Thoughts on this Hand

[DavidStern]

OK you pick up

sx xx
hx ---
dx Axx
cx AKQxxxxx

(a) It goes 3hx on your right - what do you bid?
(b) Does the vulnerability influence our thinking at all?
(c) Let's assume you try 5cx and partner bids 5sx - what next
(d) Does the fact that it matchpoints influence your decision making

Try and include reasoning with any discussions

David

[revert2b]

over 3!h i would bid 5!c like everybody else. after partners 5!s i would bid 7!c
though 7!s may be equally cold.

[Peter]

I pressed Quote in the bottom right of David Stern's post
in order to include his text:

sx xx
hx ---
dx Axx
cx AKQxxxxxx

(a) It goes 3hx on your right - what do you bid?
(b) Does the vulnerability influence our thinking at all?
(c) Let's assume you try 5cx and partner bids 5sx - what next
(d) Does the fact that it matchpoints influence your decision making

Assuming that I have eight clubs rather than nine of them,
I would bid 5C at any vulnerability. The void beiong in THEIR suit
rules out 4C. Partner's 5S bid might be absed on him thinking that I have a very strong hand for my 5C call. KQJ109xx, Ax, QJ10x, - seems like plenty for 5S.

Aussies are famous for bidding grands in situations when bidding the making small slam would have won the board. I am not sure if the hand belongs in clubs or spades. I am not sure, and neither is partner, what 5NT would mean. I am not sure what level the hand belongs in. Preempts used to suggest bad breaks in the olden days. When all these doubts exist, bidding a grand seems premature.

This leaves 6H, 6C and 6S as my main possible calls. I'm bidding 6H. I think I have everything that this bid might suggest, except for a spade honour. 6H has the donwnside that it might guide them to the killing diamond lead vs 6S if partner has a hand like the hand above.

At matchpoints I am more likely to bid 6S than 6H. 6S is likely to score lots of matchpoiints as long as we can make 12 or 13 tricks.

Peter Gill.

[sartaj]

OK you pick up

sx xx
hx ---
dx Axx
cx AKQxxxxx

(a) It goes 3hx on your right - what do you bid?
(b) Does the vulnerability influence our thinking at all?
(c) Let's assume you try 5cx and partner bids 5sx - what next
(d) Does the fact that it matchpoints influence your decision making

Try and include reasoning with any discussions

David
a) Bid 5C. Could be right to unilaterally bid 6C as partner is highly unlikely to raise 5C but dont want to take an extreme view.

b) Vulnerability doesnt really affect anything. I guess if the opponents are vulnerable, their preempts are more "pure", so more a case for punting a slam. But thats too esoteric and wont get us much sympathy from teammates when we try and explain our -100 score.

c) Over 5S i like the idea of bidding 7C

d) At matchpoints, prefer not to punt out a grand . One of my big realizations about matchpoint events from 2006 is that the plan should be avoid ZEROES.
Like a 6H bid which gives partner an out in 6S. With solid spades and xx of clubs he might have a go at the grand.
In real life he will stare at his Qxx diamond and bid 6S. We will make 7.
Feel that we were both soft and score 70 percent on the board.