master solvers revisited

There is no point going over the loss of our magazine or the Master Solvers Club, but I feel there is still a chance that we can still make this place somewhere that we can get together. It is now so easy to communicate online, that if it is true that 2,000 players signed up to read the online magazine, then it should not be too difficult to get a reasonable number to become Master Solvers. This way we can get the experts views, the teachers views, and the less expert asking questions about some of the more unusual suggetstions.

Of course the questions will not be easy. A hand holding 11-12 and a 5 card major responding to a weak 1NT will never appear on Master Solvers, because it is too easy. It will also never appear on beginners lessons, as it is too hard if you don't teach transfers.

Similarly we should not dwell too much on hands from yesteryear, as bidding has changed quite a lot in recent times. However reading some quite recent hands in other publications, there are some answers that the majority voted, that seemed so different from my own (rather old fashioned ) views, that I felt we could start our own Master Solvers, open to all. I don't intend to be the arbiter or even the commentator, just the one who starts this off, hopefully it will progress from here on its own volition. Next week I will give more questions and see how many respond.

However to test out the thinking behind this suggestion, I will give you some hands from a recent magazine and see how many comments we get. I will give the answers from the extremely well know list of experts on another thread, and we can see if anyone at all agrees with the experts majority decisions.

You are always South.

1. Imps both sides Vul. You South hold 

AKQ1042, AQJ52, AQ, Void.  North opens 3C, you bid 3S, N bids 4S, What call do you make? What call do you think 14 experts out of 27 made?

2. Match points, (you know, duplicate). NS vul. You South hold, A7, A5, Q107, AJ9643

N      E     S      W

1H   3D   3NT   4D

4S   P     ?

Your bid. What do you think 17 out of 27 bid?

3. Imps. NS Vul. You South hold KQ, 10842,10953,AJ6

E    S   W   N

P    P    3D  X

P   ?

The answers of the experts are on the other thread.

Started by STANLEY ABRAHAMS on 19 Oct 2016 at 09:04PM