xx
x

You can see why I sometimes have a hard time figuring out what to do

[jillybean]

Your partner must be a BBO expert.

[mgoetze]

whereagles, on 2015-January-10, 16:38, said:

This is the same pard who opened a red 2♥ on

Qxxx
Kxxxxx
xx
x

You can see why I sometimes have a hard time figuring out what to do

Well I certainly see why you are posting this in the Expert-Class Bridge forum now.

Oh, wait, actually I don't.

[whereagles]

It's on expert forum because I thought responder's decision to be very difficult.

[gszes]

assuming 2s is forcing that is the most reasonable call---p may easily have a spade fit
and be near max for an easy game bid. I see little reason to mastermind in any other way
since the range of weak 2's can be quite large and tough to deal with.

[mikeh]

Nuno, we have had and will no doubt continue to have our differences. One of them stems from your obvious view of yourself as an expert.

Here, you chose 3♥. I have no idea why.

As everyone else notes, game is in reach here if partner fits spades, but opposite say Jxx AQJxxx xx xx, a classic weak 2♥, you are playing in 3♥. Why? Is there any 'expert' thinking behind this?

The problem is, frankly, trivial at this level. We want to be in game if partner fits spades. We want to play in hearts if he doesn't.

I can see some argument that it might be best to play 2♥ if he doesn't fit spades and that he probably doesn't, so we should pass. However, even if this is true, the opps might compete to 3♣ and we get the worst of both worlds....so it makes sense to bid 2♠, which will get us to 3♥ when he doesn't fit spades and to game otherwise.

The notion that one should bid 3♥ strikes me as not very sound.

Incidentally, every hand you show, in which you give us your partner's hand, seems to show your partner doing something that seems very weak. Would any player even at the intermediate level really open a weak 2 with the posted hand?

[whereagles]

michael, let me put it like this: I gave like 2 hours of my time (which is very scarce) to give people some problems I thought were interesting and respective solutions. I don't want to bother with discussing the merit of the problems nor ridiculous details like in which forum they "should" belong. Nor will I bother to discuss my would-be "expert status". I have better things to do.

I'll keep posting problem as long as I feel motivated to do it. If people constantly annoy me because of stuff like the above, I'll eventually lose interest in posting problems and we'll have even LESS posts around this place. Sorry if I sound harsh, but I really feel a lot of ingratitude around here.

[MrAce]

whereagles, on 2015-January-13, 12:01, said:

Timo, let me put it like this: I gave like 2 hours of my time (which is very scarce) to give people some problems I thought were interesting and respective solutions. I don't want to bother with discussing the merit of the problems nor ridiculous details like in which forum they "should" belong. Nor will I bother to discuss my would-be "expert status". I have better things to do.

I'll keep posting problem as long as I feel motivated to do it. If people constantly annoy me because of stuff like the above, I'll eventually lose interest in posting problems and we'll have even LESS posts around this place. Sorry if I sound harsh, but I really feel a lot of ingratitude around here.

Timo? I am flattered to be confused with Mike, but I did not even post in this topic until now m8

[whereagles]

MrAce, on 2015-January-13, 12:08, said:

Timo? I am flattered to be confused with Mike, but I did not even post in this topic until now m8

LOL. Fixed, sorry.

[mgoetze]

whereagles, on 2015-January-11, 04:08, said:

It's on expert forum because I thought responder's decision to be very difficult.

As an intermediate, perhaps barely advanced, player, I found responder's decision to be very easy, so I would love to get some expert insight on which aspects I overlooked that made this decision difficult.

[mikeh]

whereagles, on 2015-January-13, 12:01, said:

michael, let me put it like this: I gave like 2 hours of my time (which is very scarce) to give people some problems I thought were interesting and respective solutions. I don't want to bother with discussing the merit of the problems nor ridiculous details like in which forum they "should" belong. Nor will I bother to discuss my would-be "expert status". I have better things to do.

I'll keep posting problem as long as I feel motivated to do it. If people constantly annoy me because of stuff like the above, I'll eventually lose interest in posting problems and we'll have even LESS posts around this place. Sorry if I sound harsh, but I really feel a lot of ingratitude around here.

don't misunderstand me: I hope you continue to post problems but there is a reason we have different sub-forums. It is not an admission that you are a non-expert to post problems in the other sub-forums....the point isn't about how good a player the poster is, but about the level of difficulty of the problem.

This problem, and the problem about whether and what to bid after rho opened 2H, when holding, iirc, a balanced 12 count with Axxx in spades and KJ tight in hearts simply aren't expert problems. They aren't even, imo, advanced problems. Maybe intermediate, maybe even simpler than that.

Your contributions are important, no matter how critical I often sound. But posting everything in the expert forum isn't going to help the non-expert as much as the problems should, and is going to irritate the experts who are hoping to find problems into which they can sink their teeth, and maybe learn as well as opine. You have posted some problems in the past that I thought to be excellent, and I said so. I hope you do more of those...and a problem that is trivial and annoying in the expert forum could be very educational and interesting in the I/A or B/N.

[whereagles]

Don't worry, michael... as a part-time politician, I'm used to getting criticised for no good reason lol.

But let me add that I would give your comments more credit for if you actually posted problems yourself...

Anyway, I get your point.. but thing is I think we have far too many forums.

I can't categorize stuff as level 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 or whatnot because I simply don't have a hierarchic view of the game. To me there are only two categories: basic/textbook stuff and expert stuff, which to me has the broad meaning of "anything that's not clear-cut". Ok, I maybe I can add an "insane" category for stuff that's Adventures-in-card-play-worthy.. but that would be a rather empty forum because, as you know, points are won by concentrating and getting simple decisions right, not octogonal criss-cross squeezes.. lol.

[mikeh]

whereagles, on 2015-January-13, 16:16, said:

Don't worry, michael... as a part-time politician, I'm used to getting criticised for no good reason lol.

But let me add that I would give your comments more credit for if you actually posted problems yourself...

I don't post many problems because (1) I don't play much bridge anymore and(2)I am not going to post, as problems, hands where I think, often admittedly with hindsight, that the answer is obvious.

I will post one, a play problem. I can't remember if I ever posted it before, but I still think fondly of this one, even tho it happened years ago. Grant Baze, who was at the tournament, called it 'the hand of the tournament'.

[whereagles]

mikeh, on 2015-January-13, 16:35, said:

I don't play much bridge anymore

Saboteur! Fifth columnist! Quisiling!