[LBengtsson]

watching some bridge today. peter fridin team vs. david gold team. it proves that even world-class players can go so really wrong. if you watch like me please do not spoil.

q1.guess the final contract? q2.guess the auction? I will post board auction later. how would you bid this board?

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I should have posted it in 'expert' forum but it is instructional for other players also.

[TylerE]

(1D)-1S-(3c)-4h-(x)-ap

[pilowsky]

So many possibilities!
1. 1♦ - 2♦ - pass - pass - pass - my favourite
2. 1♦ - DBL- 1NT - 3♥ - pass - 4♥ - pass - pass - pass. Hopefully what would happen with my partner.
3. 1♦ - 2♦ - 1NT - 4♥ - pass - pass - pass. What the "experts in my club" seem to do.
4. 1♦ - 2♦ - pass - 4♥ - pass - 7♥ - pass - pass - pass. What happens in a Goulash tourney.
5. 1♦ - 2♦ - 1NT - 4♥ - pass - (insert slam bidding conventions) - - - 6♥ or 7♥ -pass - pass - pass. If I was an expert - or a Fiddler on the Roof.

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[Cyberyeti]

6♣x= on A♥ lead ?

[pescetom]

Cyberyeti, on 2021-March-22, 15:42, said:

6♣x= on A♥ lead ?

Indeed, but they have to get to 6♣.
If S interferes 2♦ Michaels then I don't see it as likely.
If W keeps quiet we might even bid the grand:

2♦-3♦
4♦-4♥
4♠-4N
5♦-5♠
6♦-7♥
p

[nige1]

LBengtsson 'watching some bridge today. peter fridin team vs. david gold team. it proves that even world-class players can go so really wrong. if you watch like me please do not spoil. q1.guess the final contract? q2.guess the auction? I will post board auction later. how would you bid this board? I should have posted it in 'expert' forum but it is instructional for other players also.
+++++++++++++++++++++
Ruling out humdrum contracts like 7♥= and 7♣X-4 by West by North; we are left with bizarre misunderstandings like the 4♣XX-5 by North suggestion, above.
My guess, however, is 7♠X-12 by West (bid as a sacrifice against 7♥)

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[LBengtsson]

some reply so now guess north's next bid, and then guess what happen next

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[LBengtsson]

more lol! I have just seen the contract in the closed room. this board is seriously crazy! this is what happened in the open room

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3♥ bid: clever, too clever, or crazy? I liked it. the bidding is never going to end, right? however, at the other table, more crazy, the bidding went.

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what happened at each table? case of aquavit if you guess right. lol.

[Douglas43]

Well, one of the reasons I play modified Ghestem (3♣ shows the highest and lowest unbid suits not the majors) is that if partner forgets there is a 50/50 chance that we will be in our best fit...

[LBengtsson]

Douglas43, on 2021-March-25, 13:04, said:

Well, one of the reasons I play modified Ghestem (3♣ shows the highest and lowest unbid suits not the majors) is that if partner forgets there is a 50/50 chance that we will be in our best fit...

the auction in the closed room ended after 3♣! partners not understanding each other, forgets their convention. 3♣-5

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however, what happened in the open room after

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[pescetom]

Douglas43, on 2021-March-25, 13:04, said:

Well, one of the reasons I play modified Ghestem (3♣ shows the highest and lowest unbid suits not the majors) is that if partner forgets there is a 50/50 chance that we will be in our best fit...

Sounds like a rather comfortable agreement to me. Does partner sometimes forget and if so do you explain that?

[mycroft]

And if it's frequent enough that you feel you would have to mention it, is 1x-3♣ "top and bottom, or clubs" a legal agreement where you play?

Note, I'm not Bobby Wolff (I can understand his frustration, but "my opinion overrides the Laws" is a dangerous road to go down), nor am I David Burn (although I agree that this G-word is as "shouldn't be played" as the other G-word), nor do I believe "the opponents made a mistake, we get a good score"; but playing an easily-forgotten convention the way that minimises forget damage, explicitly for that benefit, feels a little uncomfortable, especially when it's a defensive convention.

