grizz: Hi everybody, thanks for attending another of a series of lessons on Defense. grizz: Chat logs and hand records are stored in your computer for later review. For information on how to retrieve them, go the BIL homepage or email me. grizz: I teach private individual, pair, and small group lessons. I am available for tournaments as well. If you would like to know more please email me at Grizz@GrizzBridge.com. grizz: Archives of old sessions are available at GrizzBridge.com, on the Lessons and Archives page. grizz: These sessions have been updated recently, so check out what's new at GrizzBridge.com grizz: There will be lots of questions. I want to address them all, but in a manner helpful to all, so please ask them in open chat. grizz: I encourage participation by all kibs. grizz: So jump right in with a comment, question, or bid at any time, but please do it in open chat... grizz: ...since I can't always respond to private chat. grizz: There have been a lot of dropouts today, so if I disappear without notice please rejoin me here. ArLady: here.. i wanted the personal touch :) ->ArLady: :) grizz: The opening lead depends on your defensive strategy - as in chess, you must be thinking several moves ahead. grizz: There are only 5 basic types of defensive strategy at the beginning of a hand. grizz: These concepts are out of the book "How The Experts Win At Bridge" by Burt Hall and Lynn Rose-Hall, the Bridge Book of the Year in 1997. grizz: By way of review, and for those who are new here, the 5 lines of defense are: grizz: 1. Force declarer to ruff, and lose control of his own trump suit. grizz: 2. Active defense, go get your own tricks. grizz: 3. Passive defense, let the lead come to you. grizz: 4. Reduce ruffs. grizz: 5. Create trump tricks. grizz: Again, if you need review on the 5 Lines of Defense check out http://www.grizzbridge.com/Lessons_and_Archives.php grizz: Scroll down the page until you find those lessons under the BIL listings. grizz: Briefly, here are the lead guidelines for each of these different strategies: grizz: 1. Forcing defense - lead your side's strongest suit. grizz: 2. Active defense - also, lead your side's strongest suit. grizz: 3. Passive defense - top of a sequence, or a worthless suit. grizz: 4. Reduce ruffs - lead a trump grizz: 5. Create trump tricks - lead away your own or toward partner's shortness. grizz: So choosing a lead depends on what your defensive game plan is, referring back to the 5 Lines of Defense. grizz: When you know WHAT you intend to accomplish, it is easier to decide HOW to get it done. grizz: That is the difference between strategy and tactics. grizz: This week we are going to continue looking at example hands and auctions, consider defensive plans and choose leads. grizz: These example hands are not predealt, they are random. grizz: So I have not analyzed them, rather we are all looking at them for the first time. grizz: The bidding will be done by the bots, though I must sit in one of the seats during play to control the pace. grizz: I have no idea who the declarer will be or which seat will be on lead, so you may kibitz all 4 hands. grizz: We will put our heads together and come up with a defensive strategy based on the auction, the hand on lead, and the 5 Lines of Defense. grizz: I will try to remember to insert the board numbers in the Chat Log, so you can match up the log with the hands file in the future. grizz: If you wonder what a GIB bid means, click on it - the bots play 2/1. grizz: Here is the GIB convention card: http://online.bridgebase.com/doc/gib_system_notes.php grizz: whiz: hi:) grizz: we like to have 6+ hcp for a response, but a good 5 is ok. this is a very good 5! ->whiz: :) zewzew: wud u open as N? grizz: if i were playing 2/1 i would bid a Weak Jump Shift to show both the bad strength and the long, good suit grizz: borderline opener for N grizz: the !DK may be worthless grizz: but there is no rebid problem grizz: if pard bids !s, all well and good grizz: otherwise N rebids !cs jlg710: doess the dblton in !H's count for much? grizz: i'm not sure whether whether the GIB would recognize a WJS, so here goes grizz: great question grizz: as you see here the doubleton doesn't count for anything when it's in pard's suit grizz: so there is some danger in counting it for shortness points at the opening bid grizz: if a fit is found in another suit, you can add a shortness point later jlg710: since the dblton is so weak it would seem 2b a liability grizz: if it were a side suit then it would still be worth a trick or 2 in ruffs grizz: in this case though its only value is for finesses grizz: what does everybody think about the GIB lead? greenie08: Jc