Fringe

Hi all

Bridge Big has launched their open beta. RenĂ© promised the team is zealously committed to fixing bugs, smoothing the user experience, adding more features and solving the “table hopper” problem. With decent exposure in national and international magazines, an article on www.bridgetopics.com and Zia as evangelist they shouldn’t have a hard time establishing a large (and hopefully faithful) userbase.

Here’s a deal from the San Francisco sectional that has been giving me head ache:

West
North
East
South
3
3
pass
???
South
872
AQT2
A9862
Q

After partner has overcalled the first problem arises: where to bin your hand? Is it a top heavy invite? Investigate other games than 5? Or enter a slammish sequence perhaps? But those three small are a bit smelly…

At the table I bid a loaded 4, hoping partner would bid (a natural) 4, perhaps 4NT with a softish hand, or continue to 5 with a control rich hand. The result was the same at both tables: 5 down 1.

West Dealer
NS Vul
North
T643
KJ
KQJT7
AJ
West
Q
653
53
KT98642
East
AKJ95
9874
4
753
South
872
AQT2
A9862
Q

It bothers me quite a lot that I can’t figure out a way to reach a sensible contract. Expert players and established partnerships offer me a broad range of answers, but most of them do something slammish. Opposite hands like:

North
AKx
Kx
KQxxx
xxx

Slam is laydown.

I guess I just have to accept that the deal above is a fringe. And that a slammish sequence (say 5) is an IMP positive action.