| What is 'What went wrong'? |
| In 'What went wrong' something goes wrong in the bidding. Decide for yourself who made the mistake, east or west. Then click the solution button. This page always shows the most recent articles. To find the level of puzzles that suits you best: choose a number of stars in the bar above. |
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Was West's raise a mistake? ** |
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Tuesday, 10 August 2010 07:00 |
| W/All | | | | | ♠ | Q J 10 8
|  | ♠ | 7 2
| | ♥ | A J
| ♥ | K Q 7 3 2
| | ♦ | A J 7
| ♦ | 4
| | ♣ | A 8 7 3
| ♣ | K Q 9 6 2
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| West | North | East | South |
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| 1NT | pass | 2♦ | pass | | 2♥ | pass | 3♣ | pass | | 4♣ | pass | 5♣ | pass | | pass | pass | | |
Playing matchpoint pairs EW end up in the wrong game. East makes 11 tricks in his 5♣ contract (NS start off cashing the ♠AK) but +600 gives EW a bottom. Virtually all other EW-pairs bid 3NT and effortlessly they make 11 tricks as well, scoring +660. Even if NS had not started cashing the ♠AK against 5♣ — East would have made 12 tricks then, scoring +620 — EW would have had a bottom. East: 'Why didn't you bid 3NT over 3♣? After all, you have guards in diamonds and spades.'
West: 'I thought you were interested in a club slam, that's why I raised your suit.'
Who was wrong? |
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Solution
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Failed to find the fit ** |
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Sunday, 18 July 2010 07:00 |
| ♠ | J 7 5 | | ♠ | 8 2 | | ♥ | A Q J 6 5 | ♥ | K 3 2 | | ♦ | Q 5 | ♦ | A K 10 8 4 | | ♣ | K 8 3
| ♣ | Q J 2 |
| West | North | East | South |
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| 1♥1 | pass | 2♦ | pass | | 2NT | pass | 3NT | pass | | pass | pass | | |
1 Four-card heart suit possible 3NT is not the best game, to state it politely: NS cash four spades (fortunately the suit was 4-4...) and the ♣A. 4♥ would have been a piece of cake.
East: 'Why didn't you rebid your five-card heart suit?'
West: 'By bidding 2NT I wanted to show a minimum, balanced hand.'
Who is to blame? |
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Solution
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Saturday, 10 July 2010 07:00 |
| ♠ | K 9 5 4 | | ♠ | A Q 10 6 | | ♥ | K 8 7 6 | ♥ | A 9 3 | | ♦ | 9 | ♦ | Q 5 | | ♣ | K Q 7 4 | ♣ | A J 10 3 |
| West | North | East | South |
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| — | 3♦ | double | pass | | 4♥ | pass | pass | pass |
NS keep on playing diamonds and the heart suit is 4-2. Declarer West loses control of the trump suit and ends up down (needlessly by the way, read on).
West: 'I had to jump, since if I were to bid 3♥ or 3♠, I would show a weak hand of 0-8 HCP. You would pass with 15-18 HCP and we would miss game. I hoped for you to have both major suits. And if not, I could still have guessed the right major suit.'
East: 'I couldn't correct to 4♠, since I couldn't tell you had four spades as well. As far as I'm concerned, you could have had a very long heart suit.'
Whose bidding was faulty? |
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Solution
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Thursday, 08 July 2010 07:00 |
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EW end up in the wrong game. | ♠ | A K 5 | | ♠ | Q J 8 7 6 | | ♥ | A 8 6 5 4 | ♥ | K 2 | | ♦ | 7 | ♦ | Q 6 5 | | ♣ | K Q J 8 | ♣ | 10 5 4 |
| West | North | East | South |
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| 1♥ | pass | 1♠ | pass | | 2♣ | pass | 2♥ | pass | | 4♥ | pass | pass | pass |
West: ‘Why did you support my heart suit on a doubleton?’
East: ‘What else am I supposed to bid?’
West: ‘Well, 2♠ of course.’ 4♥ went down one since the heart suit was 4-2, declarer losing the two minor suit aces and two trump tricks.
4♠ would have been a piece of cake.
Who was to blame? |
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Solution
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Only invitational or forcing and very strong? * |
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Monday, 14 June 2010 07:00 |
| ♠ | A 3 | | ♠ | K Q J 8 | | ♥ | Q J 10 6 3 | ♥ | A K 7 4 | | ♦ | K 10 4 | ♦ | Q J 3 | | ♣ | Q 7 5
| ♣ | A 4 |
| West | North | East | South |
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| 1♥1 | pass | 1♠ | pass | | 1NT | pass | 3♥ | pass | | pass | pass | | |
1 EW open four-card majors To state it as friendly as possible: 3♥ is a safe contract. This is one contract that is not going to be defeated... Critical spirits may however remark that 6♥, bar an unlikely ruff, is cold.
East: 'I think you shouldn't have passed 3♥, it's forcing.'
West: 'I thought it was invitational.'
Who is right, who is wrong? |
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Solution
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Forcing or invitational? * |
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Tuesday, 25 May 2010 07:00 |
| ♠ | A J 8 7 6 | | ♠ | K Q 4 3 | | ♥ | 6 4 | ♥ | A 8 | | ♦ | K Q 7 5 | ♦ | J 4 | | ♣ | Q 8 | ♣ | A K J 6 2 |
| West | North | East | South |
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| 1♠ | pass | 2♣1 | pass | | 2♦ | pass | 3♠ | pass | | pass | pass | | |
1 Classical: 10+ HCP, one round forcing (not game forcing therefore, which is — by the way — getting more and more popular) Effortlessly West makes twelve tricks.
'I think my bidding was slam invitational', says East, 'so it was game forcing.'
'I thought 3♠ was a limit bid', says West, 'invitational for game.'
Who was wrong? |
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Solution
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