tjtoo: ok Les4304: like it wyoming33: gib most always leads top of doubleton wyoming33: even in NT grizz: y, that is standard grizz: and leading pard's suit is almost never a bad thing zewzew: and this is pd's suit grizz: decision time grizz: S has no more entries grizz: so this is S's last time to make a killing switch PedroG: :) hi Pete ->PedroG: hiya! anco: !d grizz: if pard has any !c tricks coming, they probably won't go away grizz: E does not have any long side suit to run grizz: but the flip side of that coin is that cross ruff may be a looming threat grizz: so here goes jlg710: love a good cross ruff grizz: lol N took a !c trick he was not entitled too, and just gave up a !s trick that he WAS entitled to! grizz: oh well, that grizz: 's as well as we can do here and5678: I don't trust robots, think they are pixies.... not always reliabel grizz: they are totally unreliable! wyoming33: yup grizz: they know what their bids mean, but make some goofy ones anyway jlg710: they have their own, programmed agenda PedroG: :) grizz: GIB is very good for double dummy analysis grizz: but not so good as a partner grizz: anyway, a couple thoughts about the opening lead zewzew: i don't understand this term grizz: double dummy analysis? zewzew: y grizz: that is a term for analyzing the play seeing all 4 hands zewzew: the way we do now? grizz: if you rent the GIB and kib a game, you can have GIB tell you what the best plays are zewzew: k, thx grizz: and GIB is very good at that grizz: leading pard's suit is usually a good idea DaBPlayer: except when? grizz: and hi-lo from a doubleton tells pard you can ruff the 3rd round, if there is one grizz: except when it's wrong lol grizz: sometimes another line of defense is more likely to work grizz: another time is when you have AK in an unbid suit - start there and watch for signals grizz: or you might have a singleton, and that is usually a better lead than pard's suit grizz: another exception is vs. NT in one very rare and special case - jaymac: Can't you ruin p's AQ if you lead p's suit? keidrah: what about unbid suit? grizz: possible, yes mir2: 1!H bid not nessary promises A grizz: that rare case is where pard has overcalled, your RHO bids NT and you have a good suit of your own and an outside entry grizz: in that case it's a better idea to lead your own suit grizz: but if it doesn't work, expect pard to have an opinion on the subject! grizz: a couple more comments about the opening lead grizz: when you have a tenace like the !c suit here, hang onto it grizz: you might grab all the tricks in the suit if pard has the right cards grizz: also, look at that stiff !dK grizz: you would be amazed at how many times that stiff K will win a finesse! grizz: so don't even think about that lead unless pard has bid the suit grizz: and with the good lead in !hs available, you don't have to take a chance on a !s lead grizz: and you see that a !s lead here gives away a trick grizz: any other thoughts on this hand? grizz: grizz: very interesting auction grizz: if it weren't for the wasted !hQ i might consider pushing to game here grizz: but with only 8 working hcp that is a silly notion zewzew: why did GIB bid 3!S not 2 grizz: a kib asks "why did GIB bid 3!S not 2" grizz: here it was game invitational DaBPlayer: limit raise in spades, right grizz: risky, given the fact that S is a passed hand, and we are red vs. while grizz: should be a little better than that, since S is a passed hand wyoming33: do they pay any attention to vul grizz: there are some hands that improve so much during the course of the auction that a passed hand becomes a GF grizz: this hand certainly did improve Eszter5: ez 1 másik duffer66: if P responds to an X over ops intervening bid; does just the simple raise show points since they could have passed? grizz: singleton in ops' bid suit, 4!ss to the A, and working values in !cs ->duffer66: moderate points and fit grizz: for those of you who play Losing Trick Count the N hand has 7 losers with the now disclosed !s fit grizz: so 3!s was invitational to game grizz: notice that S DOES have a 7-loser hand here! grizz: 2!ss, 1!h, 2!ds and 2!cs grizz: but there aren't enough winners! grizz: the Q and Js are soft values grizz: and the Ks are suspect, sitting under the opening hand grizz: which all goes to show that good hand evaluation, judgment and positional value of honors are still very important grizz: also that you value of your hand goes up or down during the auction, and you must be keenly aware of those adjustments as you learn about them grizz: any other thoughts about this hand? grizz: grizz: i don't like the reopening X there grizz: N has some shape and a couple aces, but no