[LBengtsson]

this is how it continued. what happened next? clue: only two more bids in this auction.

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[LBengtsson]

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this was the final auction. I feel north/south bid very bad - they should be in slam - but the north/south team gained 18 IMPs as in the closed room the final contract was 3♣-5 after misunderstanding.

after the board finished in the open room, when 5♥X+2 was recorded, the east/west pair had a discussion about whether east's pass of 5♥ was a 'forcing pass'.

I thought north's 3♥ bid clever, but 4♣ seemed better. depends how auction go, south cues ♦ void and north/south can not miss 6♥. 7♥ might be possible? how would you bid this hand now that you have seen the result?

[Douglas43]

mycroft, on 2021-March-26, 10:27, said:

And if it's frequent enough that you feel you would have to mention it, is 1x-3♣ "top and bottom, or clubs" a legal agreement where you play?

Note, I'm not Bobby Wolff (I can understand his frustration, but "my opinion overrides the Laws" is a dangerous road to go down), nor am I David Burn (although I agree that this G-word is as "shouldn't be played" as the other G-word), nor do I believe "the opponents made a mistake, we get a good score"; but playing an easily-forgotten convention the way that minimises forget damage, explicitly for that benefit, feels a little uncomfortable, especially when it's a defensive convention.

I think maybe you missed the intended humour in my guess about the auction the previous reply. Of course we do, this modified Ghestem is on our card and alerted . A cue bid is highest two unbid suits (so the same as Michaels when a minor is opened), 2NT is the lowest two (so the same as the unusual no-trump), 3♣ is the extremes.

It is never an either/or bid, and in this sequence it promises Clubs as one of the two suits. It lacks a club suit only in the case of (1♣) - 3♣. And if partner passes that, he's asleep.


This method gives up the natural 3♣ bid, but gains over Michaels in that you can show Spade - (unbid minor) two suiters over a minor, and that partner knows which minor you have when you cue Ghestem over oppo's major.

And no, neither of us has forgotten the 3♣ bid Yet...

[mycroft]

If you haven't read David Burn's column on this convention, you should.

I'm glad you haven't forgotten it - yet. But most do, and when they do, it's "3♣ with a club preempt". That's why it's an "either/or" bid, it's "spades and clubs, or just clubs if partner forgot again".

My point is that "forget Ghestem" is less likely to damage the forgetters than, say, forget Kickback or XYZ-2♦

[Douglas43]

Hi Mycroft, no offence taken. The David Burn link didn't work, but I think it must be this article Conventions you don't need to know (blakjak.org) .

Simple is good. I play 30/41 and one day hope to respond to RKCB without using my fingers at all.

It comes down to your view on whether showing the spade-minor two suiters against a minor and the increased accuracy over (1M) is worth the trade-off of losing a 3C overcall and risking a memory lapse. I have played it in three regular partnerships over 15 years without accident. But in one-off games I play Michaels.

Just seen various sites that call this method Questem, so that's something else I've learned.

[Cyberyeti]

Cyberyeti, on 2021-March-22, 15:42, said:

6♣x= on A♥ lead ?

It appears this didn't happen, but I wonder how many people would be careful enough to make this. I believe you have to ruff with the 9 or 10, lead the other one to the K or Q, ruff your second heart with the A then lead the 7 to your 8 to get back to hand to draw trumps without S being able to ruff a diamond.

[thepossum]

No idea really but would bid 2D and hope to be in at least game. Slam looks too complicated for me

EDIT but is 2D too weak. Is there a jump cue or something stronger

Edit 2 after researching Michaels I can use it with a strong hand but some people may misunderstand it seemingly

Is there a highly unexpected 2nt variant

The correct response to Michael's would seem to be 3D:)

[mycroft]

Argh, missed a quote. That it is exactly.

Apologies for that, and for reading too seriously in my response.