defense other than the aces DaBPlayer: hand doesn't seem strong enough, nor good suit choices grizz: and a 5 card suit grizz: poor quality, but good length zewzew: i wud never x with only 2 sure tricks grizz: so if N is good enough to reopen, i think it should be with 2!s grizz: i would urge you all to NEVER bid a 3 card suit in response to pard's takeout double - for every 1 time it works, there will be 99 times where it doesn't grizz: and that is the other reason why N should not X with a 5 card suit - pard won't bid it with only 3 grizz: ugh grizz: down 5 on a part score hand, a well-deserved 0 DaBPlayer: what would 2 spades bid result? tjtoo: when you bid 2d, why didn't bot go 2spades? grizz: a better question is, why didn't the bot just bid 2!s first and save all this grief? tjtoo: yes DaBPlayer: really... grizz: if the N hand is good enough to reopen, it's good enough to reopen with 2!s grizz: not without peril, of course - W could have 4!s grizz: ok, let's play it in !s and see what happens jaymac: ty grizz: and here is another question - if the N hand was good enough to reopen, why wasn't it good enough to overcall? grizz: ok, another side road here - let's play this out and then play in 2!s grizz: interesting detour there grizz: let's see if we can play 2!s grizz: grizz: playing the Q was just a stupid risk there - what if N had the K? duffer66: bots cheat grizz: THAT is what is meant by "finessing your partner", something to be avoided at all costs zewzew: no money in acbl tourneys?? ->zewzew: no, just points wyoming33: DD says down 3 zewzew: do bbo points count the same way as acbl points? grizz: sounds right grizz: -150 is only a good result when ops make 4 grizz: which is almost never in an auction like this, where ops passed out 1NT ydannac: Could I have web site for the BWS system you gave last week,ty grizz: so the real question is, was N good enough to reopen? grizz: i don't think the N hand is good enough to reopen - passing 1NT is a good MP decision grizz: hang on for the BWS url ydannac: ty!H!H grizz: http://www.bridgeworld.com/default.asp?d=bw_standard&f=bwsall.html grizz: Do we have any final questions? ydannac: kib want to know what this system is all asking me, you can explain better to them ty grizz: ok grizz: Bridge World Magazine is the journal of record for bridge in the US DaBPlayer: this was great, thanks grizz grizz: one of their activities is to identify what "standard methods" are, as they evolve over time ydannac: Great lesson ty Grizz!H!H:) PedroG: ty Pete grizz: so from time to time they send out polls of top players and tabulate the results zewzew: thx Pete, love the way u analize situations ->zewzew: :) zewzew: :) grizz: and based on those results they determine what standard american expert opinion is on a wide range of issues grizz: bidding and defense grizz: so the most recent tabulation is Bridge World Standard 2001 at http://www.bridgeworld.com/default.asp?d=bw_standard&f=bwsall.html grizz: this is a 5 card major system, 2/1 responses are game forcing grizz: so this is the authoritative source for what expert opinion is on 2/1 grizz: and BWS is several dozen pages on default treatments for meanings of bids and defensive signals grizz: so if you ever have a question about what "standard" is, BWS is a great place to start grizz: in addition to the system itself, they also publish the poll questions and show minority opinions bbo_iac (Lobby): => Club: Grizz session in 1 hour in club. Discussion of the bidding play and defense of random hands. All are welcome to participate cdt: So it has not been updated since 2001? grizz: right grizz: it changes over time, but not rapidly grizz: here are the poll questions - cdt: :) grizz: http://www.bridgeworld.com/default.asp?d=bw_standard&f=bwspolls.html BILmanager (Lobby): => Club: !d!d BEGINNERS/INTERMEDIATE: #1131, Ind, imps, Jackpot Tourney starts in 27 minutes. Please go to the tourney room to sign up. The more that play, the more prizes. Membership not required! !d!d grizz: the editors of BW know who the real experts are, and they don't send the polls to any but the top players grizz: That concludes today's lesson, and next week we will have more quiz hands on opening leads. grizz: If anybody needs help retrieving the hand records or chat log, please email me at Grizz@GrizzBridge.com. wyoming33: thank you very much - grizz: I teach private individual, pair, and small group lessons. If you would like to know more please email me at Grizz@GrizzBridge.com. grizz: Thanks also to Maureen, Rosemary, Eileen, Fred and the wonderful people at BBO who make this all possible. grizz: Thanks all for coming, i'll see you next week. grizz: Bye now.